State Group 4 Championship
The state group four championship was all set at the bubble in toms River. We were combined with the group 1 state meet and were the last group meet to race. Going into the meet, we already had an idea as to what the 12th seed for getting a wildcard advancement was. The task was simple, top 3 automatically move on and then the next 12 best performances from all of the State meets combined. First up for us on the track was the 1600m. Going in Maddie was the 5th seed and Megan was the 7th seed. We certainly knew that this week wasn't going to be so much tactical, but more of people just racing. Right from the get go Megan put herself right up front. Maddie was a little behind in the a group of girls. ap by lap, Megan and Maddie got closer together and had secured 4th and 5th place. Megan stopped the clock at 5:08.35 which is her season best and Maddie ran 5:11.31 which is also her season best and fastest indoor 1600 all time. Both of them secured wildcard spots to compete at the meet of champions.
Then the 800 was next for us on the track seeing our lone individual Alyssa Suriano. Alyssa had run an indoor pr of 2:23.61 at the sectional meet and was the 8th seed at States. Alyssa excuted this race perfectly. It went out quick with her splitting 32.8, But then she settled in clicking off 35.1 and 36.9. Going into the last lap she was in 7th place but closing quickly on the group in front of her. Her last lap in 35.1 stopped the clock at 2:19.95 to finish 5th. Her time moves her to #7 all time indoors. She also secured a wildcard berth to MOC.
While the 800 was finishing up, Addie Lore was also finishing up in the shot put. She managed to throw 31-0.75 to place 21st. This was her 3rd best throw of the season and the 3rd time that she threw over 31'. That ended a solid indoor season for Addie where she switched from the glide to spinning. This will bode well for her shot outdoors.
Then the 3200m girls lined up on the track. Maddie Meder and freshman Erin Healy were ready to line up with the best in group 4. Maddie was seeded 8th and Erin Healy was seeded 10th. The race unfolded and quickly Maddie and Erin were running with the group of 7. Through the mile the group started to separate with Meder going with the front 3(5:39) and Erin started to fall of of 6th coming through in 5:41. It was at this point that the front group left Maddie in 5th by herself and Erin back into 6th and closing on Maddie. Erin now saw Maddie and was able to pick it up to catch her with 2 laps to go. They both pushed each other the last lap to finish 5th and 6th. Maddie ran 11:21.97(indoor lifetime best and #4 indoor all time) and Erin ran 11:23.27 which is #7 indoor all time. Her time was nearly 20 seconds faster than she ran at Sectionals. It also breaks Megan Niglio's freshman record of 11:25.70.
Last on the track we ended with the 4x400m relay running in the 2 heat out of 4. The previous week they had run 4:14.49 and we were replacing one of the legs so that Maddie could concentrate on the 3200. We were seeded 16th and I challenged the girls to run under 4:12. Veronica Ashcraft led off for us and quickly moved us into 1st place. She split 62.0 handing off to Sofia Recinto who carried the baton for 62.7 seconds. Still in first place, she then handed off to Megan Niglio. Megan maintained first place splitting 63.9 handing it off to Freshman Emily Couture who split 62.6. She was caught by Manalapan's anchor, but the y were DQ'd. The girls ran 4:11.17 to place 9th and capture the last wildcard spot for MOC. I guess you could say challenge accepted and delivered.
As we look forward to MOC's, we will get to see our girls race with the best in NJ since that is what they are. The meet on Sunday will start off with the 4x800m running in the shwocase event. This team will comprise of Erin HEaly, Sofia Recinto, Emily Butler and Grace Wojciechowski. Erin has a season best time in the 8 at 2:26 and the remaining 3 have all run 2:29 in the open 800. Then Maddie and Megan will both run in the 1600m, Alyssa will be in the 800m and the meet will end with the 4x400m racing. All in all we had 8 marks at the State meet and 7 of them were either season bests or lifetime bests.
