SOUTH PLAINFIELD — Kevin Momnohin remembers his first day of track and field practice as a freshman. His first-year coach at Queen of Peace didn’t know any of the athletes so he placed a hurdle on the track and told everyone to go over.

“I was like, ‘Hurdles? What’s that? I don’t want to do it,’ ” Momnohin said. “He said, ‘You’re a real good athlete’ and he pushed me through it.

“I kept working and working and now I’m a three-time state champ.”

At Friday’s Non-Public B Championships, the Golden Griffins’ senior earned group crown No. 3 and stamped his ticket to Wednesday’s Meet of Champions by running the 400 hurdles in 55.41 seconds.

Momnohin, who led the state in rushing and scoring on the football field last fall, is out to prove his athletic success isn’t the result of lesser competition in the Non-Public field.

“I hear that a lot,” Momnohin said. “Everyone’s like, ‘He’s doing it at Queen of Peace … it’s not a big-time school.’ ’’

In the Non-Public B javelin competition, Hawthorne Christian’s Caleb Hart launched a personal-best throw of 189 feet, 10 inches to win the gold medal.

In the Group 1 javelin, Midland Park’s Seth Zuidema placed second with a heave of 207 feet, 7 inches – the third-best mark in Bergen County history.