Track Awards

Old Tappan’s Maxine McConnell burns up the track

If there were such a thing as the Unheralded Track & Field Athlete of the Week Award, this week’s would definitely go … wait a minute!
And the winner of this week’s ultra-prestigious Unheralded Track & Field Athlete of the Week Award is (drum roll, please) Ridgefield Park senior Eric Schrieber!
For the past four years, Schrieber has been an important (and unheralded) part of the school’s running program. Never a star but always a solid contributor in cross country, winter and spring track, Schrieber will soon graduate with 12 varsity letters.

“Eric is a leader on and off the track,” Ridgefield Park coach Dennis Murri said. “He’s never been our No. 1 guy … always our third or fourth finisher in cross country and a solid distance runner in the winter and spring.
“He’s someone you can always depend on … one of those never-gonna-let-you-down type athletes.”
In spring track, Schrieber runs the 800 and 1,600 and occasionally the 3,200. His personal-bests in the first two events are 2:09 and 4:51.
Schrieber credits his coaches for pushing him to work hard and challenging him to be his best. He said he’s constantly trying to better himself “as an athlete, a person and a student.”
“I won’t set any records and I’m not getting my name in the paper,” Schrieber said. “But as long as I’m giving my best, I’m o.k. with that.
“Winning twelve varsity letters is phenomenal. It shows that all the hard work didn’t go unnoticed by the coaches and the other athletes.”

If there were such a thing as the Most Improved Track & Field Athlete of the Year Award, this year’s would definitely go to … wait a minute!
And the winner of this year’s ultra-prestigious Most Improved Track & Field Athlete of the Year Award is (drum roll, please) Old Tappan senior Maxine McConnell!
After moving from Las Vegas before her junior year, McConnell started her Golden Knights career with a rather nondescript season. Coach Antonio Marino said she “wasn’t even on the radar” and “a lost puppy.”
Now McConnell is running with the big dogs and one of the best sprinters in Bergen County.
Looking back, McConnell didn’t run track in Las Vegas. She went out for cross country after moving in order to make friends and Marino said the two of them did a lot of running “at the back of the pack.”
Winter track was even worse. McConnell, who “never had to wear gloves or buy a coat before,” was freezing, lonely and miserable.
“I was running around in the cold, doing all these hard workouts with the coach yelling at me,” McConnell said.
“I had no idea what I got myself into.”
After the meets started, McConnell’s attitude started coming around. She realized she loved to compete and had a reason to endure the difficult practices.
McConnell came into her senior year highly-motivated and has been on fire this spring. She runs the 100, 200 and 400 and has posted personal-best times of 12.73, 26.24 and 60.38 seconds. All three rank in the county’s Top 5.
McConnell has also made lots of friends and adjusted to the weather, for the most part.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever truly call this my home,” McConnell said. “I lived in Las Vegas my whole life.
“But because of track, I’ve made a lot of friends and feel like I’m part of something really special.”

If there were such a thing as the Scholar Track & Field Athlete of the Week Award, this week’s would definitely go to … wait a minute!
And the winner of this year’s ultra-prestigious Scholar Track & Field Athlete of the Week Award is (drum roll, please) Pascack Hills senior Taylor Li!
The Harvard-bound Li has come into her own in the high jump event this spring with several 5-foot jumps. She cleared this height at the Bergen County Relays as well as last week’s Big North-Patriot Division meet.
“The past few years, T. Li’s been solid in all the jumps,” Pascack Hills coach Matt Frederick said. “She high jumped 4-8 consistently and scored points for us in all the jumps. But this spring, her high jumping has really clicked.
“T. Li’s form is phenomenal. In the 11 years I’ve been coaching, she’s got the best form of all the high jumpers I’ve seen.”
Li is also this year’s class salutatorian. Frederick said she’s an extremely positive person and a great leader.
“We have a really small team this year,” Frederick said. “I think T. Li realized she had to step it up and show everyone that even though we’re small, we can get things done if we put our minds to it.”

Footnote: Nominations for the three aforementioned awards can be made in the comments space below. Or just say something cheerful.