2005 Scotch Plains Boys Outdoor Track Review

Part of the reason that the Scotch Plains Fanwood Boys Track program continues to be one of the area’s best is their ability to withstand the loss of seemingly irreplaceable athletes like this year’s superstar Sean Smith, who excelled in four events.

Coaches Jeff Koegel and Rich McGriff can feel confident about the future because sophomore Kyle Rowbotham exploded on the scene with performances that often outdid Smith.

Rowbotham and Smith were the biggest reasons that the Raiders maintained their dual meet unbeaten streak for a 23rd straight year. Smith was the team’s top high jumper and hurdler but by the end of the year Rowbotham had run past Smith in the intermediate hurdles and qualified for the meet of champions finishing eleventh overall. Rowbotham also qualified for the Meet of Champions in the triple jump, where he soared a season best 44-5.25 to win the triple jump at the Union County meet.

“I can't say that we expected him to place 11th at the MOC, but he had shown quite a bit of potential. Before we started with meets in March, we had a list of events that he could do and it was extensive,” said Koegel.

Despite Rowbotham and Smith’s heroics the Raiders fell short against Union in the County Relays and Union County championships but held off the Farmers to keep their dual meet streak alive. Scotch Plains Fanwood also repeated as Watchung Conference champions as Smith and Rowbotham combined for seventy points.

“Winning the conference championship again was also a highlight. It would have been nice to have added the county relay and individual titles, but we just weren't strong enough on those days,” said Koegel.

“Beating Union to keep the streak going was huge,” added Koegel.
“The boys really pulled together that day, and I'm sure the kids who played a big part of it will be talking about it years down the line.”

For the second time in three years, Smith pulled out key points in the high jump to keep the streak going.

Part of the strength in dual meets is the team’s depth, which should continue next year despite the loss of key seniors like Smith, Teddy Acosta, Marc Fabiano and Iceberg Bryant.

“We have a lot more kids than we had last year. We have a lot more depth in the events like the 400 and the shot put, but there are areas we need to improve on. We need to get back up in the distances, and hopefully that will start this summer,” said Koegel.

While confident Rowbotham can compensate for Smith, McGriff and Koegel are always on the hunt for athletes that can excel in multiple events and sophomore pole vault star tom Pennella appears to have the ability.

“I can see Tom Pennella developing into a multi-event star for us. I think he is just as athletic as Sean was when he was a sophomore and see him as a future decathlete,” said Koegel.

Another key performer this year was junior Nehemiah Burney-Porter, who qualified for the group championships in the high hurdles and triple jump. JZ Zinman and Mike Miller were tireless performers in the distance races, Max Carow was consistent in the pole vault and the Ventura twins, Rob and Tom excelled in the sprints. Mike Alleman, Curt brand and John Badala assure the Raiders of a strong weight contingent next year.

The streak looks to be in good shape for another year.