Highlights of the Bergen Meet of Champions 2023

Photo Credits: Anna-Marie Caruso NorthJersey.com

HACKENSACK — Her goal is to get better in every meet that she throws in.

Friday evening at Hackensack High School, Old Tappan junior Layla Giordano continued to stretch the boundaries of the girls discus in Bergen County, extending the county record in the event to an almost inconceivable 156 feet three inches and breaking the former record for a third time this spring.

Giordano also won the shot put on Friday to earn the Paul Schwartz Field Event Performance Award, the first Golden Knight to receive the honor. And she’s not done yet.

“I set a goal of 160 feet before the season started,” said Giordano, who moved into sixth place in New Jersey history in the event. “I knew when we started practice right after basketball season, that I came in with a better mindset and more mental strength and I knew what I needed to do to succeed as an athlete in track.”

After throwing a personal best of 139-6 to win the state group 3 title a year ago, at the time third all-time in Bergen behind the Demarest duo of Jenn Flinchum (143-4, 1999) and Jessica Fazekas (140-8, 2002), Giordano could only watch as another Demarest duo, Casey Sullivan (144-0) and Sarah Slomikowski (141-4) went 2-3 in a wild 2022 State Meet of Champions while Giordano finished 10th at 115-3.

“I knew coming out of last season that I had so much potential in the event,” said Giordano, “I had to get more consistent and do a full spin in both the shot and discus and improve my mechanics.”

The results have been breathtaking. She broke Sullivan’s record by nearly three feet in the discus in winning the Hasbrouck Heights Penn Relays field qualifier April 6 by throwing 146-9 and also improved her shot personal best by more than 3 1/2 feet by throwing 43-4 in the same meet.

She’s thrown more than 140 feet in each of her six major meets this spring. The combined number of performances by all other Bergen throwers in the more than 50 years since girls started throwing in interscholastic event is also six with only Slomikowski (142-4) and Flinchum having as many as two meets over 140.

She broke her own county record by throwing 153-11 at the Red Littler Bergen County championships on May 13 and her 156-3 throw is nearly 30 feet better than any non-Bergen thrower in the state this year. She’s improved her shot to 45-6, second in the state and seventh on the all-time Bergen list.

“(Today) I picked up the speed in the circle and I only got one fair throw, although I was throwing well,” said Giordano, who popped her big one on her second of six throws. “I’m going so far through the circle that I’m releasing the disc too quickly, but I’m going to work hard on fixing that before sectionals.”

Paul Schwartz NorthJersey.com

Source Link: https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/high-school/track/2023/05/22/track-highlights-of-the-bergen-meet-of-champions/70229963007/

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