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Shore Conference track athletes poised for historic showing at Penn Relays

Jerry Carino, Asbury Park Press
·6 min read

The Shore Conference has the makings of a historic showing at the Penn Relays.

Rumson-Fair Haven, Christian Brothers and Toms River North are bringing loaded quartets primed to compete for hardware at the marquee track & field meet, which takes place Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

And there are some individual contenders, too.

Here is the rundown:

Rumson-Fair Haven’s girls 4x800

Rumson-Fair Haven Clemmie Lilley runs heer team's third lag of High School Girls 4X800 Championship of America race. Day Three of Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. On April 29, 2023.
Rumson-Fair Haven Clemmie Lilley runs heer team's third lag of High School Girls 4X800 Championship of America race. Day Three of Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. On April 29, 2023.

After making the girls 4x800 final last year at Penn, the Bulldogs have raised the bar. At Saturday’s Blue Devil Classic, sophomore Reese Malone won the 800 (2:10.61) and junior Izzy Rodriguez took fourth (2:13.26). The question is just how fast state champion Clemmie Lilley (who ran 2:08 indoors) can go after laying low with what head coach Tim McLoone describes as “a foot condition.”

Lilley has raced just once this spring and is doing alternate-style training to stay sharp.

“She is the most ferocious competitor we’ve ever coached,” said McLoone, who shares coaching duties with Bob Keogh. “She’ll bring 100 percent of what’s in those legs. But how much does it matter than she hasn’t raced?”

The trials take place Thursday morning and the final Friday evening. If all goes well, a top-5 finish and medals seem within reach.

“We really were kind of liking the idea of sneaking up on everybody – everyone knew about Clemmie, but not these other girls,” McLoone said. “But now they all know. All of a sudden there’s two Clemmies, maybe three.”

The school record of 9:22 looks like toast. The 9:00 barrier is the goal.

“These girls are all racers,” McLoone said. “You can have fast kids who aren’t racers, but they are.”

CBA's distance medley

Conor Clifford (right) hands off to NIck Sullivan as CBA took 2nd in the 2023 Penn Relays distance medley
Conor Clifford (right) hands off to NIck Sullivan as CBA took 2nd in the 2023 Penn Relays distance medley

CBA already has a whopping nine runners under 9:25 in the 3200 so far this spring, and the cream of that crop will be featured in the boys distance medley championship race Friday at 5 p.m.

Senior Jack Falkowski (1200), junior Ethan Fianko (400), senior Conor Clifford (800) and junior Joe Barrett (1600) will carry for the Colts, who are seeking their fourth Penn Relays wheel in the event. The program and Shore Conference record (10:02.94, set in 2012) is in jeopardy.

“These kids are really special,” head coach Karl Torchia said. “This is probably going to be our best DM. I don’t know if we’re going to win, but we’re going to take a shot. We should break 10 minutes and hopefully go 9:55 or faster – and that would be absolutely awesome.”

The Colts won this race in 1985, 1988 and 2011. They finished second last year and will be challenged by Ridgefield (Conn.), which has a 4:01 anchor in Steven Hergenrother.

“This is probably the best group that we’ve ever had,” Torchia said.

Also in the distance races, keep an eye on Colts Neck’s boys in Friday morning’s 4x800 trials. Hunter Celkupa, John Shapiro, Andrew Krok and Jay Adimala all ran between 1:59.10 and 2:00.06 at last week’s B-North meet. The Cougars won the indoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions in this event.

Toms River North’s boys 4x400

Toms River North's Mordecai Ford, Mamadi Diawara, Lowrentzky Ambroise, Camryn Thomas (respectively)
Toms River North's Mordecai Ford, Mamadi Diawara, Lowrentzky Ambroise, Camryn Thomas (respectively)

The Mariners won the NJSIAA indoor Meet of Champions in 3:17. It usually takes around 3:16 to qualify for the Penn Relays final. Trials take place Saturday morning, with the final in the late afternoon.

In a tune-up last week at the A-South divisional meet, Toms River North went 1-2-3 in the 400 with junior Mamadi Diawara (49.51), senior Lowrentzky Ambroise (49.73), and junior Camryn Thomas (50.44). Throw in versatile junior Mordecai Ford (who has run 50.35) and that’s a lot of firepower.

“They’re definitely excited,” coach Mike Barrett said. “We haven’t raced all that much this season. We were pleasantly surprised at A-South with how the guys ran, so it adds that much more excitement for this weekend.”

Toms River North Camryn Thomas battles for position in the 2023 Penn Relays
Toms River North Camryn Thomas battles for position in the 2023 Penn Relays

The Mariners also will let it rip in the 4x800 and 4x100 – and could make waves in both. Junior Taysaun Wilson, who won the A-South 800 in 1:58.62, leads the 4x800. Stanford-bound football star Micah Ford will help power the 4x100.

But the 4x400 is the crown jewel. Toms River North set the Ocean County record of 3:14.90 last spring. Might be a bit early for that. Or, weather permitting, it might not be.

“I think we can run 3:16,” Barrett said, “and that usually is where the cutoff is.”

Individuals to watch

St. Rose Joshua Huisman competes in Shot Put at Penn Relays. Day one of Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. On April 27, 2023.
St. Rose Joshua Huisman competes in Shot Put at Penn Relays. Day one of Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. On April 27, 2023.

After placing second in the boys shot put last year but winning a gold watch as the top American, St. Rose senior Joshua Huisman is the No. 1 seed with a personal best of 67-7. Friday morning he’ll seek to become the first Shore Conference athlete to win the boys shot at Penn since Matawan’s Tyrone Garland in 1993 (60-10). The conference’s only other Penn Relays winners in the boys throws were Toms River East’s Jim Gilligan in the shot (61-8 in 1984) and Monmouth Regional’s Adam Kuehl in the discus (185-1 in 2002).

In Friday evening’s distance races, the Shore Conference has three single-digit seeds: Freehold Township senior Emma Zawatski in the girls mile (fourth), CBA senior Alex Kemp in the boys 3000 (seventh) and Middletown South’s Rosemary Shay in the girls 3000 (eighth).

Girls track & field honor roll

Reese Malone, Rumson-Fair Haven: The sophomore won the 800 at the Blue Devil Classic in a state-best 2:10.61 and won the 400 at the A-Central meet in 56.94.

Eve Segal, Ocean Township: The senior won the shot put (42-1.5) and discus (119-5) at the B-North meet. She hit 121-9 in winning the discus at the Colts Neck Invitational.

Riley Brazier, Toms River North: The junior won the javelin (124-8), and triple jump (34-7.5) and placed second in the long jump (16-5) and 100 hurdles (17.58) at the A-South meet.

Alexandria Scott, St. John Vianney: The senior won the 100 dash (12.66), 200 (26.48), 400 (57.72) and 100 hurdles (15.89) at the B-North meet.

Olivia Nickelsen, Toms River North: The senior won the 200 (26.26) and 1600 (5:09), a rare combination, at the A-South meet.

Boys track & field honor roll

Cole Herman, Rumson-Fair Haven: The senior won the long jump (21-8.25), high jump (6-2), 110 hurdles (14.63) and triple jump (43-8.25) at the A-Central meet.

Camryn Thomas, Toms River North: The junior won the 110 hurdles (14.81) and 400 hurdles (55.10) and placed third in the open 400 (50.44) at the A-South meet.

Jared Voorhees, Brick Memorial: The senior won the 1600 (4:25) and 3200 (9:38) and placed third in the 800 (2:00.26) at the A-South meet.

Lawrence Hicks, Red Bank: The senior won the high jump (6-4) and long jump (20-9) at the B-North meet. Also placed fourth in the 200 (23.62) and sixth in the 100 (11.30).

Ayden Winters, Ocean Township: The sophomore won the shot put (49-2) and discus (155-9) at the B-North meet.

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: Shore Conference track poised for historic showing at Penn Relays