2 Records Set at Meet of Champions

On Sunday, 4 Spartans competed at the prestigious Meet of Champions.  Dom Riga, Sam Jaskolski, TJ Harkins, and James Ptack made up the 4 x 400 relay team that shattered the previous school record by over 3 seconds.  Seniors Dom Riga and Sam Jaskolski saved their best performances for this meet to lead the team.  Riga split 54.5 and Jaskolski 53.6, both of which would be lifetime PRs.  Ptack and Harkins were coming back just minutes after finishing the 3200, a race which saw Ptack set the school record while running a 14 second PR, finishing in 9:30.28 to capture 17th place.  Quite the day and season for these dudes!

Now that the book has closed on the indoor season, we look ahead to Spring Track.  The first practice will be Monday, March 16.  Find the entire practice and meet schedule on this site and feel free to email any questions to cheibell@immaculatahighschool.org

4 Years in the Making

Well, technically 5....but for our senior laden team it's been a 4 year journey.  After countless 3rd place finishes as a team, and a 2nd place finish this past Cross Country season, we finally broke thru and got the monkey off our back.  In only it's 5th year of existence, our Boys Winter Track Team captured Immaculata's 1st State Championship in either XC or track on Friday night by becoming the Non-Public B State Champions.  Sacrifice was the name of the game for this one, as everyone involved did what was best for the team rather than chase personal times and goals.  Both James Ptack and TJ Harkins completed a grueling quadruple, running and scoring in the 1600, 800, 3200, and 4x400.  Michael Blandino gutted out points in 3200 after being the bad kinda "ill" all week.  Dom Riga gave up his 400 dreams in order to run (and score in) the 800 because that what was best for team points.  And fittingly it was Dom, the heart and soul of this group, who anchored our 3rd place 4x4 which clinched the victory for us.  Sam Jaskolski sacrificed as well, opting to give up his spot in the open 400 and 800 to stay fresh for the 4 x 400 when we needed him the most.  Not to mention inspirational performances and lots of Personal Records by Ethan Russell, Ben Pellizon, Will Neer, Philip Arkoulakis, Joe Kerekes, Stephen Dowe, and Michael Schippnick in their respective events.  A true team effort to get this squad #OntheMap

This isn't the only major development to happen since this site was last updated.  Turns out a lot can happen in 21 months.  Here's a look at a few highlights:

• Tim Albano became NPB State Champ in the Javelin
• Shannon Reinhart became the first girl in program history to make the Winter Track Meet of Champs
• She did so by finishing 5th in the 400 with a school record (until 2 days ago)
• Caroline broke her foot
• Tim Albano became NPB State Champ in the Javelin.....again
• TJ Harkins threw up a few too many Tinman celebrations 
• ...but he got to throw up so many because he was the NPB State Champ in both the 1600 and 3200 last spring, as well as the Sectional Champ in both the 1600 and 3200 along with the 4 x 800, which also included Michael Blandino, Sam Jaskolski, and Jason Rizzo (come back to us please, with the chicken...)
• Caroline realized she broke her foot
• Ali graduated (finally)
• Ali still came to every Cross Country meet (I kid we need her back too)
• TJ had the best Cross Country Season in Boy's team history, as he was: NPB State Champ, Skyland Conference Champ, Shore Coaches Champ, and Bernie Magee Champ, and he broke pretty much every school record along the way
• We also got a new toy
• His name is James Ptack
• Behind TJ, Ptack, and Blandino our Boys team qualified for Meet of Champions as a team for the 1st time ever.  We were 2nd at the NPB State Meet
• On the girls side, we became a very young squad, consisting of 5 sophomores and 2 freshman
• That young squad won the Skyland Conference Mountain Division Title
• We aggressively went after the State Relay Championship in Winter Track.  
• We got 3rd....again
• Kelly kept breaking her own school record in the hurdles, like every time
• Kelly then broke her foot...she realized right away
• TJ and Dom shaved their legs...again
• Ptack won his 1st ever race: the 3200 at NJCTC Champs
• ....he then went on to win 3 more pretty big races: the NPB State 1600, 800, and 3200.  He is now the NPB Indoor State Champ in those events.
• Haley crushed the school record in the 400.  Not only did she break the indoor record by 2 seconds but also her time is faster than the outdoor record
• She did so by finishing 5th in the 400 at the NPB State Meet.  She would have qualified for Meet of Champs any other year but #NewFormatThisYear
• Shannon, Haley, Ivy, and Mackenzie set the school record in the 4 x 400 with a 4th place finish, which also would have qualified for MOC any other year but #SeeAbove
• Mackenzie vowed to come back for Spring Track since she finished the season with a PR split

And there you have it.  The last 21 months in a nutshell.  I'm sure I missed lots of key happenings along the way, but 'tis the price you pay when you neglect this bad boy for so long.

Check back here frequently for updates.  The Spring Track Practice Schedule is up along with the Meet Schedule.  Under the records tab you'll find up-to-date records for each season.  And don't forget to check the updates tab as well as the Twitter (Follow us!) for late breaking news and schedule changes.

Survive and Advance

Life as a tiny Catholic school can be tough.  Life as a tiny Catholic School located in arguably the best running County and Conference in the state can be even tougher.  And over the last few weeks we had some really really good performances at the Skyland Conference and Somerset County Championships (such as Shannon Reinhart's school record in the 400m - 63.78).  But those performances often go unnoticed due to the fact we are competing against literally some of the best and biggest teams in the State.  But what don't kill ya make ya stronger.  And our strength and experience showed the past 2 days at the Non-Public B South State Sectional Championships. 

The name of the game at Sectionals is Survive and Advance.  The goal is top 8 in your event so that you advance to the State Group Championships.   Top 6 you get a medal and help contribute to the team point total. 

That said, here's the highlights from Sectionals:

Boys

• Avery Lawrence - 5th in 100m
• Avery Lawrence - 5th in 200m
• TJ Harkins - 2nd in 1600m
• Mike Paustian - 8th in 1600m
• TJ Harkins - 2nd in 3200m
• Michael Blandino - 4th in 3200m
• Tim Albano - 3rd in Javelin *School Record*  129-9
• 4 x 100 (Avery Lawrence, Jason Rizzo, Matt Lumia, Thomas Lederman) - 4th
• 4 x 400 (Mike Paustian, Jason Rizzo, Matt Lumia, TJ Harkins) - 5th
• 4 x 800 (TJ Harkins, Matt Lumia, Jason Rizzo, Michael Blandino) - 3rd

Girls

• Caroline Onderko - 6th in 400m Hurdles *School Record* 73.65
• Ali Wehrhahn - 7th in 1600m
• Ali Wehrhahn - 7th in 3200m
• Kelly Griffin - 7th in 100m Hurdles *School Record* 19.37
• 4 x 400 (Caroline Onderko, Ali Wehrhahn, Haley Rogers, Shannon Reinhart) - 4th *School Record* 4:26.69
• 4 x 800 (Caroline Onderko, Ali Wehrhahn, Haley Rogers, Shannon Reinhart) - 3rd *School Record* 10:35.18

All in all it was a successful meet for our young team.  8 different individuals and 5 relay teams earned the right to compete at the State Group Championships next weekend.  For comparison sake, 3 years ago Sectionals was also held at Donovan Catholic and we didn't have anyone advance (and only 3 kids competed from IHS).  2 years ago we had 2 different individuals and 1 relay team advance.  And last year we had 7 different individuals and 5 relay teams advance.  So we keep one upping ourselves.  Plus as a team our Girls basically tripled their previous highest ever team point total with 11 points.  Anddddd that's with basically all underclassmen (Kat Diana you will be missed).

Now we get 9 days to recover and prepare for Groups.  The task gets tougher as only the top 2 in each event qualify for the Meet of Champions.  We'll have to be faster and tougher than ever before.  But why not?  

There has to be a first time for everything, right.  At Groups you better believe we're gonna have plenty of first times.

#MakeEmNotice

Night of PR's

There comes a time during the 10th hour of the 100th Saturday meet in a row where everything starts to blend together for even the most die hard of trackies.  "How many heats of the 4 x 1600 can there possibly be" you think as another heat takes off, another heat that doesn't contain any members of your team at that.  "And how many more times can these kids possibly use the word 'chim'." 

But then a night like Thursday comes along to re-instill a sense of clarity in your mind.  The lights are on, girly music is playing, and everyone comes together with one goal: Run 4 laps as fast as you can.  For one night rules are thrown out the window as rivals become friends in order to push each other to faster times and fans line up along the outside lanes of the track to cheer.  Pure pandemonium.  But it's oh-so-beautiful.

We had 7 athletes compete Thursday night.  We had 7 athletes leave Ridge HS with new 1600m PR's

• Kelly Griffin: 6:43.75 *biggest negative split of the night (3:27/3:16)*
• Caroline Onderko: 6:32.86 *could have a future in this event (1st 1600 ever)*
• Sophia Gonzales: 5:58.73 *Best race of the night, hands down.  Not just for us, for anyone*
• Ali Wehrhahn: 5:46.64 *2 sec PR, knocking on the doorstep of something special*
• Michael Blandino: 5:00.46 *AHHHHH .46 -- but 11 sec PR and never seen push harder*
• TJ Harkins: 4:42.21 *5 sec PR, see Ali's comment for more insight*
• Mike Paustian: 4:41.49 *biggest move over last 400m of the night*

It would be criminal not to highlight Sophia Gonzales's race for a second before we wrap this post up.  On Tuesday we had a tri-meet at Manville.  Sophia was running the 800.  She said before the race she wasn't feeling well and not to expect much.  She ran 2:43, a 6 second PR.  Thursday night on the way to the meet she said the same thing.  And on Thursday night she PR'd by 23 seconds.   But it's not just that she had a huge PR.  It's how she did it, weaving her way up from about 8th place after the first lap to 1st place with 300m to go, and then fighting all the way to the finish to secure 2nd place and breaking 6:00 for the 1st time.  Words can't do justice to the drive and determination Sophia displayed on Thursday night.  Even Mr. Leddy was so impressed that he abandoned his post of timing Bridgewater runners to come express his awe at how amazing she ran.

As we enter #ChampionshipSeason let's remember all it takes is One Night, One Race to change everything.  And suddenly all the sweat-filled shirts are worth it.

#MakeEmNotice

Drive for Show and Putt for Dough

May is here.  Which means Championship Season is on the horizon.  The April Relay season was a fun way to get our feet wet but now it's time to pony up and compete with the big dogs with the real prizes on the line.  But before we jump ahead, let's look back at our accomplishments from Relay Season.  We've had 4 different Relay teams set School Records over the last 2 weeks.

• Boys DMR: 11:30.76 - Somerset County Relays - Harkins (3:26) Lawrence (51.3) Blandino (2:22) Paustian (4:49)
• Boys 4 x 800: 8:51.00 - Randolph Relays - Paustian (2:07) Harkins (2:12) Rizzo (2:13) Jaskolski (2:17)
• Girls SMR: 4:46.90 - Somerset County Relays - McDonough (29.7) Viscione (30.0) Reinhart (65.5) Wehrhahn (2:40)
• Girls 4 x 400: 4:32.94 - Somerset County Relays - Reinhart (65.2) Wehrhahn (68.3) Rogers (68.8) McDonough (70.1)

Additionally, we have found some early success with field events.  Tim Albano has become the first ever Immaculata Javelin thrower and has impressed early with a distance of 123-10.  That mark would have been good for 6th place at last years NP-B South Sectionals.  On the girls side, Sheridan Hoyt and Stephanie Alpizar have teamed to become Immaculata's Girl's Throwing tandem, and Hoyt has already set School Records in the Discus (66-6) and Jav (63-1).  And lastly, our resident 'Try every event before Junior year' girl Kelly Griffin has split 18.70 in the 100 hurdles (unofficial but would be over a second better than her own school record of 2017) and become our first ever girls Triple Jumper, successfully jumping 29-5 in her first meet.  She has forced herself into the conversation in multiple events leading up to States this year.  

Now we look ahead to Conferences, Counties, and States.  These meets will define our season.  Will 2018 be a year to remember?  Who is gonna step up?  Who is gonna make the leap?  Who is gonna shock the world (well okay not the world but shock some Milesplit nerd who studies all the results)? 

Why not you.  Why not now.

Look Back and Spring (Track) Ahead

The realization that the Line 10m back WASN'T the Finish Line 

The wry smile when you got away with it and still won the heat

Caroline almost had a heart attack (note her in the picture above too)

All smiles when all said n done..First girls to make the MOC in 10 years whatttuppppp

So, yeah, ummmm....it's been a minute since this page was updated.  My Bad.  A decent amount has happened in the past 5 months.  Let's take a look at what we missed:

• TJ Harkins and Mike Paustian competed at the NJ Cross Country Meet of Champions.  TJ was 119th in 17:33 and Mike was 130th in 17:41
• We had our biggest Winter Track team to date with 28 athletes
• Our Boys team finished 3rd at the NJSIAA Non-Public B State Relay Meet
• At that meet we finished 2nd in the 4 x 200 and Shot Put Relay, 3rd in the DMR and 4 x 400, 4th in the Shuttle Hurdles, and 5th in the SMR
• Avery Lawrence qualified for the Indoor Track Meet of Champions by finishing 2nd in Non-Public B in the 55m Dash and 4th in the 400m
• He set school records in both events by running 6.70 and 52.57
• Gianni Riga qualified for the Indoor Meet of Champs in the 55m Dash for the 2nd straight year
• The Girls 4 x 400 became the first Immaculata girls since 2008 to qualify for a Meet of Champions.  Ali Wehrhahn, Caroline Onderko, Nicoletta Viscione, and Mackenzie Donovan overcame the odds, and themselves, to punch their ticket to the show (pictured above)
• And lastly, this sites creator, Greg Leddy, packed his bags and moved all the way to....TCNJ, where he now runs collegiately for the TCNJ Lions (someone got too cool to update this site once, you know, college) 

And now here we are at the start of the Spring Track season.  We've got a young rag tag crew ready to roar.  We actually already have 2 meets in the books.  At the Metuchen Relays this past Saturday we already collected some hardware as our Boys Distance runners took first place....in the Super Sprint Medley (rag tag at its finest).  Somehow Matt Lumia, Michael Blandino, TJ Harkins, and Mike Paustian got first place in an event that consisted of 100-100-200-400 (that somehow is due to Paustian's 53.2 anchor split but shhhh).  Then tonight we took a select group to the Holmdel Twilight meet where the Boys set the school record in the Distance Medley (Paustian - Lawrence - Blandino -Harkins) and the Girls just missed the 4 x 400 school record.  It was a brilliant effort by the ladies as Shannon Reinhart ran a blazing 65.3 leadoff leg, Paige McDonough PR'd by 2 seconds, Ali tied her PR, and Caroline Onderko rose from the ashes of the flu to gut out the team effort.  Oh, and that team is 1 freshman, 2 sophomores, and 1 junior.  Giddy up.

Next we look forward to the Skyland Conference Relays, being held this Saturday, April 14, at Ridge High School.  Catch ya'll bright and early Saturday.

Memory Lane

This Saturday Mike Paustian and TJ Harkins have earned the right to compete at the most prestigious running event in all of New Jersey High School Running: The Cross Country Meet of Champions. In the summer and early season every runner trains relentlessly with the dream of taking the line at the Meet of Champions. Only 193 runners actually will (21 teams and 46 individuals) and we have 2 of them. Not bad for a team of 5 guys. So now that Mike and TJ have become the 12th and 13th different runners in Immaculata history to earn a bid, let's take a walk down memory lane and see how the first 11 fared.

(Fun fact: Since its inception in 1972, the Meet of Champions has been at Holmdel Park all but 4 years. In 1972 it debuted at Ocean County Park before moving to local Bridgewater West in 1973. It stayed local in 1974 at Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick, jumped to Pennsauken in 1975 and then found it's permanent home at Holmdel in 1976)

1. 1977: Kevin Dyer - Kevin qualified for the MOC with an 8th place finish and time of 17:30 at the Group Meet (note the course was 3 miles then and the Bowl was run in reverse). But get this. At the time there was a Non-Public C!!! And we were in it. And thus Kevin became the first runner in school history to qualify. Sadly, 1977 was a long time ago and the internet only has results from the top 25 at MOC, so there is no record of his time and place at the Big Dance.
2. 1991: Blair Witkowski - Blair finished 6th in the Non-Public A Group Meet with a time of 17:02 to make MOC. He then improved the following week and ran 16:53 to capture 27th place at MOC. It was a local affair that year as North Hunterdon's Brendan Heffernan won in 15:31 and Somerville HS legend Jon Clemens finished 23rd in 16:51 (Clemens went on to have a decorated collegiate and post-collegiate career, and get this -- a few years ago in San Diego he randomly crossed paths with and briefly coached Mr. Heibell. It took weeks until they realized Somerville was both of their original stomping grounds). As for Blair, he transferred to Hunterdon Central in 1992 and missed making MOC, finishing 14th in Group 4 in 17:04.
3. 2000: Immaculata Girls Team - That's right, the entire girls team qualified by getting 3rd place in Non-Public A to be the lone team in school history to make it.  At the Group Meet Erin Geiger led the way with a 4th place finish and time of 20:25 as a junior. Following her were: Bridget Skeuse (16th, 21:30), Lizzie Geiger (17th, 21:41), Mary Shea (29th, 22:25), Mellanie Pellowski (41st, 22:52), Becca Hancock (58th, 23:41), and Megan Varela (78th, 26:15). The team went on to finish 16th at MOC with Lizzie Geiger leading the way with a 68th place finish in 20:50, and Kelly Mulligan replacing Megan Varela as the 7th runner.
4. 2001: Erin Geiger and Lizzie Geiger - The twins both made the trip to Holmdel for MOC in their Senior season. First it should be noted the twins had a season for the ages this year, highlighted by a 1-2-3 showing at the Somerset County Championships with Bridget Skeuse as the third girl. At the Group Meet, the Geiger's finished 2nd and 3rd, with Erin nabbing 2nd in 19:46 and Lizzie 3rd in 19:52. Despite this, the team placed 4th and just missed earning a trip back. At MOC, Erin finished 23rd in 19:56 with Lizzie a few steps back in 20:09, good enough for a 40th place finish.
5. 2002: Bridget Skeuse - Bridget stepped into the spotlight her Senior year and did not disappoint. With the Geiger's gone, it was Bridget's time to shine. She took down the Non-Public A Meet by running 19:46, a 22 second victory over 2nd place finisher and frenemy Leah Brogan of Monsignor Donovan. She then stepped it up again at MOC. She ran 19:28 (Holmdel school record) to finish 6th place -- the highest ever MOC finish by an Immaculata runner. The best part is, no lie, she almost didn't run at MOC because she got to Holmdel only to realize she left her spikes at home. Luckily freshman Anthony Grina was there to cheer her on and inexplicably had his spikes on hand despite not racing himself that day. And the shoe fit, Bridget wore them, finished 6th, and the rest is history. Thus concluded the Golden Era of Girls XC at Immaculata.
6. 2004: Chris Heibell - Some may call Chris the best looking runner to ever make MOC, but that's not why we're talking about him here. Fueled all season by a disappointing 2003 State Meet, it was MOC or bust for him in his Senior season. The week before Groups, Coach Robinson pulled him out of school early to make a special trip to Holmdel for a joint workout with Piscataway. This gave Heibell the edge he needed as he finished 9th at the Non-Public A Meet with a time of 16:52 to book his trip to the Show. The next week he dropped 10-seconds on his way to a Holmdel school record time 16:42 and a 43rd place finish. 
7. 2008: Erin James - Erin was the last Immaculata runner before this season to earn a bid.  In this her Junior year, Erin ran 20:03 to secure a 10th place finish at the Non-Public A Group Meet and punch her ticket to MOC. She ran 20:07 the following week to earn a 63rd place finish at MOC.  Erin went on to have a successful collegiate career at St. Joe's (PA) running 17:16 for 5k and 10:38 for 3k Steeple.

And there you have it folks. Now we look ahead to Saturday. How will Mike Paustian and TJ Harkins fare? Will they challenge the Holmdel school record of 16:42? When the dust settles, where will they be remembered in Immaculata history? Can't wait til' Saturday to see what these 2 have up their sleeves. Catch it live at 11:45am at Holmdel Park!!!