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Chatham boys claim first Morris County track title; Mount Olive, Morristown girls share

jane havsy, morristown daily record
·10 min read

NEW YORK – Maybe it is about the shoes?

Tony Valenzuela brought home a pair of hot pink Nike Dragonflies to replace his son’s year-old cross country spikes. Chatham senior Leo Valenzuela used them well, slicing seven seconds off his personal best in the 1,600 meters (4:23.29) while finishing second to teammate Ryan Beegle.

Beegle (4:20.18) and Valenzuela embraced as they walked off the track. Beegle was even prouder about Valenzuela’s time and their 1-2 finish, key to Chatham’s boys team title at the Morris County Championships.

It is the Cougars’ first indoor county championship ever, for boys or girls. They only placed in five of the 11 events on Monday night – but they had two runners score in the 1,600 and the 1,000.

“We needed some points,” Beegle said. “I didn’t expect to be competing to win this meet. Morris County is so competitive, a really good county.”

Natasha Redmond of Mount Olive places in first in the 300-meter dash during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Natasha Redmond of Mount Olive places in first in the 300-meter dash during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

On the girls side, Natasha Redmond did everything she could to propel Mount Olive into a tie with Morristown at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.

Redmond won the 55 and 300 meters, and anchored the Marauders’ 4x400 to second place – behind the Colonials.

Redmond used to hate the 300 meters.

When she was running for a club track program in elementary school, “anything more than the 200, I was like, ‘Nah.’ But after discovering a gluten allergy was stunting her growth, Redmond had a three-inch growth spurt in the summer between sixth and seventh grades – and she grew into the 300.

“The 300 takes out the ugly part of the 400 – the last 100 meters,” said Redmond, a 5-foot-7 Mount Olive junior.  “I try to take it out calm and collected, and the last 100 makes all the difference.”

Marauders junior Morgan Ryerson was also a double winner on Monday night, taking home the 55-meter hurdles – and scissor kicking her way over the high jump.

Senior Grace DelGiorno was Morristown’s lone individual winner in the 3,200, and also finished second in the 1,600. Junior Claire Annuik was second in the 600 and fourth in the 1,000. Colonials junior Nia Freeman was second in the 300

Beware of falling records!

Collin Boler of Delbarton places first in the 600-meter run during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Collin Boler of Delbarton places first in the 600-meter run during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

∎ Delbarton senior Collin Boler crushed the Morris County and meet records in the 600, flinging himself across the finish line and onto the track. His time of 1:19.68 is No. 1 in New Jersey and the third fastest in the United States this winter.

Boler also won the 1,000 and 3,200 meters, scoring 30 of the Green Wave’s 40 points on Monday night – enough to finish third behind Chatham and Morris Knolls.

Jason Meza of Morristown places first in the 300-meter dash during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Jason Meza of Morristown places first in the 300-meter dash during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

∎ Jason Meza didn’t realize how fast he’d run to win the 300 meters. Meza, a Morristown junior, crossed the line in 34.6 seconds, breaking both the Morris County record from 2014 and the meet record from 2018.

Meza had been waiting for Kinnelon senior Jack Ahart to make his move before starting to kick.

“I didn’t think I was going that fast,” said Meza, who had never run at Ocean Breeze before. “I knew Ahart was coming inside. I thought, ‘He’s coming. He’s coming. You’ve got to wait for him to make your move.’  But he never came.

Ahart finished second. He and Morristown Beard junior Spencer Anderson had already come in under year-old meet record of 6.64 seconds in the 55.

Newcomers on top

Joziah Johnson of Parsippany, center, competes in the 55-meter hurdles during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Joziah Johnson of Parsippany, center, competes in the 55-meter hurdles during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

∎ Parsippany senior Joziah Johnson spent the first half of the 55-meter hurdles worrying about his poor start – and the second half overcoming it. After being “the last one to the first hurdle, second hurdle, third hurdle,” and knowing his opposition, Johnson was “really shocked” to see his name on top of the Ocean Breeze scoreboard.

Johnson edged Roxbury senior Carter Olmsted by seven hundredths of a second.

“It was an exhilarating race,” said Johnson, who hopes to continue competing at George Mason University.

“It feels great to be able to say I won hurdles this year.”

∎ Ivory Piskula didn’t want to think about the county meet until the bus ride to Staten Island. Concerned about not doing well, the Morris Hills sophomore tuned it all out.

She won the 1,600 meters in 5:14.84, a new personal best. She also finished third in the 1,000 and fourth in the 600 on Monday night.

“I just trust myself standing on the line,” said Piskula, a Madison resident in the Academy for Math, Science and Engineering.

“At first (I thought I could win) the 600, because I usually don’t run other events before it. But after the mile, I was like, ‘I’m tired.’ I’m just processing it.”

Carlie Wysocki of Randolph finishes first in the 1000-meter race during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Carlie Wysocki of Randolph finishes first in the 1000-meter race during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

∎ The night before the Morris County Championships, Tom Wysocki surprised his daughter, Randolph freshman Carlie Wysocki, with a new pair of bright orange Nike Vaporweaves. It is her first pair of indoor track spikes, since Drew University doesn’t allow them.

The super-light but extra grippy shoes might have given Carlie a little bit of an edge in her race to the county title in the 1,000 meters.

“I was trying to stay with the first person (Roxbury junior Madison Gargiulo and then Mendham junior Anna Shaw) until then end, and then give it all I have,” Wysocki said. “It feels very nice. I was very tired, but it feels fulfilling.”

Girls results

Grace DelGiorno of Morristown places first in the 3200-meter race during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Grace DelGiorno of Morristown places first in the 3200-meter race during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

Team scores: Morristown and Mount Olive 50; Morris Hills 40; Randolph 37; Mendham 27; Roxbury 26; Chatham 18; Parsippany Hills 17; Madison 16; Morris Knolls 15; Villa Walsh 12; Hanover Park 11; Whippany Park 9; Parsippany and Morristown Beard 6; Montville 1

55 meters: 1. Natasha Redmond (Mount Olive) 7.41; 2. Ella Tucker (Madison) 7.49; 3. Sage Hendershot (Parsippany) 7.5; 4. Adianna Agbo (Morris Hills) 7.66; 5. Ariyana Jackson (Randolph) 7.71; 6. Emily Morgenstond (Morris Hills) 7.73.

300 meters: 1. Natasha Redmond (Mount Olive) 41.83; 2. Nia Freeman (Morristown) 42.9; 3. Chloe Higgins (Morristown Beard) 42.91; 4. Ella Tucker (Madison) 43.51; 5. Adianna Agbo (Morris Hills) 43.87; 6. Shreya Sathiyan (Morris Hills) 44.08.

600 meters: 1. Amanda Hoffman (Parsippany Hills) 1:37.5; 2. Claire Annuik (Morristown) 1:38.29; 3. Halye Greene (Roxbury) 1:38.39; 4. Ivory Piskula (Morris Hills) 1:39.94; 5. Olivia Capalba (Morris Knolls) 1:41.11; 6. Kira Chebishev (Parsippany Hills) 1:43.63.

1,000 meters: 1. Carlie Wysocki (Randolph) 3:05.43; 2. Anna Shaw (Mendham) 3:07.84; 3. Ivory Piskula (Morris Hills) 3:08.34; 4. Claire Annuik (Morristown) 3:09.09; 5. Chelsea Renna (Randolph) 3:10.38; 6. Madison Gargiulo (Roxbury) 3:10.42.

1,600 meters: 1. Ivory Piskula (Morris Hills) 5:14.84; 2. Grace DelGiorno (Morristown) 5:14.9; 3. Blythe Dudley (Villa Walsh) 5:17.01; 4. Anna Shaw (Mendham) 5:17.59; 5. Ester Kirk (Morristown) 5:23.72; 6. Kate Shaw (Mendham) 5:24.64.

3,200 meters: 1. Grace DelGiorno (Morristown) 11:33.08; 2. Kate Shaw (Mendham) 11:42.6; 3. Ines Lemee (Villa Walsh) 11:54.51; 4. Lindsey Bresnahan (Chatham) 11:58.15; 5. Maya Van Horn (Madison) 11:58.62; 6. Elizabeth Kulesa (Madison) 12:02.55.

4x400: 1. Morristown 4:08.6; 2. Mount Olive 4:08.92; 3. Parsippany Hills 4:10.78; 4. Chatham 4:13.54; 5. Randolph 4:18.28.

Morgan Ryerson of Mount Olive places first by clearing 5-feet-4-inches in the high jump during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Morgan Ryerson of Mount Olive places first by clearing 5-feet-4-inches in the high jump during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

55-meter hurdles: 1. Morgan Ryerson (Mount Olive) 8.35; 2. Ariyana Jackson (Randolph) 8.64; 3. Alona Kopeld (Mendham) 8.99; Alicia Ramos (Morris Knolls) 9.04; 5. Emily Murray (Mount Olive) 9.15; 6. Katheen Mulligan (Whippany Park) 9.18.

High jump: 1. Morgan Ryerson (Mount Olive) 5-4; 2. Elsa Spoor (Chatham) 5-2; 3. Nikki Ditta (Hanover Park) and Emily O’Dell (Morris Knolls) 4-10; 5. Isabel Russo (Chatham) 4-10; 6. Reilly Opper (Roxbury) 4-8.

Pole vault: 1. Shreya Sathiyan (Morris Hills) 10-6; 2. Emma Guerard (Whippany Park) 8-6; 3. Jordan Sheldon (Roxbury) 8-0; 4. Kaitlyn Duras (Roxbury) 7-6; 5. Sloan Epstein (Morris Hills) 7-6; 6. Sofia Modrak (Montville) 7-0.

Shot put: 1. Ariyana Jackson (Randolph) 38-4; 2. Danielle Meribe (Roxbury) 36-4.25; 3. Juliana Behringer (Hanover Park) 33-6; 4. Erica Saladino (Morris Knolls) 32-11.25; 5. Khyaira Thorpe (Randolph) 31-6.5; 6. Cassidy Smith (Randolph) 30-5.5.

Boys results

Ryan Beegle of Chatham competes in the 1600-meter race during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Ryan Beegle of Chatham competes in the 1600-meter race during the Morris County winter track championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

Team scores: Chatham 64; Morris Knolls 52; Delbarton 40; Parsippany 32; Morris Hills and Kinnelon 20; Morristown 19; Montville 16; Mount Olive 11; Mendham and West Morris 10; Morristown Beard and Randolph 9; Roxbury, Hanover Park, Whippany Park 8; Madison 4; Mountain Lakes 1

55 meters: 1. Jack Ahart (Kinnelon) 6.5* (old meet record: 6.64, Clayton Bryan, Roxbury, 2022); 2. Spencer Anderson (Morristown Beard) 6.53; 3. Brett Reid (Parsippany) 6.69; 5. Filip Gache (Chatham) 6.69; 5. C.J. Moore (Morris Knolls) 6.76; 6. Daniel Alsina (Parsippany) 6.77.

300 meters: 1. Jason Meza (Morristown) 34.6* (old Morris County record: 34.9, Christian Kildal-Brandt, Mendham, 2014; old meet record: 34.91, Kevin Sembrat, Roxbury, 2018); 2. Jack Ahart (Kinnelon) 35.13; 3. Brett Reid (Parsippany) 35.97; 4. Connor Ziolkowski (Montville) 36.02; 5. Joziah Johnson (Parsippany) 36.35; 6. Cristian Cruz (Morris Hills) 36.56.

600 meters: 1. Collin Boler (Delbarton) 1:19.68* (old Morris County record 1:20.5, Christian Kildal-Brandt, Mendham, 2014; old meet record: Ian McNally, Morris Hills, 2016); 2. Luke Schagelin (Morris Knolls) 1:21.91; 3. Matthew Griffin (Whippany Park) 1:21.92; 4. Charles Henne (Chatham) 1:22.2; 5. Adam Petitjean (Chatham) 1:23.57; 6. Arya Garg (Parsippany) 1:26.38.

1,000 meters: 1. Collin Boler (Delbarton) 2:34.77; 2. Charles Henne (Chatham) 2:36.29; 3. Leo Valenzuela (Chatham) 2:37.73; 4. Alex Pelov (Montville) 2:41.07; 5. Everett Jania (Delbarton) 2:41.28; 6. Liam Mitchko (Morris Hills) 2:44.05.

1,600 meters: 1. Ryan Beegle (Chatham) 4:20.18; 2. Leo Valenzuela (Chatham) 4:23.29; 3. Alex Pelov (Montville) 4:24.89; 4. Albin Mullin (Morris Hills) 4:31.23; 5. Callahan Porter (Mendham) 4:31.68; 6. Andrew Garcia (Kinnelon) 4:31.77.

3,200 meters: 1. Collin Boler (Delbarton) 9:43.09; 2. Callahan Porter (Mendham) 9:50.03; 3. Alexander Krack (Chatham) 9:50.48; 4. Leo London (Madison) 9:50.78; 5. Krish Bhaskaran (Montville) 9:50.97; 6. Andrew Garcia (Kinnelon) 9:51.38.

4x400: 1. Chatham 3:28.14; 2. Morris Knolls 3:28.51; 3. Parsippany 3:29.53; 4. Morris Hills 3:33.65; 5. Whippany Park 3:36.8.

55-meter hurdles: 1. Joziah Johnson (Parsippany) 7.92; 2. Carter Olmstead (Roxbury) 7.99; 3. Elijah Bastos (Morris Knolls) 8.02; 4. Daniel Pinyan (Randolph) 8.06; 5. Connor Markovski (Morris Hills) 8.09; 6. Tristen Miscia (Morristown Beard) 8.54.

Cade Zeolla of West Morris clears 13-6 to win the Morris County pole vault title at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.
Cade Zeolla of West Morris clears 13-6 to win the Morris County pole vault title at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Jan. 30, 2023.

High jump: 1. C.J. Moore (Morris Knolls) 6-2; 2. John Robinson (Morris Knolls) 6-0; 4. Matthew Laux (Morris Hills) 5-9; 4. Jason Meza (Morristown) and Austin Zhu (Randolph) 5-9; 6. Sultan Almosbeh (Mountain Lakes) 5-8.

Pole vault: 1. Cade Zeolla (West Morris) 13-6; 2. John Robinson (Morris Knolls) 13-6; 3. Ted Joel (Chatham) 13-6; 4. Paul Quense (Delbarton) 12-0; 5. Owen Browne (Morris Knolls) 11-0; 6. Christian Arturi (Mount Olive) 11-0.

Shot put: 1. Nicholas Frattina (Mount Olive) 53-1.5; 2. Luke Riordan (Hanover Park) 49-2.5; 3. Ronald Morgan (Morristown) 48-3.25; 4. Peter Donini (Delbarton) 47-5; 5. Wade Malaniak (Morris Hills) 47-4.25; 6. Nicholas Scanzera (Randolph) 47-0.5.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ track and field: 2023 Morris County Championships