Winter track: Highlights and summaries from North 1, groups 1 and 2

The first sectional championship since 2018 didn’t seem to be in the cards for Glen Rock’s boys as the snow fell over the Bubble at the Bennett Center in Toms River last Saturday afternoon.

Defending state group 1 55 hurdles champion Tyler Caswell had not fully recovered from a serious hamstring issue he suffered at the spring state sectionals nine months ago and was unable to compete. Other teams looked much stronger and coach Brian Weinberg was just trying to get his individual performers safely into the group 1 championships on February 23.

But event by event, Glen Rock points trickled in. A sixth by Kevin Chen in the 400, a fourth from Caswell’s younger brother Toby in the 55, a fourth from senior hurdler Harrison Wortley in the 55 hurdles, and then a strong second place finish from Neil Saxena in the 800.

At the same time Leighton Kelly was taking second in the high jump and in the gymnasium across the parking lot from the Bennett Center, the state’s top sophomore shot putter, Evan Yuzon was winning the shot put.

Suddenly, there was just one event left and the Panthers were tied with Kinnelon just one point behind Pequannock, three points behind favored Pascack Hills and five ahead of fellow dark horse Ramsey.

“We kept picking up points in events the others weren’t and we found ourselves working our way to the top,” said Weinberg after the Panthers pulled off the upset with a win in the final event. “We knew we had a good 4-x-400 relay team and others might be short.”

The quartet of Saxena, Wortley, Toby Caswell and Chen delivered a solid victory in a season’s best of 3:39.19, and Weinberg and the Panthers had the title that had barely eluded him the previous four years.

“We lost by 3, 1, 6 and 3 points the last four years,” said an elated Weinberg. “It wasn’t expected but the boys fought for every place.”

Summaries

Athletes in the top six of each event advance to the state Group championships.

Group 1

Boys

FULL TEAM SCORING: Glen Rock (GR) 45; Kinnelon (KINN) and Pascack Hills (PH) 39, Ramsey (RAMS) 38, Pequannock (PEQ) 36, Newton and Midland Park (MP) 18, Indian Hills (IH) 15, Hawthorne (HAW) 12, Wallkill Valley and Dumont (DUM) 11, Pompton Lakes (PL) and Cresskill (CRES) 10, Jefferson and Emerson (EM) 2, Park Ridge (PR) 1.

55: 1. Joseph Mendy (KINN), 6.64; 2. Joe Pietrunti (PH), 6.73; 3. Jaivai King (KINN), 6.75; 4. Toby Caswell (GR), 6.75; 6. AJ Russo (PH), 6.89.

400: 1. Carter Solloway (HAW), 52.28; 2. Mendy, 52.95; 3. Giorgio Bruttini (RAMS), 53.15; 4. Adam Leon (PH), 53.53; 5. Charlie Denekamp (MP), 53.57; 6. Kevin Chen (GR), 53.76.

800: 1. Giovanni Todisco (RAMS), 2:06.22; 2. Neil Saxena (GR), 2:06.40; 3. Denekamp, 2:06.92; 4. Tyler Lovett (PH), 2:10.44; 5. Dylan Barrett (PH), 2:10.60; 6. Henry Thayer (PR), 2:11.35.

1,600: 1. Chase Zalfino (PEQ), 4:38.59; 2. Xavier Trinidad (PEQ), 4:38.99; 3. Henry Manton (KINN), 4:46.55; 4. Karl Andre (DUM), 4:49.22; 5. Barrett, 4:49.29; 6. Kieran Fitzgerald (KINN), 4:54.22.

3,200: 1. John Reitz (PEQ), 9:56.73; 2. Zalfino, 10:12.32; 3. Frank Coppa (IH), 10:18.50; 4. Manton, 10:23.78; 5. Barrett, 10:23.99; 6. Lukas Kertesz (IH), 10:27.05.

55 HH: 1. William Cusick (CRES), 7.76 (record, old record, 7.86 by Roland Gamez, Hasbrouck Heights, 2013); 2. Maximus Daniels (IH), 7.82; 3. Nick Esposito (MP), 8.26; 4. Harrison Wortley (GR), 8.41; 5. Alexander Balbuena (DUM), 8.44.

Shot put: 1. Evan Yuzon (GR), 48-6; 3. Caeden Doyle (RAMS), 43-0 1/2; 4. Jake Douma (MP), 41-3; 5. Malvi Misha (DUM), 39-10 3/4.

High jump: 2. Leighton Kelly (GR), 5-8; 4. Brandon Willerton (PH), 5-6.

Pole vault: 1. Owen Keating (PL), 15-6 (record, old record, 14-1 by Chris Steele, Pompton Lakes, 2011); 2. Luciano Zizza (RAMS), 12-0; 3. Ben Malone (PH), 11-6; 4. Sebastian Estrada (DUM), 10-0; 6. Peter Forsdahl (EM), 9-6.

4-x-400 relay: 1. Glen Rock, 3:39.19; 2. Ramsey, 3:41.65; 3. Pascack Hills, 3:42.38; 4. Kinnelon, 3:42.90; 5. Hawthorne, 3:45.22; 6. Emerson, 3:54.04.

Girls

FULL TEAM SCORING: Ramsey (RAMS) 98 1/2; Dumont (DUM) 58; Wallkill Valley 34; Glen Rock (GR) 27; Pascack Hills (PH) 26; Butler (BUT) 18; Kinnelon (KINN) 16; Pompton Lakes (PL) 10; North Warren and Indian Hills (IH) 6; Pequannock (PEQ) and Waldwick (WAL) 3; Hawthorne (HAW) 2; Midland Park (MP) 1; Jefferson 1/2.

55: 1. Jenna Monaco (DUM), 7.36; 2. Surah Hinton (KINN), 7.64; 3. Iza Samu (GR), 7.65; 4. Makayla Newman (RAMS), 7.71; 5. Isabella Riotto (PH), 7.72; 6. Catherine Larsen (RAMS), 7.73.

400: 1. Julia Costa (RAMS), 1:00.82; 2. Katie Rubin, (RAMS), 1:03.52; 3. Meredith Colla (PH), 1:03.92; 4. Makayla Newman (RAMS), 1:04.75; 5. Keiry Nunez (DUM), 1:04.92; 6. Caroline Youn (GR), 1:05.11.

800: 1. Costa, 2:24.42; 2. Keira Hickey (PH), 2:25.48; 3. Katelyn Reuter (DUM). 2:27.06; 4. Rubin, 2:28.80; 5. Emmy Bender (RAMS), 2:29.60; 6. Hannah Reale (WAL), 2:36.06.

1,600: 2. Reuter, 5:20.02; 3. Hickey, 5:20.65; 4. Kaylee Finnegan (RAMS), 5:21.02; 5. Kate Marie Monaco (RAMS), 5:32.45; 6. Alessia Cerulo (KINN), 5:37.11.

3,200: 2. Finnegan, 11:54.32; 3. Camryn Finn (IH), 11:55.17; 4. Kate Marie Monaco, 12:15.67; 5. Brenna Heelan (WAL), 12:16.77; 6. Cerulo, 12:22.50.

55 HH: 1. Jenna Monaco, 8.35 (record, old record, 8.57 by Mel Lewis, Midland Park, 2011); 2. Samu, 8.73; 4. Taylor Peters (BUT), 9.32; 5. Claire Sittig (PEQ), 9.50; 6. Caeli O’Hara (RAMS), 9.55.

Shot put: 1. Julia Lukowiak (PL), 32-9 3/4; 3. Delia Mannion (RAM), 30-2 1/2; 4. Mia Corcoran (GR), 28-10 1/2; 5. Eden Meyer (RAMS), 25-0 1/2; 6. Ava Romano (MP), 24-1 1/2.

High jump: 1. Peters, 5-0; 2. Grace McGhee (RAMS), 5-0; 4. Anna Totyik (BUT), 4-10; 5. Hailey Nolan (KINN), 4-6; 6. Madelyn Malatino (RAM), 4-6.

Pole vault: 1. Jenna Monaco, 11-6; 2. Adrianna Graziano (RAMS), 9-0; 3. Nunez, 7-6; 4. Vanessa Braden-Corn, Kinnelon, 7-0; 5. Jaye Mandel (RAMS), 6-6.

4-x-400 relay: 1. Ramsey, 4:21.12; 2. Glen Rock, 4:26.04; 3. Dumont, 4:26.60; 4. Pascack Hills, 4:27.73; 5. Hawthorne, 4:29.37; 6. Pequannock, 4:43.59.

Group 2

Boys

FULL TEAM SCORING: Demarest (DEM) 107; Montville 54; River Dell (RD) 37; Old Tappan (OT) 33; Sparta 31; Dwight Morrow (DM), West Milford (WM) and Lakeland (LAKE) 10; Passaic Valley (PASSV) 8; West Essex and Leonia (LEO) 3; Mahwah (MAH), Pascack Valley (PASCV), Parsippany and Paramus (PARA) 1.

55: 1. Saundrae Palmer Jr. (DM), 6.59; 3. Adrian Cami (Dem), 6.71; 4. Adam Kaufman (DEM), 6.79; 6. Aidan Nally (OT), 6.81.

400: 1. Kaufman, 51.00; 2. Aidan Grivas (RD), 53.05; 5. Tsubasa Tsuzuki (LEO), 53.32; 6. Jordan Hirsch (MAH), 53.44.

800: 1. Luke Davis (DEM), 1:59.38; 2. Ivan Timochko (DEM), 2:01.54; 3. Brendan McNamara (OT), 2:02.23; 4. Chris Baxter (RD), 2:03.06; 5. Amadeo Bonde (DEM), 2:04.09.

1,600: 2. Benjamin Johnson (OT), 4:36.40; 4. McNamara, 4:36.61.

3,200: 2. Yahel Raviv (DEM), 9:59.77; 5. Johnson, 10:13.77; 6. Calvin Daou (LEO), 10:16.88.

55 HH: 1. Liam Paneque (DEM), 7.90; 2. Cami, 8.07; 3. Dean Marucci (RD), 8.16; 4. Jack Evancho (RD), 8.42; 5. Dinesh Doobay (RD), 8.42; 6. Cameron Sidrow (PASCV), 8.43.1.

Shot put: 1. Brody McCormack (LAKE), 49-8; 2. Tristan Puerta (PASSV), 49-3 1/4; 4. Luke Westlake (RD), 46-9; 5. Shane Small (OT), 46-8 1/2; 6. Seamus Gallagher (PARA), 45-8.

High jump: 1. Brendan Alef (DEM), 6-2; 2. Paneque, 6-0; 4. Tyler Meier (WM), 5-10; 5. Baxter Clark (DEM), 5-8; 6. Marucci, 5-8.

Pole vault: 1. Julian Fontanez (DEM), 11-6; 3. Massimo Balestrieri (WM), 10-6; 4. Junu Pak (OT), 10-6; 6. Kyle Pereira (DEM), 10-0.

4-x-400 relay: 1. Demarest, 3:31.75 (record, old record, 3:32.31 by Morris Hills, 2012); 2. River Dell, 3:36.20; 3. Old Tappan, 3:37.72.

Girls

FULL TEAM SCORING: Demarest (DEM) 79; Old Tappan (OT) 67; Parsippany 28; Lakeland (LAKE) and Westwood (WEST) 20; River Dell (RD) 17, Montville 14; Sparta 13; Paramus (PARA) and Leonia (LEO) 10; Mahwah (MAH), Passaic Valley (PASSV) and West Milford (WM) 8; Pascack Valley (PASCV) 7, West Essex (WE) 1.

55: 2. Harley Taylor (MAH), 7.45; 3. Jordan Myers (PAR), 7.50; Reilly Sati (WEST), 7.63.

400: 1. Gabrielle Rothstein (DEM), 59.44; 3. Samiya Bovell (RD), 60.45; 4. Myers, 61.13; 6. DeZyiah Carswell (PASSV), 62.47.

800: 1. Sophee Estrems (DEM), 2:25.13; 2. Catherine Wiley (LAKE), 2:26.44; 3. Nora Lee (OT), 2:27.74; 5. Rothstein, 2:28.36; 6. Alayna Antonucci (PASSV), 2:28.41.

1,600: 1. Estrems, 5:23.15; 2. Sophia Katechis (OT), 5:27.06; 3. Ciara Clinton (WM), 5:30.65; 4. Emme Fermin (OT), 5:31.33; 5. Brooke Colella (WEST), 5:32.92.

3,200: 1. Dominique Cameron (LEO), 11:48.09; 2. Katechis, 11:50.09; 3. Estrems, 11:58.94; 4. Fermin, 12:03.03; 5. Clinton, 12:10.35; 6. Aviv Mosayov (DEM), 12:21.58.

55 HH: 2. Kailey Attali (DEM), 8.96; 3. Brooke Wichmann (WEST), 9.00; 4. Jaelynn Vivanco (LAKE), 9.05; 5. Saar Tadmor (DEM), 9.11; 6. Olivia Rothstein (DEM), 9.14.

Shot put: 1. Maya Mikay (DEM), 36-9 1/2; 2. Isabel Hacker (RD), 35-0 1/4; 3. Alia Moreira (PASCV), 34-0 1/4; 4. Gianna DeMarco (OT), 34-0; 5. Isabella Andriulli (LAKE), 33-6 3/4; 6. Lucy Hacker (RD), 33-5.

High jump: 1. Wichmann, 5-5; 2. Caroline Ognibene (OT), 5-2; 3. Mackenzie Beazley (PASSV), 5-2; 4. Erika Gargano (DEM), 5-2; 6. Samantha Liew (DEM), 4-10.

Pole vault: 1. Jamie Kim (OT), 10-6; 2. Salome Sanchez (OT), 10-0; 3. Ognibene, 9-6; 4. Tadmor, 9-0; 6. Johanna Chang (PASCV), 7-0.

4-x-400 relay: 1. Demarest, 4:11.16; 3, Lakeland, 4:20.58; 5. River Dell, 4:23.32; 6. Old Tappan, 4:23.79.