Photo Credit: The Declaration Staff
For public schools, “A contestant must qualify in the Sectional Meet by placing in one of the first six (6) places for each event. All ties for Sixth (6th) Place will advance.”
Group 4 Boys
April 25, 2023
Westfield won a close one over Union to repeat as champion. Akshay Vadul of Edison hammered out a fast distance double, Gabriel Rodriguez was spectacular for Union, and Yashahya Brown won the hurdles in a meet loaded with great performances.
Heading into the 4×400, Westfield held a 32-24 lead over Union.
In order to overtake Westfield, Union had to win the race and have Westfield not place in the top six. Union could also earn a tie for the title by placing second and having Westfield not place in the top six.
Westfield got a slow seed time because of a fall in the sectional race and had to run in the first of the four heats while Union ran the seeded heat.
Union (3:29.28) was second behind Toms River North (3:24.85) to place second in the event to earn eight points. Westfield erupted when they saw the live results of the race pop up on their phones, which showed they placed fifth for two points to edge Union, 34-32.
Westfield’s relay team consisted of Emanuel Gayanilo (53.5), Ryan Daly (53.0), Jonathan Scalia (51.7), and Joe Pierro (51.2).
Avery Keith had a sensational double, finishing second in the 1,600 (PR of 4:15.87) and the 3,200 (9:20.77). In the 800, Scalia (1:57.67) finished 3rd. Scalia, who got pushed to the back of the pack at the start, worked hard to move up and then past three runners with about 100 meters to go to get third. Westfield also received key performances in the 1600 from Tage Mehta (a PR of 4:17.19) and Ryan Daly (a PR of 4:18.73).
This championship was especially sweet for Mehta and Pierro, who have dealt with injuries during their careers.
Mehta tore his ACL in May of 2021, and missed the entire XC and indoor seasons as a sophomore before coming back last spring, running 4:20. Pierro only ran three races last winter because of a hamstring injury, and then he missed the entire outdoor season with a lumbar stress fracture in his back.
One of the best parts of the whole weekend was Akshay Vadul.
Vadul won a pair of battles with Keith by running 4:14.15(NJ No. 4) in the 1,600, and 9:18.34 in the 3,200. Vadul’s 4:14.15 was the fastest time of all the Group Championships meets combined.
Gabriel Rodriguez left everything he had on the track to try to lead Union to the team title. He won the 800(1:57.17), placed second in the 400, and then split 49.1 as the anchor in the 4×400. Rodriguez is the state leader in the 800(1:53.30).
Brown earned the top seed in the hurdles for the Meet of Champions( 7.37), which is US No. 5 this season.He will go to battle with Nate Rayan(US No. 2 with a 7.30) at the Meet of Champions.
Jason Meza, state leader in the 400, won the race(49.78). Meza won the state Group 4 400 hurdle race last spring.
R.J Smith, made a PR( 6-6) to win the high jump.