Advertisement

Morristown girls, Randolph boys win Morris County Relays team titles

jane havsy, morristown daily record
·10 min read
Frank Zarro of Randolph in the intermediate hurdles held during the Randolph Relays on May 12, 2021.
Frank Zarro of Randolph in the intermediate hurdles held during the Randolph Relays on May 12, 2021.

RANDOLPH — As Frank Zarro sat on the turf at Randolph's John Bauer Field to take off his spikes, his teammates brought over a camp chair and insisted he take a seat. Zarro had just anchored the Rams' 4x400 to second place, which sealed the Morris County Relays team title.

"We took care of you," Randolph thrower Patrick Gilchrist quipped, holding up his medal.

Said Zarro, a Randolph senior who was part of the first-place intermediate hurdles and long jump, "It feels good to bring my team up. I couldn't do it without them. They're who drive me in my workouts."

Zarro singled out sophomore Daniel Byrne's performance on the 4x4 and the 400-meter leg of the distance medley, hurdler Matt Hyatt, and his older brother, Rams jumps coach Anthony Zarro.

Randolph won the shuttle and intermediate hurdles, long and triple jumps, and javelin, totaling 98.5 points – the hosts' third straight championship, and fifth in the last six seasons.

Morristown's Aaliyah Murphy crosses the finish line in a 4x400 relay Thursday, April 28, 2022 at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. Morristown placed first in the event.
Morristown's Aaliyah Murphy crosses the finish line in a 4x400 relay Thursday, April 28, 2022 at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. Morristown placed first in the event.

Morristown had a much tighter battle en route to its first girls Morris County Relays team plaque since 2009. The Colonials edged Roxbury's field-driven squad, 69 to 57, despite winning only the 4x200 and intermediate hurdles.

Morristown placed in 11 of the 16 events. The Randolph boys, meanwhile, scored points in all but the 4x1,600.

Penn Relays: Chatham boys 4x800, Morristown girls 4x100 advance to finals

"What you did can't be done," longtime Colonials coach Gordon Drewery repeated to one athlete after another.

"We put everything together. Everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do. Everything we did counted."

Back from break

NJSIAA Track & Field Meet of Champions at Jost Field in South Plainfield on Saturday, June 19, 2021. (Left) Keshon Holt, of Passaic Tech, and Joshua Babe, of Morris Hills, compete in the 200-meter final.
NJSIAA Track & Field Meet of Champions at Jost Field in South Plainfield on Saturday, June 19, 2021. (Left) Keshon Holt, of Passaic Tech, and Joshua Babe, of Morris Hills, compete in the 200-meter final.

Assistant coach Aaron King, a former Morris Hills multi-eventer, predicted a show from senior Josh Babe at Morris County Relays. Babe delivered a pair of victories in his return to championship season.

Babe broke his right fibula and tore ligaments in his ankle during football season. He couldn't walk for two months, and was in physical therapy for the next four — with added plyometrics, speed work, and what King described as "a very strict strength program to get that pop back in his legs."

Babe's goal was to be back on the track for Morris Hills in the spring. He anchored the Scarlet Knights' winning 4x100 and 4x200 on Wednesday.

"I knew I was going to miss indoor, but I couldn't miss outdoor," he said. "I had to get one full season. It's amazing. I think I'm faster when I got back."

Said King, "I asked him today, 'How many workouts have you done in your entire career? This is the last time you're going to run here in these relays.' He's never going to get these moments back."

Mission accomplished

Jeffrey Cianfrocca has "had my eyes set" on the Delbarton high jump record since he arrived at the school. He broke the freshman record, "and from there, it has been, 'OK, school record.'"

Cianfrocca tied the record of 6-foot-7 in semi-darkness on Wednesday, matching the mark set by Marcus Hickerson in 1987 – decades before he was born.

Delbarton finished third in the high jump. Cianfrocca also threw a personal-best 130-1 to help the Green Wave place first in discus.

"Last year, I didn't progress as much as I wanted. I only hit my previous (personal best) once," said Cianfrocca, a Long Valley resident. "This winter, I cleared 6-6 for the indoor school record. I've had my eyes set on this goal for so long."

Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.

Want to share your story with me?

Email: JHavsy@gannett.com Twitter: @dailyrecordspts

Girls results

Jordan Robinson of Morristown finishes the girls 4 x 100 relay.
Jordan Robinson of Morristown finishes the girls 4 x 100 relay.

Team scores: Morristown 69; Roxbury 57; Mendham 52; Chatham 48; Randolph 44; Mount Olive 36; Morris Hills 32; Morris Knolls 26; Pequannock 24; Whippany Park 21; Mountain Lakes 16; West Morris 15; Morris Catholic 13; Boonton 11; Kinnelon 5; Madison 3; Parsippany Hills 2; Villa Walsh 1

4x100: 1. Mount Olive (Jianna Gorospe, Sydney Dugan, Michaela Eason, Sophia Redmond) 50.06; 2. Morristown 50.36; 3. Roxbury 51.3; 4. Morris Knolls 51.63; 5. Morris Hills 51.86; 6. Whippany Park 52.44.

4x200: 1. Morristown (Jordan Robinson, Jobella Estiverne, Aaliyah Murphy, Nia Freeman) 1:46.09; 2. Mount Olive 1:48.39; 3. Chatham 1:48.94; 4. Morris Knolls 1:51.13; 5. Morris Hills 1:51.29; 6. Morris Catholic 1:51.61.

4x400: 1. Chatham (Lauren Tracey, Ella Spina, Katelyn Hoffelder, Elsa Spoor) 4:07.64; 2. Morristown 4:12.11; 3. Morris Knolls 4:14.14; 4. Mendham 4:14.74; 5. Whippany Park 4:17.81; 6. Morris Hills 4:19.32.

4x800: 1. Chatham (Sarah Petitjean, Elsa Spoor, Lauren Davis, Kelsea Lee) 9:54.79; 2. Mendham 9:57.97; 3. Roxbury 10:29; 4. Morristown 10:32.95; 5. Randolph 10:37; 6. Morris Hills 10:38.67.

4x1,600: 1. Mendham (Ava Augustine, Emma Barcelona, Grace Vives, Megan Smith) 22:21.29; 2. Roxbury 23:03.73; 3. Morristown 23:03.81; 5. Morris Hills 23:27.09; 6. Kinnelon 23:31.08.

Sprint medley: 1. Mountain Lakes (Maya Ritchie, Polina Dolinsky, Kendall Palazzi, Grace Wills) 4:18.64; 2. Morris Hills 4:21.27; 3. Morris Catholic 4:24.27; 4. Mendham 4:28.59; 5. Madison 4:28.66; 6. Whippany Park 4:28.95.

NJAC large-school cross country championships was held at Central Park of Morris County on October 27, 2020. #2555 Grace Vives of Mendham HS placed second with a time of 19:33.98.
NJAC large-school cross country championships was held at Central Park of Morris County on October 27, 2020. #2555 Grace Vives of Mendham HS placed second with a time of 19:33.98.

Distance medley: 1. Mendham (Grace Vives, Sophia Draxler, Ava Augustine, Emma Barcelona) 12:37.28; 2. Chatham 13:29.2; 3. Mountain Lakes 13:37.51; 4. Morris Catholic 13:39.94; 5. Roxbury 13:44.66; 6. West Morris 13:45.91

Shuttle hurdles: 1. Randolph (Ariyana Jackson, Lauren Alley, Keira Davies, Erin Finley) 1:08.33; 2. Mendham 1:09.79; 3. Morristown 1:10.04; 4. Chatham 1:11.52; 5. Boonton 1:13.25; 6. Roxbury 1:13.65.

Intermediate hurdles: 1. Morristown (Aaliyah Murphy, Bayliss Simon, Emma Klein) 3:32.2; 2. Mendham 3:32.38; 3. Mount Olive 3:33.85; 4. Randolph 3:38.36; 5. Parsippany Hills 3:40.26; 6. Villa Walsh 3:42.73.

High jump: 1. West Morris (Jillian Nestor, Alison Angley, Lydia Stepanenko) 14-4; 2. Boonton 14-2; 3. Chatham 13-10; 4. Kinnelon 13-7; 5. Morristown 13-6; 6. Roxbury 13-5.

Long jump: 1. Randolph (Erin Finley, Ariyana Jackson, Vivian Barry) 49-1; 2. Morristown 48-0; 3. Morris Hills 47-10.5; 4. Mount Olive 47-6; 5. Morris Catholic 46-3.5; 6. Roxbury 45-2.5.

Triple jump: 1. Morris Hills (Adianna Agbo, Hannah Shih, Dhriti Singareddy) 98-0.25; 2. Mount Olive 95-2.25; 3. Morristown 95-2; 4 Randolph 94-0.25; 5. Whippany Park 90-7.5; 6. Boonton 89-8.

Pole vault: 1. Roxbury (Alexis Merola, Katherine Cammarata, Kaitlyn Duras) 25-6.

Shot put: 1. Roxbury (Willow Bradey, Danielle Meribe, Marie Torode) 99-0.5; 2. Randolph 95-10; 3. Pequannock 84-10.75; 4. Morris Knolls 84-3.5; 5. West Morris 82-6; 6. Whippany Park 81-11.75.

Discus: 1. Roxbury (Danielle Meribe, Willow Bradley, Ella Izzi) 293-5; 2. Pequannock 275-9; 3. Whippany Park 263-2; 4. Morris Knolls 247-4; 5. West Morris 2424; 6. Morristown 233-10.

Javelin: 1. Pequannock (Isabella D'Alessio, Samantha Gordon, Alexandra Giannetto) 276-7; 2. Whippany Park 268-4; 3. Randolph 262-9; 4. Morris Knolls 260-0; 5. Roxbury 240-5; 6. Madison 230-0.

Boys results

Team scores: Randolph 98.5; Morris Knolls 68; Delbarton 58; Morris Hills 44; Chatham 35; Mendham 31; Mount Olive 29; Boonton 26; Kinnelon 19; West Morris 17; Roxbury 16; Pequannock 15; Parsippany 14; Morristown 11.5; Whippany Park 7; Dover 2; Madison and Montville 1

4x100: 1. Morris Hills (David Turner, Matthew Laux, Jarred Saltz, Joshua Babe) 43.63; 2. Morris Knolls 44.11; 3. Roxbury 44.35; 4. Randolph 44.59; 5. Kinnelon 44.63; 6. Mendham 45.09.

4x200: 1. Morris Hills (David Turner, Matthew Laux, Cristian Cruz, Joshua Babe) 1:30.63; 2. Randolph 1:32.34; 3. Parsippany 1:33.15; 4. West Morris 1:33.48; 5. Mount Olive 1:34.57; 6. Whippany Park 1:34.74.

4x400: 1. Chatham (Charles Henne, Aidan Johnson, Ted Joel, Kaye Stevenson) 3:28.29; 2. Randolph 3:29.44; 3. Morris Knolls 3:30.63; 4. Morris Hills 3:33.04; 6. Mendham 3:34.04; 6. Kinnelon 3:34.36.

4x800: 1. Delbarton (Brian Boler, Collin Boler, Everett Jania, Patrick McMahon) 8:12.23; 2. Morris Knolls 8:21.32; 3. Randolph 8:22.59; 4. Mount Olive 8:30.28; 5. Morris Hills 8:30.81; 6. West Morris 8:30.92.

4x1,600: 1. Delbarton (Reagan Crann, John Cuzzocrea, David Collini, Brian Boler) 18:52.43; 2. West Morris 18:56.72; 3. Mendham 18:58.61; 4. Kinnelon 19:13.11; 5. Parsippany 19:14.58; 6. Madison 19:23.02.

Sprint medley: 1. Delbarton (J.P. Cafasso, Noah Bisrat Fesseha, Collin Boler, Reagan Crann) 3:33.31; 2. Morris Hills 3:33.6; 3. Morris Knolls 3:35.4; 4. Randolph 3:36.27; 5. Roxbury 3:40.09; 6. Morristown 3:41.82.

Sam Ellis crosses the finish line in the final leg as his team won the boys 4x1600 held during Morris County Relays on May 12, 2021. The Chatham boys relay team ran 18:09.09, the No. 1 time in New Jersey so far this season.
Sam Ellis crosses the finish line in the final leg as his team won the boys 4x1600 held during Morris County Relays on May 12, 2021. The Chatham boys relay team ran 18:09.09, the No. 1 time in New Jersey so far this season.

Distance medley: 1. Chatham (Ryan Beegle, Sam Ellis, Charles Henne, Aidan Johnson) 10:32.46; 2. Mendham 11:09.81; 3. Morristown 11:11.58; 4. Roxbury 11:15.99; 5. Randolph 11:23.73; 6. Mount Olive 11:11.7.

Shuttle hurdles: 1. Randolph (Chris Zeris, Daniel Pinyan, Elias Zeris, Matthew Hyatt) 1:04.69; 2. Morris Knolls 1:05.15; 3. Mendham 1:05.39; 4. Morris Hills 1:09.4; 5. Morristown 1:09.54; 6. Boonton 1:09.96.

Intermediate hurdles: 1. Randolph (Frank Zarro, Matthew Hyatt, Elias Zeris) 2:53.09; 2. Morris Knolls 2:59.48; 3. Boonton 3:00.85; 4. Mendham 3:02.29; 5. Morristown 3:02.96; 6. Pequannock 3:09.37.

High jump: 1. Boonton (Ethan Volante, Ibrahim Fall, Nate Prater) 17-3; 2. Kinnelon 17-0; 3. Delbarton 16-10; 4. Morris Knolls 16-4; 5. West Morris 16-3; 6. Morristown and Randolph 16-0.

Long jump: 1. Randolph (Frank Zarro, Luke Traverso, Andrew Zwillman) 61-4.24; 2. Mount Olive 61-3; 3. Parsippany 60-4; 4. Roxbury 59-4.25; 5. Kinnelon 58-5.25; 6. Boonton 58-4.25.

Triple jump: 1. Randolph (Luke Traverso, Brendan Cox, Josh Bodnar) 119-4.5; 2. Boonton 118-1.5; 3. Mount Olive 116-6.5; 4. Mendham 112-2.5; 5. Delbarton 111-3; 6. Morris Knolls 107-2.

Pole vault: 1. Chatham (Ted Joel, Joseph DeCandia, P.J. Henwood) and Morris Knolls (John Robinson, Owen Browne, Dylan Brookes) 31-6; 3. Whippany Park 31-0; 4. Randolph 27-0.

Ikechukwu Nnaeto of Delbarton in the shot put at the Morris County Track and Field Championships held in Boonton, NJ on May 26, 2021.
Ikechukwu Nnaeto of Delbarton in the shot put at the Morris County Track and Field Championships held in Boonton, NJ on May 26, 2021.

Shot put: 1. Delbarton (Ikechukwu Nnaeto, Nigel McSween, Adrian Pierre) 134-11.25; 2. Mount Olive 130-9.5; 3. Morris Knolls 127-0.5; 4. Randolph 125-9; 5. Morris Hills 117-7.75; 6. West Morris 110-0.5.

Discus: 1. Delbarton (Nigel McSween, Jeffrey Cianfrocca, Jacob Klug) 378-2; 2. Randolph 350-1; 3. Pequannock 343-0; 4. Morris Hills 319-8; 5. Dover 297-8; 6. West Morris 297-5.

Javelin: 1. Randolph (Brian DeLorenzo, Ryan Mohr, Niko Fox) 419-8; 2. Pequannock 406-6; 3. Chatham 380-8; 4. Morris Knolls 378-0; 5. Kinnelon 362-8; 6. Montville 352-8.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Morris County Relays: Morristown girls, Randolph boys win titles