Mary Kennedy-Moore doesn't feel the need to compete with her teammate Rebekka Vuojolainen. The duo is just glad they are better than all of the other pole vaulters in Mercer County.
Kennedy-Moore and Vuojolainen both cleared 10' 6" to win the top spots in the Mercer County Championships, held on May 14 at Steinert High School. Kennedy-Moore won the event because she cleared the wining height on her first attempt.
"We don't compete against each other anymore," Kennedy-Moore said. "We're just happy. This is fun. It's good to have a teammate (that good). When she clears a height, it's reassuring. If she can do it, so can I."
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Thanks in part to the 18 points scored in the pole vault, Princeton went on to place fifth in the Mercer County Championships. West Windsor South (106.33 points) won, followed by Notre Dame (78), West Windsor North (65), Hopewell (62.5) and Princeton (60) in the 14-team field.
"I'm thrilled with how we did," Princeton Coach Jim Smirk said.
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While she didn't come away with a Mercer title, Vuojolainen did earn three medals. In addition to the second in the pole vault, she was also second in the triple jump (34' 10") and sixth in the long jump (15' 3 1/2").
"I'm happy," Vuojolainen said. "It was a good day."
Wrapping up a great day in the jumps, Madeline Lea placed fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 33' 1 1/2".
Jacques Bazile added a sixth (96' 6") in the discus.
"We really did well in the distance races," Smirk said, pointing to all of the other points scored by Princeton during the day. "We placed three girls in the 3200."
Elyssa Gensib was second (11:26.2), Ameila Whaley third (11:37.1) and Jenna Cody fifth (11:45.3) in the 3200.
Gensib also managed to place fourth in the 1600 in a time of 5:17.
Maggie Sowa placed third (2:23.9) and Chrissy Glover fourth (2:24.3) in the 800 to account for Princeton's other points.
Hvaing delivered a great performance in the Mercer Championships, Princeton is eager to see how it will do in the next big meet. Princeton will take part in the state sectionals on May 27-28.
"I'm very excited about the states," said Kennedy-Moore. "We're getting better in every meet. We're constantly improving."
