Montclair High School, Montclair Kimberley athletes stand out at Essex track, field meet

Mother Nature ruined what was hoped to be two full days of competition at the Essex County Track and Field Championships at Woodman Field, the home of Montclair High School.

The first day, Thursday, May 19, went without a hitch, with Montclair senior Kiya Lawson and junior Richard Fortune taking home first-place finishes in the 100 meters and the discus, respectively.

On the second day, Friday, May 20, rainstorms came rolling in and more than a few events were not completed, leaving tournament officials scrambling to figure out a date, time and place to finish the events, if possible.

The Essex County track and field relays that originally were to take place May 6 will be held on Thursday, May 26, at Livingston High School, where the final events from the county championship might possibly take place.

Lawson finished second in the 100-meter preliminaries, 12 seconds behind Mount St. Dominic's Gianna Mangili, with a time of 12.56.

But the Montclair senior picked it up a notch in the finals and ran
by Mangili with a time of 12.17, .04 seconds faster than Mangili.

"She ran well in the 100,"
said Montclair head coach Daryl Washington. "After the prelims we spoke about what she needed to do to win the finals, and she executed it perfectly."

With the state individual meet coming up, Lawson can only get better. "Going into states that 12.17 p.r. [personal record] is strong, and there's still work to be done so some time can be shaved off," Washington said.

Lawson also came in second in the 400 meters with a time of 59.12, behind Millburn's Miriam Wolk (57.44). Washington said that Lawson's time would have been better if she ran in the same heat as Wolk.

"For her 400 we were going for more strategy to get team points, however," the coach said. "The county didn't have her run against the number one seed, which was a mistake, but we were still able to get strong points on the board."

Fortune took a big leap in a week in the discus. The Montclair junior threw the discus for 147 feet in the Essex County meet at home, almost seven feet farther than the 140-feet-2-inches at the Super Essex Conference American Division meet.

"Richard's 147 throw was definitely a good showing, not just for the team, but him personally," Washington said. "Like Lawson 12.17 it was a p.r. and set the tone for the rest of the team for this meet."

While Montclair Kimberley’s track and field team did not pick up first-place finishes on the first day, the Cougars did have more than a few top-five results.

One of the top athletes in the county is senior Isiah Udofia, who finished second in the triple jump (43-feet-10) and fourth in the 100 meters (11.05).

"Isiah's performances were pretty much what we expected," said MKA head coach Tim White. "His 100 time was his season best, and his triple just was pretty similar to how he was jumping."

In the 100 meters, Udofia was .05 from second place. Also in the 100, Montclair sophomore Daniel Nixon came in sixth place (11.21).

On the Montclair Kimberley girls track and field side, sophomore Maggie Horn had the best results, with a second-place finish in the 1600 meters with a time of 5:21.86, a little more than three seconds behind the winner, Columbia's Emma Friedrich. 

"Maggie's 1600 was a season best," White said. "We're confident she can run much faster, but at this point in the season, it’s right around where we expected from her."

Horn also came in fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:26.66. Montclair sophomore Avery McAdams came in third in the 800, just .02 ahead of Horn. McAdams also came in fourth in the 1600 at 5:24.98.

Another highlight for Montclair Kimberley came as sophomore
Kitty Williams took third in the discus, even though her top throw of 101-feet-7 was 2 feet short of her throw (103-feet-7) the previous week in winning the Super Essex Conference Colonial Division title in discus.

GIRLS

100 meters: 1. Kiya Lawson, Montclair, senior, 12.17; 4. Ore Ogunwolere, Immaculate Conception, junior, 12.96; 6. Darriel Whiting, Montclair, freshman, 13.18

400 meters: 2. Lawson, 59.12; 7. Remy Roney, Montclair Kimberley, junior, 1:00.99; 15. Miya Kim, Montclair, sophomore, 1:02.93

800 meters: 3. Avery McAdams, Montclair, sophomore, 2:26.64; 4. Maggie Horn, Montclair Kimberley, sophomore, 2:26.66; 5. Rebecca Herrick, Montclair Kimberley, junior, 2:27.28; 7. Kim, 2:27.99; 10. Corinne Stewart, Montclair, freshman, 2:35.74; 13. Natalie Ewing, Montclair Kimberley, freshman, 2:38.13;

1600 meters: 2. Horn, 5:21.86; 4. McAdams, 5:24.98; 6. Rebecca Herrick, Montclair
Kimberley, junior, 5:31.76; 7. Sydney Fradette, Montclair Kimberley, freshman, 5:34.12; 13. Madeline Duncan, Montclair, sophomore, 5:48.27

Javelin: 3. Kitty Williams, Montclair Kimberley, sophomore, 101-feet-7-inches

Triple jump: 7. Kennedy White, Montclair, freshman, 31-feet-2.5; 13. Ashley Noel, Montclair, freshman, 29-7

Long jump: 7. Noel, 15-feet-6; 8. Nile Brunson, Montclair, freshman, 15-feet-3; 13. White, 14-11

High jump: 3. Leannah Jordan, Montclair, sophomore, 4-feet-6; 3. Brunson, 4-feet-6

Shot put: 5. Phoebe Williams, Montclair
Kimberley, senior, 34-feet-5; 6. Kitty Williams, 32-feet-10; 12. Tori Robinson, Montclair,
freshman, 30-feet-2.75

BOYS

100 meters: 4. Isiah Udofia, Montclair
Kimberley, senior, 11.05; 6. Daniel Nixon,
Montclair, sophomore, 11.21

400 meters: 6. Reuven Frye, Montclair, senior, 50.82

800 meters: 6. George McGuire, Montclair, junior, 2:06.63

1600 meters: 6. Sean Overton, Montclair, sophomore, 4:29.78

Triple jump: 2. Udofia, 43-feet-10; 4. Kalvin Thomas, Montclair Kimberley, freshman,
43-feet-3

Discus: 1. Richard Fortune, Montclair, junior, 147 feet; 6. Tylor McAuley, Montclair, junior, 123-feet-10