The South Brunswick High School girls track team was unable to win the Central Jersey Group IV championship for the fourth time in a row this past weekend. Give the credit to West Windsor North High School.
South Brunswick won two events, set numerous personal bests and scored 65 points. It just was not able to top the 71 points scored by West Windsor North in the event held at Hillsborough High School. A total of 17 teams scored at least one point in the meet.
"We came up a little short of winning our fourth straight Sectional title," South Brunswick Coach Stefan Moorhead said. "West Windsor North had a great meet and we weren't quite at our best. It was disappointing to be so close and not win, but we still had some very strong performances, and overall I'm proud of how hard we competed over the course of the two days (Friday and Saturday)."
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South Brunswick won both the discus and 4x400.
Danielle Padovano won the discus with a personal best distance of 121' 10". Padovano also had a personal best of 36' 8" while placing third in the shot put.
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"We had some nice breakthroughs, like Danielle Padovano getting personal bests in two events, including a big come-from-behind win in the discus," Moorhead noted.
The 4x400 team of Alicia Osley, Aspen McMillan, Cayla Del Piano and Rochelle McDonald won with a time of 3:55.34
"Our 4x400 closed the meet with a great race, winning by almost five seconds," Moorhead noted. "3:55 is a fast time, especially considering the heat and the fact that all four of the girls were tired after running several other races during the meet."
The girls were rewarded for their efforts.
"We had three triple medalists -- Del Piano, McMillan and Osley -- which is a great achievement in the competitive Central Jersey Group IV section," Moorhead said.
The top six finishers in each event earn a spot in the Group IV finals this weekend. Del Piano was second in the 800 (2:17.47) and sixth in the 1600 (5:11.13).
McMillan was fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.10) and sixth in the 400 hurdles (1:06.02). Both were personal bests and new school freshman records.
Osley was second in the 800 (a senior school record of 57.26) and fifth in the 200 (26.28).
McDonald was sixth in the 200 with a time of 26.50.
Kristin Krier was fourth in the javelin with a distance of 108 feet.
"Lindsay Carbone, Jada-Rae Poku and Julia Lekht also advanced to states by accomplishing performance goals they had been striving to reach for much of the season," Moorhead noted.
Carbone, Poku and Lekht all set personal bests to place in their events and advance to the Group finals. Carbone was third in the pole vault at 11 feet. Poku was fourth in the high jump at 5 feet. Lekht was fifth in the long jump at 17' 3 1/2".
South Brunswick will try and add some medals this weekend when it competes in the overall Group IV Championships, which will be held at Carl Sandburg Middle School in Old Bridge. The top six finishers in each event earn a spot in The Meet of Champions.
"We're looking forward to the Group IV State meet this weekend," Moorhead said. "Hopefully, we can do some more exciting things there."
