Hightstown Girls Track Counting on Depth

One thing is for certain: the girls track team will not have any trouble filling out all the events this season.

While there are still a lot of decisions to be made about which girls will compete in which events, Coach Don Hess certainly has options. Hightstown has a total of 74 girls out for the track team this season.

Among the 74 girls are 17 returning letter winners. Included in that group are seniors Kristal Harris (weights), Allison Mitchell (weights), Lindsay Redfern (pole vault), Kelsey Lewis (jumps and sprints) and Megan Mitchell (distance).

The other returning letter winners are eight juniors and four sophomores. The juniors are Melissa Arrisueno (sprints), Olivia Gerritts (distance), Colleeen Murphy (weights), Aziza Ahmed (weights), DeAsian Foye (weights), Jaime McHale (weights), Dana Obst (weights) and Rena Ketkar (sprints). The sophomores are Lydia Walsh (sprints), Ryan Otero (weights), Nikki Khandelwal (distance) and Adrena Desmond (sprints).

"We are a very young team," Hess noted. "We only have seven seniors."

The other two seniors are Sheila Gilchrist (hurdles) and Erin Alpaugh (weights). Hess included them in the group of girls he believes will help a lot this year.

Juniors Vivian Harris (sprints) and Lauren Birish (pole vault) should also help. The same is true of sophomores Imani Thomas (sprints), Labiba Salim (weights) and Amy Woods (distance).

 Hannah Foss (distance), Sarah Lechard (sprints) and Erin Dailey (sprints) are freshman that could also make an immediate impact on the team.

Hightstown had a big turnout from the freshmen this year. In addition to the three mentioned, other freshmen that will try and have an immediate impact. They are: Aimee Sandoval (sprints), Mia Morano (sprints), Zaynah Ahmed (sprints), Hannah Schmitt (distance), Marianna Arrisueno (sprints), Sunakshi Puri (distance), Madiana Koroma (sprints), Leonela Samaniego (sprints), Tasia Teele (sprints), Maria Alvarado (sprints), Val Meyer (distance), Sara Mermelstein (sprints), Valentina Ledesma (weights), Sarina Sokoloff (distance), Michelle Beahima (distance), Karen Encalada (sprints), Deanna Gardner (sprints), Taylor Johnson (weights), Cassidie Geffrard (sprints) and Sneha Agrawal (sprints).

Like Hess noted, this is a young team.

Other sophomores on the team are Loretta Amanning (sprints), Kristin Gabriel (sprints), Kathy Cando (sprints), Brittany Ogonzalez (sprints), Briana Ingram (sprints), Cherup Jackson (sprints), Johanna Agudelo (sprints), Rachel Wilson (sprints), Brianna Davis (Sprints) and Brianna Burgess (weights).

The other members of the team are juniors Jenna Daniels (weights), Yasmine Dowdell (sprints), Pam Essien (sprints), Bree Hemingway (weights), Shefali Ray (sprints), Marissa Ticktin (sprints), Jasmine Villishanay (sprints), Diana Tavaras (sprints), Kira Constantino (weights), Sherelle Davis-Clark (sprints), Amanda Espinosa (weights), Crystal Formaniak (weights) and Destiny Mystique (weights).

Because there are so many girls and so many different events to cover, assistant coaches will be very valuable for Hess, who is entering his 24th season coaching the Hightstown girls track team. Jay Hackworth and Kim Krysnski are the assistant coaches.

Hightstown will open the season with a home meet against Steinert on April 5. Other big dates on the calendar are the Mercer Relays on April 16, the Mercer County championships on May 14 and the start of the state competition on May 27.

With 74 girls on its roster, Hightstown certainly has a lot of opportunities to make an impact in those events.

"With as many athletes as we have out, we will be able to cover the board," Hess said.