Winter track: Bests from the Passaic County Championships and Bergen County Relays

The most important team meets of the winter track season other than the state sectional championships both took place on Monday night.

The Passaic Tech girls and the Clifton boys easily captured titles at the Passaic County championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island. It was Passaic Tech's first girls title 2017 and Clifton's first boys title since 2018.

Twenty-five miles east, at the Armory Track Center in Manhattan, the Ridgewood boys and girls won large school titles and the Pascack Hills boys and Hasbrouck Heights girls took small school titles. It was Ridgewood's seventh boys title in the last nine meets and Pascack Hills' first boys title since 2017. It was Ridgewood's fourth straight girls title and Hasbrouck Heights' first girls title since 2014, breaking a six-meet Ramsey streak.

Amiri Whittle of Hackensack won the Alan Wedemeier Award as the outstanding boys performer in the Bergen meet and Leanna Johnston of IHA was the Lou Molino Award winner as the outstanding girls performer. It was the first time a Hackensack boy won the award since 1999 and IHA's first girls winner since 2009.

Clifton boys draw on foundation, win Counties

Jacob Heredia was Clifton's only event winner during the Passaic boys meet, winning the 1,600 meters in a scintillating battle with Hawthorne's Jayson Harmer and easily winning the 3,200.

But the Mustangs were the only team to score in every flat running event, placing 2-3-4 in the 55, 2-3-5 in the 200 and taking 4-6 behind Heredia in the 3,200 to score a 79-59 win over Passaic Tech.

"I'm so proud of them,'' said first year head coach Jacqueline Murphy. "It's all on them for the work they've done, this winter and the foundational work they put in during the cross-country season. They kept moving forward and this was their goal.''

In addition to Heredia, who will run the invitational high school mile at the Millrose Games on Saturday, Murphy singled out junior Ben Nelken who took thirds in the 55, 200 and 400 and was part of the third place 4-x-400 team. Donovan Swasey was second in the 55 and 200 and Christian Grant had two fourths, and a fifth in individual events.

Eastside's Elijah Carroll scored an impressive 55-200 double and Daniel Janz and Tanner Christie scored wins for West Milford, the latter throwing 50 feet for the first time on his next to last throw to grab the shot put victory. Passaic Valley's Jessier Soriano had the day's best performance, missing the meet record by .16 second in setting a school record of 1:58.24 in winning the 800.

BOYS

Team Scores: Clifton (CL) 77, Passaic Tech (PCT) 59, Wayne Valley (WV) 49, Lakeland (L) 37, West Milford (WM) 34, Wayne Hills (WH) 32, Passaic (P) 28, Eastside (E) 27, Passaic Valley (PV) 20, Hawthorne (H) 16, Eastern Christian 14, Kennedy (K) 10.

Champions: Daniel Janz (WM) (HH, 8.58); Elijah Carroll (E), (55, 6.65; 200, 22.91); Isaac Diaz (P) (400, 52.22); Jessier Soriano (PV) (800, 1:58.24); Jacob Heredia (CL) (1,600, 4:28.69; 3,200, 10:08.99); Wayne Hills (4-x-400, 3:36.61); Tanner Christie (WM) (shot, 50-0); Joshua Justin (PCT) (high jump, 5-10); Ryan Van Es (WV) (long jump, 19-10); Mikhail Johnson (PCT) (triple jump, 39-4); Matt Minunni (L) (pole vault, 11-6).

Other Top Performances: Colin Madara (WM) (2nd, HH, 8.71); Logan Ntansah (WH) (3rd, HH, 8.77); Donovan Swasey (CL) (2nd, 55, 6.72); Jayson Harmer (H) (2nd, 800, 2:00.92; 2nd, 1,600, 4:29.02); Ryan Pena (WV) (3rd, 800, 2:03.20); Anthony Munoz (WH) (4th, 800, 2:03.50); Joshua Sparkes (PCT) (5th, 800, 2:05.00); Winston Calvo (WV) (2nd, shot, 49-2); Frankie Gonzalez (P) (3rd, shot, 48-4 1/2); Marquan Hinton (K) (2nd, long jump, 19-5 3/4).

Late arrival doesn't stop Bulldogs

Things didn't look good for Passaic Tech's chances of breaking Clifton's three year hold on the Passaic girls championship.

"We were supposed to have two buses ready to leave by 2:30 (for the 4:30 start in Staten Island) and we had just one bus show up at 3:10, so we couldn't take any of the novice kids,'' said assistant coach Tiffany Tookmanian. "I tried to call and tell them we were going to be late and they told us the meet was going to start at 4:40.''

"We got there at 4:38.''

Seniors Briana Fasoli and Anne Noonan raced to the hurdle start and without a warmup raced their way into the finals. Classmates Denille Reid and Samiya Brown headed for the long jump, grabbed one quick run-through and started their event. Reid didn't even get a chance to get her steps right at the pole vault and somehow got over her opening height of 6-6 on her second attempt.

Somehow they kept their composure and got through it.

"It was hard but I've worked so hard all season that I wasn't concerned about the lack of a warmup,'' said Fasoli, who in quick succession had the second fastest 55 hurdle time, led the sprinters in the 55 dash trials and then won both events in 9.13 (55 hurdles) and 7.54 (dash) handily. Noonan took third in the hurdles final and the Bulldogs had 26 points on the board.

Meanwhile Reid and Brown were long jumping to a 1-2 finish and Reid was clearing heights in quick succession at the pole vault, eventually finishing second at 9-0 while teammate Jaidyn Dillon was fourth. Passaic Tech wasn't going to get caught.

"The kids met or exceeded expectations,'' said Tookmanian. "Nobody feels sorry for us because our bus was late, so our kids had to step up.''

Fasoli and Brown went 1-2 in the 200, and Christine Skelly and Brown went 2-5 in the 400. Reid had a personal best 33-10 to win the triple jump and then the quartet of Skelly, Brown, Noonan and Fasoli won the 4-x-400 easily in 4:20.49, leading wire to wire for 120 1/3-70 win over the runner-up Mustangs.

"Difficulties like this makes us work harder as a team,'' said Brown. "It's important for our seniors to keep the younger kids motivated so we can learn and improve.''

While Passaic Tech had the team titles, they didn't have a lock on individual excellence. Angelina Perez of Lakeland set a pair of Passaic County meet and overall county records in the 1,600 and 3,200, running 5:01.73 and 10:30.74 respectively, the latter time fourth fastest in the U.S. this year and fifth fastest in state history.

Remy Dubac of Clifton, who finished second to Perez in both the 1,600 and 3,200, won the 800 in a terrific battle with Wayne Hills sophomore Kara Langbaum, 2:22.36 -2:23.02, both among the top 15 times in county history.

Taniya Giles of Clifton broke the 35 year old school record in the shot put on her final throw with a huge personal best of 38-6 3/4, 11th best in Passaic history and Pompton Lakes junior Emma Keating cleared a personal best 11-3 in the pole vault, moving into a tie for seventh all-time in the event.

TEAM SCORES: Passaic Tech (PCT) 120.33, Clifton (CL) 70, Lakeland (L) 63, Wayne Valley (WV) 39.33, Wayne Hills (WH) 35.33, Hawthorne (H) 28, Pompton Lakes (PL) 14, Passaic Valley (PV) 12, Eastern Christian (EC) 10, Eastside (E) 6, West Milford (WM) 4.

Champions: Briana Fasoli (PCT) (HH, 9.13: 55, 7.54; 200, 26.61); Christine Skelly (PCT) (400, 1:02.22); Remy Dubac (CL), (800, 2:22.36); Angelina Perez (L) (1,600, 5:01.73); Taniya Giles (CL) (shot, 38-6 3/4); Anneke Kuperus (EC) (high jump, 4-10); Denille Reid (PCT) (long jump, 15-9 1/2; triple jump, 33-10); Emma Keating (PL) (pole vault, 11-3); Passaic Tech (4-x-400 relay, 4:20.49).

Other Top Performances: Leah Alves (H) (2nd, HH, 9.29); Hanna Miles (L) (2nd, 800, 1:02.42); Kara Langbaum (WH) (2nd, 800, 2:23.02); Dubac (CL) (2nd, 1,600, 5:12.40; 2nd, 3,200, 11:40.11); Abigail Horevay (L) (3rd, 1,600, 5:26.79); Caitlin Fahy (L) (3rd, 3,200, 12:06.31); Samiya Brown (PCT), (2nd, long jump, 15-9); Ella Sachs (H) (2nd, triple jump, 33-2); Reid (2nd, pole vault, 9-0).

Ridgewood marks Saladino's return by sweeping the Large School Bergen Relay meet

Josh Saladino returned to head coaching after a seven-year absence and the Maroons celebrated his return with a pair of impressive victories, with the girls holding off Paramus Catholic, 69-56 and the boys easily defeating Hackensack, 79-49.

"It was really a balanced effort by both teams,'' said Saladino, who served as a volunteer assistant coach during his absence from head coaching. "We didn't want to use anyone in four events and for the most part kept our distance kids in just two. But we wanted some of our more experienced kids to take on more responsibilities and they really did that.''

On the boys side, Saladino pointed to senior Declan Byrne, the only boy or girl to be in three distance events.

"He ran a leg (on the winning 4-x-1,600 team) and was supposed to run the 1,200 leg on the distance medley, which he did,'' said Saladino. "But he saw we had lost one of our 4 by 800 guys to injury so he volunteered to run a leg. And he didn't ask out of the 1,200 leg.''

Ridgewood combined to get 10 points in the latter two relays and only Ramapo (11) got more. The Maroons also won the large school shuttle hurdles, the sprint medley, the high jump, shot put and pole vault, with their best pole vaulter, Luke Gnospelius the other gold medalist in the high jump.

The girls meet was closed than expected, especially after Ridgewood had swept to an easy win in the sprint medley, only to be disqualified when one of its legs cut in too soon.

But two members of the ill-fated sprint medley team, seniors Alysia Spencer and Lucia Rabolli, had taken on unfamiliar roles both before and after the mishap.

"Lucia knew we needed a fourth hurdler for the shuttle hurdles and she gave us a great leg, and helped us finish second, and Alysia ran on the 4-x-400 for the first time,'' said Saladino.

The two combined to run the second and third legs for the Maroons in the final event of the day, giving Ridgewood an upset win in the 4-x-400 in a North Jersey leading 4:03.13 and clinching the team title.

Ridgewood, as expected won the 4-x-1,600 race and with junior Talia Hutchinson vaulting a pair of personal bests on the way to clearing 11 feet for the first time, shared the win in the pole vault.

LARGE SCHOOL

BOYS

Team Scores: Ridgewood (RW) 79, Hackensack (H) 49, Paramus Catholic (PC) 40, Fort Lee (FL) 31, Bergen Catholic (BC) and Northern Highlands (NH) 30, River Dell (RD) 25, NV/Old Tappan (OT) 23,, Bergen Tech (BT) 22, Ramapo (RP) 16, Don Bosco (DB) 14, Tenafly (T) 8, Fair Lawn 1.

Event winners: Ridgewood (shuttle hurdles, 32.92; 4-x-1,600, 18:49.17; sprint medley, 3:44.60; high jump, 10-10; pole vault, 23-6; shot put, 77-3); Northern Highlands (4-x-200, 1:35.40); Ramapo (4-x-800, 8:25.87); Hackensack (distance medley, 10:55.47); Bergen Tech (4-x-400, 3:35.04); Fort Lee (long jump, 40-9); Paramus Catholic (triple jump, 78-8).

Top splits: Declan Byrne (RW) (4:34.59 1,600); Amiri Whittle (H) (4:32.92 1,600; 4:25.81 1,600); Paul Maguire (DB) (4:31.44 1,600; 4:28.11 1,600); Fabian France (BC) (21.98 200); Sean Langley (RD) (22.87 200); Alex Horgan (RP) (2:02.21 800); Tom DeVincent (RP) (2:02.91 800); Casey Thomas Symons (OT) (2:01.74 800); Max Emelo (RD) (2:02.87 800); Racine Ly (RW) (52.58 400); Dylan Decambre (BT) (2:02.48 800); Jordan Perdomo (H) (3:24.62 1,200); Sean Fortunato (RW) (4:32.58 1,600); Zach Madison (NH) (52.68 400); David Kriz (BT) (52.30 400).

Top field event performances: Luke Gnospelius (RW) (12-6 pole vault); Caleb Park (OT) (12-0 pole vault); Tyson Lowe (FL) (22-1 long jump); Kenny Uchida (T) (21-6 long jump); Walter King Jr. (H) (20-11 1/2 long jump); Jaylen Jeffries (PC) (40-1 triple jump).

GIRLS

Team Scores: Ridgewood (RW) 69, Paramus Catholic (PC) 56, Ramapo (RP) 49, River Dell (RD) 48, IHA 42 1/2, Northern Highlands (NH) 40 1/2, Tenafly (T) 20, Fort Lee (FL) 19, NV/Old Tappan 9, Hackensack (H) 8, Bergen Tech 2, Pascack Valley (PV) 1.

Event winners: Paramus Catholic (shuttle hurdles, 34.85; 4-x-200, 1:46.37; high jump, 9-10; long jump, 33-10 3/4; shot, 62-0 1/4); Ridgewood (4-x-1,600, 22:24.94; 4-x-400, 4:04.13; pole vault, 18-0); Ramapo (4-x-800, 9:44.50; distance medley, 13:04.98); Northern Highlands (sprint medley, 4:29.54); Tenafly (high jump, 9-10); NV/Old Tappan (pole vault, 18-0); River Dell (triple jump, 68-5)

Top splits: AnnaMarie Tretola (RW) (5:23.42 1,600); Leanna Johnston, IHA (5:08.29 1,600; 3:46.85 1,200); Sydney Dungey (PC) (26.58 200); Izzie Anzaldo (RP) (25.32 200; 57.92 400); Molly Bennett (NH) (26.20 200; 59.89 400); Shannon Connolly (PV) (26.89 200); Olivia Tacconi, IHA (26.96 200); Alysia Spencer (RW) (25.93 200); Brianna Braver (RP) (2:23.89 800; 5:24.79 1,600); Carly Griffin (RP) (2:23.87 800); Gina Rubio (PC) (26.86 200); Christina Allen (RD) (2:23.95 800); Lucia Rabolli (RW) (59.92 400); Olivia Grace (RW) (60.09 400).

Top field event performances: Norina Khanzada (T) (5-4 HJ; 16-7 1/2 long jump); Alex Manetovic (FL) (5-2 HJ; 36-0 1/2 triple jump); Fiona Carter (PC) (5-2 HJ); 17-7 1/4 long jump); Talia Hutchinson (RW) (11-0 PV); Emma Miller (T) (9-6 PV); Grace (16-11 3/4 long jump);Niki Matthews, IHA (16-3 3/4 long jump; 33-10 1/2 triple jump); Essence-Jade Springer (PC) (16-3 1/2 long jump); Maegan Feeney, IHA (16-2 1/4 long jump); Emma Reinke (RW) (16-0 long jump); Marissa Schoenberg (RD) (34-4 3/4 triple jump); Emily Turschmann (RD) (34-0 1/4 triple jump); Ciara Brown (H) (35-7 3/4 shot); Tyaja Thomas (PC) (34-2 shot).

Heights girls in a rout; Pascack Hills boys win by 3

It's easier to talk about the events Hasbrouck Heights didn't win in the Bergen Relays small schools meet than those the Aviators won.

The shot put --- NV/Demarest first, Hasbrouck Heights second. The pole vault --- Demarest first, Ramsey second, Hasbrouck Heights third. That's it. Full stop.

In the 29 years since the meet went to its six place scoring system in 1993, one boys team has ever reached 100 points -- Saddle Brook boys in 2002. The Ramsey girls team scored 104 points in its 12 events in 2019. Monday Hasbrouck Heights scored 114 of a possible 120 points.

"Our kids really performed tonight,'' said Hasbrouck Heights coach Rob Brady after his Aviators added their first Bergen Relays title in eight years to their first ever group 1 state relays crown earlier this month. "We have a junior like Gaea Depass get personal bests in the high and triple jumps and run a leg on the distance medley and two freshman distance runners, Lexi Powers and Mackenzie Bua give us great legs on three winning relays.''

Then there's the two putative senior stars, Amber Barrios, who ran a leg on four winning relays and Isabella Drezek, who ran a leg on three.

And all the other Heights winners from Monday -- Maya Bohan, Brooke Freschi, Morgan Gagliano, Dea Jera, Paige McGuire, Megan Napolitano and Elisha Santos along with point scorers Emma Cunningham, Elliott Eddy and Meghan Stellhorn. Fifteen varsity athletes -- 15 scorers -- a remarkable performance.

"These kids are ready every night,'' said Brady. "They perform every night.''

Pascack Hills coach Ross Koehler knew it would be a long shot when he saw NV/Demarest had slipped into the small schools group.

"My kids were pumped up to get the chance to compete against them but I knew that we'd have to be lucky to win,'' said Koehler. "But our kids did an awesome job and it was an incredible win for us.''

The Broncos took second in the shuttle hurdles to a terrific Demarest squad and then took second to Glen Rock in the 4-x-1,600, buoyed by a first ever 1,600 effort by 400-800 standout Shane Jensen and held off the Norsemen, 85-82, in the closest meet of the night.

"Matt Schwartz crushed it for us in the hurdles as our fourth guy and Jensen broke five minutes the first time he ever ran the mile and that gave us a big lift,'' said Koehler. "We fielded competitive teams in all 12 events (winning three, taking four seconds and three thirds) and scored in every one.''

Brad Merson, Max Zhu, Matt Lokshin and Schwartz won the 4-x-200 holding off a surging Dwight-Englewood team and the duo of Max Zuckerman and Ben Mandler easily won the pole vault, with Zuckerman clearing 14 feet and stopping for the night. Mandler teammed with Jensen to win the high jump and the Broncos clinched the win a solid third behind Demarest in the 4-x-400.

"We even had two baseball players (Tim Sneath and Angelo Celli) throw the shot for us because they thought it looked cool and grabbed us a point."

GIRLS

Team Scores: Hasbrouck Heights (HH) 114, Ramsey (RS) 65, NV/Demarest (D) 60, Mahwah (M) 37, Glen Rock (GR) 21, New Milford (NM) 20, Lodi (L) 16, Saddle Brook (SB) 11, Emerson (E) 10, Pascack Hills (PH) 2.

Event winners: Hasbrouck Heights (36.14 shuttle hurdles; 23:26.34 4-x-1,600; 1:51.74 4-x-200; 10:41.63 4-x-800; 4:41.81 sprint medley; 14:18.69 distance medley; 4:20.18 4-x-400; 9-8 high jump; 30-5 3/4 long jump; 66-1 1/2 triple jump); NV/Demarest (18-0 pole vault; 72-1 3/4 shot).

Top Splits: Isabella Drezek (HH) (5:36.42 1,600); Cali Marck (E) (5:35.45 1,600); Grace Anguilla (D) (27.31 200); Amber Barrios (HH), (62.22 400).

Top Field Performances: Gaea DePass (HH) (5-0 high jump; 33-11 3/4 triple jump); Gretchen Haray (D) (5-0 high jump); Michelle Lee (D), (11-0 pole vault); Kayla Martino (RS) (15-7 3/4 long jump; 34-1 1/4 triple jump); Amanda Barrett (L) (33-10 1/4 triple jump); Emma Petrolia (NM), (33-1 triple jump); Casey Sullivan (D) (43-7 3/4 shot); Lillian Dinning (RS) (32-6 1/2 shot).

BOYS

Team Scores: Pascack Hills (PH) 85, Demarest (D) 82, Ramsey (RS) 32, Emerson (E) and Glen Rock (GR) 26, Hasbrouck Heights (HH) 22, Saddle Brook (SB) 20, Mahwah (M) 14, New Milford (NM) and Lodi (L) 10, Park Ridge (PR) and Dwight-Englewood (DE) 8, Ridgefield Park 4.

Event winners: NV/Demarest (31.66 shuttle hurdles; 9:18.13 4-x-800; 11:14.83 distance medley; 3:38.99 4-x-400; 88-3 1/2 shot); Glen Rock (19:59.22 4-x-1,600); Pascack Hills (1:38.87 4-x-200; 11-2 high jump; 26-0 pole vault); Mahwah (3:52.28 sprint medley); Emerson (38-0 1/2 long jump; 80-0 1/4 triple jump).

Top Splits: Aidan Carroll (GR) (4:36.19 1,600); Davis Lee (DE) (23.13 200); Robbie Tormo (NM) (23.32 200); Nicholas Suero (SB) (51.94 400).

Top Field Performers: Max Zuckerman (PH) (14-0 pole vault); Ben Mandler (PH) (12-0 pole vault); Nathan Storz (E) (20-8 1/2 long jump; 44-2 3/4 triple jump); Jordan Enigam (L) (41-2 triple jump); Andrew Tendler (D) (41-0 triple jump); Jack Attali (D) (40-3 triple jump); Zach Hartung (SB) (47-9 shot); Daniel Makay (D) (47-2 1/2).

Paul Schwartz covers high school track and field for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.

Email: schwartzp@northjersey.com

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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Winter track: Bests from Bergen Relays, Passaic County meet