Ridge Track And Field Take On The Meet Of Champions

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — On Sunday, March 3, the Ridge Boys and Girls Winter Track Team ended their indoor season at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island.

Several athletes came home with medals (the top 8 athletes in each event earned a medal), and the boys 4x400 relay broke the school record.

The day started for Ridge with the boys and girls competing in the Invitational 4x800 relay. The top 24 teams in the state were invited to compete.

The boys team placed second, running 7:58.68. The relay team was composed of seniors Dev Patel, Matthew Fukushima, Edward Condolon and Mitya Cole.

Following the boys, the girls 4x800 team made up of senior Elena Nicholson, junior Ryan Ireland, senior Elayna Douglas and senior Katharine Frank ran 9:33.04 and placed 4th. After the 4x800, junior Brenden McMahon ran a personal best of 4:15.02 in the 1600, earning 4th overall against fast competition.

Closing out the meet for Ridge was the boys 4x400.

Juniors Joseph Dachnowicz and Chase Fritz and seniors Edward Condolon and Owns Mays broke the school record, running 3:24.88! With Joseph running 52.22, Edward running 50.51, Chase running 51.91, and Owen running 50.24, the boys passed the previous record of 3:25.80, and they have another shot at improving their time this upcoming weekend at nationals.

Next Thursday through Sunday, many Ridge runners qualified to compete at New Balance Nationals Indoor in Boston, under the Valley Project Track Club. From the boys team, freshmen Tristan Frank and Kenji Hou will run in the Freshman 400m.

Dev Patel, Owen Mays, Edward Condolon and Brenden McMahon will run the Distance Medley Relay. Earlier this season, the boys DMR team ran 10:10.72, which stands as the 3rd fastest time in the country this year. They hope to make it into the top 6 at Nationals to secure their spots as All Americans.

Owen Mays will compete in the 60m Hurdles, and Brenden McMahon will run in the 2 mile race. Joseph Dachnowicz, Owen Mays, Jared Rascio and Marcus Reilly will run the Shuttle Hurdle relay. This Shuttle Hurdle team also holds a school record, which they aim to improve in Boston.

Dev Patel, Kaleb Huang, Edward Condolon and Brenden McMahon will compete in the 4x800 relay. With their current season best of 7:58.68 from MOCs, the boys will be looking to set personal bests and drop their time on Sunday. The girls team will also run in the 4x800 relay with Elena Nicholson, Elayna Douglas, Ryan Ireland and Katherine Frank.

Last but not least, Joseph Dachnowicz, Edward Condolon, Chase Fritz and Owen Mays will run the 4x400 relay. They’ll have a great opportunity to continue to bring down their school record competing against the Nation’s best.

— Written by Brenden McMahon