The Livingston High School boys’ indoor track and field team continued its second leg of the championship portion of the season at the Essex County Relays, held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on February 5.
Following the team’s win in the Essex County Championships just the week before, the Lancers faced some of the most formidable competitors in the state, from East Orange campus of Seton Hall Prep and West Orange High School.
First up was the shuttle relay squad of Raalu Madubuko, Gabe Lopez-Simpson, Nick Siao, and Bryson Edouard. Coach Raz Blau prepped the boys before the race, telling them they would “set the tone” for the entire meet. The boys responded with a gold medal and a school record-breaking performance of 30.76.
Next up for LHS was the distance medley relay consisting of the 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 meter distances. Danny Wang led off the relay, running the 1200, before handing off to Jesse Kaufman, who ran a fast 400, bringing the team to the lead. Sean Tesorerio then took the baton and continued to build the distance from the pack during the 800 leg, before Ricky Romero finished off the relay with a strong 1600 meters to help the squad to a first with a time of 11:00.01.
The 4x200-meter relay was the next relay team to score big on the track. Newcomer Abeel Paul led the squad with a slight lead before handing the baton off to Corey Leavy. Leavy strengthened the team’s firstplace position before passing to Lopez-Simpson, who maintained a gap despite challenges coming from behind. Lopez-Simpson then passed the baton to co-captain Tugra Ovul, who carried the baton to a first-place finish at 1:30.45.
The distance runners were back on the track after a brief rest for the 4x800. As he did in the distance medley, Wang led the team off for the first 800 meters before passing the baton to David Flores. Flores moved the team to second place, running his personal best 800 meters before Tesorerio took over. Maintaining the team’s position, Romero anchored the squad home at 8:29.31 for second place.
While the runners were busy on the track, seniors Grayson Alpert and Karim Barakat were throwing shot put at the end of the facility. With both boys showing significant improvement this season, Barakat heaved the shot 42-4 with Alpert at 39-4.5 to earn the squad second place overall and add critical points to the team total.
Tesorerio also competed in the high jump relay with his partner Kevin Smith-Harris. Smith-Harris was first to clear a bar with a personal best of 5-4 before Tesorerio entered the competition. His final clearance was 5-10, which, combined with Smith-Harris, gave the Lancers a third-place overall finish.
The final relay of the day was the 4x400 meters. Leavy, Kaufman, Flores, and Ovul were focused and ready to put the final touches on the championship win already secured by the squads that had competed before them. Leavy led the group with a strong first leg before handing it to Kaufman, running his second 400 meter race of the day. Flores then took the baton and battled with two other teams before Ovul took over. Ovul then ran his fastest 400 meter split to cross the line at 3:28.75. The win cemented LHS’ back-to-back Essex County Relays Championship.
Smith-Harris, Hudson Horowitz, Brennan Bickel, and Matt Chong were the four members of the sprint medley team. Their time of 3:53.12 placed them ninth overall.
Also competing in the meet was the novice 4x8 squad. While their efforts would not contribute to the team scoring, the group made a statement by placing second in the division with a time of 8:54.94. The race was completed by Lucas Liu, Marshall Weaver, Jinay Veera and anchored by Ryan Kropac.
Next up for the LHS squad is the North Jersey Section 1, Group IV State Sectionals on Sunday, February 16, where varsity athletes will compete against other large schools for individual and team titles.
Livingston High School’s boys’indoor track and field team won big at this year’s Essex County Relays. At top, the team raises the championship trophy. At left, the shuttle hurdle squad, consisting of Bryson Edouard, Gabe Lopez-Simpson, Nick Siao, and Raalu Madubuko, are shown with their medals.
