Harkins Records First Career Sub 5 at Metuchen

The Bulldog Frosh/Soph Meet on Friday featured a slew of personal accomplishments for our young runners. TJ Harkins led the way by breaking 5:00 in the 1600m for the first time in his young career, clocking in at 4:58 for a 6th place finish in the freshman race. This represents a five second PR from a questionable Time Trial with only one witness at best in early March. In the same race, Michael Blandino lowered his 1600m PR by a whopping 21 seconds in running 5:11.

Three more Spartans collected some hardware for their efforts. Caroline Onderko continued her torrid stretch of racing by getting 5th place in the freshman 800m in 2:40.29. Carly Makowicz took 9th place in the sophomore 800m in 2:51.31, and Yoshi Shuyama hopped aboard the PR train and kept his season of improvement going with a 7th place finish in the sophomore 800m in 2:16.42.

Practice Pays Kids.

Girls Set SMR Record at Somerset County Relays

On right: Caroline Onderko

The Spartans were back on the track Saturday morning competing in the Somerset County Relays at Ridge HS. In the Girls' Sprint Medley Relay, Immaculata captured victory in heat 1 with a school record time of 4:47.81. Kat Diana (31.0s) led off and handed the baton to Sophia Bischoff (29.4s), who did a great job of gaining ground throughout her leg. Chinonso Morsindi (67.1s) then ran a strong 400m before handing off to Caroline Onderko, who made a dominant move over the final lap to overcome a 30-meter deficit, going from third to first. She finished with an 800m split of 2:40, which represents her second five-second personal record over the last two days: she had just run 2:45 on Thursday night to lower her previous personal record from 2:50.

Three relay teams were able to get on Saturday's scoreboard, as the Boys' 4 x 100m, Boys Sprint Medley Relay, and Girls' Shuttle Hurdle Relay recorded sixth-place finishes to score one point apiece. The Freshmen and Sophomores return to action on Friday, April 21, at Metuchen HS, while the Boys' 4 x 100m and Boys' 4 x 400m will gear up over the next two weeks for the Penn Relays.

Girls Shine Bright at Night

From left to right: Caroline Onderko, Ali Wehrhahn, Shanna Ehlers, Chinonso Morsindi

Running at the Holmdel Twilight Series, the girls' team turned in several inspiring performances on Thursday night. Leading the way was the 4 x 400m team who shattered the school record with a time of 4:33.23. Chinonso Morsindi led off and set the tone with a strong 66.06s split. In the middle, Shanna Ehlers (70.5s) and Ali Wehrhahn (68.9s) pushed hard to keep under record pace; and put anchor Caroline Onderko (67.1s) in position to bring it home, which is just what she did as she made a hard move over the last 50 meters to seal a 3rd place finish in the heat.

In other action, Immaculata fielded its first ever Girls' Shuttle Hurdle relay (Kelly Griffin, Caroline Onderko, Kat Diana, Taylor Luger) which finished in an unofficial time of 1:23. All four members of the girls 4 x 800m (Ali Wehrhahn, Caroline Onderko, Carly Makowicz, Taylor Luger) collected seasonal best 800m splits on the way to a time of 11:30.29.  

And lastly, despite missing 2 members of its 'A' squad, the Boys' 4 x 100m showed some grit and fight competing in the fastest heat. Gianni Riga handed off to Kendall Davis, who then handed off to 400m/800m specialist Mark Schwalm. Schwalm then handed off to jack-of-all-trades Mike Paustian, who can now boast a range of 100m through 3200m on the track. He may or may not have completed 3 miles worth of a hard workout earlier in the afternoon before being called into action.

It was a fantastic night and meet put on by Holmdel HS.  Everyone stepped up and rose to the occasion. Next up for the Spartans is the Somerset County Relays on April 15, beginning at 9 a.m. at Ridge HS.

You can see the results of the Holmdel Twilight Series - Penn Qualifier here.

The Beginning

From left to right: Lord Jones, Kendall Davis, Avery Lawrence, Mark Schwalm, Gianni Riga

Today was a historic day at the Skyland Conference Relays for the Immaculata Spartans Spring Track Team.  Competing in the Raritan Valley Divison, the boys took home 1st place in 3 events (4 x 100m, 4 x 200m, SMR) which led the team to a total of 39 points and a 5th place team finish. 

The 4 x 100m team of Gianni Riga, Kendall Davis, Lord Jones, and Avery Lawrence set a school record with a time of 45.05s. The SMR team of Gianni Riga, Kendall Davis, Avery Lawrence, and Mark Schwalm also set a school record with a time of 3:49.35. The 4 x 200m team of Gianni Riga, Kendall Davis, Lord Jones, and Avery Lawrence set yet another school record with a time of 1:34.63, with all 4 members contributing sub-24-second splits. 

Also contributing to the team scoring were the DMR team (Mike Paustian, Jack Boyda, Yoshi Shuyama, TJ Harkins) and the 4 x 400m team (Mark Schwalm, Lord Jones, Danny Rogers, Mike Paustian). The girls' team also got in on the action by finishing 6th place in the SMR (Chinonso Morsindi, Shanna Ehlers, Caroline Onderko, Ali Wehrhahn) and accumulating many, many PRs along the way.

All in all, it was a banner day for the team and the best collective effort in school history, with 39 team points representing the most ever scored for the Spartans. While today may have made a statement that the team isn't to be taken lightly anymore, the coaches know that there is still plenty of work to be done.  The best is yet to come, and you best believe it's gonna be an exciting journey over the next 2 months.

The Spartans return to action on Thursday, April 13, with a select group traveling to Holmdel HS in a Penn Relays preview. The entire team is back at it on Saturday, April 15, at the Somerset County Relays hosted by Ridge HS.

You can see the results of the Skyland Conference Relays here.

Spartans Open Season at Raider Relays

The 2017 Outdoor Track Season is underway for the Immaculata Spartans. Competing at the Raider Relays hosted by Hillsborough HS, a number of athletes contributed in setting the tone for a successful season. The highlight of the meet for the Spartans was the 800m Sprint Medley Relay which placed 4th overall in a time of 1:41.74. The relay was made up of Dominic Riga, Gianni Riga, Avery Lawrence, and Mark Schwalm, who anchored with a 53.4s split for 400m.

We return to action on Friday, April 7, with the Bulldog Frosh/Soph Series at Metuchen HS, followed by the varsity who will compete at the Skyland Conference Relays at Ridge HS on Saturday, April 8.

You can see the results of the Raider Relays here.