High jumpers take center stage at Glynn Holiday Carnival by Paul Schwartz of The Record
NEW YORK – Sometimes, especially in the indoor season, field events take a back seat to events on the track. But not at Thursday’s Coach Glynn Holiday Carnival at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.
Rutherford sophomore Jenna Rogers, who set the Bergen County record in the girls high jump on Dec. 16, jumping 5-10 at the AT&T Coaches Invitational, nearly duplicated the feat, missing narrowly at the record height. Her 5-8 clearance set the high school record at the Ocean Breeze facility.
But the spotlight shined even more brightly on Kennedy senior Jaden Watson, who cleared a state leading 6-7 to win the boys high jump and hit the Penn Relays qualifying standard in just his third high school meet.
Watson, who cleared 6-4 in his first two meets this season, watched the now graduated Jason Thobourne and Ronniel Johnson grab state Meet of Champions medals in the same event last spring.
Watson recorded the best jump in New Jersey this season when he soared over the bar at 6-7 on his first attempt.
“I would play around with (Jason and Ronniel) last year and I was determined to show what I could do this year,’’ Watson said.
Watson made 5-10 and 6-0 easily, but had a miss at 6-2 before winning the event with a second jump clearance at 6-4. He made 6-6 easily and then exulted when he made 6-7.
He had two great jumps at 6-8 ¼, which would have broken the school set by Thobourne last winter.
“He has amazing potential and if we can get him to get his legs up quicker, he can do some great things,’’ said Kennedy assistant coach Blake Rosen. “He’s putting things together.’’
Hackensack duo excels
The senior duo of Andrew Achirem and Jack Stuart scored major personal bests in winning the boys long jump and shot put.
Achirem long jumped 21-7 ¾, the best jump in North Jersey in two years, and added nearly a foot to his indoor personal best. Stuart added nearly eight feet to his overall personal best, when he threw the shot 52-8 to defeat Kyle Patel of Glen Rock by two feet.
“I’ve been away jumping since last June and it feels good to get back,’’ said Achirem, who played wide receiver on the Comets football team in the fall. “I really want to make first team All-County in the long jump and jump in the highs 22s.’’
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No Bergen County boy has jumped more than 22 feet since now Ohio State-standout Zach Bazile went 23-9 ¾ in February 2014.
Stuart had a solid junior year in the discus, throwing over 140 feet in five separate meets, but had not been happy with his shot put, reaching a best of only 44-10 outdoors last spring.
But on his first throw of the 2017-18 season, he went long, even though he fouled on each of his next five throws.
“I’m much stronger now and I spent two days a week this summer working with (Ridgewood weight coach) Warren Schoepfer,’’ said Stuart, who has received early interest from Monmouth University. “I’m getting the spin down in the shot put, which is a much tighter circle than for the discus and I’m committed to it.’’
Fiumefreddo wins a thriller
The best race of the day was the boys 3,200 meters, where Indian Hills star Steven Fiumefreddo ran the last 10 laps of the 16 lap race neck and neck with Cherokee’s Justin Kelly
The last lap was a full-out sprint, with Kelly appearing to beat a diving Fiumefreddo at the line. But an examination of the finish line photo gave Fiumefreddo the win by a microscopic .003 second, with both officially timed in 9:39.76. For those mathematically inclined, that’s a little more than half an inch!
Separate, but still speedy
Passaic’s Luis Peralta and Clifton’s Kevin Heredia both impressive individual wins and had good relay performances in the meet, but the rivals never directly competed.
Peralta had a terrific 1:55.3 800 split in the Indian’s 4-x-800 relay and won the 600 in a state leading 1:23.17, while Heredia won the 1,000 in 2:35.06, a school record and the second fastest time in Passaic County history and ran a good anchor leg on the Mustangs’ third place 4-x-400 team.