By Andy Loigu

Warren Hills distance runner Alexa Westley, a senior, has qualified to run in the 3,200 meter event at the New Jersey Meet of Champions for the third straight year. A University of Wisconsin recruit, she is a two-time defending champion in the event.

This year’s Meet of Champions will be held on Saturday afternoon, June 8, at Northern Burlington High School.

Westley finished second in the 3,200 meter race, on June 1, in the state Group Three meet at Central Regional High School in Bayville. The top six finishers in each group qualify for the Meet of Champions. The Warren Hills senior finished the race in 10:29.33 behind West Morris junior Julia Trethaway, who established a group record with her 10:24.13 time.
She finished ahead of Westley for the second straight week, also winning in the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 meet at Middletown North.

Warren Hills was well represented at the girls sectionals, with several notable performances. Julia Raskin finished sixth in the 1,600 meter race in 5:20.48. The Blue Streaks’ 1,600 relay team of Tamia Freeman, Meghan Dufner, Lauren Hardy and Erin Carroll set a school record of 4:08.66 while qualifying for the group meet with a fifth place finish.

Emma Mele, a Warren Hills sophomore, reached new heights in the pole vault in winning the sectional championship with a lift of 10 feet, three inches. Last year, her best vault was 7-6.

“All I knew at the beginning of the season was I wanted to better myself and concentrate on reaching 10 feet. I never thought I’d be a winner at sectionals,” Mele said. Also a member of the Blue Streaks’ swim team, she credited her swimming training with giving her the core and leg strength to win in the pole vault. “I’ve worked on getting my hands up fast and extend through the vault,” she added.

Her 10-foot vault at the state group meet put her in ninth place, but she said she enjoyed the day anyway.

In the Group One meet in Franklin, Somerset County, Belvidere sophomore Jaelyn Barkley set a goal of breaking the one-minute mark in the 400 meters. She came close, finishing 13th in 1:01.89. Earlier this spring, she won the 200 meter dash in 27.75 at Ridge High School in the Skyland Conference freshman/sophomore meet. “The really good competition pushes me,” she said, adding that her mom and older sister also were good track runners. “That inspired me to get into track and work real hard at it,” she said.

BOYS STANDOUTS

In the boys Group 2 meet, Hackettstown’s Sidney Ohene was 13th in the triple jump with a 41-4 1/4 run, skip, and jump.

A pair of Warren Hills boys did well at the Group 3 meet, as Duro Ajayi was ninth in the discus with a 144-3 fling and Lossenie Fofana finished 15th in the 400 meter run with a 51.26 time. Ajayi set his personal standard on May 7 when he won the discus event at the Skyland Conference Meet in Hillsborough with a 160-5 launch.

William Carroll of Warren Hills had the area’s best 400 meter time this spring on May 7, when he won the Skyland Conference crown in 51.18 seconds.Carroll also won the Skyland Conference 400 hurdles title (a killer of an event I used to do in my young life). Carroll won it with a marvelous 58.34 time. Hackettstown’s Zeb Burke ran the 400 hurdles in 59.41 at the North 2 Group 2 sectionals. Other locals who ran strong races in the 400 hurdles were John Costa of Warren Hills in 1:00.01 at the sectional meet, Josh Dickerson of Hackettstown in 1:00.92 at sectionals, and Philip Ruppel of Hackettstown in 1:02.29 in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference meet at Wallkill Valley.

Basketball and soccer player Tyler Gorczyca of Hackettstown threw the javelin 179 feet and three inches at the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex meet on May 16.

***************Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.