By Tim Morris
After her brilliant triple at the Monmouth County Track and Field Championships, Freehold Township High School’s Ciara Roche had little to prove at the Shore Conference meet.
The Patriots’ senior took it easy, competing in only the 1,600 meters and running it only to win and not for time. The result was another championship for Roche, as her lethal kick left three Southern Regional High School runners in her wake. She won the championship in 5:00.33.
The Shore Conference meet was held May 21 at Central Regional High School, where the NJSIAA Meet of Champions will be held June 8. Roche hopes to make a triumphant return there and capture the only championship missing from her extraordinary high school résumé.
Roche was one of a quartet of Freehold Regional High School District girls to win conference championships.
Howell High School’s Rachel Kern continued her dominance in the javelin, completing the county-conference double with a throw of 129-0.
Kern’s teammate, Niamh Hayes, who won her first conference title indoors in the 3,200-meter run, added the outdoor 3,200 to her championship collection. The Rebels’ junior turned in her fastest time of the spring at 10:53.82 to win by more than 15 seconds.
Hayes and Kern helped the Rebels finish in a tie with Middletown High School North for third place with 34 points.
Marlboro High School’s Gianna Gomez was a medal winner at the county championships in the long jump. She also went to the top of the medal stand in Berkley Township at the conference meet with a monumental jump that was measure at 17-11¼,which is one of the longest in district history (her second-best jump, 17-3, was the second best of the competition). Gomez’s jump also broke the oldest standing girls school record at Marlboro. In 1987. Lorelie Boggs had leaped 17-9 to establish the school mark that would stand for 29 years.
Gomez, a sophomore, has plenty of time to improve on her new school record.
Manalapan High School’s Ania Czajkowski was third (17-1¼).
District relay teams finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the 4×400.
Colts Neck led the way in fourth with Julia Saffaye, Sarah Elice, Katrina Balzotti and Meredith Schaffer. Their time was 4:13.23.
Behind the Cougars was Manalapan with Julianna Traina, Kaitlin Pensabene, Camila Marrero and Ledawn Holder (4:14.38) and Howell with Alanna Baker, Megan Barreto, Julia Wiemken and Erin Cannon (4:16.34).
Marlboro sprinter Danielle Spano, who won the county 100-meter dash, was fifth in the century at the conference meet (12.74).
Brianna Mullan took fourth in the 400-meter dash for Marlboro (1:00.69) and Alicia Zhou was fifth in the pole vault (9-6).
The Mustangs were 11th with 18 points.
Howell thrower Stephanie Bock, the county shot put winner, helped the Rebels’ effort with her third-place showing in both the shot put (41-3¾) and discus (124-0).
Sprinter David Galarza of Howell was a triple medal winner to lead the boys at the Shore Conference Championships. He was third in the half-lap 200 (22.29) and fourth in the full lap 400 (50.32). He anchored the Rebels’ 4×400 to second place in 3:29.66.
William Bajohr, Simes Glebavicius and Alex Behan ran the first three legs on the relay.
Colts Neck’s foursome of Alexander Austin, Travis Kirk, Rob Schandall and Owen Keusch was fifth (3:36.46).
Other medal winners were Marlboro’s Kwaku Amponsah, fourth in the 100 (11.25); Freehold Township’s Nicholas Ackerman, fifth in the 1,600 (4:25.38); Marlboro’s Charles Maree, fifth in the 800 (1:55.82); Manalapan’s Mike McNicholas, sixth in the 200 (22.82); Manalapan’s Andrew Comito, fifth in the 3,200 (9:34.33); Colts Neck’s Ryan Tompkins (6-4), Freehold Township’s Stephen Staklinski (6-2) and Adrian Barajas (6-0), second, third and sixth in the high jump; and Howell’s Evan Hodousek, third in the pole vault (12-6).
The road to the Meet of Champions begins this weekend with the NJSIAA sectionals, May 27-28. The Central Jersey, Group IV meet (Freehold High School, Freehold Township, Manalapan and Marlboro) is at Hillsborough High School; Central Jersey, Group III (Colts Neck) is at Northern Burlington County Regional High School; and South Jersey, Group IV (Howell) will be at Egg Harbor Township High School.
The top six finishers in each event at the sectionals will advance to the Group Championships the following weekend (June 3-4).
