Livingston High School track coach Keith Chaudruc provided the following review of the Lady Lancer track and field team’s season.
• • • This was a memorable and very successful season for the girls’ track and field program. The Lancers built upon the concept of TEAM, (Together EveryoneAchieves More) and turned in one of the stronger seasons in the history of the program. This year, over 70 girls signed up to run, jump, and throw for the squad. The athletes were very excited to train for, and begin competition in, the American Division of the Super Essex Conference (SEC), battling the top teams in Essex County and the state. This year’s team benefited from strong senior leadership and was led by senior captains Monica Sharma and Jadyn Kestenbaum.
The journey started successfully with two dual meet wins. This was a big confidence builder, and that confidence carried onward. At the first big Invitational meet, the Dodgertown Relays, the girls scored in 11 of the 14 events to post 65 points and win the meet. Upon returning to the SEC dual meet portion of the season, they went on a tear, winning their next five meets to go 7-0 and finish undefeated for the second consecutive year.
The Lancers traveled to Rockaway for the Morris Hills Relays, where the team finished a very strong third place overall in the field of 49 teams.
The first trial of the championship season was at the Essex County Relays. The Lancers earned the second place trophy, placing in 11 of the 16 events in the 38-team meet. The team recorded first place finishes in the shot put, and Jessica and Nesta Oji broke the all time meet and school record, throwing a combined 75’11”; in the pole vault, in which Jessica Su and Isabel Goodey recorded the two highest vaults of the night; and the shuttle hurdles team of Darcy Bialick, Sophia Wang, Jessica Su, and Nesta Oji finished in a season best time of 1:07.54. The Lancers recorded second place finishes in the triple jump, long jump, intermediate hurdles, and discus to go all with third place finishes in the 4x1600 meter run, the javelin, and high jump relays.
The team continued to impress during the Super Essex Conference American Division Championships, scoring in 13 of the 16 events, earning medals in ten spots on the track and 14 in the field. Three conference champions were crowned and joined by four second team performers. The balanced team effort continued to pay off as the Lancers finished in second place overall to a very strong Montclair team.
The Lancers crowned two Essex County champions, with Jessica Su winning the pole vault and leading a 1-2-3 sweep in that event, and Jessica Oji winning both the shot put and the discus titles.
The following day, the team competed at the Essex County Freshman-Sophomore Meet with, 30 teams in attendance. Battling their peers, the girls turned in many quality performances. They did well in both divisions, recording numerous personal best performances and earning medals both on the track and in the field.
The Lancers seemed to be hitting their stride at full speed as the State Tournament got underway, with many team members turning in their season’s best performances at the North 1 Group IV State Sectional Championships. The team qualified an impressive ten athletes in nine events for the Group IV State Championships, with Jessica Oji continuing to impress, winning both shot put and the discus sectional titles.
As the season winds down, it has definitely been a historic campaign, one to be spoken of and remembered with pride for quite some time. The future of the program looks bright with so many strong performances being turned in by underclassmen, and honors being received by returning athletes.
