Old Tappan finally caught rival Demarest to win what amounted to a dual meet in the B division, edging the top-ranked Norsewomen, 156-150, on the strength of its non-superstars.

Old Tappan is more than just its

All-Americans

When you think Old Tappan girls track, the first thought goes to the All-American pair of Layla Giordano and Abby Dennis. And at the Division B meet, the Ivy League-bound duo combined for six wins and 62 points as the Golden Knights reversed three earlier losses and defeated Demarest to win its second title in three years after a 38-year drought.

But Coach Dave Burns wanted to talk about his other veterans and his newcomers when he discussed the tight win over its Northern Valley Regional rivals.

“You look at our team and see two All-Americans, but there are 18 events in this meet and when you’re going against a well coached and talented team like Demarest, you need a lot of other pieces and we finally got those pieces this weekend,” he said.

One of those is senior Maya Giordano, Layla’s twin and fellow three-sport athlete, who is headed to the University of Delaware to throw. Maya had a pair of personal bests to take second to her more heralded sibling in both the shot (37-5 1/2) and discus (116-7).

“Those were two huge second finishes for us and Maya has been great for us during her career,” said Burns. “Having a great meet like this was way overdue.”

Old Tappan scored in every event but the triple jump and got big finishes from freshmen Nora Lee and Emme Fermin and sophomore Angie Kelley on the track. Freshman Caroline Ognibene had a terrific Friday, winning the high jump on her last jump and taking fifth in the long jump.

The biggest boost of all may have come in the first event of the second day of the meet, when junior Sophia Katechis had a strong second place finish in the 3,200 to start the Golden Knights’ comeback from 18 points behind.

“Those were points we didn’t expect,” said Burns. “It changed the tone of the meet. Sophia had run incredibly well from the beginning of winter season but after a great race at sectionals, she couldn’t run for nearly two months. When the coaching staff saw how well she ran, we said to the team ‘let’s go’ and the kids did the rest.

As usual, the pole vault was stellar. The Golden Knights went 1-2-3 in the event for the maximum 24 points, and grabbed the lead to stay when Demarest could manage only three points in the same event. Senior Allie Tuite, who has been a stalwart number two vaulter for most of her career, continued her breakthrough spring, clearing 11 feet for the win. Junior Jamie Kim was second at 10-6 and Salome Sanchez finished third.

And of course, two huge performances by Layla Giordano in the shot and disc and a quad win by Dennis, including a personal best and North Jersey leading 62.55 in the 400 hurdles is hard for any team to stay with, even though Demarest has its own big point getter in junior Kailey Attali, who won both jumps and scored 30 points herself.

“Abby and Layla are two oustanding leaders who work really hard,” said Burns. “Layla is the last one to leave the track each night and Abby is constantly trying to get better. When the young kids these talented kids and how hard they work, it’s hard for it not to have an impact.”