Penn Relays: gold watch for St. Rose's Huisman, TR North boys roll into final
PHILADELPHIA – Getting a gold watch from the Penn Relays is one of the great prizes in high school track & field.
Josh Huisman now has one for each wrist.
The St. Rose senior picked up No. 2 Friday after finishing as the top American in the boys shot put for the second straight year. His distance of 64 feet, 8.5 inches marked an outdoor personal best. Jamaican Shaiquan Dunn won the competition with a heave of 68-0.
“The competition is awesome,” said Huisman, a Wall resident whose indoor best of 67-7 would have put him right there. “You can feel the energy from the crowd. And it’ s great competing against some of the best in the country and in the world (under 20 years old).”
Huisman, who is headed to Michigan on a track scholarship in the fall, notched four throws over 61 feet but could not quite find the monster range to match Dunn.
“I’m super grateful for how I did,” he said. “I wanted that first spot, but I’ll take it as a learning lesson for the rest of this season.”
Last year at this meet, Huisman placed second to a different Jamaican competitor. That earned his first Penn Relays watch. Asked what he’ll do what two of them, Huisman held out both of his arms.
“I guess I can tell the time on any wrist,” he said.
It was good showing all-around for Shore Conference shot-putters. In Thursday’s girls’ competition, Toms River South’s Julia Santos placed fourth (43-3) – second among Americans – and Ocean Township’s Eve Segal finished 11th (39-3).
Toms River North 4x800 qualifies
The Mariners are seeking a historic double – championship-race appearances in both the boys 4x800 and 4x400 – and they got off to a great start Friday morning. In the 4x800, Camryn Thomas (1:57.85), Mordecai Ford (1:58.54), freshman Tahj Wilson (1:59.96) and Taysaun Wilson (1:56.17) clocked 7:52.51, which qualified for Saturday’s 4:15 p.m. Championship of America final with room to spare.
“It’s amazing, because we’re just going to get better from here,” Thomas said.
Their time ranked sixth in the trials out of 71 entrants. Jamaica College goes into the 12-team final with the top time of 7:45. Among New Jersey entrants, only Cherokee (7:51) ran faster than Toms River North.
“I think we can go sub-7:50,” Thomas said.
There is certainly room for improvement. This kind of stage is new to Tahj Wilson – “I was kind of nervous, my first Penn Relays,” he said. And Ford was running the 800 for just the second time.
Last year, Toms River North qualified for the 4x800 final with a time of 7:56 but fell short of advancing in the 4x400. On Saturday, Thomas and Ford will join the 4x400 foursome for trials in the morning, then run in the 4x800 final and, if need be, lace it up for the 4x400 final at the meet’s conclusion.
Incredibly, Ford also ran on the Mariners' 4x100, which posted a blistering time of 42.40 in Friday's trials -- fast enough to qualify for Saturday's Northeast final at 4:25 p.m. That was the No. 2 time among New Jersey entrants (a hair off of Rancocas Valley's 42.38) and 16th-fastest overall among the 600 schools that toed the line. Madi Diawara, Micah Ford and Lowrentzky Ambroise ran the other three legs for Toms River North.
That’s quite a day if it comes to fruition – virtually unprecedented for Shore Conference runners. And it will take place before an expected crowd of 30,000 at iconic Franklin Field.
“We’re ready to show out for all the people watching,” Ford said.
Colts Neck’s boys also ran in the 4x800, clocking 8:03 thanks to a 1:57.52 anchor from Hunter Celkupa.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Penn Relays: gold watch for St. Rose's Huisman, TR North makes final
