Jackson girls dominate at county championship meet

By Mike White
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY Howell’s Devon Barnett runs to a third-place finish in the 100m high hurdles at the Monmouth County Championships at Holmdel High School last Wednesday.

LITTLE EGG HARBOR — The Jackson High School girls’ track team met little resistance in winning the Ocean County Championships for the second consecutive year last Saturday at Pinelands Regional High School.

The Lady Jaguars captured five events to compile a total of 147.33 points. Jackson’s closest opponent was Southern Regional High School, Manahawkin, which posted a mere 58 points. Toms River East was third (44.33) and Central Regional High School, Bayville, was fourth (38.33). Lakewood tied with Pinelands for 12th place.

For the boys, Jackson was third overall with 59 points while Lakewood finished fifth with 45.

Jackson’s Jen Clausen won both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. The freshman sensation was awarded the meet’s Most Outstanding Performer as Jackson registered an 89-point victory.

"She is still a very young runner who has a bunch of potential," Jackson coach Alton Johnson said. "She did a great job out there for us all season. We have a lot of depth on this squad and that is the key reason why we won this meet."

Clausen won the 1,600 in a time of 5:08.1 and then returned to capture the 3,200 in 11:02.8.

"She has worked very hard all season," Johnson said. "She is quite a good distance runner. We look forward to having her compete with us for the next few seasons."

Depth has been a key ingredient all season for the Jags. Jackson placed at least one athlete in the top six in 14 of the 15 events. In fact, Jackson had multiple athletes place in six events.

Senior Nicole Montegary started things off with a victory in the 200 meters. Montegary won the event in a time of 25.7 seconds. Montegary placed second in the 100 meters behind Lakewood senior sprinter Shakeema Martin, who injured her hamstring during the event. Martin managed to post a wining time of 11.9 seconds despite pulling up in the last few meters.

Montegary also finished runner-up in the 400 hurdles (1:03.7) and third in the long jump.

"She is one of the leaders on this team," Johnson said. "We need her to have meets like this in order for us to do as well as we did today."

Jessica Fortune won the 100 hurdles in a time of 14.6 seconds. In addition, Fortune was third in the 100 meters (12.5), fifth in the 200 meters (26.7) and sixth in the high jump (4-10).

Junior Vanessa Michel was first in the shot put with a toss of 39-11, and third in the discus (103-6). Her efforts won her the field event award. Lauren Blake and Ashley Mlotkiewicz put forth a 2-3 finish in the 400 meters, respectively. Blake finished in a time of 58.0 while Mlotkiewicz crossed in 58.9.

Jenna Prendergast was third in the 3,200 (11:17.5), while teammate Katie Chin was fourth in the 100 hurdles (15.5).

For the boys, Jackson’s Jack Oliver captured the javelin with a throw of 167-11.

Mike Rufo placed runner-up in the 800 meters with a time of 1:59.2, while teammate Ryan Mogila was fifth in 2:00.9. Paul Bahamondes was third in the 3,200 (9:33.9) and Tony Boone was third in the high jump (6-0).

Lakewood’s Mike Wittenburg won the 100 meters in a time of 11.1 and was runner-up in a photo finish in the 200 meters (22.3) behind Toms River South sprinter Donte Dillard. Sid Murray finished third in both the discus (164-5) and the shot put (53-10).

Howell High School’s track and field stars travelled to Holmdel last week to participate in the Monmouth County Championships.

Freehold Borough’s Debra Vento picked up a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles. Her 15.8 was just ahead of Howell’s Devin Barnett (15.9). Asbury Park’s Kisha Holder was first in 15.5. Barnett also medaled in the long jump, taking sixth (15-3 1/4).

Howell’s sensational freshman Kellee Hand turned in a personal best in placing third in the 800 meters (2:18.1). Running against state champion Katy Trotter, who turned in a meet record 2:12.4, Hand ran aggressively going through her first quarter in 66.

Hand’s teammate Leslie Holleran turned in her fastest, 11:37.7, placing fifth in the 3,200 meters. Trotter again won this one in a meet record 10:44.4, which broke the meet record that had been held by Howell’s Lindsey Gallo of 10:52.66 in 1999.

Freehold Township’s girls’ 1,600-meter relay team was third 4:11.4 and Howell’s sixth (4:14.4).

In the field, Howell’s Samantha Graffeo was fifth in the shot put (33-1), which was won by Raritan’s Amanda Harmata (36-4 3/4). Her teammate Katie Henriques was sixth in the discus (97-8) behind Cole.

Shore Conference titles will be on the line this week at Neptune High School as Monmouth and Ocean counties’ best meet. The meet will be held Friday and Saturday.