Ridge Track And Field Takes On The Sectional Championship

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — On May 31 and June 1, the Ridge Track and Field team hosted the North II Group 4 Sectional Championship. Both the boys and girls had several athletes place in the top 6 and qualify for the Group 4 State Championship next weekend.

On Friday, Owen Mays and Joseph Dachnowicz placed 2nd and 4th in the 400h. Owen Mays ran 54.16 and Joseph Dachnowicz ran 56.76; both of these times are personal bests.

Brenden McMahon and Dev Patel then placed 2nd and 3rd in the 3200, running 9:08.56 and 9:10.62 respectively. Dev’s huge personal best puts him at #3 all time for Ridge in the 3200. Jared Rascio also placed 6th in the Triple Jump with a jump of 43-03.50.

On Saturday, Brenden McMahon placed 3rd in the 1600, with Dev Patel placing 5th. Brenden ran a personal best of 4:14.68, and Dev Patel ran 4:21.79. The 4x800 team of Mitya Cole, Edward Condolon, Matthew Fukushima, and Kaleb Huang placed 2nd with a time of 7:55.33.

Kaleb Huang had an incredible race, running a big PR of 1:56.65 to anchor the 4x8 and lead the relay to #10 all time for Ridge. Owen Mays also placed 4th in the 110h, running 14.88.

Closing out the Track events was the 4x400, placing 3rd in 3:22.54 - the 3rd fastest time in school history. Joseph Dachnowicz led off the relay, followed by Edward Condolon and Chase Fritz; Owen Mays finished the job with a 49.62 split on the anchor leg! Lok Hariharan also placed 2nd in the shot put with a throw of 47-00.

A bunch of the younger guys on the boys team also had great performances. Max Amadon improved his 100m personal best, running 11.58. Kenji Hou and Pedro Arantes both set PRs in the 400, running 53.22 and 54.50 respectively, excellent times for freshmen. Will Ligos also jumped 5-8 in High Jump, tying the Sophomore record at Ridge.

On Tuesday before the Sectional, Joseph Dachnowicz, Jared Rascio, Jason Wiatroski, and Owen Mays set a new Shuttle Hurdle school record, with a time of 61.38. This time also qualifies for nationals!

On the girls side, Ryan Ireland broke 2:20 for the first time, running 2:19.51 to place 2nd in the 800. Julia Hornyak set a big PR to place 6th in Long Jump- her mark of 17-00.25 is Ridge #8 all time! Rachel Biondo ran a huge personal best as well to place 4th in the 3200, running 11:16.13.

To finish out the events on Friday, Sophia Minassian and Meriden Crockett placed 3rd and 4th in pole vault,with jumps of 9-00 and 8-06 respectively. On Saturday, Jenna Inscore placed 6th in the triple jump with a mark of 34.07.75. The girls 4x800 relay of Rachel Biondo, Claire McCarthy, Elayna Douglas, and Ryan Ireland placed 2nd running 9:51.31. Finally, Sarah Shepard placed 2nd in Disc, throwing 117-11 - Ridge #4 all time.

Next up is the Group 4 State Championship on Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8, where the qualifiers out of the Section will compete to qualify for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions.

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