Track: Old Bridge boys have big GMC Relays on Day 1
SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Picture the clip of a young Michael Jordan on a dunk mid-air. Or a kite up high. Or perhaps a one-person plane with long wings.
It’s that ease and effortless against gravity that makes it fun to do and watch. On the track, Christian Wiedman has that vibe when flinging over hurdles.
“I love being able to glide over it,” he said. “I just love that feeling. … When you’re going over the hurdle, it feels as if you’re in the air longer than you would think. So to other people, it might seem like, ‘Oh, they’re going really fast.’ But when you’re going over the hurdle, it actually seems like you’re going a little bit slower.”
The Old Bridge High School senior went pretty fast on the first day of the Greater Middlesex Conference relays Tuesday at South Brunswick. He claimed two gold medals and a third-place finish, as the Knights had a big day winning five of seven boys events.
In the 4x200 relay, Wiedman with Chris Rampino, Vincent Delle and Kyle Davis took first. (In the 1600 sprint medley, take out Wiedman and add in Kevin Campbell, and the foursome also took first.) Wiedman was part of the long jump team that took third. In the 400 hurdles intermediate relay, his favorite event, Wiedman finished second overall and helped the Knights take first along with Zach Thomas and Manny Wheager.
For many people, competing in hurdles can be intimidating because of the fear of falling. Wiedman started the sport in the sixth grade and quickly got over that aspect. After his sophomore season, however, Wiedman made a technical adjustment. It would be akin to a batter switching from righty to lefty. He changed from leading with his right leg to leading with his left leg.
As he explained it to a track layman, the move was necessary for a good reason—he got faster. As he became more of a blur, he started taking too many steps and had trouble leaping over the hurdle.
“Originally, I was comfortable with just my right leg, which was my lead leg,” he said. “But now that I got a little bit faster, I can’t hit the hurdle in time without stuttering. I can hit it in time with my left leg, though.”
While awkward at first, Wiedman kept at it, and “right now, it’s just second nature and it just comes to me without me even thinking now. ... It’s all about being able to just glide over the hurdle and snap it down and then run to the next one. I love that. That’s just my favorite part of hurdling.”
Old Bridge also had relay winners in the 4x1600 (Arthur Dzieniszewski, Kevin Larkin, Chris Ochieng and Rey Rivera) and the shot put (Corey Durden, Gregory Kleinow and Matthew Defilippis).
Upon further review, it’s South Plainfield
The announcement drew cheers from the crowd.
Colonia had set a meet record in the boys long jump with a whopping 71-03 that crushed the previous meet mark of 65-05 set by Piscataway in 2015.
One problem: it was a mistake, as South Plainfield had actually won with a 61-10.25 and Colonia placed second with a 61-03. But it wasn’t a major controversy with those competing in the pit.
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but I talked to the Colonia coach at the end of the competition and we discussed it,” South Plainfield coach Chris Fish said. “We knew that I had beat them just by a little bit. So when they announced that Colonia had won with 70 feet, beside the 70 part, I went over and I discussed it with the field referee and they went and double-checked.”
The Tigers’ Deshai Smith edged Colonia’s Nelson Wyatt for the best leap with a 21-11.75 to a 21-11. The senior recently jumped 23 feet, which is one of the top distances in the state. South Plainfield’s Raeon Cohen and River Dress also contributed to the win.
For the record, there’s no animosity between the schools.
“I root for Colonia because Nelson Wyatt, their best jumper, he went to our school for a couple of years,” Fish said. “I appreciate Colonia very much. I think he’s (Sandor Csapo) a great coach and they’re great kids.”
East Brunswick girls keep on hurdling
The East Brunswick girls repeated as the 3x400 meter hurdles relay champions with senior Mariah Shummette as the one returnee. Victoria Constantin, a junior, and sophomore Deirdre Otoo helped fill the void.
So what makes the Bears so good? For one, as girls coach Jeff Sundberg notes, the Bears devote time to the event in practice as the EB boys head coach Pat DiGioacchino guides both the girls and boys hurdlers.
“It’s one of those events you need a tough athlete to do, and I think we do a pretty good job of choosing the athletes that are going to excel at that event,” Sundberg said. “But, once again, it all boils down to them and their hard work.‘”
Shummette has committed to SUNY Albany, while the versatile Constantin can compete in everything from the 100 to the 800 and both hurdle events.
Déjà vu all over again
The South Brunswick girls high jump team repeated as champions led by Rutgers-commit Courteney Campbell, Raquel Ferrara and Chelsea Eltringham Last season, the trio set a meet record of 15-04. But on Tuesday’s windy day, they captured first with a combined 14-10.
The Vikings discus team of Olivia Scattergood, Paige Buchanan and Miranda Irizarry also repeated as winners.