Montclair Kimberley’s Isiah Udofia makes it 4 golds at Group 4 state track and field meet
Montclair Kimberley senior Isiah Udofia became the seventh boy in the history of NJSIAA track and field with four first-place finishes at a group meet.
Udofia grabbed gold in the long jump, triple jump, 100 meters and 200 meters in the Non-Public B meet at Middletown North High School on Friday and Saturday.
The senior's four wins highlighted a successful weekend for the Cougars’ track and field teams.
For Udofia the four victories make for an extraordinary end to his career at Montclair Kimberley.
"I felt like today was the moment where all my work towards improvement throughout the season finally paid off, and I am excited I was able to accomplish what I did on such a big stage," he said afterward.
Along with Udofia’s qualifying for the State Meet of Champions on Saturday, June 18, at Franklin High School in Somerset, MKA also saw freshman Kalvin Thomas finish third in the triple jump and also make Saturday’s meet.
The top two finishers in each group, along with the remaining six best qualifiers across all of the groups, punch a ticket to the Meet of Champions.
On the girls side, three Montclair Kimberley athletes qualified. Senior Phoebe Williams made it a double in the throws, in shot put (fifth, 34-feet-1.25-inches) and in discus (fifth, 106-feet-10), while her sister, sophomore Kitty, qualified in discus (third, 112-feet-4). Sophomore Maggie Horn continued a very good distance season by qualifying in the 800 meters (eighth, 2:22.56).
The MKA girls moved up to the bigger Non Public A section this season, while the Cougar boys remained in Non Public B. The MKA girls won Non Public B North last season, and came in fourth in Non Public A North this year.
"The girls did well at the groups, but the move to A was a big jump up," Montclair Kimberley head coach Tim White said about Non Public A. "A is arguably the most talented group in the state, so we jumped from the weakest to the strongest."
For Udofia, all meets prior to last weekend were a precursor to the group meet and a shot at the Meet of Champions.
"This meet was definitely circled on my calendar from the first day of the season, and much of my preparation was oriented towards making sure all my best times and marks came at this meet," he said.
"I want to thank all my coaches, teammates and, most importantly, my family for all helping me achieve my goal."
Montclair Kimberley also finished off the Essex County meet that was stopped because of rain last month in Montclair. In the continuation on June 6, Horn won the 3200 meters with a time of 11:52.62, while Udofia claimed the county title in the long jump with a leap of 20-feet-11.
In addition, Kitty Williams grabbed second in discus with a throw of 109-feet-11, while sister Phoebe captured third with a mark of 105-feet-2.
In the state group meet on Saturday, Udofia was second in the 100 meter preliminaries to Morristown Beard's Spencer Anderson, only to outrun him in the finals. Udofia ran the 100 in 11.03 in the prelims, and then sliced that to 10.77 in the finals.
He was more than a second faster than the field in the 200, finishing with a time of 21.84 and outdistancing Holy Cross' Blake Wadley, who came in second at 22.92.
He captured the long jump and triple jump in dominating fashion.
Udofia registered a more-than-two-foot victory in the triple jump with a mark of 45-feet-6.25, far outdistancing Trenton Catholic's Jace Nazario's 43-feet-4.25.
And the MKA senior put up a long jump number of 23-feet-4.25, almost two feet better than Morristown Beard's Tristen Miscia, 21-feet-6.75.
Montclair Kimberley track and field results
Non Public A and B, June 10 and 11
Essex County Track and Field Championships, June 6
Non Public B
Boys
100 meters
1.Isiah Udofia, senior, 10.77
2. Kalvin Thomas, freshman, 11.37
200 meters
1.Udofia, 21.84
400 meters
20. Tim Slater, freshman, 57.70
800 meters
11. Matt Bonarti, sophomore, 2:10.11.
1600 meters
17. Rohan Jain, senior, 5:00.22
3200 meters
13. Jain, 11:15.04
Long jump
1.Udofia, 23-feet-4.25
2. Thomas, 20-feet-2
Triple jump
1. Udofia, 45-feet-6.25
2.Thomas, 42-feet-10.5
Non Public A
Girls
800 meters
8. Maggie Horn, sophomore, 2:22.56
1600 meters
9. Horn, 5:16.79
3200 meters
15. Sydney Fradette, freshman, 12:23.62
100 high hurdles
25. Jaelyn Alexander, sophomore, 20.40
Discus
3. Kitty Williams, sophomore, 112-feet-4
4. Phoebe Williams, senior, 106-feet-10
Javelin
9. Kitty Williams, 94-feet-9
10. Phoebe Williams, 93-feet-3
Shot put
5.Phoebe Williams, 34-feet-1.2
6. Kitty Williams, 30-feet-.5
Essex County meet, second day continuation, June 6
Girls
Discus
2.Kitty Williams, 109-feet-11
3. Phoebe Williams, 105-feet-2
3200 meters
1. Horn, 11:52.62
2. Rebecca Herrick, junior, 12:25.84
Boys
Long jump
1. Udofia, 20-feet-11