School Records Broken, Personal Bests Achieved at Track County Championships

The boys' and girls' track teams competed in the Morris County Championships this Tuesday and Thursday at Boonton High School, and the team's coaches were quick to praise several individual performances from Cougar athletes.

On the boys' side, Jake Neumann placed second in the discus with a throw of 157'9" and Corey Black set a personal record in the 1600 with a 4:35.6.

The meet was originally scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, but Wednesday's events were pushed back due to rain. But "the extra rest proved valuable to several of our athletes," boys' Head Coach Pat Barry wrote in an email this morning.

Stephen Bangs had a personal best of 16.2 and placed 8th overall in the 110 meter hurdles, and Black ran the 800 in 2:00.3 and took a fifth place medal.  All four of the team's 3200 meter runners set personal records: Jack Beecher ran a 9:54, Stephen Leonard a 9:57, Anthony Malatesta a 10:00 and Mike Kaiser at 10:21. 

David Tobia recorded a long jump leap of 18'6.25" for a personal record. The team finished 15th overall, scoring 10 points.

Kat Grimes performed exceptionally well for the girls' team, setting school records in the 1600 and 3200. Her 1600 time was 5:05, and she ran the 3200 in 10:58. She took second and third place, respectively, in those races.

Girls' Head Coach Terrence Ferguson said the 3200 race "solidifies her spot as the finest distance runner in Chatham girls track and field history" in an email this morning.

"Her 10:58 shatters the previous record and her sub-11 minute performance serves notice to all who may have questioned this now undeniable fact:  Kat Grimes is the real deal," Ferguson wrote.

Tara Hanley placed sixth in the 3200 with a time of 11:25, and Hali Deters threw the javelin 108' to take second place in that competition.

The girls' team finished in 10th place with 21 points.