2005 Westfield Girls Outdoor Track Review

It was at the Union County Relays that the Westfield Girls Track team gave a glimpse of the 2006 season and how strong and deep their middle distance talent is. Using only one of their regular 4 by 800 runners, the Blue Devils were easy winners in the 3200-meter relay with a team comprised of two freshmen, a sophomore and junior Meg Driscoll.

At many schools the loss of senior stalwarts like Emily MacNeil and Annie Onishi would be catastrophic but the Blue Devils developed a strong corps of underclassmen and appear poised to be strong again next year.

Onishi and MacNeil graduate with 16 track and field letters and a boatload of school records and first place finishes between them. MacNeil and Onishi were both members of the 4 x 400, 4 x 800, Distance Medley Relay, and Sprint Medley Relay teams, which all hold school records.

Both have held varsity status on the team since their freshmen years and both were members of the 4 x 800 team that qualified for the Penn Relays for the past three years. Onishi was the top scorer this season, and has been among Westfield’s top three scorers for four years.

She has been a leader by example on the track,” said Westfield Coach Jen Buccino.

MacNeil has been one among the team’s top scorers for four years. She has been a four-time Watchung conference champ, three-time county champ, and 2002 State Sectional champ over her four years and holds the school 400-meter record. She also was the Group 3 800 meter indoor champion this year and paced the Blue Devils to the county indoor championship.

To replace them Buccino will count on Driscoll and the other member of the top 4 by 800 team, Miriam Becker-Cohen, who also ran on the school record setting distance medley relay. The other members of the county 4 by 800 team, sophomore Ayn Wisler and freshman Stephanie Cortinhal and Catherine Cognetti as well as sophomore distance standout Jen Danielsson also figure prominently. Daniellson became the first Blue Devil 3200-meter champion since 2002 when she captured the Sectional crown and dropped her time by a minute during the season.

“Our strength will remain in the middle distance for next year, however we will need to work on depth in the 1600 and 3200,” said Buccino.
“ We have gaps to fill in the sprints, jumps and throws, and need to work on some depth as well,” said Buccino.

Buccino will need to replace top javelin thrower Olena Borkowsky, triple jump record holder Ali Rodino and top shot put and discus thrower Christina Henry but has rising sophomores Emily Perry, Erica Ammermuller, and Marlena Sheridan to fill gaps.

“We have a strong core of youngsters that gained valuable experience and solid veteran leadership,” added Buccino.

“Since we are traditionally not lacking in numbers of incoming athletes each spring, we hope the combination of the above will create the right ingredients for a stronger season next year.”

2005 Westfield Boys Outdoor Track Review

Few schools in the state could match the star power of the 2005 Westfield Boys Track team. Seemingly no stage was too challenging for their talented pole-vaulters Mike Woods and Michael Gorski and their distance star Jeffrey Perrella but the Blue Devils fell short in smaller meets as a lack of depth kept them from any team championships.

Woods and Gorski were nearly unbeatable in two man pole vault relay competitions and saved their best effort for the prestigious East coast Relays, when the two combined for a meet record of 29-9, by each jumping a personal best. Woods soared 15-3 and Gorski jumped 14-6.

“Both boys developed steadily their entire careers, worked hard and good things happened” said veteran Westfield Track Coach Jack Martin.

Woods cleared 15 feet for the first time in the Union County Championships to upset favored Anthony Abitante of Governor Livingston, the state’s top pole vaulter and give the Blue Devils their only first place finish. What made the achievement more unique was that Woods had borrowed Abitante’s pole because he thought the pole was better than his was at clearing the height.

After a sub par performance in the slippery conditions at the Group IV championships, Gorski and Woods recovered smartly at the most important individual meet of the year and finished second and third at the Meet of Champions behind Abitante. Junior Lawrence Kao came on strong near the end of the year to also qualify for the state championships in the pole vault.

Perrella was also his best at the biggest meets. Facing many of the top runners in the nation at the Penn Relays 3000 meter run, his third place finish was astounding as was his time of 8:33.50, which smashed the Westfield school record formerly held by Blue Devil great Cliff Sheehan and the Union County record by Anthony DeBenedictis of Roselle Park.

Perrella also won the 3200-meter run at the state sectionals and followed that up with a personal best time as he finished a strong second in the 3200-meter race at the Group IV championship at Egg Harbor. Perrella did even better at the Meet of Champions, finishing third in the state and bettered his personal best again with a time of 9:20.12.

Perrella also was outstanding in the mile and had a season best of 4:21.2.
“ I feel like I had a good season but my goal is to win races not finish second or third,” said Perrella.

“My season was alright, I didn't win many big meets but I was always right there knocking on the door. Hopefully, next year will be different.”

“Jeff ranks up there with the best at 3200 and could be up there in 1600 as well. His cross country performances are definitely among the best as well,” said Martin

There was a big drop in performances after the big three. Losing standout 800-meter runner rob Broadbent midway through the season hurt the team in numerous ways, including relays where Broadbent was a key member.

“He was a big loss,” said Martin.
“Most importantly I feel bad for Rob because he worked hard and is really into the sport.”

Westfield had a deep and strong distance group made up primarily of underclassmen. Ameer Rogers, Raymond Chen, Jay Hoban and Kris Kagan will team with Perrella to make the Blue Devils one of the top cross-country teams in the state next year.

The season ended on a sad note with the death of long time Westfield Track and Cross Country Coach Walt Clarkson. Martin is among the many coaches and runners that Clarkson left an indelible mark.

“Westfield track and field is what it is today because of Walt. Much of what we do today
(Especially the importance of team) is an extension and continuation of Walt’s.
philosophy. Walt was a man who was genuinely interested in WHS success in all
sports, not simply track and cross country,” said Martin.

2005 Outdoor Track Meet of Champions

It was the biggest and most important individual competition of the New Jersey Track and Field season at the Meet of Champions, a week ago Wednesday, but the pole vault jumping area at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield had a familiar and local look as Westfield senior Mike Woods and his friend and rival Anthony Abitante of Governor Livingston were the only two jumpers attempting to clear 15 feet 6 inches.

Abitante of Gov. Livingston of Berkeley Heights cleared the height on his final try to win the pole vault and defeat Woods, who jumped 15-0. The duo have a rivalry based on mutual respect and sportsmanship which was accentuated earlier this season at the Union County Championships, when Woods cleared 15 feet for the first time to upset Abitante What made the achievement more unique was that Woods had borrowed Abitante’s pole because he thought the pole was better than his was at clearing the height.

Adding further to the local flavor was Westfield senior Michael Gorski, who made it a clean sweep for Union County with a 14-6 effort for third. The 14 points from Woods and Gorski combined with a third place finish in the 3200 from junior Jeffrey Perrella to give the Blue Devils 20 points. If official team standing had been kept, the Blue Devils would have which placed fourth in the entire state behind Old Bridge, Notre Dame and Phillipsburg, which each got almost all of their points from one performer.

Veteran Westfield Track Coach Jack Martin, who has coached his share of stars over the years, was pleased but not necessarily surprised.

“I thought we had the type of team this year that could perform well at this level,” said Martin

“Most of the boys improved tremendously this year. All the coaches did a
great job in each of the areas.”

Perrella continued to excel in the biggest meets of the year, with a strong third place finish on an unbearably warm and humid evening to post a personal best of 9:20.12 Perrella was one of only two runners to follow the blazing pace set by overall winner Robert Papazian of Gill-St.Bernards the eventual winner in 8:59.78. Perrella finished less than two seconds behind second place finisher Ben Massam of Chatham, but did gain revenge on Geoff McGrane of Randolph who had defeated Perrella at the Group IV championships the previous Saturday. Perrella also defeated county rival Joe McKenney of Cranford in their first outdoor 3200 race of the season.

Martin, who coached Matt Elmuccio, the only three-time distance champion in the history of the Meet of Champions and isn’t easily impressed, had high praise for Perrella.

“Jeff ranks up there with the best at 3200 and could be up there in 1600 as
well. His cross country performances are definitely among the best as well,” said Martin.

Until this year, Perrella had played soccer in the fall and in his first year as a cross country runner was first team all state.
Scotch Plains-Fanwood’s four entries in the Meet of champions failed to score but sophomore Kyle Rowbotham continued to impress by almost placing in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles despite being in the second fastest heat. Rowbotham was fourth in his group in a personal best of 56.04 and has finished his first year in the intermediate hurdles with a flourish.

“We are very pleased with how he ran- 11th in the state as a sophomore is phenomenal, especially when it's your first season doing an event,” said Scotch Plains Fanwood coach Jeff Koegel.

Rowbotham had to quickly move over to the triple jump competition where he finished a record setting first season with 40-07.75 for 22nd place.

“We kind of expected that he wouldn't triple jump as well. The problem is that they only mark your first jump and will not mark any subsequent jumps unless they are better than the 12th best jump in the first round. His second and third jumps were better, but they were short of that mark and did not get measured as a result,” added Koegel.

In the girls competition senior Michelle Regg finished 30th in the triple jump with a leap of 31-03.50 and Katie Zaleski finished a record setting year in the pole vault with a clearance of 9-6, tied for 19th place.

2005 State Track Championships (Perrella)

Proving once again that he saves his best performances for the biggest races, Westfield Junior Jeffrey Perrella ran a personal best time and finished a strong second in the 3200-meter race at the Group IV championship Saturday at Egg Harbor. Even so, Perrella
was not totally satisfied with his performance and vowed to run better at the final meet of the spring, The Meet of Champions, which was held this past Wednesday at South Plainfield.

“I think if I maybe pushed the fourth and fifth lap, I could have won,” said Perrella.
“I did a personal best. but I am not at all pleased. I feel like I
could have and should have won that race but I just didn't. I can run faster, a lot faster, and I am going to do so at the Meet of Champions.”

Last fall, Perrella had improved on his state meet performance, to run his finest race of the season in finishing sixth at the Meet of Champions in a personal best 16:07, which vaulted him onto a first team All State Cross Country status.

Earlier this Spring, Perrella had outrun some of the nation’s top runners to finish third in the Penn Relays 3000 Meter Run in a Westfield record 8:33.2.

Veteran Westfield Coach Jack Martin has mentored many great runners in his long career and Perrella has total confidence in following his coach’s strategy.

“Jeffrey rarely gets or shows nervousness. He is able to follow a race plan. I look for him to do well in the Meet of Champions,” said Martin.

Perrella stayed neat the back for most of the first mile. In the second mile, he mostly stayed in second as the leaders changed three times.

“At one point I wanted to take over and push the pace a little bit more but my coach said to stay relaxed and be ready for any moves ,” said Perrella.

Perrella also placed sixth with a time of 4:24.37 in the 1600 race run Friday in a torrential downpour, which made the track extremely treacherous.

“The conditions were simply horrible. It was pouring
rain. The first lane was submerged completely in water, at some places it was even ankle deep. But you know, that is racing, so you have to detail with it,” said Perrella.
Led by Perrella’s nine points, the Blue Devils placed twelfth with 15 points. The other six points came from fourth and fifth place finishes from their pole-vaulters, Mike Woods and Michael Gorski, who each jumped 14-0. The conditions forced the pole vault to be switched to Saturday but may have hurt their performance according to Martin.

“Both Mikes did well. The postponement probably hurt a bit as
neither boy had extra clothes. They should do better in the Meet of Champions.”

Despite being shut out in the girl’s competition, Scotch Plains-Fanwood will send triple jumper Michelle Regg and pole-vaulter Katie Zaleski to the Meet of Champions as wild cards. Regg finished two inches out of a scoring sixth place and Zaleski lost a tie on fewer misses. Even so, Zaleski will be the ninth seeded of 43 competitors in her event, showing how strong Group III was. The top two finishers in the Raiders’ section from two weeks ago had the top two pole vault performances.

“Her Pole Vault coach Pete Kane has her switch to a longer and stiffer pole once she gets over 10'0". She still has some trouble getting up and over smoothly on that pole, but she can't
get high enough on the pole she uses for the lower heights. If she can get over 10-6, she should be in medal contention,” said Raider coach Jeff Koegel.

Sophomore Kyle Rowbotham also qualified in two events. He qualified for the triple jump with a leap of 41-05.00 and placed tied for sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a 56.84 effort in the pouring rain.

“Kyle went out and ran a sensational race. He placed out of the slowest heat. A lot of people let the weather get to them, but Kyle didn't. He went out and ran aggressively, was smooth over the hurdles, and really didn't make any mistakes,” said Koegel.
Despite being seeded in the first heat, neither Raider 4 by 400 relay placed in the first six.
“These things happen. That's why we have the meets,” said Koegel.