MRHS sprints, jumps enough to overcome O.C. distance, throws
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LINWOOD – Ocean City dominated the distance races and held the edge in the throwing events. Mainland Regional controlled the sprints and the jumping events. The Mustangs closed out the opening boys track meet last week for both teams by sweeping the high jump to edge the Red Raiders 74-66.
Although Ocean City is younger than normal, both teams feature a mix of veteran athletes and up-and-comers expected to improve as the spring track season goes on and be valuable members in the seasons to come.
“It was 66-65 going into the high jump. We knew if we were going to win the meet we would have to do it before the high jump because we knew they had a couple of real talented jumpers,” Ocean City head coach Matt Purdue said. “It was close though. We had a great meet.”
“We’re a young team. We have about 64 athletes and only three are seniors. We have about 60 underclassmen, which is pretty unusual for us,” Purdue said, noting the team averages 60 athletes with about 15 per grade. Being youthful “is good for developing a future team, but going into meets you have a lot of inexperienced athletes.”
The coaching staff was happy with the effort on Tuesday (April 4). “We were underdogs going into the meet and I think we kept it pretty close,” he said. “I don’t think there was anything we could have done any differently.”
For Mainland coach Steve Sokalski, one of his seniors who tipped the meet in the Mustangs’ favor is Mawali Osunniyi.
“There are some really good kids who have been with the program for a while, but I also have some young kids who are really up-and-comers too, some good performers who are sophomores and juniors,” he said.
“The one that stands out is Mawali Osunniyi. … He came out the other day and broke our school triple jump record on his first jump, then went over and won the high jump, that won us the meet.” His school record triple jump was 43’3.5”. He also won the high jump at 6’, but he can go higher.
Osunniyi cleared the high bar at 6’6” at the Bridgeton Relays last week “and I think he has a lot more potential to increase that throughout this year. … He qualified for Nationals. He’ll be jumping all the way into June.”
Josiah Williams, he said, is one of his rising stars. “I have coached his two older brothers who were super good athletes. He’s just a sophomore, but he was named the most valuable athlete at the Bridgeton Relays. He’s a triple jumper, he’s a long jumper, a 110 hurdler and I use him in the 200,” Sokalski said.
Williams finished second behind senior Will Murray in the long jump at 21’10” and second behind Osunniyi in the triple jump at 40’1.75”.
“He’s going to be a multi kid down the line,” Sokalski said. “I’m going to try to get more on his plate if it’s possible. I ran him in four events against Ocean City the other day and I ran him in four events at the Bridgeton Relays. We got first in three of them and second in the fourth that he was in.
“For a sophomore that’s a heavy workload, particularly in events that are very skillful. The hurdles are tough and triple jump is not just sprinting. … He’s a kid I expect big things from in the future. He’s a super good kid and super hard worker. He’s dedicated to getting better and being really good at track. I expect throughout the season and the next couple of years he’ll be really special for us.”
Murray, the coach said, does the long jump and is the opening leg on the 4×100 team. “He is a super good athlete. He jumped 22’8.75”, just one inch off of our school record held by one of the Klemics. He made it to the Meet of Champions last year and I think he finished top six. He was at the top of the leaderboard at the end of last year and I expect him to be there again this year.”
Sokalski said his 4×100 was really good last year and lost one runner, but their drop-off wasn’t considerable going into this year. Murray, he said, “is a big part of that and I expect him to carry us along throughout the year as well.”
The coach has a pair of senior hurdlers who also are really good, Will Spollen and Andy Ramos.
Hurdling is “pretty much all they do. Andy is a 110 guy and hopefully he advances pretty far this year, hopefully to the Meet of Champions. Last year he just missed out on that.” With Spollen, they combined to win the 2×400 hurdles at the Relays and they’re both part of the shuttle hurdle team. “They’re going to help the team out,” Sokalski said.
Ramons won the 400 hurdles against Ocean City with a time of 60.3 seconds with Spollen second in 61.4 seconds. Ramos also won the 110 high hurdles in 15.3 seconds with teammate Williams second at 16.1.
Leo Pierre is a junior sprinter who runs the 100 and 200 meter events and is the anchor for the 4×100 and 4×200 sprint relay teams. “He won a few events against Ocean City and was part of a couple teams that won at Bridgeton. He’s another kid who I expect will get better. He has been with me since his freshman year so I’ve seen progress and expect to keep seeing more.”
Against the Red Raiders, Pierre won the 100 meters in 10.6 seconds with Murray third in 10.9 and he and Jamie Tyson went 1-2 in the 200 meters. Pierre won that event in 23.7 seconds with Tyson clocking in at 24.4.
The coach said he could go on and on about the athletes on his team.
He mentioned Colin Kummings, a sophomore hurdler and high jumper. “He has already come out and is already technically good at the hurdles and will be a really good high jumper in the future and this year will be part of the shuttle high hurdles relay team. We’re trying to get them to qualify for the Nationals.” The shuttle hurdles team includes Spollen, Ramos, Kummings and Khalid Foster.
Williams, Kummings and Foster are sophomores. “That team is pretty good right now and I think it’s going to get much better in the future,” Sokalski said.
The Mustangs also won the pole vault with Tommy Mozitis clearing 11’6” and Ed Duversaint placing third at 9’.
Mainland’s Nicco Carfagno won the javelin with his throw of 149’10” and teammate Matt Muits was third at 139’7”. Ocean City’s Nick Layton was second at 139’7”.
Ocean City: New
athletes in top five
“Three of our top five scorers Tuesday are all new to the team this year,” Purdue said about the Red Raiders’ meet against Mainland. They complement some of the team’s veterans.
The three seniors are Colin Dice, one of the top throwers in shot and discus, and distance runners Nick Scarangelli and Ethan Eiler. Junior Matt Hoffman is in his first season running spring track after running cross country for three seasons.
Luke Halbruner, a junior, is in his first year at OCHS, as is Talon Fischer, another junior. Those two competed for Holy Spirit last year
Scarangelli scored 15 points in the meet, Hoffman scored 13, Halbruner scored 9, junior Layton and Hercules Stewart, returning varsity members, scored 6 each, as did Fischer.
“Considering three of them are new scorers is a plus for our team,” Purdue said.
Right behind Hoffman and Scarangelli is a whole host of sophomores who will be scoring for the Red Raiders including Kal Heyman and Zach Hutchinson. Hutchinson (2:12) was second to Hoffman, who won the 800 in 2:11.7. Caleb Aristizabal completed the 800 sweep for Ocean City at 2:13.2.
The Red Raiders also swept the top three spots in the 3200 behind Scarangelli (10:17), Heyman (10:21) and Ethan Buck (10:25).
Scarangelli (4:41.2) and Hoffman (4:41.3) went 1-2 in the 1600 meters with Mustang Ethan Bongiovanni third close behind in 4:41.7.
The Red Raiders are building talent in the hurdles after graduating a standout last year. “We were spoiled,” Purdue said. “I jokingly said we had eight years of Given athletes between Ryan and Dan Givens and we could always count on them scoring in four events. Dan is up at Lehigh (University) like his brother before him and competing in track and field. Dan consistently scored in the three jumps and the high hurdles.
“We’re developing some young talent. Connor Berich had a real nice personal record in the high hurdles (16.3 seconds, good for third against Mainland), and Cole LaBarre is back,” Purdue said. “We also have Ryan Davis and James Burke hurdling for us.” Burke was third against Mainland in the 400 intermediate hurdles with a time of 62.4 seconds, just a second out of second place.
Last year Dice was undefeated in the discus and was an All-Star in the Cape-Atlantic League “so we’re hoping he has a real good senior season,” Purdue said. Other top throwers are Layton in the javelin and sophomore Grady Hanson in the shot put.
Luke Smith (133’5”) and Dice (133’4”) went 1-2 in the discus for Ocean City and teammate Anthony Gasparovic finished the sweep with a throw of 129’11”.
Hanson won the shot put with a throw of 43’3.5” with Dice third at 38’3.5” and Mustang Nick Timek second at 38’5.5”.
Ocean City’s J.P. Forster and Hercules Stewart are the high jumpers for the Red Raiders. They tied for third against Mainland, both clearing 5’6”. They have potential after going 5’8” last year. Zion Hamilton, a transfer from Wildwood, is competing in high jump, long jump and triple jump for the Red Raiders this season.
Team goals for
the Mustangs
“When I look at our regular season schedule it’s tough,” Sokalski said. “Egg Harbor Township is so deep and so good. Oakcrest is the same way. Oakcrest is super good this year and they do a good job coaching at both of those places. Millville is good and Hammonton is a good team.”
The coach isn’t sure where the team will end up, but plans to get a lot of his athletes to the state meet.
“I know it’s a super tough schedule for me to say that I’m going to win the conference title. That’s a reach just because there are such good teams. I don’t know where we’ll fall,” Sokalski said. “Hopefully we’ll win it, but I expect when it comes to the sectionals, the South Jerseys, I’m hoping my team is really peaking. I want to get as many of those kids as I can to advance as far as they can. There is a team aspect, but there is also getting these individual kids as far as they can go.
“I don’t want to beat them up too much during the season. I want to keep their legs fresh until the end of the year. And hopefully as a team in the sectionals, we’re usually at the top of the leader board, and I hope to be there again this year, but I really want to get as many kids through as possible because that’s where it’s fun, getting as many as I can to the state meet.”
Team goals for
the Red Raiders
“The coaches feel we can get better each week. I think we can be right in the mix,” Purdue said of his Red Raiders. “Obviously our conference is very talented. We were hoping to squeak by Mainland, but we knew it was going to be a battle.”
Ocean City was going into a tough meet with Egg Harbor Township and Oakcrest this week. “We want to compete with them and we’re confident we can be among the top teams in the league and in South Jersey,” he said.
The coach believes he has athletes who can do well once they move into sectionals.
“We definitely have some guys who can score in the South Jersey championships,” he said. “Nick Scarangelli was the indoor state champ in the 3200. That was a big confidence booster. And our distance medley team won the Rising Stars race at Nationals. Having some big time competition under their belt will serve us well later in the season.”
Ocean City will be hosting the Cape May County meet again, this year on May 18 at Carey Stadium. Purdue said the school is also doing something new – hosting a middle school Cape-Atlantic League championship for all the middle schools in the CAL.
“It’s the first time ever. It will be May 23,” he said. “We’re trying to not only showcase our facility, but also give middle school kids a chance to compete against some (new) schools … and have a championship experience. It’s something we have talked about for a while. We’re going to give it a go and hope it grows each year.”
– PHOTOS and STORY By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
