The Verona girls track and field team placed third at the state sectional championships at Ridge High School this past Friday and Saturday.
Julia Ashley got first in both the 400m and 800m with respective times of 57.87 and 2:16.9, which are both new school records. The quartet of Kelsey Attamante, Sarah Conboy, Emily Petermann and Melanie Egan also got first in the 4 x 800m relay, an event contested for the first time at a state sectional meet, with a 10:34 performance.
Egan was second in the 3200m at 12:05 and third in the 1600m at 5:41. Marybeth Grund finished third in the 400m hurdles at 1:08 while Conboy got sixth place in 1:11. With a throw of 87′ 7″, Christina Carlucci placed fourth in the javelin, while in the 4 x100m–another event run for the first time at a state sectional meet–a team of Angel Barkley, Nell Karpinski, Laura Williams and Jordan Seubert placed 5th in 57.1. Williams also placed 6th in the 100m high hurdles at 17.3.
“I must commend all the athletes for their determination to fight through two days of unseasonal weather,” said Coach Gene Leporati. “The meet on Friday began in a cold steady rain with temperatures dropping to the upper 30s. On Saturday we were greeted by relentless wind with many strong gusts throughout the meet.”
The state group championships will be this weekend at Egg Harbor High School.
