Wrap up Winter Season with Wins
The scholastic indoor track
and eld season could
not conclude before
Christian Brothers Academy
had the chance to capture yet
another state championship.
Led by distance standout
Shaw Powell, sprinter/hurdler
Liam O’Hara and thrower Eros
Bottino, the Colts won the NJSIAA
Non-Public A team state
championship at the Bennett
Indoor Athletic Complex in
Toms River. CBA easily beat
out Union Catholic, 83-56.
Powell captured the
1,600/3,200-meter distance
double. The senior took the
1,600 in 4:22.27 with teammate
Troy Hill in second
Local Track Athletes
(4:23.49).
In the longer 3,200,
Powell posted a winning time
of 9:29.44 with Hill third this
time (9:31.07). Right behind
Hill was the Colts’ Ben Santos
(9:37.59).
Earlier in the indoor season, Powell ran in the prestigious Millrose
Games in the Boys’ High School Mile.
O’Hara, also a senior, ran a quick 49.95 in winning the 400-meter
dash. He was the only sprinter under 50 seconds. Teammate Ethan Ferraiola
was third (50.66)
Bottino led a Colt one-two nish in the shot put. He had a winning toss
of 57-6 while teammate Christian Ricci was runner-up at 55-2 ¾. Taking
sixth for the champions was Bruce Martin (46-9 ½).
Liam Miksic and Ben Skrincosky were third and fourth for CBA in the
pole vault, each clearing 11-0.
Powell, O’Hara and Bottino weren’t the only local track and eld athletes
Christian Brothers Academy’s sprinter/hurdler Liam O’Hara added the NJSIAA Non-Public A indoor 400-meter state championship to his resumé this winter.
to win state championships in Toms River.
Red Bank Regional sprinter Gabe Kroll was rst across the line in the
Group III 400-meter dash. He raced to his championship, clocking 50.44.
In Group III, Colts Neck’s Matt Bogdan was third in the 3,200 (9:26.26),
running behind the state’s two best distance runners, Allentown’s Liam
Murphy (9:04.41) and Mendam’s Jack Jennings (9:09.27).
The Cougars’ Cole Tucker had one of the farthest throws in the state
this winter, 57-5, but it got him only a fourth place nish in the shot put.
22 APRIL 2020 | TheJournalNJ.com
BY TIM MORRIS
Middletown South’s Aaron Stillitano nished fourth in the 55-meter
dash nal (6.58).
Middletown North’s quartet of Matthew Conway, Isa Yilmaz, Kevin
O’Brien and Anthony Sclafani were fth in the 4x400 relay (3:30.07). Yilmaz
also placed sixth in the 800 (2:00.24).
Over in Non-Public B, Mater Dei’s Narin Buntin was third in both the
55-meter dash (6.80) and the high jump (5-8).
Buntin’s teammate Noah Lawson was fth in the shot put (41-2).
Ranney School’s Evan Woska was also a double-medal winner. He
placed second in the 1,600 (4:36.66) and fourth in the 800 (2:09.29).
The state sectionals were held prior to the group championships in
Toms River (parochial schools don’t have sectional meets), and the lone
individual winner there was Colts Neck’s Tucker. He out-distanced the competition
in the shot put with a school record 56-9 ½ to triumph in Central
Jersey Group III.
The Cougar junior had the competition in the bag in the rst round
with a 52-0 mark while no one else reach 50 feet.
“My rst throw was 52 feet, and increasingly each round, it went up,”
said Tucker.
/TheJournalNJ.com