From left to right, East Orange Campus High's Immyouri Etienne, Willesley Lindo, Akeem Lindo and Cory Poole pose after winning both the sprint medley and Swedish sprint medley at the Morris Hills Relays. Photo courtesy of Lance Wigfall/EOCHS head coach.
Photo courtesy of Lance Wigfall/EOCHS head coach.
EAST ORANGE – First-year head coach Lance Wigfall and his coaching staff are helping to get the East Orange Campus HIgh School boys’ track and field team ready for the championship portion of the season.
The Jaguars appear to be on schedule.
At the Morris Hills High School Relays on April 16, both sprint medley teams were victorious. The sprint medley team clocked 3:33.39 and is ranked No. 1 in Essex County and No 2 in the state, according to Wigfall. The runners were junior Cory Poole in the 400-meter leg, sophomore Akeem Lindo and his brother, junior Willesley Lindo, in the 200-meter legs and sophomore Immouryi Etienne in the 800 anchor.
The Swedish sprint medley relay ran 1:56.78 and is ranked No. 1 in both the state and country, said Wigfall. Willesley Lindo ran the 100-meter leg, Akeem Lindo ran the 200, Poole ran the 300 and Etienne ran the 400. Miami Carol, Fla. is second in the nation at 1:58.22.
The Jaguars also placed third in the three-man triple jump, with senior Stanley Igbudu, junior Phillip St. Victor and senior Charon Jenkins, who is ranked No. 1 in Essex County with a jump of 44 feet, 8 ½ inches.
During the meet, Wigfall and his assistant coaches once again used the team’s depth to make it competitive, which will do wonders for the Super Essex Conference, Essex County and state championship meets. The Jaguars are the defending Essex County and state North Jersey Section 2, Group 4 champions.
Wigfall has liked what he has seen from his team.
“I just like the way how our team competed together as a unit, more so as a family,” he said. “It’s as if every week, we bond a little bit more. We respond to competition. Each week, we’ve been trying to get better and better.”
The Morris Hills Relays provided a glimpse of the team’s great potential.
“It showed us how good we can be later on, if we continue to do the things that we are doing,” Wigfall said.
Wigfall also has praised his assistant coaches, particularly for their ability to make corrections during meets. “We just look at the things we’ve done wrong and try to fix it right there at the meet, rather than wait during the week, when days have already past.”
The Jaguars will compete at the Blue Devil Relays in Westfield on April 23, before traveling to Philadelphia, Pa. for the Penn Relays, April 28-30.
“The goal is to get ready for Penn Relays and continue to have people who don’t have much experience, to build on more experience, so that as we enter the championship season after Penn Relays, we’ll be good to go,” said Wigfall.
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