Ridge Track & Field Advances To Meet Of Champions And Nationals

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — On Saturday, the Ridge Boys and Girls Winter Track Teams traveled once more to the Toms River Bubble to take on the Group 4 State Championship.

Several athletes qualified for the prestigious NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Ocean Breeze on March 3. On top of this, many from the boys and girls teams have also qualified for the New Balance Indoor Nationals, which will take place in Boston from March 7-10, attaining the tough qualifying times throughout the season.

To qualify for the Meet of Champions, athletes must either place in the top 3 of their group or be one of the next 12 best "wild card" performers from across the entire state. Nationals qualifications are time standards that must be met (at any point in the season) in order to compete.

The boys are bringing multiple individuals and relay teams to the Meet of Champions.

Junior Brenden McMahon and senior Dev Patel, running 4:22 and 4:29 respectively; both secured wild cards in the 1600. Brenden McMahon also qualified in the 3200, running 9:33. Senior Lokaditya Hariharan also secured a wild card position in the Shot Put with his throw of 50-11.5. On top of this, the boys 4x400 secured a wild card qualification, running 3:29.88, despite missing one of their main sprinters on the day of the event.

The 4x4, comprised of juniors Chase Fritz, Joseph Dachnowicz, and seniors Edward Condolon and Owen Mays, then improved their time at the Eastern States Championship on Tuesday, running 3:27.93 and qualifying for New Balance Indoor Nationals.

This mark is just a couple seconds off of the school record, which the boys hope to shatter as the season comes to a close.

Katharine Frank secured a wild card spot in Meet of Champions for the open 800, running a personal best of 2:19.36 and placing 5th!

The boys 4x800 relay qualifies for the Meet of Champions with their 7:59.87 time set earlier this season at the Millrose Games.

While there is no 4x800 at the Group Championship, the Meet of Champions features a showcase 4x800, in which the fastest 24 teams qualify based on their times. The girls 4x800 relay also qualifies for the Meet of Champions, with their time of 9:33.30 set at the Eastern States Championships on Tuesday. Both of these 4x800 times meet the standard for Nationals as well!

The boys Distance Medley Relay qualified for Nationals on Tuesday as well, where senior Dev Patel, senior Owen Mays, senior Edward Condolon and junior Brenden McMahon together ran a 10:10.72. This time is currently the 3rd fastest in the country this year.

All 4 boys ran personal bests on their legs of the relay: Dev ran a resurgent 3:09.39 in the 1200, Owen ran a 51.04 400, Eddie ran a 1:57.36 in the 800, and Brenden closed out with a dominant 4:12.93 1600 meter anchor leg.

Individually, Brenden McMahon qualifies for the 2 mile at Nationals with his time of 9:08 from Outdoor Track last year. Owen Mays qualifies for Nationals in the 60m hurdles with his 55m hurdles time of 7.78, which is the school record!

Last but certainly not least, the Boys Shuttle Hurdle squad also qualifies for Nationals. With their school record time of 32.39 from earlier this season, juniors Joseph Dachnowicz, Marcus Reilly, Jared Rascio and senior Owen Mays will aim to score top 6 in Boston to attain the coveted All American crown.

To close out this strong season from both the Boys and Girls, the Ridge Winter Track Team will be racing this upcoming weekend at the Meet of Champions and next weekend at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston.

— By Brenden McMahon and Joseph Dachnowicz