The Westfield Leader Newspaper
The Times of Scotch Plains-Fanwood

CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA BLACK

THE WEEK IN SPORTS

DENNIS WINS 400-IM; RAIDERS TAKE 4X400 RELAY

Lady Raiders Get 2nd, Devils Take Fourth in Sectionals By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School girls placed second to Morris Hills in the North 2, Group 3 girls track and field championships held in Flanders on May 21-22. The Raiders totaled 57 points to Morris Hills’ 78. The Westfield High School girls finished fourth with 39 points.

Despite the blazing heat, Blue Devil Heather Dennis had a productive

weekend as she crossed the line first in the 400-intermediate hurdles with a time of 1:05.5, easily beating her nearest competitor by more than 1.4 seconds. Raider Erin Brandt took fifth in the event with a time of 1:08.3 and teammate Jayme Ferraro crossed sixth at 1:09.5.

Dennis took fifth in the 400meters with a time of 1:00 but also placed second in the closely contested 800-meters with a time of 2:22.1 behind La’Kel Chester of Cranford who finished in 2:21.3. Raider Erin Kelly was just nosed out for third and settled for fourth with personal-best time of 2:23.1. After the run, Dennis snuggled in the shade under a table to escape the heat of the sun.

“I knew that I probably wasn’t going to get first, but I decided to just stay with them (the leaders), then on the second lap just to go as fast as I could,” said Kelly of her effort in the 800-meters.

Kelly also teamed with Brandt, Ann Espinoza and Jillian Koscielecki in the final event of the tournament, the 4x400 meters, and won with a time of 4:06.2.

Blue Devils Allison Checchio and Julie Elmuccio also had great results. Checchio heaved the javelin a personal-best 110’ 1” to place second in the event just short of Angie Rosamilia of Parsippany Hills who had a toss of 111’9” on her final throw. Raider Katie Feighner placed fourth with a great throw of 101’3” and Blue Devil Dana Grau finished sixth at 98’3”.

Elmuccio soared 16’0.5” on her second attempt to place second in the long jump and Raider Stacy Bushinger had a leap of 14’6” to grab sixth. Elmuccio crossed fifth in the 100-hurdles with a time of 16.4.

Several of the boys and girls appeared not to be happy with their leaps in the long jump. “It didn’t

WOODWARD WINS 3; KASLUSKY RUNS ‘PB’ IN 1,600

Raider Boys Run Away With Group 3 Track Sectionals By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

There was no question about it. The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School boys ran away with the North 2, Group 3 track and field championships held in Flanders on May 21-22. The Raiders, who have won

five of the last six titles, accumulated 101.5 points to easily overrun the second-place Morris Hills boys who totaled 61.5. The Morristown boys, who had dethroned the Raiders last year, finished third with 46.

Westfield High School finished in a tie for 12th with Orange, totaling 10 points.

The Raiders seized five first places with Blair Woodward playing a role in four of them. Individually, Woodward won the 110-high hurdles with a time of 15.1, the

STOTLER, TODD SCORE 2 EACH

Devil Laxers Whack Warrior Boys, 8-0. By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Senior Mike Stotler and junior Mike Todd had two goals each to lead the Westfield High School boys lacrosse team to an 8-0 victory over Manasquan in the opening round of the NJSIAA lacrosse tournament in Westfield on May 21.

The Blue Devils wasted no time with the Warriors. Senior Mike Stotler got an assist from junior Alex Lau and rattled the net with 7:01 remain

ing in the first period. Just three minutes later sophomore Brad Gillin fed Lau who flicked the ball into the net to up the lead to 2-0. With 1:10 left in the quarter, junior Mike Todd positioned himself 15 yards in front of the net, scooped up the ball and scored the third goal.

Just as in the first quarter, the Blue Devil offense had total domination in the second. Todd took a pass from Lau and ricocheted the ball off the

TURNER TAPS TWO SINGLES

Blue Streaks Defeat Blue Devil Boys, 4-0

Pitcher Kyle Bocko had seven strikeouts and allowed only six hits as the sixth-seeded Warren Hills High School baseball team shocked the third-seeded Westfield boys, 4-0, in the opening round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 tournament in Westfield on May 20. Lamont Turner, with two singles, was the only Blue Devil to get more than one hit.

The Blue Streaks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Jon Hopp singled then later scored on a sacrifice fly by Bocko. The score jumped to 3-0 in the fifth. Kerri Morgan thumped a triple and scored on Brian Bendl’s triple, then Bocko stepped up and whacked an RBI single.

Prior to the sixth inning, Blue Devil Lamont Turner ripped a single in the first, Jeff Bendix punched a single in the third and Jason Merritt hit a single in the fifth.

After Mistretta retired all three Streak batters in the sixth, the Blue Devils offered a threat in their half of the inning. With one out, Kevin McCormack drew a walk. Turner dug in and plopped a single just out of the reach of the shortstop, the second baseman and the center fielder. Flynn hit into a force out at second, leaving runners on first and third, then Brandon Doerr launched a shot to right which was caught for the long jump with a leap of 22’0.25”

and the high jump with a height of 6’6”. Woodward also teamed with Dan Harrison, Jamil Coles and Nathan Jones to win the 4x400meters with a time of 3:26.7.

The course record in the high jump was 6’8” so Woodward had the bar set at 6’8.5” in an effort to reset the record but all three attempts fell short. Teammate Derrion Aberdeen had a remarkable performance as he cleared 6’4” to place second in the event. Raider Mike Franzone tied for fifth with a height of 5’8”.

Somewhat disappointed with his performances, Woodward pointed out, “On my third attempt in the long jump, I twisted my knee and it is hurting me really bad so it affected me in the hurdles too.” Woodward added, “The approach felt a little uphill in the long jump.”

Jones was second to Woodward in the long jump with a leap of 20’8.75” and did his damage in the 400-intermediate hurdles, placing second at :56.8. Harrison also finished third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.5 and Coles took fifth in the 100meters with a time of 11.5.

“It was slower than normal,” said Jones of his time in the hurdles. “The straight-aways seemed longer than usual and the turns seemed sharper. Maybe it seemed that way because it was so hot.”

Raider junior Dan Loomis, although not happy with his total, won the shot put event with a shove of 55’4”. Jim Feeley placed second with a toss of 49’5.5 and Scott Paterson took fifth at 46’8.5”.

Running against Cranford ace Tim Styler who captured first in the 1,600meters with a time of 4:26, Blue Devil Gordon Kaslusky obtained his goal of running under 4:30 before he

CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 CONTINUED ON PAGE 14