Madison Track Wins One, Loses One In Double-Dual Meet

The Madison High School girls and boys track teams competed on Wednesday against Parsippany and Dover in a double-dual meet, with both teams beating Dover and both teams losing to Parsippany. Madison focused on its distance running teams to score points–the boys swept the 3,200-meter event to start the meet.

"They have good sprinting teams but we have good distance," said Jack Mahoney, who took first overall in the 1,600-meter event.

The boys 3,200-meter event was the first event of the day–the only event that was completed before a delay due to lightning. Senior Kyle Flyer took first with a time of 11:04, followed by Greg Zitelli clocking in at 11:09, and freshman Doug Capuder coming in third at 11:11.

"It was my best time for the 3,200," said Capuder, who is in his first season of track, although he did gain some high school level running experience by participating in cross country in the fall.

"I had confidence in Capuder," said Flyer.

Gabby Rojas started the day off for the girls with a first place overall finish in the girls 400 intermediate hurdles, beating the third place finisher by almost 10 seconds. Caroline Miller took third place overall in the 800 meter event with a time of 2:42, helping the girls earn more points to defeat Dover.

"It was a pretty good time for having already run the mile," said Miller, who competed in the 1600 meter, 800 meter, and 3200 meter events at the meet.

Junior Melissa Iskandar had not run since the Dodgertown Relays on April 10 due to injury, but she came back strong with a first place overall finish in the 3,200-meter event on Wednesday, finishing with a time of 12:33.

"I didn't even know if I'd be able to finish," said Iskandar. "Two days ago I was still hobbling, and I haven't been able to run in a few weeks."

Junior Aaron Shinn, who hit a personal best of 13 feet in the pole vault last week against Hanover Park, took first place overall in the pole vault after hitting 12 feet–he immediately tried for 13-6 after hitting 12 feet because the competition had already been eliminated.

"I made some really nice attempts at 13-6," said Shinn. "I aim to chase down the school record by the end of the season."

Madison freshman Nick Haboj is attempting to break a record of his own, aiming for 145 feet in the javelin, which would be the furthest throw ever by a Dodger ninth-grader. He threw a personal best of 134.2 feet at the dual meet, taking first place against Dover.

"It felt good, but I'm still hoping to get 145 and break the freshman record," said Haboj.

In one of the closest races of the meet, Dijuan Higgins of Parsippany exhibited what makes the Red Hawks such a strong team, finishing first in the 100 meter event then coming back out and taking first in the 800 meter. Jack Mahoney of Madison came in a very close second – Higgins passed him around the last turn and they finished neck and neck.

"I knew he was close enough that I'd be able to use my 400 speed to catch him toward the end," said Higgins. "And I just edged him out to win."

Mahoney, one of Madison's best distance runners, took second overall in the race. The Dodgers knew that the Red Hawk's sprinters would be a problem before the meet even started.

"I knew he was coming…I could hear the cheers first," said Mahoney. "I was really bringing it in, but he out-sprinted me."

The Madison boys outscored Dover 76-48 and fell to Parsipanny 95-45, bringing their record to 3-3, and the girls lost to Parsipanny 105-36 but defeated Dover 82-49, bringing their record to 3-4.

The next Madison track meet is on Saturday at the Millburn Invitational Relays. The meet will start at 8 a.m.