Indoor Track & Field Openers

The 2010-2011 version of the boys and girls Indoor Track & Field Teams opened their season with a 58-medal haul in the first two meets.
At the Lid Lifter Invitational on Thursday, 12/16, both squads got a chance to shake out the rust and test their early-season training. Junior Scott Rennalls was the best boy performer, taking 2nd in his specialty, the 1000m run, in 2:48.47. He also anchored the 5th place 4 x 400 with Anthony Talanca (10), Mike Gonzalez (10), Byron Reed (12) in 3:48.55. Sr. Matt Herb placed 3rd in the h.j. at 5'9", sr. John Johnson 4th in the 55 hurdles in 8.16 (with a HUGE p.r. of 8.13 in the semis), and the 4 x 200 teama 6th in 1:41.73 (Johnson, jr. Cory Colligan, Gonzalez, and jr. Dan Baules).
The top girl medalist was Alyssa Hoffman, 5th in the shot at 30'8.5". The relays put in nice opening marks: 3rd in the 4 x 400 by Marissa Karl (10), Sam Tavalare (11), Danielle Halikias (11), and Ingrid Nimoh (12). The 4 x 200 was 4th in 1:55. 37 (Armani Blair, 11; Camille Inglese, 12; Lina Koch, 11; Nimoh).
The Holiday Relays, two days later, were highlighted by varsity and junior varsity performances. The girls placed in six relays. The girls 4 x 200 improved on their time by grabbing a 2nd in 1:54.83 with the same foursome of Koch, Inglese, Blair, and Nimoh. The sprint med was 5th in 4:40.03 with Blair & Nimoh on the 200 legs, Tavalare on the 400, and jr. Steph Smith on the 800. The 4 x 800 was 6th in 10:29.91 with a team of Bridget Phillips (12), Tavalare, Halikias, and Karl. Three j.v. relays showcased some new talent, led by the 4 x 200 team of Katurah Orji (9), Courtney Hart (10), Kelli Sagi (10), and Suzie Nimoh (9), who were FIRST in 1:58. 22. The 4 x 800 was 3rd in 11:11.44: Alex Schneeberg, 11; Ashley Torres, 10; Mariah Christian, 9; Lindsay Schafer, 9. The 4 x 400 was 4th in 4:46.4: Hart, Shayla Holloway (10), Gentrix Shanga (11), Nimoh.
For the boys the top performance was a runnerup sprint med relay in 3:52.97 by Baules, Colligan, Johnson, and Rennalls. Matt Herb hit a P.R. of 6'2" in the h.j. (also better than his outdoor p.r.) and with sr. newcomer Kifton Vanemon took 3rd at 11'2". The J.V.'ers, like the girls, had a chance to strut their stuff. The 4 x 200 of Mike Eppel (10), Darius Snyder (11), Alex Reyes (12), and Alex Dimick (10) was 3rd in 1:45.8. The A and B shot put teams were 5th and 6th: Phil Demeo (10) & Matt Kraemer (9) and Luke Bippus (11) & Jay Shah (10).
The next meet on the schedule is 12/29, the Racine Drew Invitational. The Morris County Relay Championships follows on Monday, 1/3.

Boys & Girls MOXC Excellent Adventure 2010

Veteran and rookie runners combined to provide some exciting and interesting results to close out the fall 2010 season. Asst. coach Behre summed it up well, "There was some exciting stuff in the last couple races."

First, at the Morris County Meet the rivalry between the girls and the boys as to who could place higher began to heat up. The girls fared slightly better than the boys, taking 8th place to 9th. Jr. leader Steph Smith, hobbled with injury, ran a brave race (54th) but could not equal her best. Marissa Karl, stepped up to run a p.r. and fastest MO time on the Greystone course at 20:42, and led the Marauderettes at 34th. Atalia Bermudez (557), Danielle Halikias (58), Alex Schneeberg (62), and Sam Tavalare (63) all ran their bests at the new course.

Jr. Scott Rennalls led the boys in (22nd), running a p.r. Zach Miller (35), Mike Artiglere (51), Steve Wagner (63), and Anthony Talance (72) rounded out the scoring.

The girls J.V. brought home medals for their 3rd place finish. Freshmen Lindsay Schafer (9), Mariah Christian (12), Erin Schafer (29), Sara Christian (30), and soph Jackie Pignataro (25) were the scorers.

The frosh boys also took 3rd place. Eddie Garcia and Chris DuChemin finished 7 and 12 respectively. Steve Kubicki (25), Sean Gallagher (27, and Jake Tanenbaum (32) cemented the bronze effort.

One week later at Garrett Mtn. the XC'ers were at the North 1, Group 3 State Sectionals, trying to grab a top 5 finish to qualify for the Group 3 state championships at Holmdel Park. Again, the girls, coming on strong at the end of the season, did a little better than their male counterparts. And again, Marissa Karl led the girls with her 20th place. Without Steph Smith, forced out with injury right before the race, the girls ran a smart race, moving up from behind throughout. Danielle Halikias made the biggest moves and grabbed 33rd, followed by Atalia Bermudez (40), Alex Schneeberg (42) and Sam Tavalare (59). Two freshmen girls were tapped to go in to replace regulars and performed well--Lindsay Schafer (67) and Mariah Christian (77). The girls finished 7th, just out 2 spots. All the girls who competed and much of the team return next year.

The boys faced many tough teams and had to run well to beat their predicted finish of 10th. They managed one better, coming in 9th. Zach Miller ran a superb race to place 16th with a big p.r. of 17: 21. Steve Wagner (37), Scott Rennalls (40), Mike Artiglere (51), and Antonio Ruggiero (54) were the first five. Anthony Talanca and Anthony Chuplis also ran.

XC APPROACHES CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

With the regular season having come to a close, the Marauder harriers begin the championship portion of the season with the Morris County Championships Saturday, October 30. Close on its heels is the North 1, Group 3 State Sectional Championships Saturday, November 6. The top 5 teams and top 10 individuals advance from the sectional meet to the Group 3 State Championships at Holmdel Park on November 13.
In late September action, the squads traveled to Garrett Mtn. Park to race over the state sectional course. The boys and girls both came in 6th in their respective Varsity Group 3 races. Senior Zach Miller led the boys with a 10th place finish in 17:49. Soph Marissa Karl and junior Steph Smith were 22-23 to lead the girls. Junior Dan Nemeth led the j.v. boys team to 5th place with his 9th place finish. The frosh girls took home third place team medals with their 3rd place showing. Their boy counterparts were 4th. Of note, the team went home with 21 individual medals.
The teams traveled to the Brett Taylor Invitational on Oct. 9. The team brought home three first place trophies, a school record. The girls repeated as team champion in their race with Steph Smith breaking the tape first and running her best 5k of the season. Her six teammates picked up individual and team medals, all finishing in the top 20 (Karl, Kraemer, Tavalare, Schneeberg, Torres, Halikias). The JV boys won the B race. Dan Nemeth (4th) led Gennaro Ruggiero (6) and Brandon Kahan (7) and the rest of the team. The frosh girls took their 2nd 1st of the season in an invitational (Roxbury on 9/11). Atalia Bermudez was race champ and led Lindsay Schafer (4), Mariah Christian (5), and Nicole Mallett (10) in while the girls also took 15-16 (S. Miller, S. Christian). The frosh boys were a close 2nd in their race with Eddie Garcia coming in 3rd and Chris DuChemin 7th. The boys also had 13-15-16-21 (Gallagher, Kubicki, Tanenbaum, Ulbrich). The boys varsity were 5th in a competitive race. Zach Miller and Scott Rennalls were 16-17 and Mike Artiglere and Antonio Ruggiero grabbed medals in 34-35. Senior Steve Wagner was absent for the SAT's.
The boys ended the regular season at 8-7 overall. In the last meet, they just lost to Morristown, but shellacked Jefferson, High Point, and Par Hills. The girls split their last outing, losing to Morristown and High Point, but beating Par Hills and Jefferson. The girls record was 5-9. While the boys reached career win # 200 for Coach Sulley in the first meet, the girls moved to 198 wins by the end of the season and can reach that milestone at the beginning of 2011.

MOXC Opens at Roxbury

MOXC fielded full teams in every class race for the first time in its history this past Saturday, 9/11, at Horseshoe Lake Park. Since this meet uses a 4-person scoring system as opposed to the normal lowest 5 runner total, the Marauders scored in each of the 6 races.
The best team showing came in the freshmen girls' race, where the young, untested squad were beaten out by one point. Atalia Bermudez led the way, taking 5th, and Lindsay Schafer a 9th. A pack of 14-15-16-17 showed a promise of big things in later meets in the season.
Their boy classmates took 3rd in their race right before the girls. Eddie Garcia debuted by taking 5th place also. The boys had 5 in the top 28 to all grab medals.
Both the soph and jr/sr girls teams took 4th. Ashley Torres and Marissa Karl teamed up to grab 7th and 8th. Jackie Pignataro also got a medal in 22nd. The jr/sr girls placed 5 in the top 26 with Steph Smith leading the way in 12th. Alex Schneeberg (21), Sam Tavalare (22:18), Ellen Kraemer (23), and Danielle Halikias (26) showed great pack running like the frosh girls.
The jr/sr boys were in the largest field of the day and took 6th overall, running a 17:49 average. Zach Miller (24th--17:28), Steve Wagner (29th--17:44), and Scott Rennalls (30th--17:45) finished close to each other throughout the race. Mike Artiglere finished the scoring in 44th.
The soph boys were 8th with Nick Miele taking a medal in 29th.
Next up is the first NJAC meet at Greystone Park on Tuesday, 9/14. M.O. faces Morris Hills, Sparta, Mendham, and Roxbury.

Summer Action

Some MO tracksters continue to zoom! Aeron Gilson traveled to Maryland to compete in the Mid Atlantic Prep Classic. Gilson won his new specialty, the 400H, in 57 sec.
In action in Mahwah on Saturday, 6/19, Ashley Tomasula vaulted to a new personal best and school record of 11' 5.75".
Anthony Talanca qualified as the fastest 400 runner in the intermediate division in 53.75 and then placed 3rd in the finals in 54.27. He came back to take 5th in the 800 in 2:14.

End of Season Recognition

First Team All County:
***Aeron Gilson, Jacinta Ford
First Team All Conference National Division
*First Team
---Aeron Gilson, Dan Maya, John Johnson, Dan Baules, Scott Rennalls, Allissa Hoffman, Jacinta Ford, Gianna Pastena, Ashley Tomasula
*Second Team
---Chris Schneider, Cory Colligan, Armani Blair, Ingrid Nimoh, Brittney Gulick, Sam Tavalare, Marissa Karl
Star Ledger All Morris:
* First Team
---Aeron Gilson, 400H; Armani Blair, 200 (photo left); Jacinta Ford, Triple Jump
*Second Team
---Dan Maya, 100
*Third Team
---John Johnson, 100; Chris Schneider, 3200; Gianna Pastena, High Jump
Daily Record All Area:
*First Team
---Armani Blair, 200; Jacinta Ford, Triple Jump
*Second Team
---Dan Maya, 100
*Honorable Mention
---Aeron Gilson, John Johnson, Paul Kramaritsch, Kevin Lepore, Scott Rennalls, Chris Schneider, Chris Victoria, Jon Weiss, Allissa Hoffman, Gianna Pastena, Val Zielinski
Top Performance in All Area: Jacinta Ford, TJ, 35'11.75"
Highest Ranking State Performance: Aeron Gilson, 400H, 54.05 #10

State Championships Wrap Up

The boys and girls competed on Friday/Saturday, May 27 & 28, in the Group 3 State Meet at South Plainfield. The girls came away with two medalists in the meet: senior Jacinta Ford, who placed 6th in the triple jump at 35' and soph Ashley Tomasula (pictured below), also 6th in the pole vault at 10"6". Ford also placed 10th in the long jump (15'11.75"). Other highlights included soph Armani Blair, 12th--200(26.22) and 14th--100(13.03); Allissa Hoffman, 14th--jav (107'9"); and Casey Garcia, 14th--3200 (11:51.62).
For the boys, junior Paul Kramaritsch place 8th in the pole vault in a p.r. 12'6"; senior Chris Schneider, 10th in the 3200 in 9:47.88; and junior Dan Maya, 13th--100 (11.34). The 4 x 400 did not finish as leadoff man Dan Maya suffered a severe foot cramp and had to stop 100m into the race.
The relay team's misfortune was assuaged the next Thursday at the Meet of Champs in which the 4 x 100 had qualified. The team of John Johnson, Dan Maya, Jamal Davis, and Aeron Gilson (in his last race in a MO uniform) completed the circuit in 43.19 to take 8th place medals and break their own school record yet again this season. Tomasula finished 20th in the vault at 10' in her first trip to the MOC and Ford placed 25th in the t.j. at 34'6.75".