Ridge Boys Claim Skyland Conference Championship
On Tuesday, May 22nd, the Ridge High School boys track and field team traveled to Hillsborough for the Skyland Conference outdoor championships, coming away as the overall team champion, avenging a narrow defeat to Hunterdon Central at the indoor championship.
Following the meet Coach Nicole Gilhuley commented, “This is our first Skyland Conference outdoor championship in school history. It was a tough battle that went down to the last event, but the boys fought hard all day and were able to pull out the win. The most motivating part is that on paper going into the meet we weren’t expected to win, but the boys said they wanted to go all in and go for it. They should feel very proud that they were able to achieve this championship. A special shout out needs to go the Brenden McMahon, His wins in the 1600 / 3200 meter double was a tremendous effort and a key to the championship. There have been very few double wins at this meet in these events, so this was a big achievement – particularly for a sophomore!”
In addition to McMahon’s double win, which included a 4:19.98 personal best in the 1600 meter run, junior Owen Mays placed 2 nd in the 110HH, junior Lok Hariharan placed 2 nd in the shot put, senior Chris Kirkwood placed 3 rd in the pole vault, junior Dev Patel placed 3 rd in the 1600 meter run with a personal best of 4:21.99, junior Edward Condolon placed 3 rd in the 400 meter run with a personal best time 51.63, senior Leo Kovatch was 4 th in the 400 meter hurdles and senior Patrick Doran chipped in with 5 th place finishes in both the 800 and 1600 meter runs. The 4×400 meter relay of Kovatch, Mays, senior Tarun Kandra and Condolon sealed the team victory with a hard fought first place finish.
Beyond the scorers there were 15 personal best performances delivered over the course of the meet, many from underclassmen. The group was led by sophomore Chase Fritz in both the javelin and 200 meter dash and sophomore Joseph Dachnowicz in the 200 meter dash and 400 meter hurdles. Sophomore Jared Rascio established a new sophomore school record in the triple jump. Freshmen Nick Elissa and William Ligos continued the trend in the 100 meter dash and long jump, respectively. Sophomore Jason Wiatroski ran a personal best in the 200 meter dash. Kovatch and junior Eddie Doherty posted personal bests in the 400 meter run, while junior Dmitry Cole closed fast to secure a personal best in the 3200 meter run.
Personal bests were also posted by sophomore Marcus Reilly in the 110HH, junior Sanjit Bjpai in the high jump, junior Evan James in the discus throw and sophomore Nicholas Gonzalez-Adler in the javelin.
Next up for the boys will be the NJSIAA North 2, Group 4 Sectional Championships.
The meet will be hosted by Ridge High School and will take place on June 2 nd and 3 rd .
