The Hamilton West boys track & field team won the Mercer County Relays this past Saturday by winning all three jumps events and taking top-five finishes in four other events (Photo courtesy Danielle Grady Facebook Page).
By Rich Fisher
Fish4Scores.com
Apr. 23: When the Hamilton West boys track & field team departed from West Windsor-Plainsboro North on Saturday, Apr. 20, it did so thinking it finished fifth in the Mercer County Relays, while sister school Nottingham was the champion.
When the Hornet coaches and athletes awoke on Sunday, boy were they in for a pleasant surprise.
“After the 4×400 they told us Nottingham was winning and we were in fifth, so we left,” coach Danielle Grady said. “I found out Sunday morning that we won the championship.”
Hamilton amassed 73 points to edge the second-place Northstars by three. Steinert finished fourth with 61 points, three behind WWPN.
“This is the best track team I have ever coached,” Grady flatly stated.
The Hornets got a huge boosts from their traditionally powerful jump teams, which took first in all three events.
The jumps results were as follows:
High jump (11-10, tied with Ewing), senior Richmond Shasha 6-0 (third); senior Ahmad White 5-10 (tied fifth)
Long jump: 42-5, Shasha 21-8 (second); Ahmad White 20-9 (fourth).
Triple jump: 86-11.5, Shasha 45-4 (first); White 41-7.5 (third)
Grady said White is looking into East Stroudsburg University, while Shasha is still mulling over schools.
Other Hornet highlights included:
4×100, 43.24 (second), junior Bryon Hearst, sophomore Kevin Boswell, junior Brandon Muir and junior Javon Porter, who will compete for the unattached Hamilton Track Club next year.
4×800, 9:09 (fifth), sophomore Kashe Neary, sophomore Zaikyer Martin, junior Taylor Tomko and sophomore Jimmy “Sausage” Dean.
4×200, 1:30.01 (third), Boswell, senior Will Clark, Muir, Porter.
Pole Vault, 20-0 (third) Krishi Jadoo 9-6 (fourth), DeAngelo Hill, 10-6 (ninth).
In discussing her team’s success, Grady feels it comes from within each competitor.
“I am a true believer that athletes need to have intrinsic motivation in order to become truly successful,” she said. “They compete for the love of the sport and the challenge of accomplishing something they have never done before. Probably the biggest reason why kids fall in love with track is the relationships they establish with their teammates throughout their four years in the program.”
In other top-three finishes among township schools, Nottingham and Steinert finished 3-4 in the 3×400 shuttle hurdles, Nottingham won the 4×100, the 4×200, 4×110 shuttle hurdles and javelin, and was second in the 4×400. The Northstars were 1-2 in the javelin behind D. John (147-4) and Z. Bethea (first names not provided). Steinert won the 4×400, was third in the 4×110 shuttle hurdles, while Savion Cooper was third in both the discus and shot, M. Smith was third in javelin and Matt Coulanges was second in triple jump.
In girls action, Hamilton’s Rider-bound Isjae Wright won the long jump 35-9 and took second in the triple jump (16-5.25). The Hornets were third in the 4×100 and second in the 4×200. Steinert’s Emily Diszler was second in the discus and Nottingham’s Bailey Kiernan was third in triple jump.
