North Hunterdon girls track looks to repeat last year's success

When the first shot was fired in the air at last year’s Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Championships, the North Hunterdon High School girls track team got off to the exact start it had hoped for as the program looked to capture its first county title since 2000.

Then freshman Gabrielle Beneducci set her foot on the line to run the 400-meter hurdles as the sixth seed and ended the race having clinched the first gold medal of the county championships with a time of 1:07.58.

From that very moment, North Hunterdon knew it could compete with perennial powerhouses Pope John and Hunterdon Central, which have clinched the last five county titles.

“Once we saw that it kind of spark plugged everybody else,” North Hunterdon coach Sean Walsh said. “We kind of were like, ‘Hey, here we go.’”

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North Hunterdon went on to earn two other gold medals and captured the county championship 10 points ahead of second-placed Hunterdon Central with 97 points.

This year, the Lions have six key returning point scorers as the program gets set to defend its county title and looks to improve on last year’s third place finish at the Skyland Conference Championships.

Senior long distance runner Anna DiMarcello will be the anchor of the team as she tries to duplicate last year’s stellar season. Last spring, the Dartmouth University commit clinched the county championship with a personal best in the 800 with a time of 2:13.79. She then went on to earn gold medals in the conference, North 2 Group IV and Group IV championships.

Her sister, sophomore Ellie DiMarcello will also be a returning long-distance runner, who played a major role in last year’s successful run. Last season, Ellie burst on to the scene as a freshman and as able to clinch a county in the 1600 and a sectional title in the 3200.

The DiMarcello sisters will not only look to provide consistent scoring in the long-distance events, but will look to inspire their teammates with their relentless work ethic.

“The DiMarcello’s bring a great work ethic every day,” said Walsh, who is entering his 14th season as coach. “They work hard together, but they also set the tone for the rest of the team as well. They show up every day with a genuine desire to work hard at practice and everybody sees that.”

While the DiMarcello sisters will lead, senior Megan Stenberg’s versatility is one of the most crucial aspects to North Hunterdon’s success this year. Last year, Stenberg earned a gold medal in the 100-meter hurdle at the county championship and provided valuable points in the long-jump, triple-jump and intermediate hurdles throughout the year.

Senior Skylar Farrand and junior Emma Mikitiuk will also providing scoring in the jumps this year for the Lions. Farrand placed fourth in the indoor sectionals this past December and is looking to cap off her track career with a top-three finish in the major meets. Mikitiuk will add depth as she earned bronze at in the triple-jump and finished fourth in the long-jump at last year’s county championship.

With major contributors returning in both the track & field events, the key to North Hunterdon’s success will depend on how the Lions perform in the throwing events.

Senior Jordan Beneducci will be leading the team in several throwing events this season. Last year, she placed sixth at the counties and fifth at the conference championships in the shot put. She also earned fifth place at the sectionals while earning much-needed points in the discus in several meets last season.

Juniors Emma Brennon and Carla Faust will also be returning throwers from last year’s team that will be looking to contribute this season.

“If (the throwers) have success, we are going to be very well-rounded as a team,” Walsh said.

Since earning the program’s first county title in 16 years, the well-rounded North Hunterdon girls track team have set their eyes on the first Skyland Conference Championship title in school history.

“Before when we hadn’t won any championships it was just kind of, ‘What if we could win,’” Walsh said. “Now it’s something like any quality program, when you get a taste of it, you talk about it all the time. From winning the county tournament again, to conference and the section, you hear the girls talk about it consistently. They don’t think it an impossibility anymore.”