Nutley HS freshman Abby Groeling wins high jump title to lead team to fourth-place finish at Essex County Championships

Editor January 25, 2019 3 minutes read

NUTLEY, NJ – Nutley High School freshman Abby Groeling was able to overcome the bitter cold temperatures and an almost broken standard to claim the 2019 the girls’ high jump title in spectacular fashion by clearing a new personal record of 5 feet during the indoor track and field Essex County Championships, Jan. 21, at the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island, N.Y.

Her 10-point victory lead the way for the Lady Raiders, who finished in fourth place overall with 26 team points. Groeling picked up where she left off on the previous Monday’s meet where she matched her old 4-10 PR. She had little trouble working her way up the heights and secured her victory with a first attempt clearance of 5-0.

Fellow freshman Allie Huelbig was also up to the task, scaling a new PR of 4-10 to claim third place. She lost out on second place on tiebreakers.

The Lady Raiders also received big points from the sprint corps. Led by sophomore Anna Contini, the Raiders picked up 10 more team points in the 400-meters and 4×400-meter relay. Contini clocked an undercover PR in the 2-lapper to finish fourth with a time of 1:01.77. She then came back about 43 minutes later and split a 62 anchor leg to key a third-place finish in the 4×400 meter relay. Her sister Kate Contini ran leadoff and put the Raiders in the lead with a 63 split. Kaitlyn Gavidia took the baton and split a 67 to keep the Raiders in the lead pack with Montclair and Bloomfield. Ava Tucker covered the third leg in 64 seconds and Anna Contini ran anchor in a 62 to secure the third-place finish for the Raiders. Sophomore Tiffany Miruelo just missed scoring in the 1,600-meters running an indoor PR of 5:50.95 and finished in eighth place, missing sixth place by less than 3 seconds.

On the boys’ side, junior distance ace Nick Duca ran a huge PR in the 800-meter race against some of the top competition that Essex County has to offer. After splitting a 59 for the opening 400 meters, Duca came back with 62 and finished in fourth place with a new undercover PR of 2:01.25.

Overall, 26 Raiders raced or jumped seasonal bests or lifetime personal records.

Here are the full Nutley results:

GIRLS

55-METER DASH

Anna Contini, 7.81

Kate Contini, 8.17 Season Best

Mia Eltzholtz, 8.88

200-METER DASH

Kaitlyn Gavidia, 29.63 SB

Ava Tucker, 29.84 SB

Mia Eltzholtz, 30.89 SB

400-METER DASH