For the second year in a row, Hasbrouck Heights won both the boys and girls North 1, Group 1 sectional titles in convincing fashion.
The boys side earned its second straight title (8th overall) with 164 points, while the girls side made it four straight with a whopping 177.50 points. The Lady Aviators have won 10 sectional titles in their program history.
“The sectional championship is always our goal to start out the season, we always want to try and make sure you can build a a team that’s strong enough to compete at that level,” Hasbrouck Heights coach Rob Brady said. “Our goal by the end of May is for us to have multiple kids scoring in multiple events, and we’ve been very fortunate to have some great kids come in the program the past several years. And they really bought into a team first mindset.”
Hasbrouck Heights came into this meet as heavy favorites to win both titles. The boys team has won every major team title this year, including a county relay and county championship (Group C), along with the NJIC American Division title. The girls, who are the defending Group 1 state champions, also won a division title this year.
However, neither team came into today’s meet with the mindset that this was going to be a cakewalk.
“No matter what it looks like on paper or on Milesplit, we never feel like that we have a huge advantage or anything because ultimately the kids have to perform,” Brady said. “We tell our kids during the week that no one has to go out there and do anything crazy, you just have to do what you’ve normally been doing, and it takes some of the pressure off them. On Day 1, the kids were pretty relaxed and competed at a high level and it gave us a nice cushion for Day 2, which took even more pressure off us and then we were able to perform at a higher level.”
It was certainly a full-team effort for Hasbrouck Heights girls team, but Lexi Samperi’s versatility proved to be crucial in helping the Aviators dominate the way that they did. Samperi, a Marist commit, posted a N.J. No. 4 mark of 18-9.50 in the long jump, her best performance in the event since the Hasbrouck Heights Penn Relay Qualifer in 2023. She also won the 100 (12.40), 200 (25.75), and the 100 hurdles (15.33), resetting school records in all three events.
“That was her best high school meet as an athlete for us,” Brady said. “I’ve never seen her that locked in and focused on helping the team and putting aside to help the team win.”
Elsewhere on the track, freshman Gina Minichiello picked up two sliver medals in the 200 dash (26.61) and 400 hurdles (1:06.78), while Sarah Vinas added sliver medals in the 100 (13.07) and 400 dash (1:00.29).
The girls also took care of business in the field events, most notably going 1-2 in the shot put with Elliot Eddy (38-1.75) and Samantha Russo (36-10.5). Eddy is committed to West Point to continue her throwing career.
For the boys, a balanced effort from their sprinters, distance runners and throwers proved to be crucial to their success. The Aviators captured both the 4×100 (44.01) and 4×400 (3:31.13). Michael Napolitano, who contributed to the two winning relays, placed second in the 100 dash (11.09) and 200 dash (22.62).
Aidan Morrow led the charge in the distance events, claiming gold in the 1600 (4:22.65) and 3200 (9:51.63). Ryan Ober and Morrow went 1-2 in the 800, with Ober winning in 2:00.20. Ober also placed second in the 400 (51.29) and 400 hurdles (58.13).
“His development has been incredible,” Brady said about Ober. “Last year, he couldn’t even make our Penn Relays 4×400, and now he’s the best 400 dash runner on our team. He’s one of our jack-of-all trade kids, because he ran on our shuttle hurdles team in (indoor) track, runs the 400 hurdles, 400 dash, 800 run, mile, 4×400, so he’s very useful in big meets.
Hasbrouck Heights dominated the throws. In the shot put, Oscar Solis (50-5.50) and Joe Formisano placed first and third respectively. Solis and Joe Russo would go 2-3 in the discus, while javelin throwers Brady Shine (168-2) and Tyler Cappadona (154-11) placed second and fifth in that event.
Corey Annan can be reached at cannan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him @coreyannan360.
