Title time

Woodstown boys win 4×400 relay to clinch first state title in track program’s history

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

TOMS RIVER – When Josh Crawford hit the finish line in the final even of the day, he not only brought the Woodstown boys a 4×400 relay title, he delivered a state  championship.

The Wolverines won the Group I indoor championship Saturday – their first track title in school history – with a strong showing in the running event. Their first-place win in the relay gave them 35 points, seven ahead of a Ramsey team that had them by three points entering the final race of the meet.

“We didn’t need to win the 4×400 to win the meet, but it was a great cap to a great season,” Wolverines coach Alex Dominy said. “Overall this season has been hard with snow days, difficult in terms of flu and colds and Arctic blasts, but these boys continue to improve despite barriers to a more typical season. I couldn’t be happier.

“Going into states with only six boys in events and not being the favorite was very daunting, but everyone performed amazingly and did their job to the fullest,” senior Karson Chew added.

The relay team of Jacob Marino, Chew, Anthony Costello and Crawford came home in 3:31.03, 22-hundreths of a second ahead of race runnerup New Providence.

Marino was a late replacement in the 4×4 and pulled out of the 3200 to focus on the relay and helped bring them through. 

“With the meet being moved we were able to run our usual 4×400 with Kyle Reitz,” Dominy said. “Being that Jacob was doing the two mile, we opted to have him scratch and focus on holding it down in the 4×400. Seeing that we won with less than a second it was a great choice.”

Marino also finished second in the 1600 (4:28.65). Crawford won the 800 (1:57.52) with Chew finishing third (1:58.87)

Schalick’s Sal Longo finished second in the boys pole vault, topping out at 12-6.

This story will be updated.

GROUP I INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP
(Event winners and Salem County point-scorers)

BOYS
Team scores: Woodstown 35, Ramsey 28, Glen Rock 28, Haddon Twp. 20, Camden 20, New Providence 18, Glassboro 18, Manville 17, Hasbrouck Heights 10, New Milford 8, Pascack Hills 8, Wood-Ridge 8, Dayton 8, Shore 8, Buena 8, Schalick 8. Also, Penns Grove 2, Salem 1.
400: 1. Giorgio Bruttini, Ramsey 50.67; 6. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 51.83
1600: 1. Shaun Maloney, Haddon Twp. 4:27.28; 2. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 4:28.65
55 Hurdles: 1. Jaleel Dickerson-Dempsey, Camden 7.73
800: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:57.62; 3. Karson Chew, Woodstown 1:58.87
55 Dash: 1. Michael Napolitano, Hasbrouck Heights 6.49
3200: 1. Jayran Rodriguez, Manville 9:31.74
4×400: 1. Woodstown (Jacob Marino, Karson Chew, Anthony Costello, Josh Crawford) 3:31.03     
High Jump: 1. Moses Robles, Glassboro 6-4
Pole Vault: 1. Luciano Zizza, Ramsey 13-0; 2. Sal Longo, Schalick 12-6
Shot Put: 1. Evan Yuzon, Glen Rock 58-7.75; 5. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove 46-7; 6. Jailon Fletcher-Wilson, Salem 45-6

GIRLS (in progress)
400: 1. Makenna Bruns, Metuchen 58.85
55 Hurdles: 1. Iza Samu, Glen Rock 8.56
1600: 1. Riley Fayer, Audubon 5:02.97
55 Dash: 1. Audrey Moreta, Newton 7.45
800: 1. Gwendolyn Neale, Verona 2:16.94
3200: 1. Alexandra Klein, Shore 10:40.25
4×400:
High Jump: 1. Riley Wright-Phillips, Whippany Park 5-2
Pole Vault: 1. Jenna Monaco, Dumont 12-0 (event record, old record 11-9 Catherine Shih, Bernards 2011)
Shot Put: 1. Sunny Moore, Glassboro 39-0