The Livingston High School boys ’ track andfield team opened its spring season at home on Wednesday, April 5, in a double dual meet against East Orange Campus High School and Montclair High School.
The Lancers won both matchups on the track and in the field, with a score of95-26 against the Jaguars of East Orange. The Lancers also won against the Mounties of Montclair, 64-63.
The team was up against the Cougars of Columbia High School on Monday, April 10. With both teams missing athletes due to the seasonal break, the Lancers were able to beat the Cougars, 95-36.
The LHS boys traveled to Madison on Saturday, April 15, for the annual Dodgertown Relays.
First up for the Lancers were cocaptain Matt Ho, Ray Oji, Nick Siao and Raalu Madubuko in the shuttle hurdles. The boys won the gold medal with their time of 1:04.33 and set a new meet record. The Lancers also fielded a second team of Gabe Lopez-Simpson, Keiffer Alghali, and George Carr that crossed the line at 1:15.22 for a fifth place finish.
Next up for LHS was the 4x100 meter relay squad of Ethan Wang, Chase Wade, Chase Kaufman, and co-captain Luke Petryna. Wang led the squad off, finishing with a time of 42.80, which established a new school record and meet record. The Lancers also fielded a freshman squad in the 4x100 with Matthew Burt, Jacob Glazer, Henry Lwamba, and Corey Leavy, who placed ahead of several varsity squads in the event.
Next, the distance squad was on the track for the distance medley relay. Shane Lyons led off in the 1200, followed by Brandon Dong in the 400, with Danny Wang running the 800, and Ricky Romero bringing the team home in the 1600. The team finished eighth out of 15 teams with a time of 11:28.4.
Ethan Wang, Wade, Kaufman, and Petryna returned to the track for the varsity 4x200. The squad set a school and meet record with their time of 1:29.35. The junior varsity squad of Tugra Ovul, Will Sun, Madubuko, and Hank Klein placed first in their division with a competitive time of 1:37.18. The freshmen squad of Burt, Lwamba, Glazer, and Leavy were third in the junior varsity division at 1:40.77.
The middle-distance runners lined up next on the track for the 4x800 meter relay. Danny Wang led the group off, handing next to David Flores, followed by Lyons, with Romero once again anchoring the team home. The squad finished in third place at 8:58.7. The Lancers also fielded two junior varsity squads that finished first and second in the division. SenJun Liu, Zack Ledesma, Matt Chong, and Ryan Kropac crossed the line at 9:25.3, and Jake Ferrans, Nate Wong, Noah Marcus, and Kyle Viteri at 9:37.5.
The sprint medley relay followed the 4x800. Sun and Dong each ran 200 meters before passing the baton to Ovul who sprinted a 400-meter leg. Ming Ma then ran the final distance, the 800 meters. The squad stayed competitive throughout the race and placed fourth with a time of 3:54.27.
In the field, the long and triple jumpers added to the team total. Petryna (18’-7”) and Wade (18’-10”) combined their distances to place sixth overall in the long jump. Also jumping were Sun (18’-5.75”) and Dong (18’-1”).
In the triple jump, Kaufman teamed with Burt to place fifth overall. Burt, a freshman, jumped 37’-10.75” to break the freshman boys’school record. Kaufman added 37-11.75. George Carr (35’-4.25”) and Ovul (32’-1”) also jumped.
At the high jump, both Ho and Alghali cleared the bar at 5’-4” to combine and place fourth overall. Madubuko (5’-2”) and Carr (5’-0”) also jumped. In the pole vault, Siao soared over the bar at 10’-6”. He teamed with Ho, who cleared at 10’0” to help the squad finish fourth.
With only the 4x400 meter relay left to compete, the Lancers put together multiple 4x4 squads. The varsity team of Klein, Alghali, Ferrans and Viteri raced well to finish with a time of 3:56.6. The freshman squad of Lwamba, Glazer, Burt and Leavy finished second in the junior varsity division as Leavy fought hard to attempt to overtake the first-place team with a time of 3:52.81. The other squad to place in the junior varsity division was Zacharie Canent, Matthew Gianduso, Jake Zalyet, and Brandon Lee with a sixth place and time of 4:05.73.
Next for the track and field team is the Red and Black Invitational at East Stroudsburg University, Pennsylvania on Saturday,April 22, where select athletes will compete in both individual and relay events. The team will be back at home on Wednesday, April 26, to compete against Seton Hall Prep, North Star Academy, and Payne Technical Institute.
