Week 5 Race To The Finish: Hillsborough Raider Rumble Throwers Meet
The first thing everyone is going to ask me is how can you call this week’s writeup a race to the finish? You didn’t go to a traditional track meet with relays, sprinters, distance runners or jumpers!
You are right. I attended a unique event which featured only the field events, highlighting the javelin, discus and shot-put throwers.
Hillsborough's head girls track and field coach Rich Refi, along his field coach Rocco Mazzagatti, believed what over 300 boys and girls did too, “why not us”!
“It’s nice to get these kids the attention they deserve, all the points count the same," Refi said. “We score a lot of points with our throwers.”
No truer words were spoken, as the host Lady Raiders dominated the competition with six place winners in each of the three field events.
Seniors Claudia DeRasmo and Elynna Volkova took gold and silver in the discus with DeRasmo outdistancing her teammate by nearly 10 feet with a heave of 111-07 and the bronze medalist by an impressive 17 feet.
Sophomores Michaela Ruffa and Jessica Gilette captured first and sixth place for Hillsborough in the shot put with Ruffa doing the heavy lifting with a toss of 34-08.5.
Junior Olivia Willemsen, from Piscataway, was the only visiting challenger who spoiled the hometown girls sweep of gold medals in the inaugural Raider Rumble.
Willemsen found herself in the spotlight as all eyes were on her in the final event of the day, the javelin, which was the only throwing area shared by the boys and girls.
Calmly, the junior battled the everchanging wind conditions and the competition setting a new PR while winning a gold medal in the javelin with a toss of 118-10.
Hillsborough’s Khadijah Colburn and Anna Dao finished second and third in the final event, while a total of 14 different Raiders girls competed in the well-run showcase event.
The boys competition was led by Union County participants Westfield and Elizabeth garnering nine of the 18 place winner positions for the three field events.
Junior Owen Paul of Westfield took gold in the shot put with an early toss of 48-0 feet which left the competition scrambling to play catch up right through the finals. His silver in the discus made him the only Blue Devils competitor to win multiple medals.
The remaining four Westfield place winners featured junior Mason Marino’s silver medal in the javelin with a throw of 153-10 and sophomores Max Cho and Jeremy Cruz both throwing 150-0 plus feet for fourth and fifth positions.
Elizabeth’s three place winners were seniors Dominick Stewart and Nazeem Muhammad in the shot put earning fourth and fifth place, while junior Bryan Alvarez Benitez took the bronze medal in the discus with a throw of 118-04 feet.
Mercer County was led by Hightstown’s Manbir Guron’s impressive showing in the discus as he consistently sailed the saucer through the wind while dominating the competition by nearly 30 feet.
His heave of 165-11 in the finals has put him in the conversation as one of the state’s top throwers in the discus while the fans and participants alike knew what they were witnessing was something special.
With the crowd exhorting on the senior with chants and rhythmic clapping, we all watched in awe as his final throw sailed past the final painted line in the throwing area only to be disqualified with a late foul call by the judge.
Rest assured, you will hear more about this Hightstown senior who also took silver in the shot put as the season progresses.
Junior Henry Zief from Princeton came in as one of the favorites to win the javelin and he did not disappoint with his gold medal hurl of 161-01 in the finals. He threw a little under eight feet over his number one seed mark of 153-7.
The hometown Raiders boys’ team was led by senior Ethan McLaughlin, who earned fifth in the discus and sixth in the shot put. Sophomore Carson DeRoner’s toss of 42-08.75 was good for a bronze medal in the shot put while junior Jacob Mcnerney finished sixth in the javelin.
Finally, there were three freshmen boys who had impressive outings in this highly successful meet featuring those who are frequently left out of the conversation when their teams compete in big competitions.
Manville’s Rian Sanders earned fourth in the discus with a throw of 114-08 and was 10th out of 46 javelin throwers with a mark of 132-05 feet. His teammate, Trip Freitag, was less than two feet from earning the sixth-place medal in the javelin with a throw of 147-07.
Sean Wilton, a freshman from Princeton, finished ninth in a field of 43 shot put throwers with a toss of 38-09.
You can find all the results of the Hillsborough Raider Rumble here.
Check out video and pictures from the event here or you can go to @bordenfb4ever on Twitter to see posted media.
GIRLS
Discus: Claudia DeRasmo, Hillsborough, 111-07
Elynna Volkova, Hillsborough, 101-08
Adison Marshall, Westfield, 94-07
Kayla Collins, East Brunswick, 92-10
Morgan Badik, Hightstown, 88-09
Faith Nieves, Elizabeth, 88-02
Javelin: Olivia Willemsen, Piscataway, 118-10
Khadijah Colburn, Hillsborough, 107-10
Anna Dao, Hillsborough, 106-02
Katherine Palmer, Westfield, 103-09
Katie Walsh, Westfield. 100-02
Gabrielle Salvador, East Brunswick, 91-04
Shot Put: Michaela Ruffa, Hillsborough, 38-08.50
Adison Marshall, Westfield, 31-02.75
Emily Oppong-Dwamena, East Brunswick, 30-09.25
Sakiyyah Brooks, Elizabeth, 29-09
Miranda Corley, Voorhees, 29-02.75
Jessica Galette, Hillsborough, 28-10.50
BOYS
Discus: Manbir Guron, Hightstown,165-11
Owen Paul, Westfield, 136-03
Bryan Alvarez Benitez, Elizabeth, 118-04
Rian Sanders, Manville, 114-08
Ethan McLaughlin, Hillsborough, 113-06
Joe McGovern, Westfield, 112-09
Javelin: Henry Zief, Princeton, 161-1
Mason Marino, Westfield, 153-10
AJ Davis, Williamstown, 152-04
Max Cho, Westfield, 151-06
Jeremy Cruz, Westfield, 150-04
Jacob Mcnerney, Hillsborough, 149-03
Shot Put: Owen Paul, Westfield 48-0
Manbir Guron, Hightstown, 43-05.50
Carson DeRoner, Hillsborough, 42-08.75
Dominik Stewart, Elizabeth, 40-10
Nazeem Muhammad, Elizabeth, 40-08.50
Ethan McLaughlin, Hillsborough, 40-06.50
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Week 5 Race To The Finish: Hillsborough Raider Rumble Throwers Meet
