EAST ORANGE, NJ – For the fourth consecutive season, the East Orange Campus High School boys’ indoor track and field team won the team title at the Super Essex Conference-American Division Championships held at Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island, N.Y., Dec. 22.
Al-Shadee Salaam won the 55-meter dash (6.64) and won the 200-meter dash (22.63).
Nasir Montgomery won the 400-meter dash in 52.37.
Matthew Parchment won the high jump at 5 feet-6 inches. Montgomery was second in the high jump with the same distance at 5-6.
The 4×400-meter relay (3:32.50) and sprint medley relay (4:05.15) also were victorious.
Dominic Dazzell took second (6.65) and Ian Brown was third (6.78) in the 55 dash. Dazzell was third in the 200 dash in 22.85.
Malcolm Barnes was second in the 55 hurdles in 7.94.
Said EOCHS boys’ head coach Lance Wigfall: ”I was very proud of how the team executed the Super Essex Conference American Division win. They didn’t come into the meet nervous, well if they did,I didn’t notice. They kept focused and just enjoyed everything as it went along. For me it was a joy to watch the young guys “
On the girls’ side, Azariah Christopher won the high jump at 5-6 and took third in the 55 hurdles in 8.80; Kimberly Mark was third in the 400 dash in 1:02.13; and the 4×400 relay was third In 4:18.36 to lead EOCHS.
Montgomery has a 3.3 Grade Point Average and will be taking the SATs in the spring.
The following is a Q&A with Montgomery
Q: What’s was your thoughts when coach told you the game plan for the meet?
A: My thoughts when coach told me to game plan for the meet was to just keep what he said in mind while running and execute, and have fun while doing it.
Q: What is your goal for the season?
A: My goal for the season is to show that even without all the key athletes we had last year, we can still get the job done with what we have.
Q: How do you think the team respond to the thoughts of others when they say East Orange it after the team graduated so many seniors last year?
A: I believe most of the team used what others said about us this upcoming season as motivation to just go harder and prove them wrong and show that East Orange is full of competitors.
Q: With you being a football player what made you join the track field team?
A: What really made me join the track team was the welcoming feeling that my coaches gave me, even during the football season we had talks about running track and the things it could help me with in football.
Q: What did it feel like to win the Super Essex Conference American Division?
A: After winning the Conference I felt like we were a small step closer to proving everyone wrong about this 2018-2019 track team.
Q: What should we expect from the team this year?
A: You should expect a lot of competitiveness from us this year a little more then normal, our coaches consistently tell us to compete and have fun above all and that’s what we love to do.
Q: Hot seat? What’s your dream school for football, and what’s your dream school if you was able to get a scholarship for track being that you are just touching the surface in track and field?
A: I have multiple dream football schools which would be Rutgers, Syracuse, Penn State, Maryland, and Duke. My dream school for track would be either Oregon or Florida University.
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