DENVILLE - It's "Wait Till Next Year" for Morris Knolls High School junior Tre' Ronnie Joseph as he missed out by 100ths of a second not once - but twice - in his attempt to qualify for the Meet of Champions.
Joseph had qualified for two events in the Group 3 Winter Track & Field Championships held at the Bennett Center in Toms River on Saturday, Feb. 20, and finished seventh in the 55-meter hurdles for his best shot at moving on to the MofC.
Joseph ran a seventh-best 8.20 qualifying heat and then posted an 8.19 for another seventh-place finish in the final. The sixth-place finisher was timed in 7.99, .20 quicker than Joseph.
The 42-man 55-meter hurdles MofC field that meets Saturday, Feb. 27, back at the Bennett Bubble consists of the six fastest hurdlers in each of the six group meets (four public, two non-public) plus six wild-card entrants taken from the six fastest times of those who did not finish in the top six in their group meet.
Once again, Joseph came close to qualifying for the winter track finale as he was nosed out for the sixth and final wild-card spot by a hurdler who had posted an 8.13 in his group meet - 0.06 quicker than Joseph.
Fact is, of the 42 hurdlers in Saturday's field, seven of them turned in slower times than Joseph but qualified by finishing in the top six in their group meets.
Joseph also competed in the high jump where he did not move into the final rounds of competition.
Senior Joe Skarbek was the only other Eagle to compete in the boys meet and he ran the 3200-meter run in 10:49.56 to finish 19th in the 21-runner field.
Junior Jim Rosa of West Windsor-Plainsboro North, one the best if not the best long-distance runner in the state, won the race in 9:05.26, the fastest 3200 time posted in the nation this winter.
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Joseph, Skarbek medal to qualify for Group 3 meet
DENVILLE - Junior Tre’ Ronnie Joseph finished second in two events to pace Morris Knoll High School's boys track team to a fifth-place finish in the North 1, Group 3 boys sectional track championships held on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
Knolls scored 20 team points to tie with Paterson Eastside and Old Tappan as Mount Olive won the meet with 54 points, only four more than runnerup Hackensack.
Joseph finished second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.21 and also cleared 5-feet, 10-inches to place second in the high jump.
Senior Joe Skarbek accounted for the other four team points for Knolls when he finished fourth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:18.56.
In other events: Kyle Donahue was 8th, Jeffrey Wong 9th and Dylan Melahn 14th in the shot put; Brian Garie was ninth, Ryan Mariani 14th, and Jack Haeberle 30th in the 1600; and Connor Mariani was seventh in the pole vault and tied for ninth in the high jump.
Also: Mariani Connor was 10th and Raju Aswin 14th in the 55-meter hurdles; Justin Bush finished 10th, David D’Achille was 23rd and Nick Skarbek 29th in the 800; Drew Reinhasrdt was 11th and Neil Patel 18th in the 3200; Michael Khang was 13th, Victor Dziegielewski 16th and Eric Lum 22nd in the 400; Neil Chen was 30th and Conor Rush 33rd in the 55-meter dash; and the Eagles 4x400 relay team finished seventh.
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Joseph medals twice in county track meet
DENVILLE - Junior Tre’ Ronnie Joseph won two medals to account for seven of the nine points scored by the Morris Knolls High School’s boys winter track team in the Morris County Winter Track Championships held at Drew University in Madison on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
Joseph placed third in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.10 and then came back later in the meet to finish in sixth place behind teammate Connor Mariani’s fifth-place finish in the high jump.
Mariani, a senior, cleared 5-feet, 8-inches for his fifth-place finish while Joseph cleared 5-6 and was awarded sixth place on few misses when he tied with another vaulter at that height.
The nine points scored by the three athletes put Morris Knolls in 11th place in the 18-team field, well off the 66-point total of team champion Randolph.
Delbarton was a distant second with 40 points and was followed by Mount Olive (3rd with 37 points), Whippany Park (4th, 36); Morristown (5th, 31); Hanover Park (6th, 28); Parsippany Hills (7th, 22); Morris Hills (8th, 14); West Morris (9th, 12); Boonton (10th, 11); Morris Knolls (11th, 9), Parsippany, Mendham and Jefferson (tied for 12th, each with 8 points); Roxbury (15th, 7); Madison (16th, 2); and Montville and Chatham (tied for 17th, each with a single point).
In other events involving Morris Knolls athletes:
Mariani was ninth in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.53 while, in the same race, senior Michael Khang was 30th in 9.19 and junior Victor Dziegielewski was 36th in 9.43.
Junior Brian Garie finished 12th in the 1600-meter run in 4:51.24 and sophomore Ryan Mariani was 14th in 4:51.90.
In the 55-meter dash, seniors Eric Lum and Neil Chen ran identical 7.25s in the 55-meter dash to tie for 19th place; Khang was 25th in 7.31 and senor Conor Rush finished 25th in 7.43.
Junior Justin Bush finished 15th in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:31.75 with junior Neil Patel 33rd in the same race in 1:37.47.
Ryan Mariani was 16th in the 1000-meter run in 2:57.40 and, in the same race, Garie finished 25th in 3:08.20 and Patel was 26th in 2:08.23.
Joe Skarbek came close to a medal when he finished eighth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:22.57. Drew Reinhardt was back in 14th place with a time of 10:46.73.
The 4x400 relay team of Dziegielewski, Khang, Lum and junior Aswin Raju finished 14th with a time of 3:51.93.
In the field events, senior Jeffrey Wong threw 40-4.5 to finish 15th in the shot while senior Dylan Melahn was two places back in 17th with a throw of 39-0.5; and Dziegielewski cleared 5-3 in the high jump to finish in a tie for eighth place.
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Eagles finish 7th in NJAC's first winter track championship
DENVILLE - Junior Tre' Ronnie Joseph finished third in the 55-meter hurdles and was one of three Eagles to earn team points in the high jump when Morris Knolls High School's boys winter track team finished seventh in the 13-team field at the first Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference's American Division Championships held at Drew University on Saturday, Jan. 9.
Randolph won the team title with 76 points with Delbarton second with 66 points and Pope John third with 44 points. Parsippany Hills (4th with 35 points), Mount Olive (5th, 33 points), Morristown (6th, 17 points), Knolls (7th, 16 points), Roxbury (8th, 12 points), Sparta and Montville (tied for 9th with 10 points each), Mendham and West Morris (tied for 8th with 8 points each), and Vernon (13th, 6 points) complete the team standings.
Joseph was timed in 8.22 for his third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles and then cleared 5-feet, 6-inches to finish in a two-way tie for third place in the high jump. Senior Connor Mariani and junior Victor Dziegielewski each cleared 5-3 to finish in a three-way tie for fifth.
Senior Joe Skarbek picked up two team points for the Eagles when he finished fifth in the 3200-meter run in 10:14.20. Junior Drew Reinhardt was 12th in the same race in 10:45.99.
The 4x400 team of junior Aswin Raju, junior Justin Bush, senior Eric Lum and senior Michael Khang placed sixth for another team point.
In other events: Mariani was 11th in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.93 and junior Aswin Raju finished 13th in 9.07.
Junior Brian Garie was 16th in the 1600-meter run in 4:57.79; junior Neil Patel was 28th in 5:10.88; and senior Jack Haeberle finished 30th with a time of 5:16.12.
In the 55-meter dash, senior Neil Chen was 15th in 7.25; senior Conor Rush was 23rd in 7.54; and junior Matthew Maisonet finished 29th with a time of 7.,85.
Bush finished seventh in the 600-meter run, posting a time of 1:30.46; Dziegielewski was 15th in 1:25.17; and junior Andrew Argueta was 28th in 1:48.08.
In the 300-meter dash, Lum was 15th in 40.03; senior Michael Khang was right behind him in 16th place with a time of 40.21; and Chen finished 24th in 42.09.
In the 1000-meter run, Patel was 26th in 3:02.26; Haseberle finished 27th in 3:10.23; and Dziegielewski finished 28th with a time of 3:12.15.
Junior Kyle Donahue was 13th in the shot with a throw of 38-11; senior teammate Jeffrey Wong finished in 14th place after throwing 38-0.5; and senior Dylan Melahn placed 18th with a throw of 35-8.75.
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C. Mariani, Joseph lead way for MK in Back Invitational
DENVILLE - Senior Connor Mariani and junior Tre' Ronnie Joseph each had a pair of top ten finishes for the Morris Knolls High School boys winter track team at the Cliff Back Invitational held at Drew University in Madison on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
Connor Mariani cleared 5-feet, 8-inches to finish tied for fourth in the high jump and he was the only Eagle to participate in the pole vault and he cleared 10-0 to finish in a tie for ninth place.
Joseph finished sixth in the 55-meter hurdles, posting a time of 8.34 after running an 8.20 qualifying heat. Joseph also finished tied for eighth in the high jump with a 5-6 effort.
Other Eagles in the 55-meter hurdles event included Connor Mariani (11th, 8.732), junior Aswin Raju (24th, 9.06), junior Victor Dziegielewski (29th, 9.20) and sophomore Peter Czechowicz (54th, 10.48).
In the 3200, senior Joe Skarbek finished seventh in 10:20.67.
Sophomore Ryan Mariani was 12th in the 1600 with a time of 4:58.29. Also in the race for Knolls were junior Drew Reinhardt (22nd, 5:05.53), junior Neil Patel (45th, 5:16.32), senior Jack Haeberle (52nd, 5.20.12), and junior Spencer Severson (65th, 5:34.45).
In the 55-meter dash, senior Neil Chen was 25th in 7.30; senior Eric Lum fnished 35th in 7.40; junior Andrew Argueta and senior Conor Rush both ran a 7.55 to tie for 45th; and Connor Mariani was 59th in 7.79.
Junior Justin Bush ran a 1:34.99 to finish 29th in the 600 with sophomore David D�Achille (44th, 1:37.89), junior Brian Garie (54th, 1:42.08), Argueta (63rd, 1:45.33) and senior Nick Skarbek (70th, 1:56.32) also participating in the race for Knolls.
In the 300, senior Eric Lum was 21st in 40.36; Chen was 32nd in 41.32; Rush was 39th in 41.72; and Raju finished 52nd with a time of 42.82.
In the 1000-meter run, Garie was 14th in 2:57.59; Joe Skarbek finished 16th in 2:58; Ryan Mariani was 34th in 3:03.99; D�Achille was 37th in 3:09.04 and Czechowicz was 38th in 3:09.49.
Knolls senior Kyle Donahue finished 14th in the shot put with a throw of 39-5.5 while senior Jeffrey Wong (17th, 38-05.5), senior Dylan Melahn (24th, 36-5), junior Brian Patterson (41st, 32-7), and Rush (48th, 31-2) also participated for Knolls in the event that drew 80 throwers.
In the sub-varsity events, Knolls had three entries in the freshmen 55-meter hurdles with Jonathan Capiro finishing second in 9.56, Nicholas Patterson running third in 9.56 and Nate Casey finishing 14th in 11.62.
Knolls put four throwers in the freshmen shot put event with Patterson finishing third with a throw of 30-10 followed by teammates Jason White (sixth, 27-0), Darren Hambleton (seventh, 26-8) and Casey (eighth, 25-8.5)
In the freshmen 1600, Billy Yu ran a 5:43.98 to finish ninth as the top finisher for Knolls. The others in the race were Casey (10th, 5:44.67), Darren Hambleton (17th, 6:13.38), Peter LaVallee (18th, 6:13.64), and Patric Paragian (23rd, 7:00.77).
In the junior varsity 55-meter dash, junior Matthew Maisonet was fifth with a time of 7.45; junior Tyler Braddock was 18th in 7.75; and junior Aswin Faju placed 19th in 7.78.
Junior Drew Reinhart was 14th in 1:41.53 in the junior varsity 600 while Ryan Mariani (17th, 1:42.06), Patel (21st, 1:43.78) and Haeberle (25th, 1:46.07) also competed in the race for Knolls.
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MK hurdles, high jump teams place 2nd at County Relays
DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High school boys winter track team finished tied for seventh with sister-school Morris Hills when the Eagles� shuttle hurdles and high jump teams each finished second to account for Knolls' 16 team points in the Morris County Relay Championships held at Drew University on Monday, Jan. 4.
Randolph won the meet with 61 points with Morristown runnerup with 52 points in the 16-team field. Delbarton (27 points) was third with Hanover Park (23), Hanover Park (23) finished fourth, and Mount Olive (21) was next to round out the top five.
The Knolls' shuttle hurdle team of junior Tre' Ronnie Joseph, junior Victor Dziegielewski, senior Michael Khang and senior Connor Mariani finished second with a time of 32.97, just .29 of a second off Randolph's winning time of 32.68.
The Knolls' B-team in the shuttle hurdles finished 10th with a time of 36.61.
In the high jump, Joseph cleared 5-feet, 8-inches and Mariani�s best was a 5-6 to finish with a mark of 11-2, four inches less than the combined mark by the winning Jefferson high jump team.
In other events, the Eagles' distance medley team just missed a medal with its seventh-place finish in 11:32.67; in the 4x200, the A-team was 12th in 1:44.84 and the B-team ran 14th in 1:45.98; the 4x800 team was 13th in 9:24.57; the 1600 sprint medley team finished 11th in 4:05.59; the 4x400 team was 9th in 3:49.37; and the shot put team of junior Kyle Donahue and Jeffrey Wong was 10th with a combined 75-9.50.
In junior varsity events, the Knolls' 4x200 B-team was 15th in 1:54.35 and the A-team was 18th in 1:56.40; the 4x800 team was ninth in 9:46.98; the 4x400 A-team was eighth in 4:08.07 and the B-team was 15th in 4:23.64; andsenior Dylan Melahn and Eric Schaefer finished seventh with a combined 63-4.50 in the shot.
