Not many weekends during the track season can match what West Orange coach Joe Picateggio experienced the last few days. But it certainly was a satisfying one.
It began Thursday when he coached senior standout javelin thrower Nia Barnes, who finished sixth at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, and continued through Saturday when he coached several boys' relays teams.Saturday, his assistants coached the girls team to a championship at the Millburn Relays.
Barnes, headed for the University of Alabama in the fall, threw a season-best 133-feet, four inches. She was 10th in the same meet last season.
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"It was a good throw, considering its still early in the season," said Barnes.
Lauren Kenney of State College, Pa. won the event in 156-2 and Christine Streisel of Tamaqua, Pa. was second with a 153-10. Barnes was the third New Jerseyan.
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Somerville's Alexis Appezzato was third with a 145-2; Cherokee's Melissa Lake was fourth with a 136-7 and Katherine Johnson of Haddonfield was at 133-6.
The boys 4x400 team of sophomore Karl Cajuste, junior Jared Mason, senior James Cham and junior Dexter Valley ran a solid 3:24.5. Valley ran a personal best of 48.7 on his anchor leg. The Mountaineers finished fourth out of 15 teams. The top three teams placed and won medals, but the field was deep and very talented.
"There were some tremendous teams in there," Picateggio said. "There were teams from Jamaica and CBA (Christian Brothers Academy) of Lincroft is a tremendous team. We had a tough heat."
The 4x100 relay team of Dexter Valley, Josh McNeil, Lance Smith and Kazari Trought combined to run a 43.51, fourth fastest on the school all-time list.
"We did that even with bobbling (the baton) the stick a bit," he said.
While the boys were in Philadelphia, the girls were in Millburn scoring 94 ½ points to win the Millburn Relays. Somerville was second with 60.
"We had a good day there," said Picateggio.
The shuttle hurdles team of freshman Aliya Barnes, sophomore Christine Cadeau, junior Kayla Turner and junior Chantoll Gauntlet won with a school record time of 1:06.8, breaking the school record by nearly three seconds. Nia Barnes and sophomore Illisa Blackshear combined to win the javelin with a school record 211-06.
The 4x100 team of junior Kayla Turner, junior Adrian Hassel, Aliya Barnes and Gauntlett took third in 51.49.
The 4x400 team were fourth in 4:12 with Cadeau, senior Yuri St. Hill and freshmen Josie Mitchell and Faithy Iyazoba. Iyazoba ran a very strong 61.5 anchor, while Mitchell ran 62. Sophomore Olivia Taylor and junior Carlene Cierul combined to tie the school record in the pole vault relay with a combined 13-feet.
"It was a very, very good day," the coach said.
The girls and boys now prepare for this weekend's Essex County Relays at Livingston High School. Both teams should be contenders for titles.
