CORRECTED: Madison Stevens leads Columbia HS track athletes at nationals

Columbia junior Stevenson Memo, right, poses with Columbia head football coach Gary Mobley after taking fourth place in the high jump in the Emerging Elite category at the Nike Indoor Nationals.
Columbia junior Madison Stevens is shown after taking sixth place in the championship finals of the girls shot put at the Nike Indoor Nationals.

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Columbia High School junior indoor track-and-field standout Madison Stevens took sixth place with a throw of 42 feet in the championship finals of the girls shot put at the Nike Indoor Nationals at the Armory Track Center in New York, N.Y., on Sunday, March 12. 

Stevens also took second place in the Shot Put Showcase, which was a bracket-style tournament done later in the meet.

Columbia had other competitors at the nationals.

On the girls side, junior Mae Dowling took 13th place in the Emerging Elite finals of the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 20.76 seconds. Senior Emma Friedrich took 37th place in the Emerging Elite one-mile run (5:26.94). The 4×400-meter relay took 28th place in the finals in 4:17.10. The runners were Anna Cooper, Makeda lee, Cephia Reid and Ava Davis. Junior Gianna Green took 11th place in the Emerging Elite high jump finals at 5 feet, 1 inch. 

On the boys side, junior Stevenson Memo took sixth place in the 60-meter hurdles finals in 8.54.

Christian Caravetta took 28th place in the freshman one-mile run finals in 4:45.02.

The 4×55-meter hurdle team also competed and took seventh place. The hurdlers were Memo, Khalid Rouse, Austin “AJ” Walton, and Zhamir Rowan.

Stevens, Dowling, Friedlich and Green led the CHS girls team to the Essex County Championships title at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. on  Jan. 29. Stevens won the high jump, Green won the high jump, and Friedlich won the 1,600-meter run while also taking second in the 3,200-meter run.

At the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 championships at the Bennett Athletic Center in Toms River on Feb. 11, the CHS girls team took third place overall. Stevens won the shot put, Dowling took second place in both the 800-meter run and 1,600-meter run, and Green took second place in the high jump. Stevens took second place in the shot put and Green took third place in the high jump at the NJSIAA’s Group 4 state championships at the Bennett Athletic Center on Feb. 17. Stevens took second place in the shot put at the NJSIAA’s state Meet of Champions.

Photos Courtesy of Columbia High School Athletics