By Paul Schwartz – Record Sports Department
TOMS RIVER — At the important preseason meeting where the Glen Rock boys and girls indoor track teams set their goals for the season, winning a first ever state sectional title for each gender was a prime aim, of course.
Well, no.
“We didn’t even think about state sectionals until after we took second in the Bergen County Relays two weeks ago,” said boys co-captain Andrew Roderich.
“We didn’t even think about it until we looked online yesterday (Friday),” said girls co-captain Selma Sose.
But as opportunities presented themselves Saturday morning, the Panthers took full advantage. They ended up sweeping the North 1, Group 1 boys and girls titles at the Bennett Center, the first time in the 11 years of the meet that the Panthers had won either meet.
“We’ve always been competitive in individual events,” said Joe McCabe, who won the 800, took third in the 1,600 behind teammate Andrew Laguttuta and anchored the second place 4-x-400 relay that clinched the 72-63 win over Mountain Lakes for the boys title. “It’s nice for our team to bring it all together to take the trophies home.”
The girls readily agreed.
“We’ve always focused on the leagues,” said Alex Walter, whose second place finish in the 3,200 assured their 63-50 win over Hasbrouck Heights even before the 4-x-400 relay’s fourth place finished completed the final margin. “But this time it was nice to come here and win.”
“We lost leagues to Hasbrouck Heights by two points so it was nice to have another chance,” said Walter’s twin Jean, who threw a personal best for second in the shot put behind teammate Karina Roze, the event that put the Panthers into the lead for good, four events into the 10 event meet.
“We have a small team but we scored in almost every event,” said Rachel McMahon, who was third in the 55 hurdles. After getting shut out in both 400s and the boys high jump it turned out to be the case as Glen Rock scored in 15 of the final 17 events.
The boys also used a 1-2 finish in the shot put to grab the lead, although the boys event came a little later in the program. But after Kyle Patel and Pierce Tuttle went 1-2, Glen Rock grabbed fifth in the 55 by Ashton Dalessio and Jared Forer set a personal best winning the pole vault on misses at 13-6. Laguttuta broke up a 1-2 finish by Mountain Lakes with a gutty second in the 3,200 and McCabe brought the Panthers from fourth to second on the last lap of the relay to complete the win.
