ROCKAWAY - At the close of the Group 2 winter track meet, after all the times, distances and heights had been calculated and posted, it looked as if senior Eric Prebor was the only Morris Hills High School athlete on the boys side to have qualified for the season-ending Meet of Champions.
Prebor cleared 12-feet, six-inches to place fourth in the pole vault at the Bennett Center in Toms River. He tied three others at that height but was awarded the fourth spot as the result of fewer misses.
So it's back to Toms River and the Bennett Bubble for Saturday's (Feb. 27) MofC for Prebor, who earned the only four points for Morris Hills in the race for the team title. The Knights finished 21st in the 26-team field.
The MofC 42-man fields are made up of the top six finishers in each of the state's six group meets (four public, two non-public) plus the next six best "wild-card" performances taken from those across all six meets who did not finish in the top six.
After the wild-card numbers were punched in, Prebor found himself with company as teammates Brendan Hill and Zach Ferguson earned trips to Toms River.
Hill cleared 12-0 to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Group 2 pole vault and, as it turned out, all three filled in half of the wild-card spots available to round out the MofC pole vault field.
Prebor was among 11 MofC vaulters to be seeded No. 18 while Hills and 10 others share a No. 29 seed for Saturday's competition.
Ferguson was in a group of four that cleared 6-0 to tie for the sixth and final qualifying spot in the Group 2 high jump. Ferguson and two others were bumped to seventh place because of more misses but all three were awarded wild-card spots to earn a trip to the MofC.
Ferguson is in a group of 16 who cleared 12-0 feet and who now share a No. 17 seed for Saturday's winter track finale.
Also competing in the Group 2 meet for Morris Hills were:
Senior David Pacheco, who finished 11th in the pole vault; senior Bryan Scudier, 12th in the shot put; junior Connor Doyle, 16th in the 1600-meter run; sophomore Adrian Samsel, 19th in the 55-meter hurdles; sophomore Nick Patterson, 20th in the 3200-meter run; and senior Mark DiGennaro, Samsel, junior Jesse Spector and senior Leonardo Valdenbenito, who finished 20th in the 440-yard relay.
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Knights score in field events at North 1, Group 2 sectional
ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School boys winter track team scored 15 of its 22 team points in the field events when the Knights finished sixth in the 10-team field at the North 1, Group 2 sectional winter track championship held Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
Indian Hills ran away with the team title, scoring 79 points to runner up Parsippany Hills� total of 46. River Dell finished third with 37 points and was followed by Ramsey (4th, 32 points), Lakeland (5th, 24 points), Morris Hills, Parsippany, Mahwah and Ridgefield Park (tied for 7th, each with 18 points), and Jefferson (10th, 16 points).
The Knights finished 4-5-6 in the pole vault with senior Eric Prebor and junior Brendan Hill each clearing 12-feet-even with Prebor taking fourth on few misses. Senior David Pacheco cleared 11-0 to finish sixth.
Senior Bryan Scudiere and junior A.J. Ulinski finished 4-5 in the shot with Scudiere throwing 46-9.5 and Ulinski finishing with a best throw of 46-8.5.
Senior Zach Ferguson cleared 5-10 to finish fifth in the high jump.
Other medal winners for the Knights included sophomore Adrian Samsel, who finished fourth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.43; junior Connor Doyle, who finished sixth in the 1600-meter run in 4:43.33; sophomore Nick Patterson, who was sixth in the 3200-meter run in 10:19.72; and the 4x400-meter relay team of senior Mark DiGennaro, Samsel, junior Jesse Spector and senior Leonardo Valdenbenito, which finished sixth in 3:43.27.
Also competing for the Knights were sophomore Michael Sternlicht, eighth in the 55-meter dash; juniors Jesse Spector and Jonathan Richman, who finished eighth and 11th in the 1600; Valdenbenito (9th), DiGennaro (11th) and sophomore Shah Hemal (13th), who ran in the 800-meter run; and Doyle, who was just missed a medal and a team point when he finished seventh in the 3200.
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Scudiere, Ulinski medal in Randolph Shop Invitational
ROCKAWAY - Senior Bryan Scudiere and junior Albert Ulinski each threw personal bests to finish second in their respective class competitions at the Randolph Shot Put Invitational held at Randolph High School on Monday, Jan. 25.
Scudiere's best throw of the meet was 51-feet, 2.25-inches, more than a foot farther than his previous best throw of 49-0.25 that he had at the Group 2 Relays at the Bennett Center in Toms River on Friday, Jan. 15.
On Monday, Scudiere finished second to Adam Skidmore of Central Regional, who won the senior division title with a throw of 51-8.5.
Ulinsk's throw of 48-3.25 placed him second in the junior division, well off the meet, county and state record throw of junior Nick Vena of Morristown, whose best throw of the meet was a 71-5. Ulinski's previous best was the 47-3.5 he threw at the Morris County Relays at Drew University in Madison on Thursday, Jan. 5.
Scudiere and Ulinski accounted for the only 16 points scored by Morris Hills in the boys competition and put the Knights in second place behind St. Joseph�s, which won the team title with 19 points.
"Throws coach Bryan Willer does a great job with all our throwers," said Morris Hills boys winter track coach Sean Robinson. "It�s a tribute to all three of them that Scudiere and Ulinski have now qualified for the prestigious Eastern States Track & Field Championships that will be held at the New York City Armory in late February.
"Right now, however,the entire team is gearing up for the North 1, Group 2 NJSIAA State Sectional Championship that will be held in two weeks."
Also competing for the Knights in the shot invitational were: seniors Andrew Boettcher (9th, 41-11.5) and Jason Wooster (19th, 39-0.25); Jim Wendt, who was 19th in the junior competition with a throw of 33-0; and freshmen Andrew Southwad (21st, 32-6), Daniel Jainarine (27th, 29-5.25), and Michael Krsulic (32nd, 28-6).
On the girls side of the meet, Rachel Hayes' sixth-place finish in the sophomore division was the only point for the Lady Knight as they finished tied for 12th and gave Morris Hills a boys/girls combined point total of 17, good for seventh-place in the 17-team field.
Hayes threw a 25-5.25 for her sixth-place medal.
Junior Lauren Aspiazu just missed a medal when her throw of 30-5.25 was good for seventh place, just an inch off a sixth-place medal.
Karina Irula, who came in 14th in the sophomore division, was the only other Lady Knight to score in the competition.
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Prebor, Hill vault to medals at County Championships
ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School boys indoor track team got half of its 14 team points in the pole vault when senior Eric Prebor finished third and junior Brendan Hill finished sixth at the Morris County Winter Track Championships held at Drew University in Madison on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
Prebor cleared an even 12-feet to tie four other vaulters for second place and was placed third when fewer misses were taken into account. Hill cleared 11-feet to tie three others but earned the team point for his sixth-place finish on fewer misses.
Morris Hills finished in eighth place with 14 points in the 18-team field.
Randolph won the team title with 66 points with Delbarton a distant second with 40 points and Mount Olive third with 36 points.
Whippany Park finished fourth with 36 points and was followed by Morristown (5th, 31 points); Hanover Park (6th, 28); Parsippany Hills (7th, 22), Morris Hills (8th, 14), West Morris (9th, 12), Boonton (10th, 11), Morris Knolls (11th, 9), Parsippany, Mendham and Jefferson (tied for 12th, each with 8 points); Roxbury (15th, 7), Madison (16th, 2); and Montville and Chatham (tied for 17th, each with one point).
Morris Hills got its other team points in the shot put and the 3200-meter run.
Junior A.J. Ulinski finished fourth in the shot with a throw of 46-0.25 and senior Bryan Scudiere placed fifth with a 45-11.50.
Junior Connor Doyle got the only point on the track for Morris Hills when he finished sixth with a time of 10:20.73 in the 3200.
In other events for Morris Hills:
Junior Jonathan Richman finished 19th in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:56.93.
Michael Sternlicht was 21st in the 55-meter dash in 7.28 and sophomore Prithvi Singh was 39th in 7.49 in the same race.
Seniors Mark DiGennaro and Leonardo Valdebenito just missed out on medals when they tied for seventh-place in the 600-meter run when they both stopped the timer at 1:29.03. In the same race, junior Jesse Spector finished 26th in 1:34.59; junior Mihail Stantchev was 31st in 1:37.41; and sophomore Dustin Wahba was 46th in 1:43.89.
Sternlicht was 29th in the 300-meter dash with time of 40.86 with Singh in 37th place in 41.38. Sophomore Hemal Shah was 15th with a time of 2:55.88 in the 1000-meter run.
Junior Joseph Rewick finished 17th in the 3200 with a time of 10:56.97 while sophomore Connor Whelan was 24th in 11:08.92.
In the 4x400 relay, DiGennaro, sophomore Adrian Samsel, Spector and Valdebenito finished 10th with a time of 3:46.73.
In the field events, sophomore James Lane just missed a medal in the shot put when his throw of 45-3 put him in seventh place; senior Zachery Ferguson cleared 5-3 in the high jump to finish in a eight-way tie for eighth place; and, in the pole vault, senior David Pacheco cleared 11-0 to finish in seventh place and sophomore Tyler Fitzpatrick cleared 10-6 to finish tied for ninth.
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Knights make NJAC division championship a true 'team title'
ROCKAWAY - Sean Robinson, the coach of the Morris Hills High School boys winter track team, calls it a "feel-good win ... a team victory in every sense of the word."
Fifteen of Robinson's Knights scored points as Morris Hills captured the first Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division championship at Drew University in Madison on Saturday, Jan. 9.
Morris Hills won but one gold medal during the meet - senior Bryan Scudiere led a 1-2-3 finish in the shot - as the Knights scored 81 points to top Hanover Park's total of 74.5 for the title.
Whippany Park was third with 62.5 points with Parsipany (4th, 42 points), Madison (5th, 32), Boonton (6th, 18), Chatham (7th, 16), Jefferson (8th, 11), and Wallkill Valley and Dover (tied for 9th, 2) rounding out the 10-team field.
"This was a true track and field win, too," Robinson added. "We scored 41 points on the track and 40 points in the field to achieve our winning team total.
"Our kids executed the plan perfectly as we were very selective in entering our kids in specific events ... we didn't win an individual championships but we scored in almost every event and often had multiple scorers."
This is not your older brothers' Morris Hills winter track team, one that relied on four or five superstars to pile up gold medals on the way to championships.
"We now have a group of solid budding track stars and the coaches helped them believe that even one point in an event could lead to a championship - and that is exactly what happened.
"We had 15 different kids score points in this meet ... this was a special team win and a big breakthrough for our young crew."
The Knights biggest point-producing events came in the 1-2-3 finish in the shot put and the 3-4-5 finish in the pole vault and Robinson is quick to point out that throws coach Bryan Willer and vault coach Bill Mitchell "... put in countless hours with our kids in working on their mechanics on these highly technical events."
Scudiere, sophomore James Lane and junior A.J. Ulinski formed the shot put team Scudiere throwing 47-feet, 9.5-inches for the Knights' only gold medal; Lane not too far behind with a 47-3.25; and Ulinski finishing with a best throw of 45-11 to put 24 point up on the board for the Knights.
Morris Hills picked up another dozen points in the pole vault when senior Eric Prebor cleared 11-6 to place third on fewer misses than junior teammate Brendan Hill and senior David Pacheco cleared 11-0 to finish fifth.
The Knights other four points in the field events were turned in by senior Zachery Ferguson, who cleared 5-8 to finish fourth in the high jump.
On the track, the Knights had multiple scorers in three running events - the 600-meter run, the 1000 and the 3200.
Seniors Leonardo Valdebenito and Mark DiGennaro finished 3-4 in the 600 with Valdebenito running a 1:28.62 with DiGennaro right on his heels with a 1:28.93.
"Valdebenito and DiGennaro had monster runs," Robinson said. "Their 3-4 finish early in the meet really really set the tone for us."
Junior Connor Doyle and sophomore Nick Patterson duplicated their teammates efforts in the 3200 when Doyle placed third in 10:24.02 and Patterson was fourth in 10:25.48.
In the 1000, sophomore Alexander Fayerman finished fourth in 2:48.78 and junior Jesse Spector was sixth in 2:50.43.
In other events:
Doyle picked up third-place points in the 1600 with his 4:47.78 run.
Sophomore Adrian Samsel was fifth in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.65
Sophomore Michael Sternlict finished fifth in the 55-meter dash in 7.14.
And the 4x400 team of DiGennaro, Valdebenito, junior Jesse Spector and Samsel finished third with a time of 3:36.49.
"The 4x400 was an example of how this team went after this meet," Robinson said of his relay team. "We had already clinched the team title and everybody knew it, but these guys went out there and fought hard to finish third.
"That's just great stuff."
Also competing for the Knights were junior Jonathan Richman, ninth in the 1600 in 5:05.94; junior Joseph Rewick, 13th in the 1600 in 5:08.00; junior Mihail Stantchev, 18th in the 600 in 1:38.16; sophomore Hemal Shah, eighth in the 1000 in 2:55.85; and DiGennaro (9th, 39.82), Samsel (11th, 40.22) and Valdebenito (13th, 40.44) who ran in the 300.
"The kids who didn't score points are also a big part of this championship," Robinson said. "They are the ones who push their teammates in practice and help them get into scoring position in the meets.
"Another reason this championship is truly a team effort."
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Knights finish 4-5-6 in Back Invitational shot
ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School boys winter track team had its top three shot putters finish 4-5-6 at the Cliff Back Invitational that took place at Drew University in Madison on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
Senior Bryan Scudiere finished fourth with a throw of 46-feet, 10-inches; junior A.J. Ulinski was fifth with a 46-2.75; and sophomore James Lane threw 46-0.75 to finish in sixth place. Teammate Jim Wendt, a junior, threw 30-5.5 to finish 51st in the field of 80 throwers.
In other events: sophomore Adrian Samsel was the only Morris Hills entry in the 55-meter hurldes and he finished 12th in 8.86.
Junior Joseph Rewick was 19th in 5:03.89 in the 1600; sophomore Patrick Dunn finished 52st in 5:19.17; and sophomore Zachary Kling was 59th in 5:23.29.
In the 55-meter dash, senior Mark DiGennaro was 40th in 7.48; senior Leonardo Valdenbenito was a tick behind in 41st with the same time; and sophomore Adrian Samsel placed 47th in 7.55.
In the 600-meter run, senior Leonardo Valdenbenito was ninth in 1:41.56; DiGennaro was 11th in 1:31.89; and sophomore Dustin Wahba was 56th in 1:42.22.
In the 300, DiGennaro was 17th in 40.05; sophomore Adrian Samsel was 22nd in 40.40; Valdenbenito was 23rd in 40.44; sophomore Michael Sternlicht was 42nd in 41.96; and sophomore Prithvi Singh was 48th in 42.72.
In the sub varsity events, senior Eric Prebor was third in the junior varsity 55-meter dash with a time of 7.41. Singh (7th, 7.53), senior David Pacheco (11th, 7.61), senior Andrew Boettcher (45th, 8.72) and freshman Michael Lewis (47th, 8.79) also participated in the race for Morris Hills.
Freshman James Rogers ran in the freshmen 55-meter hurdles and finished 13th with a time of 11.47.
In the junior varsity 600, junior Mihail Stantchev was fourth in 1:38.70; sophomore Ray Weng finished eighth in 1:39.47; sophomore Brett Mitchell was 32nd in 1:49.77 and senior Ian Martin finished 43rd in 1:52.64.
Four Knights entered the pole vault competition with junior Brendan Hill and senior Eric Prebor each clearing 11-6 to finished 3-4 in the event. Senior David Pacheco cleared 10-6 for eighth place and sophomore Tyler Fitzpatrick cleared 10-0 to finish in a tie for ninth.
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Knights shot put, pole vault teams 2nd at County Relays
ROCKAWAY - Second-place finishes by the shot put and pole vault teams accounted for the 16 team points scored by the Morris Hills High School winter track team as the Knights tied for seventh place with sister-school Morris Knolls in the Morris County Relay Championships held at Drew University on Monday, Jan. 4.
Randolph won the meet with 61 points with Morristown runnerup with 52 points in the 16-team field. Delbarton (27 points) was third with Hanover Park (23), Hanover Park (23) finished fourth, and Mount Olive (21) was next to round out the top five.
For Morris Hills, senior Bryan Scudiere and junior A.J. Ulinski combined for a throw of 94-feet, 8.75-inches to finish second in the shot put, well off Morristown's meet-record winning mark of 111-8.75.
Scudiere threw 47-5.25 and Ulinski's best throw was 47-3.50, the third- and fourth-best marks of the meet. Morristown junior Nick Vena threw 70-5.25 and junior teammate Paul Caravaglia added a 41-3.50 to break the meet record of 110-08 set last year by Morristown.
In the pole vault, senior Eric Prebor and junior Brendan Hill each cleared 11-0 for a combined 22-0, six inches lower than the mark posted by the winning Randolph two-man team.
In other events, the Knights' 4x200 team finished ninth in 1:42.09; the 4x800 team was also ninth with a time of 9:02.36; the distance medley team finished 11th in 11:57.19; the 4x400 team finished 12th in 3:53.27; and the high jump team of senior Zachery Ferguson and sophomore Adrian Samsel tied for seventh with a combined mark of 10-3.
In junior varsity events, the Knights' shot put team of senior Jason Wooster and junior Jim Wendt finished second with a combined throw of 72-5.75; the 4x800 team of sophomore Nick Patterson, junior Joseph Rewick, junior Jonathan Richman and sophomore Dustin Wahba finished fourth in 9:17.39; the all-sophomore 4x400 A-team of Connor Whelan, Ray Weng, Zachary Kling and Patrick Dunn was sixth in 4:07.11 and the B-team finished 17th in 4:31.28; and the 4x200 A-team was 17th in 1:55.73 and the B-team finished 20th in 2:00.76.
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Scudier, Ulinski, Lane in top ten in Polar Bear shot
ROCKAWAY - Bryan Scudiere, A.J. Ulinski and James Lane of the Morris Hills High School boys indoor track team finished in the top ten of the shot put competition at the Pietrewicz Polar Bear Invitational at Drew Univeristy in Madison on Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Scudier, a senior, finished fourth with a throw of 46-feet, 2.5-inches; Ulinski, a junior, was seventh with a throw of 43-6; and Lane, a sophomore, finished 10th with a best of 42-1. Junior Jim Wendt and sophomore M.J. Krsulic also participated in the shot with Wendt throwing 27-11 for 56th place and Krsulick finishing 65th with a throw of 21-3.
Morristown junior Nick Vena dominated the competition, however, as his best throw of 66-10.5 was 16 feet farther than runnerup Nick DiGiacomo, a senior at Parsipany Hills.
In other events:
Senior Zachery Ferguson also had a fourth-place finish for the Knights as he cleared 5-8 in the high jump. Sophomore Adrian Samsel finished 10th with a time of 8.68 in the 55-meter hurdles.
In the 600, junior Jesse Spector was 23rd in 1:34.08; sophomore Ray Weng ran 52nd in 1:40.76; sophomore Patrick Dunn was 53rd in 1:40.89; sophomore Dustin Wahba ran 54th in 1:41.11; and junior Gregory Sciuto was 62nd with a time of 1:46.08.
Sophomore Michael Sternlicht was 29th in 7.34 in the 55-meter dash with sophomore Prithvi Singh 53rd in 7.69.
Junior Connor Doyle finished seventh in the 1600, crossing the line in 4:45.94; junior Joseph Rewick was 17th in 5:00.01; sophomore Nick Patterson ran 18th in 5:01.01; junior Jonathan Richman was 25th in 5:09.12; and sophomore Connor Whelan finished 29th in 5:14.34.
Sophomore Alexander Fayerman ran 14th in the 1000, coming home with a time of 2:54.64. Other Knights in the race were also sophomores: Weng, who was 26th in 3:01.68; Dunn, 33rd in 3:06.65; Wahba, 41st in 3:12.72; and Zachary Kling, 45th in 3:17.95.
In the relays, the Knights' 4x200 team finished 16th in 1:42.63 and the 4x400 team was 10th in 3:50.05.
In the sub-varsity races, James Rogers was 13th with a time of 11.68 in the freshman 55-meter hurdles; in the junior varsity 600, Kling was 21st in 1:45.82; freshmen James Rogers was 44th in 1:58.23 and freshman Patrick Gaven was 45th in 1:59.08; sophomore James Lane was 25th with an 8.10 in the junior varsity 55-meter dash while freshman Peter DiGennaro was 35th in 8.22, freshman Michael Lewis was 55th in 8.86, and Wendt finished 56th in 8.98.
