Track: Plainfield's Simmons takes gold at MOC
BAYVILLE — The first thing Jaleel Simmons did after winning at the Meet of Champions was what all good sons should do — he called his mother.
The Plainfield High School senior told his mom that he took gold in the high jump Wednesday at Central Regional High School. Mom, a former high jumper herself for the Cardinals, wanted to know what height he cleared.
“I said, ‘6-8, what am I doing now?,” Simmons said. “She said, ‘Go for seven, baby. Go for seven.’”
So Simmons put aside celebrating and went for a personal best with opponents and coaches clapping him on. He nipped the bar all three times, though, clenching his teeth. As he high-fived a teammate walking off, he said, “I’m sick of going 6-10.”
Yes, track is about constantly bettering yourself. Still, he’ll gladly take a MOC championship. Simmons didn’t have much time to chat as his day was just getting started. The basketball and football star earned two more medals — he took eighth in the 110 meter hurdles and placed fifth in the 4x100 relay along with Jason Cission Jr., Nahseem Woodward and Alistar Aaron. The top eight finishers in each event received medals.
RELATED: Meet of Champions results
“I felt great coming in,” Simmons said. “This is one of the best feelings that I’ve had in a long time. Because all of my coaches kept telling me, ‘This is you. This is you. It’s time to be a champion.’ So I come out and I just wanted to be a champion.”
It was surprising that the winning jump came at 6-8. Simmons, Trenton Central’s Semaj Willis and Bridgeton’s Markquese Bell all were seeded with a 6-10. But on a breezy day with some wind, only Simmons could clear 6-8. Matawan’s Dave Alston placed second with a height of 6-6 on the least amount of misses. Willis and Bell tied for third with a 6-6 on misses.
“I honestly thought that there would at least be somebody there to compete with me,” Simmons said. “But everybody has bad days.”
As the 6-foot-6 Simmons gets ready to jump, he pulls in his right elbow and extends his left arm in what looks like a mix of shooting an arrow and a Superman pose with a point to the sky. But he said, “When I kiss up, it’s to God. … I just like to be humble, basically.”
Simmons, who’s not sure of his college choice, said he enjoys playing receiver in football the most out of his athletic endeavors. Now, he’s made his mark in track.
“Freshman year I got over 5-10,” he said. “Next year I got over 6-4. Then 6-8. And now, 6-10. Each year I improved.”
Pole Vault success
There was drama in the pole vault for South Plainfield’s Josh Ward and Pingry’s Julia Dannenbaum. For Ward, he and Delsea’s Jarrod Brovero each went 14-6, but Brovero didn’t have any misses, while Ward had one. So the junior needed to clear 15-0 and have Brovero miss in order to claim the gold medal. Neither one, though, could get that distance. So Ward settled for second place. Three other area athletes earned pole vault medals — Governor Livingston’s Brian Rubenstein took fifth (14-0), Bridgewater-Raritan’s Brandon Kong placed seventh (13-6) and New Providence’s Joshua Ornovitz took eighth (13-6 on misses).
For the girls, Dannenbaum and two others each hit 12-0, but she had the most amount of misses. The junior couldn’t clear 12-6 on her last three tries and placed third. Seneca’s Brittney Raffo won and Northern Valley’s Michelle Rubinetti placed third.