EAST ORANGE, NJ — Winning a national championship is the greatest thrill for any athlete.
Several East Orange Campus High School boys and girls track-and-field athletes experienced such a thrill at the Adidas Outdoor Nationals at NC A&T Irwin Belk Track in Greensboro, N.C. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 17-19.
The girls 4×100 meter relay team — sophomore Apple Brown and seniors Tasena Stevenson, Kenicia Medley and Kahliyah Smith — took first place out of eight teams in 49.54 seconds in the national elite division final.
Prince Osagie-Erese, a senior, won the national elite division boys high jump final with a leap of 6 feet, 2 ¾ inches.
The Jaguars competed in other events.
In the girls national elite division 4×200 meter relay final, Brown, junior Krissan Vassell, senior Vegonia Jean-Baptiste and Medley took 14th place in 1 minute, 46.75 seconds.
Medley and seniors Azariah Christopher, Stevenson and Smith took fifth place in the 1,000-meter Swedish relay in 2:02.71.
Christopher took 15th place in the preliminaries of the 100-meter hurdles championship division in 14.52.
In the 800-meter sprint medley national elite division final, Brown, Vassell, Medley and Jean-Baptiste took 18th in 1:56.36.
On the boys side, seniors Javon Soiro, Akeerie McFarlane and Kyle Louis and junior Valson Gardner Jr. took sixth place in the 4×100 meter relay championship division.
Soiro, McFarlane senior Christopher Amos and junior Michael Henderson took second in the 800 medley relay (100, 100, 200, 400) in 1:36.81.
Soiro, Louis, Henderson and Amos took seventh in the Swedish relay championship section in 2:02.28. The 4×200 meter relay team — Soiro, Louis, McFarlane and Amos — also took seventh, in 1:31.01. Louis, Soiro, Henderson and Amos took seventh in the 4×400 meter relay championship section. Three EOCHS freshmen ran in the 100-meter freshman section. Shakur Taylor took 12th place, Jordaine Johnson took 15th and Alex Berry took 24th place.
Photos Courtesy of Mark Waldron Jr.