PALISADES PARK – Eastern Christian had just enough balance to pull a major victory at Tuesday’s North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Colonial Division girls track and field championships.
The Eagles finished with 104 1/2 points, edging Hawthorne (101) and Glen Rock (98) at Overpeck County Park.
Blair Bohuny, a sophomore from Ridgewood, won the high jump for Eastern Christian at 4-8. Senior captain Sarah Post took first in the pole vault for the Eagles at 9-6.
“We came up big in the sprints and jumps and Hawthorne was strong in the weights and the hurdles,” said Eastern Christian coach Joel Apol. “The difference was we did well in some of the other events in the hurdles and some of the weights. We piled up our points in a lot of different categories and that’s what pulled us through.”
Lyndsey Smith was third in the 200 and third in the 400; Chandler West was second in the 100 for Eastern Christian. Also scoring for the Eagles were Erin Van Lenten, who was third in the triple jump and the 800 and Kathryn Post, who was third in the 3,200 and fourth in the 1,600.
Eastern Christian was missing perhaps its top athlete in Bethany Van Eck, a strong hurdles, high jumper and triple jumper, who is out for the year with an injury. The senior from Clifton will attend Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., next year to compete in track and field.
The Eagles, who won the Colonial for the second year in a row, were going against stronger competition this time as Hawthorne, Rutherford and Glen Rock are all newcomers to the division.
“I think that’s why this year’s victory is maybe a little more satisfying that what we did last year,” Apol said. “We were going up against some very impressive teams that had a lot of power in most of the events.”
Hawthorne’s Jenna Dyksen doubled in the girls Colonial Division, claiming the gold in the 100 hurdles in 15.4 and the triple jump in 35-5.
“I’m happy with what I did, especially in the triple since it was near a personal record [35-6],” said Dyksen, “The weather [70 degrees] was positive and I had a good time in the hurdles, too. Overall it was a good all-around performance but I want to improve by the counties [at Wayne Hills on May 14-15].”
Cresskill won the girls Patriot Division with 133 1/2 points.Waldwick (73) took second and Emerson (72 1/2) third.
Leading the way for the Cougars was Tania Pabon, who won the discus in 121-3.
Cresskill also took first in the boys Patriot Division with 122 points to 89 for Bogota and 84 for Park Ridge. Peter Chamalian won the long jump at 21-3 1/2 and the triple jump at 46-3 for Cresskill.
Nick Oravetz tripled for Waldwick in the Patriot Division, taking the 100 in 11.2, the 200 in 22.9 and the 400 in 51.5. Also winning three events in the Patriot Division was Emerson’s Stefan Morton with a 2:03.5 in the 800, a 4:34.1 in the 1,600 and a 10:19.8 in the 3,200.
In the boys Colonial Division the winner was Lodi, who ran away with 162 points. Pompton Lakes (92) was second and Rutherford (78) third.
Lodi’s Wallace Payne won three events, taking the 100 in 11.2, the long jump at 21-2 3/4 and the triple jump at 44-6 1/4.
