Sports
Del Piano Wins 1600 State Title for South Brunswick High School
Osley, McMillan, Lekt, Davis, Larbie and Dickert also earn spots in Meet of Champions
While the top six finishers in each event earn a spot in The Meet of Champions, Cayla Del Piano left nothing to chance.
Del Piano set a new school and county record in the indoor 1600 (4:58.07), winning the Group IV championships this past weekend in Toms River.
"Cayla had a phenomenal performance to win her first state title," South Brunswick Coach Stefan Moorhead said. "She ran a smart, controlled race. She never lost contact with the leaders, and then took the lead with less than a lap to go. It was great to see her perform so well in such a high pressure race. On top of breaking the Middlesex County record, she also becomes only the third girl in school history to win an indoor state title."
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Del Piano is one of seven individuals from the school to qualify for The Meet of Champions, which will be held on Saturday.
Alicia Osley earned a spot in The Meet of Champions by placing fifth in the 400 with a time of 59.02. Osley added a 9th in the 55 with a personal best time of 7.57.
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"Alicia also had a great day," Moorhead noted. "She ran a fast 400 out of the slowest unseeded heat to earn a Group IV medal in the 400 for the second straight year. She should be able to run even faster next week since she will be in a more competitive heat."
Osley and Del Piano also competed in the 4x400. They joined Aspen McMillan and Julia Lekht to finish fifth in a time of 4:04.55.
Lindsay Carbone cleared 9' 6" in the pole vault, but did not qualify for The Meet of Champions.
South Brunswick High School advanced three boys to The Meet of Champions, with Kaseem Davis earning a spot by placing fifth in the high jump at 6' 5".
"He picked the right time to get a (personal best) and was understandably very excited about his performance," Moorhead said. "It's been great to see his steady improvement in the high jump throughout the season.
Adam Dickert (47' 8 1/2" in the shot put) and Christian Larbie (6' 2" in the high jump) also earned a spot in The Meet of Champions as wild cards. Jaleel Alston also came close to advancing with a height of 6' in the high jump.
"Christian tied his personal best, while Adam set a new season best, so they are both performing very well late in the season, which is all we
can ask for," Moorhead said. "Hopefully all three of them can continue that trend next week at The Meet of Champions."
