Jun 03, 2023
Both the Old Tappan girls and boys track & field teams put on a show to win their respective titles in the North 1, Group 3 sectional meets at Vernon High School.The girls team repeated after ending a long Northern Highlands run of eight straight years last season and have now begun of a streak of its own. Old Tappan put up 114.5 team points, which was 39.5 points better than second-place Mount Olive.“It’s amazing to be able to repeat this,” junior Abby Dennis said. “We won by a a decent margin, and I can only credit that to the seniors. They’re all the people I’ve been looking up to the past three years. I was just so excited to be able to bring it home for my team in the 4X4.”Dennis had a huge day for Old Tappan as she finished second in the 100 with a time of 12.20 seconds -- a PR time -- and first in a very competitive 100 hurdles race with a time of 14.57 seconds. She led a group that featured three other runners -- Morgan Ryerson of Mount Olive, Belle Bennett of Northern Highlands and Ariyana Jackson of Randolph -- that all posted top 10 New Jersey times in the sectional race.Dennis also hit a PR of 25.20 seconds to edge Mount Olive’s Natasha Redmond to win the 200 and anchored Old Tappan’s first-place 4X400 relay team (4:04.40). Kate Meeks also had a solid day as a runner for Old Tappan placing third in the 800 (2:17.89), third in the 1600 (5:19.43) and second in the 800 with a PR time of 11:25.41.“My coach always says that we are a June team,” Dennis said. “We have a lot of studs and people who will consistently place first or second. “I’m just happy that we can be that June team, repeat it and win by a lot.”Out on the field, Lyla Giordano won the shot put with a throw of 40-11, good for a top 10 mark in the state. To one up herself, Giordano won the discus with a throw of 157 feet, which was a PR for her and good for a top 25 time in the country this year.Mackenzie Ward placed second in the javelin with a throw of 115 feet, three inches. In the plot vault Jamie Kim (10 feet, six inches), was second and Joie Kim (10 feet) was right behind in third.It was a closer call for the boys, but they hung on for the sectional title as Old Tappan put up 88 points to beat second-place Morris Knolls by 12. Old Tappan was motivated to get the trophy back after winning it two years ago, but falling short last season.“This is definitely good,” junior Goran Saric said. “We got a lot of guys in a lot of different events who did their jobs. It’s quite an achievement winning this two out of the last three years. It’s really about every individual person worrying about what they had to do.”Saric posted a PR in the 400 hurdles (54.92) to take home first place. He also posted a PR in the 400 dash (49.52), but just lost out on the top prize to Luke Schagelin of Morris Knolls.“I came in last year as the number one seed and I didn’t win,” Saric said. “I wasn’t going to let that happen again. I had to finish strong.”The Golden Knights really shined in the field events. The dominated the pole vault as Tyler DeMarco barely edged out teammate Nathan Park as both posted state top 10 throws of 14 feet.Jack Small recorded a second-place finish in she shot put with a state top 10 throw of 55-5.75 and won the discus by throwing 158 feet, five inches. Evan Brooks (javelin) and Thomas Scott (long jump) both contributed third-place finishes.Both Old Tappan squads are now ready for the momentum to carry forward into the Group 3 Championships.“Winning by this big a margin at sectionals makes a statement,” Dennis said. “We showed other teams that we’re here tor rumble and we’re going to come get you in groups.”
