The Steinert 4×800 team of Ashley Navarro, Aiden Sheehan, Lauren Miller and Samantha Woolf won the gold medal at the CJ III track & field meet in a time of 9:42.62 (Photo courtesy Carol Navarro).
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores
May 28: It was a banner weekend at the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Track & Field championships for Hamilton Township in general, and for Ashley Navarro and Boaz “Superman” Madeus in particular.
Steinert’s Navarro came up with three gold medals on the day, while Nottingham’s Madeus flew to two golds, one silver and one bronze.
Here is a look at each school and how their teams fared at Bernards High School during the Friday-Saturday event. Top six finishers all advance to this Friday-Saturday’s Group III state meet at Northern Burlington High School.
Superman soars to both hurdle victories and turns attention to winning states
Living up to his nickname, Madeus was faster than a speeding bullet and leaped tall and small hurdles in a single bound.
Boaz ran a 14.99 in his 110 high hurdle prelim, and then took first with a 15:02 in the finals. On Saturday, he followed up with a 53.58 in the 400 hurdles. Superman also had a second in the 400 meters and was part of the third-place 4×400 relay team along with David Viah, Godfred Akuffo and Kenley Souffrant.
Nottingham’s Godfred Akuffo is headed for the Group III state meet in both the 4×400 and 4×800 relays (Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick).
“It was definitely a solid performance which is starting to build momentum into Groups and Meet of Champs,” Madeus said. “The relay showed out as well, giving us a really good seed time going into Groups. So all around it was a solid performance.”
But it was not quite the performance Boaz hoped for, as his goal in the 400 hurdles was to finish with a time around 53 seconds. He also wanted to see the Stars win a team title.
“Unfortunately, we fell short of that,” he said. “But my 400 hurdles are starting to come along rather nicely, to the point where I can hit that 53 mark without much of a push. So as the state rounds continue, I will be getting a lot of faster. There’s still some cleaning up to do with that but I have a chance to win my first individual Group Three state title, Lord willing, which is exciting.”
Madeus also likes the chances of his relay team.
“Our four by four will definitely be in the mix too,” he said. “We will be prepared to go out and battle with the powerhouses in our group that we know we can run with. It’ll be a fun one next week.”
The Northstars actually placed in all three relays, as the 4×800 team of Jonathan Torres, Jose Colon, Jared Rodriguez and Souffrant took fourth place; and the 4×100 quartet of Dana Ridley, Viah, Akuffo and Louis Abpadogo finished fifth.
Nottingham’s Jonathan Torres was in fine form over the weekend, taking second place in the 3200 and third in the 1600 at the CJ III meet (Photo by Wes “The Media Mogul” Kirkpatrick).
Torres had a big weekend in distance events, as he took third in the 1600 and second in the 3200. Also advancing individually for the Northstars boys were Rommy Abouelela (4th, pole vault), Souffrant (4th, 800), Alix Oge (5th, 110 hurdles) and Sylvester Freeman (5th, shot).
For Nottingham’s girls, sophomore Bailey Kiernan will be making her first All Groups appearance after taking second in the triple jump.
Navarro can’t be beat and assures everyone ‘Steinert track is back’
Steinert’s Ashley Navarro had a weekend to remember, becoming the first Spartan to take home three golds from a sectional meet in, well, in a loooong time.
“Overall this was a great weekend for myself and my team,” said Navarro, who will advance to states in four events. “In my eyes I was expecting to do very well. I knew in the 400 race that it could have been anyone’s race considering all the seeded times were very close.
“I didn’t do as well as I wanted in the MCTs in the 800 so I had high expectations for myself at sectionals. I knew I could get down to a 2:16; I just had to set my mind to it and leave everything on the track.”
Her mind worked as good as her legs.
On Friday, Navarro won the 400 meters in 59.98, and then teamed with Aiden Sheehan, Lauren Miller and Samantha Woolf to win the 4×800 relay in PR of 9:42.62.
“I am so proud of our team that we took 11 seconds off our time,” Navarro said. “We have been working towards breaking the school record of 9:41.9. We are going out this weekend (at states) with the intention of breaking this record.
On Saturday, Ashley returned to claim the 800 meters in a PR 2:16.94 and will be gunning for the school record of 2:15 at states. She was also part of the fifth-place 4×400 relay team along with freshman Amanda Papamanolis and fellow juniors Tatiana Dorner and Woolf.
“In the beginning of the season we did not think we were going to have a 4×400 team and next thing you know we won all of our meets during the regular season except for one,” Navarro said. “Now we have a PR of 4:08.22 and we’re moving on to groups.
“In my eyes we have a talented group of girls on this team and consider this to be the dream team. Week after week we go out there and leave everything the track. I can’t wait to see what groups has ahead for all of us.”
As for herself, Navarro feels that if she can run in the low 58s or high 57s she will have a chance to move into the Meet of Champions in the 400. She added that “Surprisingly enough it seems that the 800 is my race.”
“I have only been running it since the winter and started my race with a time of 2:31,” she continued. “After this weekend I am now at my personal best of 2:16.94. I know going into groups that my performance will only get better and I think I have a very good chance of moving on to MOC’s considering I run every race with the mindset that I am going to run my personal best.”
Ashley also feels the 4×800 has a good chance of moving on.
Angelini followed up her gold medal in the Mercer County meet by winning a CJ III gold in javelin with a throw of 109-3. Jav-mate Alyssa Scordo will also be headed for Columbus after taking fifth.
Miller enjoyed a banner weekend as well. In addition to her relay gold, Lauren took second in the 3200 and third in the 1600. Woolf will join her at NBC after taking fifth in the 1600.
“I can’t wait for this weekend,” Navarro said. “I am very happy to say that Steinert track is back and I am happy to be a part of this team.”
On the boys side of things, Keon “Little Cooperazi” Cooper could not repeat his MCT-winning throw of over 180 feet, but he did become the lone Steinert individual to advance by taking third in the javelin. The Spartans’ 4×100 relay team also moved on as the foursome of Jordan Morrison, Robert Huegel, Miles Smith and Christopher Rouh finished sixth.
Under calmer circumstances, Piotroski wins first sectional gold
In the 2016 sectionals, Hamilton’s Jon Piotroski showed up at the Friday portion as spectator before learning he was supposed to throw that day. After a well-coordinated fire drill to get him his gear, a haggard Piotroski earned a top-6 finish to advance.
With no such drama hanging over him this year, the junior uncorked a throw of 156-4 to win the gold. Piotroski was coming off a second-place finish at counties.
Richmond Sasha advanced in two events for the Hornets, taking fifth in the long jump and sixth in the triple jump, while James White is moving on after taking third in the shot. The 4×400 relay team of Onasis Aristotle, Richet Barchue, Brian Rivas and Kevin Phildor also advanced with a sixth-place finish.
Unfortunately, the Hornets were missing senior sprinter Tyler Moore, who would likely have challenged for a state title this season. According to coach Danielle Wilson, Moore suffered a cramp in his hamstring during counties and did not want to injure it further with college looming.
He does, however, hope to compete in nationals.
“I really don’t know,” Grady said. “It’s a shame because he is faster this year and it would have been great competition for him (at Meet of Champs).”
Hannah Diaz will represent the Hornet girls at NBC after finishing 6th in the 100 hurdles.
