The Livingston High School boys ’ and girls’ track and field teams competed in the North 1 Group IV State Sectional Championships, held June 2 and 3 at Clifton Stadium in Clifton.
Boys Share Title, Breaks Records The Lancer boys’ squad brought home the first State Sectionals title in the history of the program, sharing the title with Ridgewood.
The team produced three individual and two relay sectional champions, including Luke Petryna in the 100 meter dash, with a time of 11.05; Ray Oji in the 110 meter high hurdles at 14.64; and Chase Wade in the 200 meter dash in 22.22.
The 4x100 meter relay squad of Ethan Wang, Chase Wade, Chase Kaufman and Luke Petryna got the meet started by winning the race in 41.82. The time not only broke the group’s own school record, but superseded the meet record of 42.63 held by Mount Olive.
The 4x400 meter relay team of Petryna, Oji, Wang, and Wade then finished off the two-day tournament by winning in a school record time of 3:22.04. These ten points pushed the Lancer team into the tie with Ridgewood.
Along with the first place champions, the Lancers scored in several other events that became critical to the success of the team. Senior captain Matt Ho placed second in the high jump with a season’s best 6-0, third in the 110 meter high hurdles, fourth in the pole vault and fifth in the 400 Intermediate hurdles.
Sprinter Chase Kaufman placed second in the 100 meter dash with a personal best of 11.08. Petryna added his fourth medal with a second place finish in the 200 meter dash at 22.24. Wade earned his fourth medal in the 400 meters by placing fifth in 49.56. Nick Siao added a sixth place in the pole vault. The 4x800 meter relay squad of Danny Wang, David Flores, Ming Ma, and Ricky Romero took a third place finish with a time of 8:26.17.
All of the individual athletes and relay members who placed in the top six move on to the Group 4 Championship this coming weekend at Franklin High School.
Girls Send Ten to Championships The Lancer girls’ track and field team qualified ten athletes in nine events to advance to the Group IV State Championships, which will be held next weekend at Franklin High School.
Jessica Oji and Darcy Bialick continued their sophomore seasons, both qualifying in two events. Oji won the shot put and the discus throws and Bialick placed second in the high jump, clearing 5’0”, and sixth in the 100 meter high hurdles, with a time of 15.78 seconds.
Senior captain Monica Sharma turned in a lifetime best of 13.05 seconds to secure sixth place in the 100 meter dash. Jasmine Chen, in her first season of track and field completed a 34’1” into the sand pit to secure fifth place in the triple jump.
Erica Wang continued in her senior season as she placed fifth in the javelin with a throw of 93’11”.
Isabel Goodey continued her freshman season clearing 9’0”, setting a new Livingston High School freshman record in the Pole Vault and securing fifth place overall.
The 4x800 meter relay team of Phoebe Liu, Anne Ferrans, Sarah Nidhan and Taylor Dannis each recorded season’s best performances as the 11th seeded Lancer team finished in sixth place with a time of 10:17.18.
Jessica Oji continued her winning ways, throwing her way to both the Essex County shot put and discus titles, with throws of 41’11” in the shot put and 115’1” in the discus. Sophia Paparsenos set a new personal best time of 12:20 in the 3,200 meter (two mile). Nesta Oji finished in fourth place in the 100 meter high hurdles. Goodey added a fifth place medal in the high jump to her pole vault silver medal.
The team recorded numerous strong performances, including seventh place finishes by Taylor Dannis in the 1,600 meter; Sinit Mehari in the discus; Sophia Wang in the high jump; Phoebe Liu in the javelin; and Darcy Bialick in the 100 and 400 meter hurdle races.
The team was represented by Sinit Mehari, Sophia Wang, Nesta Oji, Aubrey Koblinger, Christina Jiang, Kiera DSouza, Amy Wang, Sophia Paparsenos, Anne Ferrans, Lexi Viola, Madison Slosberg and Hunter Lantzman.
