Seton Hall Prep and West Orange HS track and field teams shine at SEC meet

WEST ORANGE – The West Orange High School and Seton Hall Prep track and field teams enjoyed solid performances at the Super Essex Conference-American Division Championships at Schools Stadium in Newark on May 14.

In the boys’ team standings, SHP finished second overall among the seven teams. The PIrates were six points behind winner East Orange Campus HS, 120-114. WOHS was fourth with 73 points, eight points behind third-place Columbia HS.

On the girls’ side, WOHS also finished fourth among the six teams in the team standings. Montclair was first overall.

For the SHP Pirates, Brandon Moorer won both the 100-meter dash in 11.09 and 400-meter dash in 48.70; the 4×400-meter relay took first in 3:23.98; and Connor McSherry won the javelin at 160 feet-7 inches. Nick Parisi was third in the 100 dash in 11.39; Dan Gizzo was third in the 3,200-meter run in 9:58.90; Ammari Sylla was third in the triple jump at 43-½; McSherry and James McGuire tied for third in the pole vault at 10-6; James Caprio was second in the discus at 135-4; and Justin JImerson was third in the javelin at 142-3 for the Pirates.

Timothy VanCauwenberge won the high jump at 6-2 and Daniel Pierre won the pole vault at 12-6 to lead the WOHS boys. VanCauwenberge also was second in the 400 hurdles in 55.02 and third in the 110 hurdles in 14.84. Liam Cunningham was second in the 800-meter run in 2:00.81 and Jamaal Dryden was second in the long jump at 20-4 for the WOHS Mountaineers. Cunningham ran in the non-seated heat of the 800. He won the heat in a personal best to finish second.

Bukola Akinsola, a junior, won both the 100 hurdles in 15.42 and the 400 hurdles in 1:04.11 to lead the WOHS girls. Her 15.42 is No. 2 in WOHS history. Akinsola also was second in the 200-meter dash in 25.70.

Briana Aviles was second in the javelin at 100-4; Sarah Soy was second in the discus at 104-1; Jamie Maul, a senior, was third in the 400 hurdles in 1:08.33 and the 4×400-meter relay of Maul, Akinsola and freshmen Katherinen Lopez and Kayla Charles was third in 4:08.33 for WOHS.

The Essex County Championships will be held May 20-21 at Woodman Field in Montclair.