2005 Scotch Plains Boys Outdoor Track Sections

Another Herculean effort by senior Sean Smith fell just short of propelling the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Boys Track team to their first North Jersey Group III Section 2 crown since 2001 this past weekend at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield. Smith finished first in the 110 meter hurdles and high jump, added a second in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles and concluded the meet with a 49.7 anchor split to bring the Raiders home third in 3:25.46 but Montgomery won the race and the team title with 63 points.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood finished third with 56 points, one behind second place Red Bank Regional. Smith scored 29.5 points and sophomore sensation Kyle Robowtham added 15.5 with a first place in the triple jump and a fourth in the 400 hurdles as well as leading off the 1600 relay. Running the second and third legs between Rowbotham and Smith was junior Rob Ventura and sophomore Mike Miller. Despite their second straight third place finish, Coach Jeff Koegel feels the newly created relay will excel at the state championship, where they are seventh seeded and will run in the first heat with the fastest schools.

“We need to get out and establish ourselves on the first leg,” said Koegel.
“If Kyle finishes his leg strongly, we can be around 50.0 or under. We need to be a little better with our exchanges and need to make sure we pick the proper spots to pass people and do it smoothly.”
As usual, Smith was brilliant and busy, shuttling back and forth between events and he is looking forward to an even greater challenge this weekend.
“It gets tougher from here, but I am confident I can step it up next weekend,” said Smith.
Smith started his marathon weekend with a close second place finish to David Jesperson of Livingston in the 400 intermediate hurdles with a time of 56.28. Rowbotham was fourth in 57.98.
Smith broke away from Andrew Longley of Millburn to win the 110 Meter Hurdles in 15.46 Rapidly improving junior Nehemiah Burney-Porter added four points for the Raiders with a fourth place finish in 16.06.
Despite not jumping his best Rowbotham was good enough to out duel All State Football star Knowshon Moreno of Middletown South in the triple jump with a 43-03.50 effort, which was the seventh best overall in Group III.
“I have been getting near 45 feet in practice and I need to get there next weekend,” said Rowbotham. Burney-Porter also qualified fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 41-10.25.
Westfield will also be sending five athletes to the Group IV championships, three in the pole vault. Seniors Mike Woods and Mike Gorski completed an outstanding week by finishing 1-2 in the pole vault, each jumping 14-0. Earlier in the week at the prestigious East coast Relays, the two had combined for a meet record of 29-9, by each jumping a personal best. Woods soared 15-3 and Gorski jumped 14-6.
“Don MacDonald has done a great job with vaulters this spring. Both boys have
developed steadily their entire careers, work hard and good things are happening,” said veteran Westfield Track Coach Jack Martin.
Also joining Woods and Gorski will be junior Alex Kao, who jumped 12-0 and javelin thrower Jeff Pazdro, fifth in 153-8.
Junior distance ace Jeffrey Perrella recovered from a third place finish in the 1600 meter run Friday to win his specialty, the 3200 meter run easily on Saturday. After finishing behind the Phillipsburg duo of Bryan Lein and Josh Davis in the 1600 with a time of 4:28.97, Perrella broke away from the duo just past the halfway point to win in 9:39.4, giving him a high seeding in the 3200.
. “I just didn't have it in the 1600.My arms and legs felt like lead and they just didn't want to go,” said Perrella
Perrella should be one of the favorites in the 3200 off his 8:33 performance in the 3000 meters at the Penn Relays, which equates to the fastest 3200 of anyone in the field.
“I have a better chance in the 3200. No matter what, though, I will definitely be putting my all into both races,” said Perrella.