West Orange HS junior Denae Hill excels in shot put at indoor track and field Group 4 State meet

WEST ORANGE, NJ – West Orange High School junior Denae Hill finished in fourth place in the finals of the shot put event at the NJSIAA girls indoor track and field Group 4 State Championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River, Friday, Feb. 15.

Hill threw 38 feet-7 inches.

The meet consisted of the top six finishers in each event from the sectional meets.

The WOHS participants at the Group 4 State meet also gave good efforts.

In the 55-meter hurdles preliminaries, sophomore Andree Celestin was 16th in 8.94 and junior Abigail Vital was 22nd in 9.27.

In the 400-meter finals, Vital was 18th in 1:01.07; senior Kayla Robe was 20th in 1:01.22 and freshman Victoria Rideau Winds was 21st in 1:01.92. Rideau Winds was 10th in the 55-meter dash preliminaries in 7.48. Freshman Olivia Prescott was ninth in the shot put finals at 35-5.

On the boys’ side, senior Jordan White and the 4×400-meter relay were the lone WOHS representatives. White was 18th in the 55-meter dash preliminaries in 6.84 and the relay team also was 18th in the finals in 3:36.25.

HIll has automatically qualified for the NJSIAA State Meet of Champions. The Meet of Champions consist of the top six finishers in each event from all six Groups, plus the six highest performances in each event from the non-medal winners from the six Groups.The boys Meet of Champions is Saturday, Feb. 23 and the girls Meet of Champions is Feb. 24, both at the Bennett Center.