Championship efforts by individuals and teams gained the spotlight this past weekend when our local scholastic stars continued to shine this spring on the fields, tracks, gyms and golf courses.
Freehold Township High School‘s distance running standout Ciara Roche was a triple winner at the Monmouth County Track and Field Championships. She won the 800 (2:09.88), 1,600 (4:58.15) and 3,200 (11:07.78) meter races. She is the first girl since Colts Neck’s Ashley Higginson in 2007 to sweep all three races at the meet.
This is the third straight year that the Cornell University-bound Roche has won both the 1,600 and 3,200 double at the championships held at Holmdel High School’s Bob Roggy Memorial Field
Desirae Osley of South Brunswick High School turned in the second fastest 400-meter dash time of the year in New Jersey, 55.65, in winning the Greater Middlesex Conference championship at the conference’s track and field meet in Old Bridge. The time was a new personal best for the Viking sprinter.
St. John Vianney pitcher Demi Rivera held Middletown North to just one run as the Lancers won their seventh consecutive Monmouth County Softball Tournament championship, 4-1.
The Lions got 10 hits off the Lancer pitcher, but Rivera pitched out of one jam after another in leading St. John Vianney to the victory.
Sayreville High School’s Kelly Duffy authored back-to-back no-hitters for the Bombers in the Greater Middlesex Conference Softball Tournament. She totaled 17 strikeouts in her consecutive no-hit gems. She has had six hits, four runs scored and six RBI as the Bombers beat East Brunswick Tech, 20-0 in three innings, and Dunellen, 19-0, in six innings.
Luca Daltri tossed a one-hit shutout in leading Christian Brothers Academy to a 4-0 victory over Red Bank Catholic in the Monmouth County Baseball Tournament championship game played at the Lakewood BlueClaws GPU Energy Park in Lakewood.
Dalatri struck out 15 as he won his 26th consecutive decision with the Colts. He helped himself with two hits, one a triple, and an RBI.
This was CBA’s third straight MCT title.
Samantha Mehalick scored seven goals and assisted on two as undefeated North Brunswick avenged last year’s loss in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title game with a convincing 21-12 victory over Monroe.
It was Monroe that dealt North Brunswick a 15-14 defeat in last year’s GMCT championship game.
Tatum Altman (five goals, two assists) and Victoria Tucci (two goals, five assists) had seven-point games for the 19-0 Raiders.
Rumson-Fair Haven captured its fourth straight Shore Conference Girls’ Lacrosse Tournament title by defeating rival Shore Regional, 13-5, at Monmouth University.
Morgan Steinhacker had two goals and an assist for the Bulldogs but, it was her dominance in winning draws the fueled the victory. Rumson, led by Steinhacker, won 17 of 20 draws against Shore, which helped the Bulldogs stay on offense.
The Bulldogs, who are 20-1, have won 20 straight games.
Robbie Garavente scored three goals to lead Rumson-Fair Haven’s boys’ lacrosse team to an 8-5 victory over Manasquan in the Shore Conference Tournament final played at Long Branch High School.
The boys’ victory coupled with the girls’ triumph gave Rumson-Fair Haven a sweep of the SCT lacrosse championships for the spring.
Goalie Joey Massoni stopped eight of the 10 shots he faced to help Monroe upset the No. 1 seed, St. Joseph’s of Metuchen, 8-3, in the Greater Middlesex Conference Boys’ Lacrosse Tournament final. The three goals were a season-low for St. Joe’s.
Erik Anderson and Peter Jarosiwicz, both scored two goals and had two assists, as Monroe avenged last year’s GMCT title-game loss to St. Joe’s.
Spotswood High School’s Evan Esposito won the NJSIAA Central/South Jersey Group I sectional golf championship by three strokes shooting a 73 on the Town and Country Golf Links in Woodstown.
Rumson-Fair Haven’s Reid Bedell won his second straight Central/South Jersey Group II title when he carded a 75 at the Running Deer Golf Course in Pittsgrove.
