The track members not competing in the Penn Relays on Saturday were in action at the Millburn Relays, and no doubt, were feeding off the success of their teammates, with a number of athletes taking personal records.
"Millburn was a big step for our team as we move toward the championship season of May and June," said track coach Peter Kane. "We had a lot of PR's from our top athletes and many of our up and coming younger athletes made waves and stepped up too."
The Cougars nailed down some big mile times. Senior Will Smith ran a 4:33, and sophomore George El-Khoury timed out in 4:43.
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The boys' shuttle hurdle relay placed sixth in 1:13, led by sophomore Jeremy Mazzola, freshman Reggie Green, senior Dalber Pereira, and junior Tom Folger.
Pereira, Folger and Mazzola also placed sixth in the 3x400 intermediate hurdle relay.
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A pair of new throwers also set personal bests, including sophomore Greg Miller, and freshman Rob Kessler in the shotput javelin.
On the girls side, Cranford captured the 3x400 intermediate hurdle with sophomores Rebecca Shimonov, Kate Evans and Devon Cacchione taking the coveted first-place medal.
They also came in second in the shuttle hurdle relay with Shimonov, Cacchione, Kelly Burke and Megan Schetelich taking a bow. Shimonov and Burke combined to win the girls' triple jump as well.
"We had a lot of bright moments as the newer girls are starting to really get comfortable racing and competing," Kane said. "That was evident by how many of them ran, threw, and jumped better than they ever had before. Like anything else, you get better at competing in track through repetition. At this point in the season, the girls have been competing for one month and are really building confidence in themselves. This is the confidence that they will need for us to have a successful championship season in May.
"We're having a really good time competing," said Evans. "Everyone is doing really well because everyone PR's every week. It's just so much fun."
Kane also gave kudos to some newcomers, including sophomores Shannon Maher, Emily Lupin, Cara Costa, and Kristen Van Benschoten, as well as junior Maggie Brown. Kane sees a bright future for all of them.
"They are just a few of the girls that PR'd on Saturday, and we are looking to build on that list this Thursday at the Union County Relays."
