WF’S KEITH, DALY, VALENCIA SWEEP 1600, WIN 4X400

Prepared by DAVID B. CORBIN

The Westfield High School boys took top honors in six events to place second at the Union County Track & Field Championships held at Hub Stine Field in Plainfield on May 2122. The Scotch Plains-Fanwood girls claimed one individual champion and placed third. The Union Catholic Viking boys with 135 points and the Viking girls with 171 points won the team titles.

The Blue Devil boys finished with a total of 114, followed distantly by Elizabeth at 69 and the Raiders at 31.5. The Cranford Cougars placed ninth with 18 points. For the girls, the Oak Knoll Royals were second with 54 points, followed by the Raiders at 41.5, Cranford at 40 and Westfield at 37.5.

The big sweep for the Blue Devil boys came in the 1,600 when Avery Keith at 4:12.96, Ryan Daly at 4:13.12 and Alex Valencia at 4:15.38 finished 1-2-3. Viking Alex Saldana, who finished fourth at 4:17.34, did offer a challenge but the Blue Devil threesome added kick down the home stretch.

Another big win came in the 4×400 when Rowan McMahill, Noah Petrassi, Jimmy Gildea and Manny Gayanilo crossed the line in 3:21.33. Raiders Anderson Pollack, Beckham Quinn,Ameen Zubair and Blake Jackson finished sixth at 3:31.87. Gayanilo crossed the line first in the 400-hurdles with a time of 53.9 and teammate Tyler Pietrewicz was seventh at 59.03. McMahill finished third in the 200 at 22.25 and Gayanilo was seventh at 22.71.

Valencia at a personal best 1:53.52, Daly at 1:55.27 (personal best) and Gildea at 1:56.71 finished 1-3-5 in the 800. Tage Mehta crossed first in the 3,200 with a time of 9:33.91, while Graham Korins at 9:40.66 and Eamon Mason at 9:55.12 finished 58. Blue Devils Jeremy Cruz with a toss of 164-10 and Max Cho at 1636 (both personal bests) placed 1-2 in the javelin, followed by Cougar Alex Kessler at 157-6, Blue Devil Lincoln Meyers at 152-10 and Raider Noah Ricca at 151-0.

Cougar Art Hrycak won the discus with a toss of 159-5. Raider Zuriel Battle took third at 143-7 and Blue Devil Noah Rubenstein was fifth at 134-0. Raider Ian Hopkins finished third in the 110-hurdles at 14.7 and teammates Zubair at 15.35 and Justin Larkin at 15.42 finished 6-8. Rubenstein took fourth in the shot put with a shove of 48-8, followed by Cougar Ben Fossella at 47-5.5.

Viking Dylan Willians took first in the 100 at 10.86, while Raider Zubair at 11.1 and McMahill at 11.16 fin- ished 3-4. Raider Chase Hagler placed fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 42-5. Blue Devil Niko Lukis at 5-10 and Raider Hopkins at the same height placed 5-6 in the high jump. UC Viking Justice Hicks soared 23-0 to win the long jump. Hagler was seventh at 20-5.5, followed by AL Johnson’s Emilio Menicucci at 20-1.75. Raider Pollack took third in the pole vault at 11-0 and Blue Devil Andrew Geocos (personal best) was fifth at the same height.

The UC Vikings girls were gobbling up most of the first places, especially when Taylor Cox set a meet record by crossing first in the 100hurdles at 13.5. Blue Devils Sean O’Brien at 14.9 and Lilly Petrie at 15.59 finished 3-6, followed by Raiders Keziah Acedieu at 15.6 and Zoe Hopkins at 15.69. Vikings Cox at 11.66 and Taylor Aska at 11.76 crossed 1-2 in the 100, followed by Raider Delaney Farley at 11.83. O’Brien was fifth at 12.15 and Raider Keira Kelly was seventh at 12.67.

Aska took first in the 200 at 23.86, followed by Farley at 24.16. Blue Devil Darcy Sheiner finished fifth at 25.36 and Kelly was sixth at 25.37. UC Viking freshmen Paige Sheppard at 4:52.38, Sophia Thompson at 4:57.92 and Kayla Devine at 5:00.49 swept the 1,600, followed by Cougar Courtney Toy at 5:16.15. Raider Malissa Morabito was seventh at 5:23.95. Oak Knoll Royals freshman Reagan Moore finished first in the 400 with a time of 55.7 and Cougar Ellie Semple finished eighth at 59.46.

Raider Sarah Sicoli won the pole vault with a height of 10-6. Blue Devils Lina Wright and Juliet Pitta, and Raider Eva Pereira all at 8-6 placed 4-5 and 5 (tie), respectively. Raider Mackenzie Virgil took second in the javelin with a toss of 121-0. Blue Devil Priscilla Dayon was fourth at 111-9 and Raider Maggie McNulty was seventh at 100-9. Cougar Kristen Fries took third in the shot put with a shove of 36-9.5 Cougar Sanaa Wright won the high jump with a clearance of 5-4, followed by Blue Devil Gabby Demeter at 5-2. Demeter took fifth in the long jump with a distance of 17-3. Fries was fifth in the discus with a toss of 104-11 and Blue Devil Livia Reyes was seventh at 98-1. Raider Danielle Kramer placed third in the triple jump with a distance of 36-6. Cougar Damara Barnes took fifth at 35-7.25 and Blue Devil Petrie was eighth at 34-9.

UC Viking Sydney Chadwick took first in the 400-hurdles at 1:02.29. Cougars Isabella Alvarez-Gomez at 1:05.74 and Lilly Costello at 1:06.47 finished 5-6, followed by Petrie at 1:06.74 and Semple at 1:07.13. Cougar Courtney Toy finished sixth in the 800 at 2:19.34, followed by Blue Devil Anna Kylish at 2:20.5. Cougar Caitlin Owens finished third in the 3,200 at 12:16.01.

Blue Devils Scheiner, Demeter, Alexis Ray and Kylish finished second in the 4×400 with a time of 4:00.63, followed by Cougars Alvarez-Gomez, Costello, Maddy Leonetti and Kristen Ledford at 4:03.09. Raiders Savannah Hudson, Farley, Maddy Valera and Abi Elliott finished sixth at 4:12.73