BY DAVE MEISEL
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Jillian DiGiacinto celebrated her 18th birthday in style, winning the Group 1 intermediate hurdles title and helping Hasbrouck Heights to a second-place finish in the 4-x-800-meter relay Friday.
DiGiacinto had missed few hurdles this season, but stumbled on the final one. It was a do-or-die moment.
“I hit the last hurdle pretty hard, and I knew I was going to go down or get past it,” she said.
DiGiacinto was already off her rhythm, with a three-hour drive and no school before the meet.It was a little weird. We had to warm up really quickly before the hurdles and the 4-x-800,” she said. “That pushed me a bit because I’m superstitious.”
The lead DiGiacinto built over Weequahic’s Amiah Muhammed was gone. A personal record was out of the question.
But pounding the track with the same spikes – the senior never changes them, and was once tricked by her mom into switching to an identical but new pair — DiGiacinto kicked to a 1:01.76, edging Muhammed by .18.
