Winter Track: Highlights from the Varsity Classic

In the 29 years since the Varsity Classic track meet was created in 1994, it has been the site of numerous state records, from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, dozens of Penn Relay qualifying relays and hundreds, if not thousands of personal best performances. It even produced a pair of national records, Boys and Girls in the 2002 girls distance medley and Kennedy's Shaquan Brown in the 2005 600 meter run. (Both records have since been broken).

But the meet, established to honor the renovation and re-opening of the track at the Armory Track Center, has also been a last chance to run fast and jump or throw far in a competitive meet before the pressures of the state championship series begin, or for a chance to step into the spotlight and build confidence for that series.

Monday night at the Armory Track Center Hackensack junior Ayanna Chape made her presence known on the track and junior Joshua Yoon of Cresskill reminded us of his talent in the field.

Chape, who started running as a freshman in the spring of 2021, came within a half second of breaking a 26-year-old school record in the 400 and broke the Comet's 200 meter record in a pair of stunning performances just in time for Friday's North 1, group 4 sectional meet.

"Last year I finished seventh at sectionals and only the top six qualified for state,'' said Chape, who has won four of her six races at 200, 400 and 600 this winter. "This is really the first time I've trained the entire year and now I'm showing people who believed in me why they thought I could be good.''

Chape ran away from the field in winning the 400, in 58.74, just .48 seconds behind the mark set by Delcita Russell in 1997. Then just about 90 minutes later she was a close second in the 200 in 26.01, breaking the mark of Shenice Murray set in 2019. That event has only been run regularly in meets for the last 10 years.

"The 400 is the closest race to my heart,'' said Chape, who is ranked among the top 10 girls in the state in both the 400 and 600. "When I started running I had no understanding of how to run it at all, but this summer I did a lot of weight training and resistance work with my coaches and I developed my technique. I've got big goals for this season and going forward.''

Yoon had his breakthrough last winter, when as a sophomore he finished third in the winter State Meet of Champions in the triple jump and had one of the top performances in the country for a tenth grader.

But last spring, after winning four events in the NJIC Patriot Championships in early May, he suffered a Grade 2 sprain of his left ankle in a non-track activity and missed the rest of the season. Returning to practice a little too soon, he suffered a groin injury which prevented him from returning to competition until the Jan. 26 NJIC indoor meet, where he swept the 55, and the long and triple jumps as Cresskill's only boys competitor.

Monday, he leaped a North Jersey leading and state #4 44-7 1/2 to win the triple jump and pronounced himself healthy and excited for the rest of the season and hopefully for the spring.

"I was a lot more excited than nervous at the NJIC meet when I came back,'' said Yoon, who expressed delight that he was just 2 1/4 inches behind his personal best in the triple jump with at least three meets left in the indoor season. "I only jumped 43 feet that night because I was a little fatigued from doing the other events and I'm still about a foot behind the (takeoff) board as I'm getting back into it. But it's great to be back in competition.''

In other significant North Jersey results Monday, Ridgewood Matt Aono became just the second New Jersey vaulter over 14-6 this winter when he cleared the height to win the event. River Dell senior triple jumper Emily Turschmann had a North Jersey leading jump of 36-7 1/4, also #4 in the state to win her specialty.

The River Dell girls 4-x-800 won a loaded race with four Bergen County teams running under 9:54, with Christina Allen's leadoff 2:15.65 split and a huge career best 2:25.69 by Sarah Cookson leading the Golden Hawks to a win in 9:46.79, #4 in New Jersey this winter. Northern Highlands (9:47.47), Ramapo (9:47.91) and Ramsey (9:53.47) were next in the state's 5-6-7 times of the winter. The River Dell boys were just seventh in their race in 8:15.05, but that's tops in North Jersey this season.

North Jersey Medalists

Girls

55: 2. Olivia Tacconi, IHA, 7.43; 4. Emily Chen, Bergen Tech, 7.50; 5. Ayanna Chape, Hackensack, 7.51.

200: 2. Chape, 26.01.

400: 1. Chape, 58.74; 3. Siena Kannenberg, Mahwah, 59.87; 6. Kate Marie Monaco, Ramsey, 60.38.

800: 3. Zoe Merryman, Mahwah, 2:21.46; 6. Danielle Tilp, Cresskill, 2:22.60.

55 HH: 2. Alexandra Cahill, Ramapo, 8.41; 4. Lauren Dunnigan, IHA, 8.63; 6. Abreeana Rilveria, River Dell, 8.73.

Shot put: 3. Isabel Johnson, Ridgewood, 35-1.

High jump: 2. Norina Khanzada, Tenafly, 5-6; t3. Ashleigh Gorman, Ramsey, 4-10; t5. Mia Callahan, Tenafly, 4-10.

Long jump: 2. Grace McQueeney, River Dell, 17-7 3/4; 3. Abby Romero, IHA, 17-5 3/4.

Triple jump: 1. Emily Turschmann, River Dell, 36-7 1/4; 2. Mackenzie Morante, Ramapo, 35-3; 3. Romero, 35-0 1/2; 6. Marisa Schoenberg, River Dell, 34-5 3/4.

Pole vault: 4. Peyton Wennersten, Ridgewood, 10-0; t6. Casey Roberts, IHA, 9-0.

4-x-400 relay: 5. Demarest, 4:17.54.

4-x-800 relay: 1. River Dell (Christina Allen, Sarah Cookson, Izzy Gabay, Rachel Mills), 9:46.79; 2. Northern Highlands, 9:47.47; 3. Ramapo, 9:47.91; 4. Ramsey, 9:53.47; 6. Demarest, 10:00.83.

Boys

55: 4. Michael Samarro, Ramapo, 6.69; 5. Samuel Yepes, North Bergen, 6.70.

400: 3. Jake DeJulia, Saddle Brook, 50.49; 4. Dexter DeMarco, Ridgewood, 51.36.

800: 6. Brayden Lowe-Massi, Mahwah, 2:00.35.

3,200: 4. Luis Ortiz, Hackensack, 10:10.30; 6. Ethan Kalajian, Demarest, 10:15.36.

55 HH: 6. Matt Aono, Ridgewood, 7.95.

Shot put: 2. Michael Clark, Passaic, 49-4; 4. Anthony Morillo, Hackensack, 48-6 3/4; 6. Carlos Bermudez, Ridgewood, 48-2 1/4.

Long jump: 2. Liam Paneque, Demarest, 22-5 3/4.

Triple jump: 1. Joshua Yoon, Cresskill, 44-71/4; 6. Jack Attali, Demarest, 42-0 3/4.

Pole vault: 1. Aono, 14-6; 2. Liam O'Meara, Ridgewood, 11-0.

4-x-400 relay: 2. Ridgewood, 3:28.54; 5. Demarest, 3:34.13.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Winter Track: Highlights from the Varsity Classic