EAST ORANGE, NJ – The East Orange Campus High School boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams both finished first overall in the team standings of their respective Super Essex Conference-Colonial Division Championship races on Oct. 3 at Branch Brook Park in Newark.
The girls’ team, under head coach Rolanda Bruce, won the SEC-Colonial Division title for the second straight year.
The boys’ team, under head coach Lance Wigfall, swept the first three places as Jere Botobikpissi won the race in 19:08, followed by Kwamivi Amedeya and Jordan Little.
Zharia Wooten and Renesha Campbell finished second and third respectively to lead the girls’ team.
The following are the EOCHS results:
Boys
1. Jere Botobikpissi, sophomore, 19.08.8
2. Kwamivi Amedeya, junior, 20:19.7
3. Jordan Little, sophomore, 20:16.7.
7. Keenan Bartley, junior, 21:42.9.
9. Sebasteon Allen, junior, 22:01.7.
11. Derron Murray, junior, 22:17.5.
20. Keenan Sanders, senior, 23:51.7.
Girls
2. Zharia Wooten, junior, 24:42.7.
3. Renesha Campbell, junior, 24:51.8.
5. Amor Sanders, sophomore, 27:46.0.
6. Allana Thompson, sophomore, 28:00.3.
9. Febe Evans, sophomore, 30:15.6.
10. Jaziyah Barsh, junior, 30:54.4.
Here is a Q&A with Zharia Wooten following the meet:
Q: How does it feel to help lead the charge in bringing the title back to East Orange for back-to-back championships?
ZW: It feels so great to help the charge in bringing the title back to East Orange. I never had this feeling before, so it feels great to feel this way right now.
Q: What were your thoughts as you prepared yourself to compete today?
ZW: My thoughts were all over the place, to be honest with you. But as I began to start off, I knew that I had a mission to help complete and the only way to complete it was to run hard.
Q: What does winning this title mean to you?
ZW: Winning this title means that I can help win many more to come, and as it is not impossible to do, we just have to set our minds to do so.
Q: In your opinion, how do you feel about the cross-country coaching staff at East Orange Campus HS?
ZW: The coaching staff at East Orange Campus are amazing. One thing they all have in common is that they want to see everyone on the team succeed and they train us hard equally and don’t focus on jut a few individuals because we are a team.
Q: What is one fact that you would like to share about yourself?
ZW: One fun fact that I would like to share about myself is that I’m the only one in my family who is active and in a sport. Nobody knew where this track stuff came from, as I am still investigating where this passion came from. But all I know is that I love it and can’t wait make this a family tradition.
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