The Lions stormed to the team trophy at Saturday’s Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex championship at Wallkill Valley with 117.5 points to runner-up Hunterdon Central’s 82. That North Hunterdon won as a team wasn’t all that surprising, though some had thought Pope John XXIII (fourth at 53.5, behind the hosts in third at 54) might offer a major challenge. But the way the Lions took their prize was what was commanded attention. From distances to hurdles to throws, North stormed ahead for every point.
Three examples:
1) At the shot put ring, Delaware Valley’s Alli Beljan had just thrown a personal-best 34 feet on the penultimate toss of the competition to seemingly deny the Lions’ Carla Faust a gold. Until, that is, Faust hit a personal-best 34-10 toss on the very last throw of the meet.
“It was all about improving the points for my team,” Faust said. “That’s what drove me throw a PR.”
2) In the 100-meter high hurdles, the Lions faced major challenges from Kiki Darrell of Pope John and Sydney Villani of Hunterdon Central. But North’s Megan Stenberg, Jill Paciga and Emma Mikitiuk dug down and had an answer as they swept the top three spots to hand their team 24 precious points from one event.
“(Hurdle coach) Shane Berry wanted us to go 1-2-3,” said Stenberg, who won the final in 15.38 seconds. “He told us to picture us winning and coming down to finish line with each other. And when we did (head) coach Sean Walsh told us it was one of his favorite moments in all his coaching years.”
3) In the 3,200-meter run, super Lion sophomore Elena DiMarcello was locked in a fierce and tight battle with Pope John’s Anna Campbell. DiMarcello had just come off a spectacular 800 that she won in a blazing 2:14.49. How much would she have left to hold off Campbell? Plenty. DiMarcello shifted to a higher gear and won in 10 minutes, 50.40 seconds – only she has run faster in the lehighvalleylive region this spring – almost seven seconds faster than Campbell in second.
Source: Lion Athletic News2 North Hunterdon girls do whatever it takes to win H/W/S track team crown North Hunterdon girls do whatever it takes to win H/W/S track team crown
Click HERE to review the complete results from the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Girls Track and Field Championship on NJMilesplit.
Click HERE to review the article on LehighValleyLive.com.
