NUTLEY, NJ – The Nutley High School boys and girls indoor track and field teams wrapped the winter season this past Saturday, Feb. 16, at the NJSIAA Group 3 State Championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
The Raiders had qualified six athletes in four events the prior week at the North 2, Group 3 State Championships.
The Raiders opened the day in the field with freshman Abby Groeling competing in the high jump. After finishing second at the sectional meet, Groeling scaled the opening height of 4-feet-10 inches, however was unable to get over 5-0. Groeling wound up just missing moving on to the Meet of Champions, finishing in a tie for seventh place.
On the track, sophomore star sprinter Anna Contini continued her impressive undercover campaign, clocking a new Personal Record of 7.66 in the 55-meter dash. Despite the PR, Contini missed the finals.
In the next race on the track junior distance ace Nick Duca lined up against some of the top 800-meter runners in the state. Running in the seeded section, Duca was right with the leaders through 400 meters. Around the 450-meter mark, Duca began to fall back. Communicating with frantic and never-seen before hand gestures, Duca indicated to coaches he has having trouble breathing. He toughed out the rest of the race, however finished out of the top six. Duca finished with a time of 2:08.25, his slowest time since running through an illness back at the beginning of the season.
In the final event of the day for the Raiders, the girls 4×400 meter relay wound up turning in their fastest time of the season not run at the Ocean Breeze Facility. They clocked a 4:19.23 and finished 16th overall.
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