This weekend, the Ridge Track and Field team returned to the Toms River Bubble for the North II Group 4 Sectional Championship, which is the first round of the State Championship season.
The girls won the meet for the 9th time in the last 10 years, and there were individual winners and medalists from both the girls and boys teams. The Ridge girls outscored Westfield 62-59, and the boys placed 2nd.
Rachel Biondo and Elayna Douglas both had great days, scoring a combined 20 points for Ridge.
In the 1600, Rachel and Elayna placed 4th and 5th, running personal bests of 5:18.71 and 5:23.40. Rachel and Elayna also ran the 3200, with Rachel placing 2nd in 11:45.31 and Elayna placing 3rd in 11:51.62.
Katharine Frank and Ryan Ireland put up 18 points placing 1st and 2nd in the 800, with Katharine running 2:21.65 and Ryan running 2:23.36.
The girls 4×400 of Ava Yiu, Julia Hornyak, Ryan Ireland, and Katharine Frank placed 3rd to capture another 6 points.
The girls also had several strong performances in the field events. Scoring 14 points in the pole vault, Jenna Inscore placed 2nd jumping 7-6, Sophia Minassian placed 3rd jumping 7-0, and Miya Tomaru placed 6th jumping 6-6. Miya also placed 4th in the High Jump with a jump of 4-10 to secure 4 more points.
The boys also had a strong showing with several athletes in the top 6, including some event winners and huge personal improvements.
Freshman Kenji Hou started the meet off strong running 53.9 in the 400, tying Ridge’s freshman record. Kenji also placed 2nd in the pole vault, jumping 9-6. Brenden McMahon won the 1600 in 4:16.38, making him the 2nd fastest in school history.
Dev Patel placed 6th in the 1600 running 4:29.79. In the 800, Edward Condolon placed 6th in 2:02.72, and Owen Mays placed 2nd in the 55 hurdles with a time of 7.79. Brenden McMahon placed 3rd in the 3200 running 9:27.08, and the boys 4×4 placed 4th. Lok Hariharan won the shot put with a throw of 50-1.
All athletes who placed in the top 6 in their events qualify for the Group 4 State Championship which takes place on Feb. 17. There, the goal will be to move on to the Meet of Champions the following weekend.
— By Brenden McMahon
