Track: McLaughlin sets records at MOC
BAYVILLE - Continuing her dominant spring season, Union Catholic's Sydney McLaughlin set two records at the Meet of Champions at Central High School on Wednesday.
McLaughlin started the meet by winning the 400 hurdles for the third-straight year with a time of 56.23, breaking the old meet record of 57.39 that she set last year. The junior also became only the second girl in Meet of Champions history to win three-straight 400 hurdles titles. Plainfield's Andrea Johnson won three-straight titles from 1981-83.
MORE: Plainfield's Simmons takes gold at MOC
McLaughlin is the state record holder in the 400 hurdles with a time of 55.28, and she continues to lower her times this season as she bested the 56.99 that she ran in the Union County Championships in May.
In the 400 dash, McLaughlin also placed first in a time of 51.87, which broke the state record of 52.44 that she set last year, and also broke the meet record of 53.15 set by Neptune's Stephanie Saleem in 1985. McLaughlin became the second girl in meet history to win both the 400 and 400 hurdles in the same meet, joining Paterson Kennedy's Tawana Watkins, who completed the feat back in 2000.
RELATED: Meet of Champions results
"It was a good race, a very good race, Shakira (Dancy of Winslow) really went out and I think that's what I needed to just get that time, and I really appreciate the race," McLaughlin said. "It was stressful and nerve racking but that just comes with the time."
Union Catholic did it again in the 4x400, as Brianna Ewing, Amari Onque-Shabazz, Asiah Cooper and Sydney McLaughlin won in 3:46.68. Onque-Shabazz ran the second leg, and put the Vikings in front for good.
"I'm a little banged up, so I just wanted to feel healthy and run hard and get the win," Onque-Shabazz said. "I felt pretty good, I was glad I got us the lead and put our team in the best position possible."
McLaughlin wasn't sure how the race was going to go, with Onque-Shabazz being injured and with it being unseasonably cold.
"Originally it was just the 400 and the 400 hurdles, but then Amari got injured so we needed to make sure we kept that rep so they put me on and I think we did pretty good for the conditions," McLaughlin said. "It's cold out, we had a long day, so I'm happy with all three."
In the high jump, the Vikings' Tyler Scott placed second, clearing a height of 5 feet, 4 inches. Union Catholic's 4x100 meter relay team of Scott, Brianna Ewing, Tatiana Ifill and Amaya Chadwick placed second behind Winslow Township with a time of 47.40. Amaya Chadwick placed second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.25.
"It's great, we had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of injuries, a lot of people not knowing where they're going to run and I think to be able to pull it all together at this meet, our last state meet, is a really great thing for us," McLaughlin said.
Ridge triumphant in 4x800
It seemed like anybody’s race, but with Brooke Fazio anchoring Ridge’s 4x800, there was never a doubt. The junior split 2:10 to push past Southern Regional on the final lap and deliver a Red Devils victory in a school-record time of 9:06.81.
“We felt as good as the anchors were on all the teams, Brooke was as good as any of them, and she was,” Ridge coach Tim Mooney said.
Junior Emily Hirsch (2:19), junior Catherine Giuseffi (2:17) and sophomore Kaitlyn Van Baalen (2:19) ran the first three legs for Ridge, which also won this race last year in 9:11.
“I’m just real proud of the way they ran,” Mooney said. “Everybody ran so aggressive. We never let any gaps open up.”
Fazio got the baton with Southern’s anchor, took the lead on the second lap and never looked back. Southern finished in 9:08.
“It was just really about my team, going the extra bit for them to make sure we could do this,” she said. “It’s amazing---this is what we came here to do.”
Franklin boys second in 4x100
The Franklin boys team of Mario Heslop, Tyler Howard, Christopher Jenkins and Nile Uzzell placed second in the 4x100 with a time of 41.86, behind Pennsauken.
Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego