Catherine Parelli
BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The Bloomfield High School boys and girls track-and-field teams hosted Belleville and Barringer on Monday, April 4, at Foley Field.
The boys defeated Barringer, 107-13; and defeated Belleville, 103-11.
The girls defeated Barringer, 107-1; and defeated Belleville, 110-4.
On the boys side, junior Cristian Armstrong won three events – 200 meter dash; long jump and triple jump – and placed second in 100 meter dash.
Daniells DeLeon, a junior, won both the 110 high hurdles and javelin, and placed third in the 200 meter dash.
Other Bloomfield winners were:
- Kalel Deimedici, sophomore, 400 meter intermediate hurdles.
- Elvin Darius, senior, 100 meter dash.
- Justin Synnott, senior, 400 meter dash.
- Zaire LaRue, junior, high jump.
- Christopher Francois Jr., junior, shot put.
- Dave Louis, sophomore, discus.
- 4x400m relay – sophomore Javier Carrillo; sophomore Kalel Deimedici; sophomore Jeremiah Saunders and senior Justin Synnott.
On the girls side, sophomore Kailyn Sayers won two events. She won the 400 meter intermediate hurdles and 400 meter dash. She also took second in the 200 meter dash.
Other winners for Bloomfield were:
- Samyah Wilson, sophomore – 100 meter dash.
- Mercedes Cruz-Fletcher, freshman – 100 meter high hurdles
- Emily Haraka, junior – 800 meter run.
- Angel Cruz-Fletcher, sophomore – long jump.
- Kaitlyn Toro, junior – javelin.
- 4×400 meter relay – sophomore Victoria Parelli; sophomore Flavia Capet; freshman Sophie Harrison; junior Emily Haraka.
“The 2022 Bloomfield Bengals Boys and Girls Spring Track & Field Teams are excited to start the outdoor season as over 100 student-athletes are signed up and ready to jump, run, throw, and vault over the next 10 weeks,” said head coach Terry Iavarone in an email to The Independent Press. “Half of the team on the spring roster is completely new to track-and-field. We are exposing these student-athletes to as many events as possible. There are 16 events in league meet competition. There is an event for everyone, which makes this sport wonderful.”
Last season, the Bengals went 6-1, with both the boys and girls losing to Livingston during the first meet of the season by 1 and 2 points respectively.
“We want to build upon the momentum our programs established last spring,” Iavarone said. “The girls ultimately won the (Super Essex Conference) Liberty League championship, the first in school history over rival Livingston. The boys, unfortunately, fell short and placed second as a team. With eight regular season matchups on the schedule, it is our goal to go 8-0 for both squads, win the dual-meet regular season championship, and win the SEC Liberty League Championships.”
On Saturday, March 26, Mountain Lakes visited Foley Field for a scrimmage meet. This is the third time in the previous four years that the Mountain Lakes Lakers and the Bengals had a tune-up meet a week prior to the season officially starting.
“We wanted to simulate what a real dual-meet would look like,” Iavarone said. “Every single event was contested. It was a great opportunity to acclimate our new athletes to competition and the flow of a track meet. We even had long-time Bengals head coach Paul Williams as our starter. Overall, the coaches and I were very pleased with how the day turned out.”
In the scrimmage meet, the boys outpaced the Lakers 90-38 and the girls edged the competition 60-56 in the friendly.
The spring 2022 Season began Saturday, April 2, with the Clifton Relays, followed by the tri-meet at Foley Field against Belleville and Barringer.
There Bengals will compete in dual-meet against Nutley at De Muro Park in Nutley on Thursday, April 7, and a relay meet to be determined on Saturday, April 9.
The other meets on the schedule are Bloomfield at West Essex (Monday 4/11), Orange at Bloomfield (Thursday 4/14), the Morris Hills Relays (Saturday 4/16), Lets Get F.A.T. at Hamburn (Saturday 4/23), East Side and West Side at Bloomfield (Monday 4/25), Millburn at Bloomfield (Monday 5/2), and a novice meet at North Arlington (Thursday 5/5).
At the conclusion of the North Arlington novice meet the Bengals enter championship season, starting with the Essex County Relays at Livingston High School (Friday 5/6), the SEC Championships (Saturday 5/14), Essex County Championships (Thursday-Friday 5/19-5/20), and the NJSIAA North I, Group IV State Sectional Championships (Friday-Saturday 6/3-6/4).
The captains of the 2022 Spring Track & Field Teams for the Boys are seniors James Lisa (throws) and Justin Synnott (sprints/mid-distance) and the Girls senior Alyssa Valentin (throws) and junior Emily Haraka (mid-distance/distance).
Returning varsity athletes for the Boys are sophomore Parker Albaum (hurdles) and Dave Louis (throws), juniors Cristian Armstrong (jumps/sprints), Nathaniel Brown (jumps/sprints), Daniells DeLeon (sprints/hurdles), and seniors Denzel Bryce (sprints), Elvin Darius (sprints/hurdles), Biaggio Di Giano (hurdles/sprints), and Robert Wolf (mid-distance/distance).
Return varsity athletes for the Girls are freshman Mercedes Cruz-Fletcher (hurdles), and Ashley Toro (mid-distance). Sophomores Flavia Capet (distance), Angel Cruz-Fletcher (sprints), Valerie Refuse (hurdles), Catherine Parelli (hurdles/jumps), Victoria Parelli (mid-distance/jumps), Kailyn Sayers (sprints), Rylie Sayers (sprints/mid-distance), and Samyah Wilson (sprints). Juniors Kaitlyn Adams (distance), Isabella Copeck (mid-distance/distance), Albina Frangu (throws), Alexis Laviola (hurdles/sprints/jumps), Kaitlyn Toro (throws), and Rachel Vieira (sprints). Seniors Safiya Alexander (throws) and Nya Stanley (jumps/throws).
The 2022 Spring Track & Field Team is led by head coach Terry Iavarone and assistant coaches William Hauser (throws), Pierpaolo Mancarella (facilities/throws), Anna-Marie Natale (sprints/hurdles), Casey Newman (maintenance/jumps), and Christopher Romano (distance).
Photos Courtesy of Jerry Simon
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