Correction: The Columbia girls won the team title the third straight year and eighth in the past 10 years.
WEST ORANGE – Joseph Onubogu won the 800-meter run in 1:57.87 and fellow senior Daniel Pierre won the pole vault at 12 feet-6 inches to lead the West Orange High School boys’ track and field team to a third-place overall finish in the boys’ team standings at the Essex County Championships held at Woodman Field in Montclair, May 20-21.
The Mountaineers finished with 44 team points based on the top-six finishes in each event. East Orange Campus won the team title for the second straight year with 88 points. Weequahic was second with 69.
St. Benedict’s Prep was fourth with 39 points; West Essex was fifth with 36 ½ points and Seton Hall Prep finished sixth with 36 points.
On the girls’ side, WOHS finished seventh overall with 26 points. Columbia won the girls’ team title for the third straight year and eighth in the past 10 years.
Onubogu also took fourth in the 1,600-meter run in 4:26.69. Sophomore Ebizie Anuamadi was third in the 800 (1:59.32) and fifth in the 1,600 (4:27.05) for WOHS.
Another standout for the Mountaineers was senior Timothy Van Cauwenberge, who took fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (14.63) and fifth in the 400 hurdles (55.90).
Senior Lawson Nzegwu was sixth in the 110 hurdles in 15.11; the 4×400-meter relay team was sixth in 3:27.69; and senior Jamaal Dryden took fourth in the long jump at 20-10 ¼ for the Mountaineers.
Bukola Akinsola, a junior, took second in the 100 hurdles in 14.84 and fourth in the 400 hurdles in 1:03.11 while senior Sarah Soy was third in the discus at 109-2 and fifth in the shot put at 35-8 ½ to lead the WOHS girls’ team. Freshman Alina Chant took fifth in the 3,200-meter run in 11:44.52 and senior Obianamu Okani was fourth in the discus at 101-5 for WOHS.
Leading SHP was sophomore Nick Parisi, who took fourth in the 100-meter dash (11.14); fifth in the 200-meter dash (22.86) and sixth in the 400-meter dash (49.40). Senior Connor McSherry was second in the javelin at 166-10; junior James Caprio was third in the discus at 139-7; sophomore Justice Sims was third in the triple jump at 43-11 ¾; the 4×400-meter relay team was third in 3:24.62; and senior Ikem Eguh was fifth in the long jump at 20-8.
The WOHS boys’ and girls’ teams will gear up for the state North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 Championships, May 27-28, at Randolph HS.
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