RFH Boys’ Track Team Captures
Championship by One Point: ‘It Was Insane’
32 JULY 2021 | TheJournalNJ.com
BY TIM MORRIS
It’s always a special season for an athletic program
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School boys’
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nating in the NJSIAA State Group 2 championship.
“It was insane,” Bulldog Head Coach Jeremy
Schulte said following Rumson’s one-point triumph
at the state meet. “Just everything fell into place perfectly.
I’m so happy for this group. They deserve it.”
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onship in dramatic fashion. Trailing both Delsea
and Madison by nine points, the Bulldogs had to
gain the 10 points needed to overtake the leaders.
Anything but a win wouldn’t be enough.
The team of Jaden Lanfrank, Laef Golden, Joseph
Aglione and Sam Coughlin did just that, win,
in breathtaking style. Trailing throughout the race,
Aglione managed to make the gap to front-running
Metuchen manageable before handing the baton
off for the anchor leg.
“Coughlin anchored and was behind with 100 meters to go, and he
just absolutely hammered it to win by .35,” Schulte recalled.
The relay win in 3:23.13 lifted Rumson to 41 points for the meet,
one more than the 40 scored by Madison and Delsea.
While Coughlin’s come-from-behind anchor leg and the relay’s victory
were the deciding points, it took a team effort to lift the championship
trophy.
“Small points won it,” noted Schulte. “The 4x800 team of Gabe
LePage, Patrick Simpson, Jack McBarron and Thomas Shore stepped up
to take fourth (8:26.50). Colin Kennedy killed his seed throws to take
fourth in the javelin (151-3), and LePage got us one point in the 800
(1:57.95).”
Rumson’s stars stepped up as well. Aglione continued his dominance
in the 400-intermediate hurdles win the Group 2 state title in
55.09. The senior is undefeated in championship races. Sprinters John
Volker and Coughlin scored important points as well. Couglin was third
in the 400 (50.00) and Volker took bronze as well in the 100 (11.23).
his team went to the State Championships at Franklin High School determined
to not just compete but win.
“They really wanted it and it showed,” he remarked. The State
Championship capped what has been an extraordinarily special season
for Rumson’s boys. “It’s been such a great season. We knew something
team broke the school record and our 4x400 team was close to it at
the Metuchen Relays. When we won the division (A Central) meet, the
coaches thought we might have something here.”
Rumson did have something going for it. The Bulldogs had what
athletes, who even if their individual season was over, still came to practices
to help push their teammates.
Impressive performances throughout the spring including being
the top public school at the Monmouth County Championships (second
behind powerful Christian Brothers Academy), which made the Bulldogs
“We knew it was ours to lose,” said Schulte. “The kids showed up
and performed.”
They certainly did, piling up an impressive 102 points, almost double
that of runner-up Matawan (58.50) at Jackson Liberty High School,
which hosted the meet. Rumson’s sprinters/hurdlers led the way with
three individual championships.
Volker won the 100-meter dash in 11.12 from a standing start
(blocks were not used at the sectional). Coughlin won the 400 (49.86)
and took second in the 200 (22.70) while Aglione won the 400 intermediate
hurdles (55.61) and was second in the 100 high hurdles (14.95).
Middle distance standout LePage also was a double-scorer. He won the
800 (2:01.61) and took third in the 1,600 (4:26.24).
While standouts did their job, they received plenty of support.
Golden was fourth in the 400 (51.04) and sixth in the 110 hurdles
(15.82). Shore placed sixth in the 1,600 (4:29.28).
In the relays, LePage, Shore, Owen Saad and Simpson were third
in the 4x800 (8:32.63), and Aglione, Coughlin, LePage and Golden ran
third in the 4x400 (3:30.56).
Also at Jackson Liberty, Holmdel’s 4x100 relay team claimed a state
sectional title. Bryce Calhoun, Dylan Day, Myles Day and Matthew Kline
got around the oval the fastest in 44.29.
/TheJournalNJ.com