OPENING RESULTS

Several boys teams traveled to Summit to participate in the relays on Saturday, 4/2. The shot putters brought home medals with their 5th place. Chris Victoria (42'11"), Rob Parisi (38' 52.25"), and Matt Deptula (34' 9.25") totaled 116' 1.5". The 400H trio of Antonio Genarro (63.3), Gennaro Ruggiero (64.2), and Mike Gonzalez (66.1) placed 7th in 3:13.4. The disc team was 11th; Victoria had the team's best throw with a 122'6". At Pope John the boys and girls both split their meets, both losing to Pope John and both beating Montville. The boys lost to P.J. 92-48 while the girls lost 102-38. The boys beat Montville 101-38 and the girls 111-16. The big name for the boys was Matt Herb, who won the high jump against both teams, opening with a 6'2" height. He recorded two more firsts in winning the triple jump at 39' 3/4" and added two 2nds in the long jump, just going over 19'. In fact, the jumps were the strong area for the boys as they wracked up 26 out of 36 pts. vs. P.J. and 29 against Montville. Chris Cuellar took 1st in the l.j. at 19'9" in his first-ever try. Justin Maksimow added 3rds in the l.j. and t.j. (2nd against P.J.). Sr. Paul Kramaritsch won the p.v. at 11'. The boy sprinters overwhelmed Montville going 1-2 in the 100 and 200 with Cory Colligan and Dan Maya and sweeping the 400 and relay. Antonio Hunt led a sweep of the 110H against Montville and Antonio Ruggiero a sweep of the 400H. Scott Rennalls placed 1st in the 800/1600 against Montville. Keturah Orji made her outdoor debut noteworthy by winning the 100 in 12.5 over indoor county champ Julia Rizio of Montville. She won the 200 against Montville and was 2nd against P.J. Alyssa Hoffman won the jav overall with a 100' heave. Sam Tavalare was the winner of the l.j. at 15' 7". She also ran 1:02.8 in the 400 to take 1st and 3rd. Marissa Karl ran 5:27 to take 1st against Montville and narrowly lose the 1600 against P.J. Danielle Halikias led a 1-2-3 sweep against Montville in the 3200. Marissa Karl also led a 1-2 sweep of Montville in the 800 and 1600.

Indoor Awards

Matt Herb was named First Team High Jump by the Daily Record. Ashley Tomasula made 2nd team Pole Vault and Marissa Karl 2nd Team 1000 m run. Honorable Mentions went to sprinters Cory Colligan and Armani Blair and hurdler Ingrid Nimoh. The Star Ledger named Herb 2nd Team H.J. and Tomasula 2nd Team P.V., while Karl took 3rd Team 1000 honors and Ingrid Nimoh in 55H. For the boys Scott Rennalls was 3rd Team 800. The girls 4 x 400 was also named 3rd team: Sam Tavalare, Marissa Karl, Alicia Warren, and Ingrid Nimoh. In all, six M.O. indoor track athletes were in the top 50 in the N.J. performance list. Marissa Karl had the 11th best 1000m time at 3:09.1 and also the 38th best time at 2:21 for 800. Ashley Tomasula was tied at 12th for her 11' in the pole vault. Matt Herb was tied in 24th place for his 6'2" efforts in the high jump. Scott Rennalls was 28th in the 1000 at 2:42.7. Katurah Orji as 31st in the 200 with her 26.84 and 43rd in the 55 with a 7.48. Ingrid Nimoh had the 45th best 55H time at 8.75. The girls sprint med team was 25th with its 4:28 clocking by Armani Blair, Ingrid Nimoh, Sam Tavalare and Marissa Karl.

Loschiavo Run

About 140 runners braved cold and windy weather to participate in this year's Loschiavo Run, held at the high school Saturday, March 26. The run, held each year since the death of track member John Loschiavo, raises money for scholarships to MOHS seniors.

Senior distance ace Zach Miller kept the first place honors for the home town in the 4 mile run. His time of 22:58 was a :58 p.r. over his time last year. Steve Wagner was 3rd in 24:49 and Scott Rennalls 4th in 25:11. Seven MO boys tracksters placed in the top ten. Soph Marissa Karl was the first female finisher and won the h.s. division in 27:14. Danielle Halikias was 3rd (27:21) and frosh teammates Mariah Christian and Lindsay Schafer were 4th and 5th (29:05, 29:21).

Jr. Sam Tavalare was 3rd overall in the 2 mile and Emily Crowley 5th. Fr. xc runner Stephen Carlstrom was 4th.

Eastern States Championships

The final competition of the 2010-2011 indoor season for the MOTF teams was the prestigious Eastern States Championships, held at the 168th St. Armory in NYC. Athletes must qualify according to entry guidelines and then be selected by the Games Committee. Three MO girls made the cut. Coach Joe Hehn took two of his sprint proteges in for races in the 55 and 200. Ketura Orji qualified for the semis in the 55 after a 7.48 trial. Amazingly, this time tied the school record held by Jackie Sendgikoski. She placed 20th overall in the semis, running a 7.56. She came back in the 200 later, joining teammate Armani Blair. Armani blazed the 1 lap in 27.46 to take 22nd overall. Keturah ran in a later heat and finished 19th with a 27.03.
In the field, Ashley Tomasula had her last vault competition and successfully cleared 11' again, good for 7th in the field. Ashley continued to equal her own school record set earlier in the season.

Meet of Champs

Three Marauders made their fourth trip back to the Toms River bubble for the annual state finals known as the Meet of Champions. Junior Ashley Tomasula placed 8th overall, clearing 11'. Soph Marissa Karl placed 17th in the 800, running 2:23.44. Senior Matt Herb concluded his successful indoor jumping career with a clearance of the opening height of 6' to take 18th. This was Ashley's second trip to the MOC indoors, while it was a first-time appearance form both Marissa and Matt.

State Success

Last Saturday, Feb. 19, the qualifiers from the North 1, Group 3 State Sectional Championships competed in the Group 3 State Championships at the Bennet Center in Toms River.

Three individuals from the Marauder squads medaled and thus advanced to the Meet of Champions on Saturday, Feb. 26. The best 6 medalists from each of the 6 groups, plus 6 wildcards, move on to contest to see who's the best in NJ.

The highest place was junior Ashley Tomasula, who equaled her own school indoor record, taking 2nd at 11'. It was her second consecutive clearance of that height in as many weekends. Next highest was the bronze medal won by soph Marissa Karl in the 800 m. She zoomed to 3rd on a 2:21.85 p.r. improvement; she may have turned some heads because of her 2:25.25 from the week before and her 9th place seeding prior to the race. Finally, senior Matt Herb jumped 6'2" in the high jump along with 3 others, but was awarded 5th, his 5th time over that height this season. The winner went 6'4".

Both 4 x 400 teams ran their season bests. The girls team, pictured above, ran an automatic 4:15.09 for 12th place. Fr. Alicia Warren, jr. Sam Tavalare, jr. Ingrid Nimoh, and soph Marissa Karl ran .05 off their 4:14.8 at the Varsity Classic at the Armory, but will be given credit for the record because of the official auto timing. The flat nature of the Toms River oval makes times run there up to 4 sec. slower for 1600m than the banked track of the Armory. The all junior boys team of Mike Gonzalez, Dan Baules, Cory Colligan, and Scott Rennalls posted a 3:38.54. Speaking for the group, Scott said, "We're happy to run our fastest time of the season. We can still do better." Rennalls placed 11th in the 800 in 2:03.58, slightly off his 2:02.61 the week before. He did, however, post his best 400 split in 52.7.

Sam Tavalare placed 10th in the 800 in 2:28.51, her second time under 2:30. Fr. Keturah Orji and jr. Armani Blair were 18th and 19th in the 55 semis at 7.69 and 7.70 respectively. The 7.70 was Armani's best time of the season and a scant .01 off her p.r. of 7.69.

The girls were 9th overall with 14 pts.

North 1 Group 3 State Sectionals

The Marauders advanced a total of 11 athletes to the Group 3 State Championships this past Saturday, 2/13. Sr. Matt Herb successfully defended his h.j. title, winning that event at 6'. The next highest placing team members were jr. Ashley Tomasula, who cleared 11', breaking her own school record and soph Marissa Karl, who also took a silver in the 800 with a p.r. of 2:25.25. Karl also handled the second leg of the 4 x 400 team, which placed 3rd. Sam Tavalare joined her on that team, following her 4th place finish in her first non-relay 800, which she ran in 2:27.06. Ingrid Nimoh anchored that team and took the baton from her freshman sister Suzie. The team ran 4:15.45, not far off the school record set earlier in the week.
The biggest event of the night for the girls was the 55 dash. After going 3-4-5 in the semis, the same girls--Keturah Orji, Armani Blair, and Camille Inglese--went 3-4-5 in the finals, running 7.62-7.77-7.78. Keturah tied the 9th gr. record in the semis with her 7.58.
Jr. Danielle Halikias had the dreaded 7th place, but had stepped up to the 3200 for the first time and ran a respectable 12:34.8. She led fr. Mariah Christian to a 12:36 and jr. Alex Schneeberg to12:39. Fr. Alicia Warren had a p.r. in the 400, taking 10th in 1:04.33, and classmate Lindsay Schafer a 9th in the 1600 at 5:48.89. The girls finished tied for 3rd with 38 pts., their best team finish ever.
Jr. Scott Rennalls was the next highest boy finisher, finishing in 2:02.61 for 800m and getting 4th. He returned to run a 52.9 anchor for the 4 x 400 team, which ran their best of the season at 3:41.35. Jrs. Mike Gonzalez, Dan Baules, and Cory Colligan took the first three legs for the squad. The boys placed 6th overall with 18 pts.
The Group 3 Championships are Sat, 2/20, at 4 PM.