Montclair Kimberley girls track, field leaves Prep B foes in dust for championship
The Montclair Kimberley girls track and field squad added a second team title to its resume this year when the Cougars won the Prep B tournament on May 23 at Newark Academy.
The team won the Super Essex Conference Colonial Division championship earlier in May.
The Cougars ran away with the Prep B meet, tallying 111 points, almost 40 ahead of second-place Villa Walsh, at 71.50.
The MKA boys team also had a strong Prep B meet, finishing second to Newark Academy. The boys finished with 89 points, to Newark Academy’s 183.
For the girls it just might be the start of something even bigger, with the state tournament coming up.
"The Prep B and SEC-Colonial titles are both testaments of how much potential our team has," said MKA senior Phoebe Williams. "We have high expectations of ourselves, and this is just the start of our championship season."
Junior Rebecca Herrick, who was part of the MKA 1600 meter relay team that finished second, added that the girls’ victory was continued payoff for all the practices this season.
"Winning the Prep B title this year meant so much to us," said Herrick, who combined with sophomores Maggie Horn and Olga Shandarivska and freshman Milagros Carbajal-Diaz for a time of 4:26.17 in the 1600 relay. "It signified the culmination of everyone’s hard work, and showed us that the effort we’re putting in is paying off."
Head coach Tim White said he liked how the team scored in almost every event.
"This was a great win for our girls," White said. "It was just a very-well-rounded team victory.
There were some really solid contributions from nearly every event."
The area in which the Cougars picked up the most points was the throws. The Williams sisters, senior Phoebe and sophomore Kitty, collected points in the discus, javelin and shot put. The duo, along with sophomore Julia Larish, accumulated 54 points in the three events.
"That whopping 54 points from our throwing team made a big difference for us winning the meet," White said.
Kitty Williams won the discus (111-feet-5-inches) and javelin (103-feet-5), while Phoebe came in second in the shot put (31-feet-5.5). Kitty Williams' throw in the discus broke her own school record in the event by 8 feet.
On the boys side, senior Isiah Udofia continued to add to his resume at MKA in several events. He broke the school mark in the 400 meter with a time of 50.28.
"It broke the school record which stood since the 1960s," said White, who added that Udofia has so far broken school records in seven events, 100, 200 and 400 meters, long jump, triple jump and as part of the 400 meter and 800 meter relays.
In the Prep B meet he also broke his personal best in the discus (second, 103-feet-5-inches) and the javelin (fifth, 105-feet-4).
Freshman Kalvin Thomas continued to stake his claim for the future by winning points in three events. Thomas won the triple jump with a distance of 42-feet-9.5, one of the top numbers in the state this season. He also registered a pair of seconds, in the 100 meter (11:48, personal best) and long jump (19-feet-6).
Prep B track and field meet
Montclair Kimberley results
Girls
100 meters
3. Morgan Lee, sophomore, 13.17
200 meters
3. Remy Ronen, junior, 26.98
400 meters
1. Ronen, 1:00.43
800 meters
1. Maggie Horn, sophomore, 2:24.91
6. Natalie Ewing, freshman, 2:39.84
1600 meters
2. Rebecca Herrick, junior, 5:21.59
1600 meter relay
2. Horn, Herrick, sophomore Olga Shandarivska, freshman Milagros Carbajal-Diaz, 4:26.17
3200 meters
2. Sydney Fradette, freshman, 12:13.52
Discus
1. Kitty Williams, sophomore, 111-feet-5
2. Phoebe Williams, senior, 87-feet-9
3. Julia Larish, sophomore, 78 feet
Shot put
2. Phoebe Williams, 31-feet-5.5
3. Kitty Williams, 31-feet-1
Javelin
1. Kitty Williams, 103-feet-5
3. Phoebe Williams, 86-feet-9
Boys
100 meters
2. Kalvin Thomas, freshman, 11.48
5. Imanuel Udofia, sophomore, 11.78
6. William Simms, sophomore, 11.85
200 meters
2. Udofia, 23.33
3. Thomas, 23.76
400 meters
1. Isiah Udofia, senior, 50.28
800 meters
4. Matt Bonarti, sophomore, 2:12.63
1600 meters
6. Frederick Bishop, junior, 5:05.69
3200 meters
6. Rohain Jain, senior, 10:38.24
Long jump
2. Thomas, 19-feet-6
5. Abkes Halsey, freshman, 17-feet-2
Triple jump
1. Thomas, 42-feet-9.5
3. Halsey, 37-feet-4.75
Discus
2. Isiah Udofia, 103-feet-5
Javelin
3. Bonarti, 119-feet-2
5. Isiah Udofia, 105-feet-4