Fittingly, the girls track team used its weight squad to lift it to a good finish at the Mercer County Championships.
The weight team earned four of the six medals and 20 of the 22.3 points scored by Hightstown, which placed eighth as a team. West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional High School South (106.33) won the 14-team event, held at Hamilton's Steinert High School on May 14.
"I was hoping we'd do a little better, but this is a difficult meet," Hightstown High Coach Don Hess said. "You have a lot of teams here and the best the county has to offer. I'm pleased with the overall effort."
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Aziza Ahmed had the best finish of any Hightstown girl, placing second in the discus with a distance of 101 feet.
Hightstown's weight team had at least one girl win in a medal in all three of the throwing events. This included Dana Obst (third at 33' 10") and DeAsian Foye (fifth at 31' 1 3/4") both placing in the shot put.
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"I"ve made it to the finals before, but this is the first time I ever earned a medal," Obst noted. "Third feels good. There was so much hard work put into that medal. I started out throwing about 26 feet. Now, I'm throwing over 33. I've really worked hard and improved a lot."
Ryan Otero was fourth in the javelin with a distance of 93' 1".
The 4x100 team placed fifth in a time of 52.5. Lindsay Redfern placed in a three-way tie for sixth in the pole vault with a height of eight feet.
Like all of the other track teams in the state, Hightstown will take part in the state sectionals on May 27-28. Before Hightstown can start really getting set for that meet, however, it has a little unfinished business.
"We're gearing up for Wednesday's meet against Nottingham because that will be for the Valley championship," Hess said of the meet planned for today. "We both come in undefeated in the Valley, so this will decide the championship." [Editor's note: Due to the rain, the meet has been rescheduled for tomorrow, Thursday.]
After that big meet, Hightstown will get ready for another big one on May 27-28.
"We're trying to peak at the right time," Hess said.
