Columbia HS girls indoor track and field team takes third place at sectional meet

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Columbia High School girls indoor track and field team finished in third place overall in the girls team standings at the North Jersey Section 2, Group 4 state championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River on Feb. 21.

The Cougars had 34 points based on the top-six finishes in each event. Ridge was first with 69 ½ points and Westfield was second with 57 points.

Ruth Pasteur took second place in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.41 and third place in the 55-meter dash in 7.37. Sabrina McCrear was sixth in the 400-meter dash in 1:01.57. Svea Wickelgren was seventh in the 800-meter run in 2:25.41. Kirah Tianga took ninth in both the 1,600-meter run in 5:38.84 and the 3,200-meter run in 12:08.67. Kamali Hoff was eighth in the 55 hurdles in 9.78.

The 4×400-meter relay team placed seventh in 4:26.27.

Bailey Hoff took second place in the high jump at 4-feet-10 inches and Dylan Herbert was fourth at 4-8. Megan Mosteiro placed second in the pole vault at 10-6.

On the boys’ side, CHS placed ninth in the team standings with 11 points.

Terrel Williams won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.32. He also took ninth in the 55-meter dash in 6.82. The 4×400 relay was sixth in 3:38.81. Matt McBride took 10th in the pole vault at 9-6.

The top six finishers in each event will advance to the Group 4 state championships on Feb. 29 at the Bennett Center.

The CHS teams gave good efforts at the Essex County Individual Championships on Feb. 19 at the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island.

On the girls’ side, Bailey Hoff took second place in the high jump at 4 feet-8 inches.

Kamali Hoff took sixth place in the 55-meter hurdles in 9.19.

In the 800-meter run, Juli Rufolo finished seventh in 2:30.56 and Darcy Wollard was ninth in 2:35.17.

On the boys’ side, Javier Casella finished sixth in the 3,200-meter run in 10:29.57, while Aaron Glassman was ninth in 10:34.63 and Nate Lindstrom was 10th in 10:37.59.

In the pole vault,McBride took fourth place at 10 feet, while Nathaniel Fisher was sixth place at 8-0.

The 4×400-meter relay team took ninth in 3:45.84.

Kai Arrington finished 10th in the 800-meter run in 2:05.71.

Eric Victorious was 10th in the high jump at 5-7 and Zaki Abdus-Sabur was 14th, also at 5-7. Darien Walte took 15th in the shot put at 35-10. In the 55-meter hurdles, Victorious was 15th in 8.50 and Owen McGuffery was 16th in 8.68.

The boys team finished 12th in the boys team standings, while the girls team tied for 13th with Bloomfield, West Essex and North Star in the girls team standings based on the top-six finishes in each event. Montclair won both the boys and girls team titles.