Variety is the spice of life and this spring, there’s been a lot of it in region track and field.
Northern Lehigh’s Caleb Johnson has spread his talents over a treasure trove of events. The senior, who’s headed to Harvard where he’ll play football, is listed No. 4 in the region in the 200 meters (22.6) as well as tied for No. 3 in the 400 (51.0), 110 hurdles (15.0) and high jump (6-4).
GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Name: Kiana Farrar
School: Easton
Area High School
Class: Senior
Events: Sprints
Statistics:
Farrar ran the 200 meters in 25.8 seconds
in a Lehigh Valley Conference meet with Emmaus
and Northampton last Monday.
Honorable mention: Jr. Kaitlyn
Remely, Nazareth; Sr. Alexa Rossi, Palisades;
So. Mary Jolly, Voorhees.
But, interestingly, it’s been the girls who have flashed their versatility even more in the first month of the season.
Easton has two girls who have excelled in events that normally don’t appear to be related. Sophomore Jordan Luciano has been used over a host of events by first-year coach Jamie Hibell and he’s sprinkled freshman Greer Gumbrecht all over his lineup, too.
Luciano is tied for the No. 5 spot in the region in the 200 (26.3 seconds), is a key part of Easton’s 400 relay team that has run a region-best 49.9 seconds, is ranked No. 2 in the long jump (17 feet) and is in the region’s top 10 in the javelin with several throws over 100 feet.
“We got lucky with Jordan because of soccer moving to the fall,” Hibell said. “She’s a good soccer player, a good athlete and we knew we could use her in different events. She’ll do the 400 relay, run over to the long jump then quickly change her shoes and sprint over to the javelin area.”
Gumbrecht currently is tied for third in the region in the 100 hurdles (15.7) and shares the No. 2 spot in the pole vault with Bethlehem Catholic’s Mara Blanchard at a height of 10-6.
Blanchard? In addition to her vaulting prowess, she shares the No. 1 spot in the 100 meters with Warren Hills’ Kate Hussey at 12.3, anchors Becahi’s 400 relay team that shares the No. 3 spot in the region rankings (50.7) and is ranked No. 4 in the region in the long jump (16-10).
Even senior Alexa Rossi of Palisades, the top-ranked pole vaulter in the region at 10-7, is part of the Pirates’ 400 relay team that shares the No. 3 spot with Becahi and she’s frequently used in the 100 and 200.
Special commendation should be presented to Notre Dame’s Mary Paige Nesfeder. The senior, who also excels in volleyball, is ranked No. 3 in the discus with a throw of 105 feet, 2 inches. Her unlikely second event is the high jump in which she’s cleared 5-feet and shares the No. 7 spot in the region.
Harvey gearing for Penn
North Hunterdon’s Morgan Harvey clears a hurdle during the girls 400 meter hurdles event April 9 against Phillipsburg in Clinton Township.
North Hunterdon’s Morgan Harvey was held out of her team’s Skyland Conference triangular sweep of Bridgewater and Montgomery on Tuesday but the reigning Express-Times Girls Track Athlete of the Year was not injured. The junior was simply being rested.
“We just held her out because of all the preparation she’s done for the Penn Relays next week (Thursday through Saturday),” North Hunterdon girls coach Sean Walsh said. “Morgan’s fine. She just needed some time off.”
GIRLS RANKINGS:
1. North Hunterdon 5-1
2. Hunterdon Central 3-1
3. Parkland 5-0
4. Voorhees 3-0
5. Emmaus 5-0
6. Nazareth 3-1
7. Easton 3-2
8. Bethlehem Catholic 3-2
9. Whitehall 3-2
10. Northwestern 9-0
The defending NJSIAA Group 4 100-meter hurdles state champion broke the Hunterdon County record in the event the previous week when she ran a hand-held 14.3 in a meet against Hunterdon Central and Phillipsburg. She previously shared the record at a fully-automatic 14.34 with North Hunterdon graduate Kara Snyder.
Harvey’s better event, however, may be the 400 intermediate hurdles in which she qualified to run in an elite field at the Penn Relays on Thursday. Harvey ran 1:02.54 in last year’s Skyland Conference Championships, the third-fastest time in region history. She did not compete in the Group 4 or Meet of Champions 400 hurdles races because she fell late in the event in the North 2 sectional championships while on a record pace.
In her first race of the season on April 2, Harvey ran the 400 intermediates in 1:04.5, which currently stands as the 10th fastest prep time in the country this spring, according to trackandfieldnews.com.
Harvey will be part of an exclusive 27-athlete field at Franklin Field. The lineup includes Tametris Morrison of Southeast (Raleigh, N.C.), who ran the top time in the nation earlier this season (1:01.67) and Heather Smith of Great Bridge (Chesapeake, Va.), who’s ranked No. 5 at 1:03.49.
One of Harvey’s goals this season is to break the region intermediate hurdles record of 1:01.4 set by North Hunterdon’s Sue Wallace in the 1984 Central Jersey Group 3 championships.
“It’s on Morgan’s radar but she’s not obsessed with (the record),” Walsh said. “She’s preparing for the postseason, and if she keeps improving the time will take care of itself.”
Harvey also will run on North Hunterdon’s 1,600 relay team at the Penn Relays along with her twin sister, Hope, and two other runners who Walsh has not settled on.
Colonial showdown
The Colonial League boys dual-meet title likely will be decided Tuesday afternoon at Bangor Park when unbeatens Bangor and Wilson, both 8-0, meet.
The Slaters feature Bryan Pearson, who threw 191 feet in the discus two weeks ago in what ranks as the No. 6 throw in the U.S. this spring, according to trackandfieldnews.com, along with a solid distance crew led by Wade White.
BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Name: Anthony Guarino
School: Phillipsburg
High School
Class: Sophomore
Events: Sprinter/jumper
Statistics:
Guarino ran the 400 meters in 51.0 seconds
and leaped 43 feet, 9 inches in the triple
jump in a meet against Hillsborough
and Ridge on Wednesday.
Honorable mention: Sr. Tanner Lipsky, Nazareth; Sr. Greg Cahill, Wilson;
Sr. Erik Adamcik, North Hunterdon.
White, provided the two face each other, should get a great race in the 3,200 from Wilson’s Jaryd Flank. While Pearson is a given in the discus, he could get a battle in the shot put from Greg Cahill. Pearson threw a career-best 55-3 in the shot put Friday night at the ESU Invitational while Cahill also has exceeded 50 feet this season.
ASD Invitational
The ASD Invitational, which will be held Friday at J. Birney Crum Stadium, is traditionally a meet that finishes under the lights, but it won’t this year.
Due to a transformer that blew out in the north end of the stadium, the meet has been moved up to a 2 p.m. start with the 1,600 relays scheduled for 7:30. The meet also will skip trials in the sprints and hurdles races.
Weekly highlights
Central Catholic sophomore Emmy Geis and Bethlehem Catholic’s Lexi
Reightler locked themselves in an outstanding duel in the girls
300-meter intermediate hurdles Monday. Geis covered the distance in 45.6
seconds — the No. 8 time in region history — with Reightler a stride
behind in 45.8, just out of the region’s top 10.
BOYS RANKINGS:
1. Parkland 5-0
2. Hunterdon Central 6-0
3. Liberty 6-0
4. Phillipsburg 4-2
5. Nazareth 3-1
6. Bangor 8-0
7. Wilson 8-0
8. Emmaus 5-0
9. Voorhees 2-1
10. Whitehall 3-2
Bethlehem
Catholic’s Tyler Horton is the top-ranked hurdler in both the 110-meter
highs and 300 intermediates, running times of 14.2 and 39.0 so far this
season. His highs time ties him for the No. 8 spot in the region
all-time.
Liberty’s K.J. Williams hit 23 feet, 6 inches in the
long jump two weeks ago, which is six inches off the Hurricanes’ school
record but still is good for second place all-time in the region. The
only athlete to jump farther is Liberty’s Devin Street, who jumped 24-2
in a April 17, 2008 dual meet against Nazareth.
Hunterdon
Central’s Tony Cuccaro broke the Hunterdon County record in the triple
jump with an effort of 46 feet, ½-inch Tuesday in the Red Devils’ sweep
of Watchung Hills and Franklin. Cuccaro broke the county mark of 45-10
held by Hunterdon Central’s Ricardo Kennedy, who set the mark in 2008.
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