CJ III boys track & field: Stars challenge for team title; Sasha, Abpadogo win two golds

Richmond Sasha heads down the runway for one of his attempts en route to a long jump gold medal at the CJ III sectional meet (contributed photo)

By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

May 31: They didn’t quite make it to the penthouse, but the Nottingham and Hamilton West boys track & field teams certainly did crowd their way toward the top floor.

The Northstars finished in second place at the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III sectionals at Jackson Liberty High School May 25-26, while Hamilton West took third. The Northstars amassed 68 points, finishing nine behind West Windsor-Plainsboro North, while West tied for third with Ocean Township with 51 points. Steinert was seventh with 39.

All three schools had at least one gold medal winner. The top six finishers in each event advance to this Friday & Saturday’s NJSIAA Group III Championships at Central Regional High School in Bayville.

Nine athletes from each school are advancing, and here’s a look at who they are.

NOTTINGHAM

Nottingham distance runner Jonathan Torres is all smiles as he glides on the track. File Photo by Michael A. Sabo

The Northstars earned three first-place finishes in giving WWPN a run for its money for the title. Nottingham advanced a total of 12 athletes in nine events to this weekend’s Groups Championship.

Sophomore Louis Abpadogo, who was injured last year during sectionals, won the 100 meters in a time of 10.78, while sophomore teammate Dana Ridley was an uber-close second with a time of 10.81. In the 200 meters, the order of finish was switched as Ridley took second and Abpadogo third.

Abpadogo and Ridley were at it again in the 4×100 relay as Abpadogo anchored the gold-medal effort of 43.18. The quartet consisted of all sophomores as Judeson Mirac led off, Ridley ran second and Javon Jenkins was third.

Senior Kier Jenkins also provided a first-place finish, winning the discus with a throw of 154-2, which was nearly two feet ahead of the second-place finisher.

Junior Alix Oge finished second in the 110 high hurdles.

The Stars claimed fifth in the 4×800 relay behind seniors Franklin Sanchez and Jonathan Torres, sophomore Jared Rodriguez and senior anchor Justin Brown.

Torres took fourth in the 3200 to give the township its only points in the distance events. Senior Deiby Polanco squeezed through with a sixth-place finish in the pole vault, while senior Sylvester Freeman did likewise by taking sixth in the shot.

HAMILTON WEST

Richmond Sasha had himself a day. In fact, you could say he was jumping for joy after jumping for two gold medals.

The junior took first in the long jump with a leap of 22-03.75, and also set the standard in triple jump with a mark of 46-3.25, which broke his seeded distance by over three feet. For good measure, Sasha took third in the high jump while senior teammate Barry Ndeh was right behind in fourth.

The Hornets 4×100 relay team of junior Ahmad White, sophomore Bryon Hearst, freshman Kevin Boswell and sophomore Brandon Muir finished third.

Sophomore sprinter Javon Porter claimed fourth place in both the 100 and 200 meters, while senior Kevin Phildor was fourth in the 400 hurdles. Junior Ahmad White was sixth in the long jump and Ndeh took sixth in the triple jump, giving the Hornets a total of nine athletes advancing in eight events.

STEINERT

Brandon Slaboda and his teammates took 5th place in the 4×400 relay. File Photo by Amanda Ruch

Coming off its best dual meet season in years with a 7-1 record that included a win over Nottingham, the Spartans got a gold medal from junior hurdler Terris Burton, who won the 400 hurdles in 55.59.

Matt Coulanges had a strong day in the jumps, taking second in the triple and fifth in the high.

Junior Robert Huegel finished fifth in the 100, while the 4×400 relay team of sophomore Josh Klingele, Huegel, senior Brandon Slaboda and junior Miles Smith claimed fifth.

Junior Matt Coulanges had a strong day in the jumps, taking a second in the triple and fifth in the high.

Sophomore Savion Cooper finished third in the shot, while he and senior brother Keon went 5-6 in the discus (with Keon finishing fifth). Keon Cooper also finished third in the javelin.

Steinert finished seventh among 18 teams, and will send nine athletes to groups in nine events.


Steinert’s Navarro highlights township girls efforts at CJ III meet

Running in the final state meets of her illustrious career, Steinert senior Ashley Navarro took second in the 800 meters and third in the 400 meters to lead the Spartans to a 7th-place finish. Navarro was also the leadoff runner for the 5th-place 4×400 relay team, which included seniors Tatiana Dorner and Samantha Woolf, and sophomore anchor Amanda Papamanolis.

Steinert’s Sam Woolf sets the pace. File Photo by Amanda Ruch.

Dorner, whose main sports were soccer and basketball in high school, is proving to be a pretty good trickster as she also took second in the triple jump.

Steinert also had some success in the throws. Freshman Hope Mauro debuted well in sectionals with a sixth-place in the shot. After being seeded with a 29-10.25, Mauro uncorked a 33-8 in the finals. Junior Emily “The Diz Kid” Diszler finished third in the discus to give Steinert six athletes advancing in six events.

Hamilton West got a fourth from junior Isjae Wright in the triple jump, a sixth in the 100 high hurdles from senior Hannah Diaz, and a fifth from the 4×800 relay team of freshman Alyssa Clayton, junior Lauren Korpics, junior Aaliyah Dennis and sophomore Sadie Ensana.

For Nottingham, freshman Gia Girman took fifth in the 200 and junior Bailey Kiernan was fifth in the triple jump.

About The Author


Rich Fisher has been around the Hamilton Township sports scene for so long that he actually got Rich Giallella’s autograph when Giallella was still a player! Proud product of Hamilton YMCA and Lou Gehrig baseball leagues and former teammate of Jim Maher on a very average Barton & Cooney rec basketball team, Fish graduated from Nottingham Junior High and Steinert High school and has covered township sports since 1980. His goal in life is to convince Maria Prato that Jersey tomatoes are at least 100 times better than California tomatoes.