Winter Track News 2007- '08

New york, nY (Dec. 15, 2007) � Emily Carrollo finished 4th in the 600m run to highlight action at the 2007 Bishop Loughlin Games. Running in the second section with teammate Sarah Bieganousky, Carrollo hit splits of 29.1 (200m) and 61.7 (400m) for a time of 1:34.48. This establishes a new Pope John school record and is the second fastest time ever run by a New Jersey high school athlete, trailing only the state record of 1:29.27 run by Janine Davis of Queen of Peace High School in 2004. Also setting a record on the day was senior Chris Thomas. Chris leaped 44-1.5 in the triple jump to finish 6th and break the 2005 school record of 41-2 held by Mike Mazur ('05). Chris also finished 4th in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. Finally, sophomore Melanie O'Connor added the sophomore class record in the long jump to her freshman record with a leap of 15-11.

GARFIELD HS, NJ (December 20, 2007) - Junior Ricky Okoye set a personal record and junior class record with a toss of 45-6 to take fifth place at the Garfield One Indoor Throws championship. The placement qualified Okoye for the overall championship in February. Also recording a major PR was fellow junior Peter Pensec, whose chuck of 36-4.75 bettered his previous best mark by over four feet. Pensec undertook an extensive fall workout regimen to prepare for the season and the results paid off immediately. On the girls side, senior Kim Trumpore led the varsity throwers with a throw of 25-0.25, while sophomore Jenna Abdallah made her throwing debut with a toss of 21-5.25.

JERSEY CITY, NJ (January 12, 2008) - Within a 75 minute period junior Emily Carrollo put on a display of track dominance that moved one opposing coach to describe her as "just a beast". His hyperbole was more than well-deserved. With the score of the meet anything but decided, (PJ, Red Bank Catholic, and Monsignor Donovan were within points of one another), Carollo definitively closed the door on any possibility that the girls championship trophy would be taking a ride to the Jersey shore but instead would continue to reside in the hills of Northwest NJ. Running the anchor leg on the 4 x 200, the anchor 800m leg on the SMR, and the anchor of the 4 x 400, Emily took the baton and delivered victories in all three races. In the 4 x 200 Em took the stick in fifth place approximately 20 meters off the lead. She sizzled a 25.5 to win the heat for the Lions in an overall time of 1:52.0. Senior Caitlyn Lees, with juniors Kasey Homa, and Sarah Bieganousky got the stick to Carrollo. Their time was good enough for second place overall. Kent Place won the event running a faster time in the non-seeded heat.

Bottom Row (l - R): Laura Loechner, Caitlyn Lees, Casey Keller, Stephanie Keller

Top Row (L - R): Emily Carrollo, Brianna Bourlier, Sarah Cariati, Jenny Heigis, Paige Boehmcke, Erin Smith, Rachel Lees, Katherine Lederer, Sylvia Okoye, Sarah Bieganousky, Kasey Homa

In the Sprint Medley Relay, Carrollo demonstrated her range with a 2:17.9 closing 800m race to deliver first place to the girls. In this race, Carrollo again got the baton behind the leader, this time in third place. She methodically ran down the field before she finished 20 meters ahead of the second place finisher. Kasey Homa led off this race with a 65.5 400m leg. Then two sophomores, Erin Smith and Brianna Bourlier ran identical 29.3 200s to get the stick to Carollo. Bourlier (better known to Lions' fans as "BB"), also combined with freshman Rachel Lees to take fourth place in the high jump relay. In the final event of the meet, the girls 4 x 400, Emily took the stick from teammate, junior Sarah Cariati (63.3) just steps off the lead. Carollo's time of 58.8 just dusted the field and delivered the win. Junior Paige Boehmcke (67.0), running in her first official race as a Lion, delivered the baton to senior Laura Loechner (64.8), who in turn handed-off to Cariati.

Overall, the girls placed in seven events. Gold medals came in the SMR and 4 x 400 with silver medals coming in the 4 x 200, shuttle hurdles, and 4 x 800. Fourth place was taken in the high jump relay, and the DMR team of Cariati, Smith, senior Casey Keller, and junior Jenny Heigis finished fifth. By way of footnote, both Cariati and Heigis had an outstanding meet - delivering great times in all of their races.

On the boys side, seniors Jon Juleus and Nick Beese delivered solid performances, as did junior Frank Belardo and sophomore Jon Hilgart. The boys had three overall placements; fifth in the DMR and Pole Vault relays, and sixth in the SMR.

ARMORY T & F CENTER and GARFIELD H.S. (January 19 and 21, 2008) - At the New Balance Games on Saturday, the girls varsity 4 x 800 team of senior Laura Loechner, and juniors Jenny Heigis, Sarah Cariati, and Emily Carrollo now own the second fastest time in NJ this year, completing the 3200m circuit in 9:30.6. Heigis led of in a PR split of 2:28.8. Her handoff to Loechner was eventful, but Laura managed a 2:25.7 split to put the girls in fifth place coming into the third leg. Cariati then ran a very strong 2:18.9 leg to keep the team in fifth place. Emily Carrollo gutted out a 2:17.2 on the anchor leg to move the team into fourth place.

New york, nY (Feb. 4, 2008) � Emily Carrollo broke her own school record in the 400m dash at the 2008 Varsity Classic. Finishing 3rd in 55.6 seconds, Emily broke her record from last season by an amazing 2 seconds. Her time is the tenth fastest ever run by a New Jersey high school student. Emily also anchored the 4 x 400m relay to the fastest time of the season (4:02.5) and #3 in NJ this year. Teaming with Emily were senior Laura Loechner (63.3), junior Sarah Bieganousky (59.8 - returning to form after an injury) and freshman Kelsey Steele (62.3 - a 2 second PR). Another medalist was Jon Juleus in the 3200m run. Jon ran to a 6th place finish in a time of 9:42.3. In other action, Chris Gaus ran to a new PR in the 1600m run (4:44.8), Dan McIntyre (24.3) and Kyle Nelson (24.6) ran to personal bests in the 200m dash, Kyle also established a new PR in the 400m with a relay split of 54.6, Rick Lencsak tied his PR in the 55m HH (9.0) and had the team's top triple jump (37-7.75), Sylvia Okoye tied her PR in the shot put (33-2), Jason Frandi tied his PR in the 400m with a 54.2 relay split, AJ Hanifin ran a PR in the 800m run (2:11.9), Cat Carey ran a PR in the 1600m run (5:39.8), Kyle Johnson had a 2 foot PR in the long jump with a leap of 19-0 and finally, Brianna Bourlier set a sophomore class record in the triple jump with a jump of 31-8.5.

Hackensack, nJ (Feb. 7, 2008) � In their penultimate meet of the season, the Pope John novice athletes put on quite a display. Competing at the annual Ed Church Invitational at the Rothman Center on FDU-Teaneck's campus, the team earned at total of 25 medals. Top billing belonged to the freshman boys who garnered four first place finishes. Leading the way was Dylan Hurley with first place finishes in both the 55m dash and 200m dash. His 55m dash time of 6.9 tied the Pope John freshman class record. Also earning two first place finishes was the relay team of Reid Thomas, Travis Lacey, Ryan Lacey and Luke LaChac. The foursome won both the 4 x 800m relay and 4 x 400m relay during the meet. Other top performers, but not earning medals, were Dave Hanley with an 800m PR and Mike Grinthal with a 55 high hurdle PR of 10.3 (one second faster than his previous best).

Earning medals for the girls' squad in individual events were Michelle Litterio in both the 55m high hurdles (4th in a PR of 10.3) and 200m dash (2nd in a PR of 28.9) and Amanda Banas in the 200m dash (3rd in 28.9). Following their individual races, Michelle and Amanda teamed with Gretchen Boehmcke and Rachel Lees to finish 2nd in the meet concluding 4 x 400m relay. Michelle (66.3) and Rachel (66.5) ran personal best splits. Also placing in the 4 x 400m relay was the novice team of Alisha Lolk, Jackie Olmstead, Natalia Ignaczak, and Aubrey Ford. The honor split belonged to Natalia who ran an outstanding 67.8 leg to help lead the team to 4th place. Jackie also ran a personal best time of 10.2 in her 55m high hurdle race. The final medals were collected by the 4 x 800m relay team of Chrissy Wilson, Courtney Beneat, Fallon Moran and Kelsey Katzgrau, who placed 4th. Courtney turned in a personal best split of 2:59.3 (first time under 3 minutes). Other non-medaling PR's were turned in by Judy Dauer (3:09.3) and Abby Grieco (3:13.8) in the open 800m run.

The novices return to FDU on Monday for their final races of the year at the Lou Molina Invitational.

FDU-ROTHMAN CENTER, HACKENSACK, NJ (February 8, 2008) - The Pope John Girls continued their stranglehold on the NJCTC Indoor Championship, winning their third straight championship tonight. Their 64 points outdistanced runner-up Holy Cross (43 points) and third-place Red Bank Catholic (33 points). Junior Sarah Bieganousky led the Lions with two gold medals, winning the 800m run (2:24.10), and running the second leg of the winning 4 x 400m relay. Joining Sarah on the relay were junior Kasey Homa, freshman Kelsey Steele, and senior Laura Loechner. Loechner also picked-up a bronze medal in the 400m run (1:04.00). Other medalists and point scorers included junior Emily Carrollo, second place in the 55m dash and 200m dash; junior Sarah Cariati, third place in both the 1600m and 3200m runs; sophomore Brianna Bourlier placed fourth in the high jump with a PR and sophomore class record mark of 4-10; junior Sylvia Okoye who placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 32-5; junior Paige Boehmcke sixth in the 800m run; and a sixth place finish by the 4 x 800m relay of junior Rebecca Costantini, junior Ciara Vanness, sophomore Cat Carey and Boehmcke.

The Boys placed eighth with a total of 15 points. Senior Jon Juleus won the 1600m run in a time of 4:24.50, while classmate Nick Beese placed sixth in the 3200 run. The 4 x 800m relay team also placed sixth overall (4th in points) to earn the Lions' final points.

The novices return to FDU on Monday for their final races of the year at the Lou Molina Invitational, while the varsity prepares for the Non-Public A Championships at the Jersey City Armory on Saturday, February 16. The throwers will compete in the third installment of the Garfield Meets on Wednesday.

FDU-ROTHMAN CENTER, HACKENSACK, NJ (February 11, 2008) - The Lou Molina Invitational was billed as the last opportunity to qualify for Eastern States - and for most teams that was their reason for participating - but not for the Lions. Coach Corcoran wanted one last meet for the novice athletes to compete before the spring season. The fact that several varsity athletes set school, class, and personal records tonight was just icing on the cake. Nonetheless, the novices stole the show by demonstrating a competitive spirit that can't be taught and will contribute to their growth as they become the varsity of tomorrow.

The meet began with the 55m dash and high hurdles and these two events alone produced eleven new PRs and one class record. Alisha Lolk broke her own sophomore class record in the 55m HH, winning the novice gold medal in the process. Her time of 9.3 seconds just edged out classmate Brianna Bourlier (9.4) who finished second in the event. Other PRs set in the hurdles went to senior Laura Loechner (9.4 and fourth place) in the varsity division, sophomore Jackie Olmstead (10.2) in the novice division, and freshman Michelle Litterio (10.1 and third place) in the freshman division. Four boys also set PRs in the event. Junior Kyle Johnson took fourth place and PRed in the novice division with a time of 8.7 seconds. Classmates Ricky Lencsak (8.8) and Brian Sullivan (9.2) joined sophomore Mike Grinthal (10.2) with new PRs. In the 55m dash Dylan Hurley won the freshman division in a PR time of 7.0, while classmate Rachel Lees (7.9) PRed and took fourth place in the freshman girls' division. Sophomore Erin Smith tied her PR (7.7) and took second place in the novice girls 55, while classmate Dan McIntyre (7.0) placed fifth in the novice boys division.

The 300m dash also produced two significant records and several placements led my junior Emily Carrollo's new school record. Em's time of 40.5 seconds shattered the previous mark by 1.3 seconds and earned her the gold medal in the varsity girls division of the event. Dylan Hurley set a new freshman class record in the boys freshman division of the same event by posting a time of 38.1 seconds, besting the old record by 0.7 seconds. In doing so, Hurley won his second gold medal of the evening. Other placements in the 300 went to junior Sarah Bieganousky (43.3) who finished fourth in the varsity girls division; freshman Kelsey Steele (45.4) who won the freshman girls division; and Dan McIntyre (38.9) who placed fourth in the novice boys division, his second medal of the night.

The mid-distance races saw ten new PRs that accounted for four open race placements along with two gold medals and a silver medal in the 1600m relays. Sophomore Chris Patterson established new PRs in the 800m (2:19.4) and 400m (58.2). Chris' PR came as the anchor leg of the novice boys 4 x 400 that contributed to a first place finish in that event. The other members of the relay were Sean McNamara (58.8), Kyle Johnson (58.2), and Brian Sullivan (59.2). Eric Stenger (2:16.7), Courtney Beneat (2:54.4), Lauren Peach (2:56.3), and Judy Dauer (3:06.7) all PRed in their 800m races. In the 1600m run freshman Ryan Lacey PRed with a time of 5:14.3. Placements in the 1600m run went to junior Paige Boehmcke (5:40.5 and 3rd place); sophomore Ashton Weiler (5:43.8 and fourth); sophomore Cat Carey (5:47.5, fifth); and junior Ciara Van Ness (5:48.2, sixth). Sophomores Jackie Olmstead (1:09.6) and Natalia Ignaczak (1:07.8), and freshman Amanda Banas (1:05.4) PRed running their 400m legs on their respective 1600m relay races. Olmstead and Ignaczak teamed with Alisha Lolk (1:10.3) and Gretchen Boehmcke (1:07.3) to take second place in the novice girls division.

Perhaps the most exciting race of the meet was the last one run. With only three boys teams and three girls teams competing in the freshman division of the 4 x 400m relay, the meet directors decided to run the six teams together. The frosh girls, Amanda Banas (1:05.4), Michelle Litterio (1:06.3), Rachel Lees (1:07.4), and Kelsey Steele (1:02.9) won the gold medal for the frosh girls division, but more notably they placed second overall, beating two boys teams in the process. The race between the Ramsey freshman boys and the Lions' girls was tremendous. Ramsey held a slight lead during the first three legs, but lost that lead when Steele passed the Ramsey anchor with about 250m to go. The Ramsey boy was game and came back on Kelsey, but Steele fought him off down the stretch to win by a stride - a very fitting end to a meet meant to test the competitiveness of the youngsters.

The throwers return to action on Wednesday at the Garfield Three meet at Garfield HS. The varsity will compete in the Non-Public A Championships at the Jersey City Armory on Saturday.

SPARTA, NJ (February 11, 2008) - The Lions have a long relationship with The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. Citadel's Assistant Track & Field coach is Kris Kut ('96), who still holds the PJ record for the javelin throw (183-11). Kut continued his fine track and field career at the Citadel before graduating in 2000. He has been on the coaching staff for the past seven years and has recruited several PJ track athletes to The Citadel program including present Citadel seniors Chris Seabold ('04), Christine Devasto ('04), and Matt Haight ('04). His latest Lion recruit is PJ senior Caitlyn Lees. Though nagging injuries have hampered Lees this season, Caitlyn was part of last winter's All-American SMR team, running one of the 200m legs on that squad. She signed her letter of intent to attend The Citadel today and is looking forward to taking her sprinting talents to the school. Caitlyn stated, "I'm happy that the recruiting process is over and I love the Citadel. The girls on the team were very nice and they welcomed me during my visit. Obviously, Christine and Matt have me excited about the challenge of attending a military school".

JERSEY CITY, NJ (February 16, 2008) - Going into today's NJSIAA Non-Public A Championship, the Pope John girls had to be considered one of the top three teams in Non-Public A along with Immaculate Heart Academy and Paramus Catholic. The meet certainly lived up to its advanced billing as throughout the Lions battled with the Blue Eagles and Paladins for the meet lead. The Lions displayed their depth as several girls scored points.

Leading the way for the girls, as she has all season, was Emily Carrollo who won the 400m dash in a time of 57.57. She was followed by her classmate, Sarah Bieganousky, who finished fourth in 59.84. Second and third went to Paramus Catholic and IHA, respectively, proving from the start that the game was on. This first event theme would run true during the entire meet; with few exceptions IHA and PC were strong in the same events that the Lions knew would deliver points. A second example was the high jump, where sophomore Brianna Bourlier continued her fine indoor season taking third in the event, clearing a height of 4' 8". A PC girl placed sixth. Likewise, in the 55m dash, Lion sophomore Erin Smith placed fifth to counter a win by a Paladin and a second by a Blue Eagle. In the 1600m run, Sarah Cariati won gold in the event in a time of 5:11.58, beating an IHA runner who finished second. Carrollo and Cariati teamed up in the 800m run to frustrate IHA once more, taking first and third respectively, to best IHA runners who finished second and fourth. It was the second gold medal for Emily, and the second medal for Sarah on the day. Finally, in the shot put, junior Sylvia Okoye placed sixth to partly offset big points by PC throwers who took first and second, and a third place finish by IHA. When all was said and done, the Lions trailed the Blue Eagles by seven points with only the 4 x 400 relay left to be run. If the Lions took first or second in the relay they would defend their championship. Unfortunately, tough luck ensued. The Lions false started and were disqualified from the relay, resulting in a second place finish behind winner IHA and in front of third place Paramus Catholic.

On the boys side, seniors Chris Thomas and Jon Juleus delivered the only points for the Lions. Thomas won the high jump with a leap of 6' 6", while Juleus placed second in the 1600m run with a time of 4:24.21. The Lions finished in sixth place overall.

All of the point scorers mentioned will compete in the NJ Meet of Champions on Saturday morning at the Bennett Center in Toms River.

SPARTA, NJ (February 20, 2008) - It's been a good week for senior jumper Chris Thomas. On Saturday Chris won the Non-Public A State Group championship in the high jump with a leap of 6-6. Today, Chris made a greater leap, committing to attend the University of Vermont in September. By all accounts the Catamounts are getting a great athlete. Not only does Chris own the indoor school record in the high jump (6-7), but he also holds the school indoor and outdoor records and the Sussex County record in the triple jump (45-8 and 44-11, respectively). Vermont coach, Matt Belfield, knows the type of athlete that his program is getting, and he also recognizes the potential that Chris is yet to realize. Before Thomas' career is over in the Green Mountain State he may re-write the Catamount record book just as he has done with the Lion's records. Yet, there is one Lion record and one county record that has eluded Chris thus far, and that will continue to motivate him. PJ and Brown University alumnus, Michael Lynch ('92) still holds the PJ outdoor boys record in the HJ (6-6), while Steve Squier of the Kittatinny Cougars continues to hold the Sussex County record of 6-9, a record he has held since 1986.

TOMS RIVER, NJ (February 23, 2008) - Emily Carrollo came into this year's Meet of Champions with two goals - win the 400m and 800m championships. To do so would place her with the luminaries of NJ high school track and field. Emily had a good chance, and she knew it. So when she finished third in the 400 with a time of 56.07, two things were possible, Carrollo could bear down and focus on the 800 or she could simply take it. After my discussion with Emily following the 400 this writer knew immediately that Emily would choose the former. Then she delivered. Running a tactical race, Emily hung near the back of the pack on the first 200, then slowly worked her way up to challenge for the lead. With 200 meters left it appeared to be a two girl race, Ariann Neutts of Roxbury and Emily, with Chelsea Cox of Southern Regional and Brittney Kott of Millville five meters behind. Emily made her move at the 100m mark. She ran shoulder to shoulder with Neutts, passing her to clearly take the lead at the top of the final stretch. Unseen by Emily, however, Cox was making her own final burst to Carrollo's outside, nearly catching Emily at the line. Both girls finished in identical times of 2:14.88, but the photo clearly showed that Carrollo was the winner. The win represented Emily's first all-group state championship, and it is the second year in a row that a PJ girl has won the indoor 800m championship. Last year Lauren Bariexca ('07) won the event. Lauren is now running for Cornell and is enjoying the start of a great career for the Big Red. But more important than defending a championship for the Lions, Carrollo had her chance for redemption and she took full advantage of the opportunity.

Other outstanding performances were provided by Jon Juleus, who placed fourth in the 1600m run, and by Chris Thomas who tied for third, but following the tie breaking coin flip, also placed fourth in the high jump. Juleus ran a smart race, but just could not provide his patented kick to leg out the win. Jon's time of 4:21.19 was three seconds off the winning time, a time that he knows he can run. Meanwhile in the high jump, Thomas' leap of 6-6 placed him in a third place tie with Afolabi Omole of Union. The tie is broken by coin toss, and Thomas came up on the short end, finishing fourth. Adam Bergo of Westfield won the event with a jump of 6-8.


Sarah Bieganousky	Brianna Bourlier	Sarah Cariati	Erin Smith

Five other Lady Lions competed in the meet. Sophomores Erin Smith in the 55m dash and Brianna Bourlier in the high jump participated in the Meet of Champions for the first time and came away with valuable learning experiences. Both let their nerves get the best of them and consequently they did not deliver their normal dependable performances. Sarah Bieganousky ran the 400m in a time of 1:00.07, finishing twenty-third overall. Sylvia Okoye had a PR performance in the shot put, delivering a throw of 33-8. Her performance moved her from a seeded placement of 30th to a final placement of 23rd. Finally, Sarah Cariati finished fifteenth in the 1600m run with a time of 5:15.85.

The Lions return to action on Tuesday, February 26, when qualifiers will compete in the Eastern States Invitational at the Armory Track & Field Center in NYC.

ARMORY TRACK & FIELD CENTER, NYC (February 26, 2008) - Several of the Lions' premiere athletes competed at the 71st Annual Eastern States Championships in final preparation for the National Scholastic Indoor Championships (NSIC) scheduled for March 14 - 16. The results were encouraging. The most noteworthy individual performance belonged to Chris Thomas who leaped to a new Pope John and Sussex County record in the triple jump with a mark of 46-0.25. Thomas' mark was good enough to earn fifth place in the competition. Less then ten minutes later, Thomas placed third in the high jump competition by clearing a height of 6-6. Other individuals who competed included Jon Juleus and Sarah Cariati, both in the one mile run. Juleus finished eighth with a time of 4:29.37, while Cariati finished twelfth in 5:18.13. Sylvia Okoye finished 32nd in the shot put with a toss of 31-1.

In addition to Thomas' two placements, the girls 4 x 800 and 4 x 400 relay teams finished second and third, respectively. The 4 x 800 relay team of Sarah Bieganousky , Laura Loechner, Cariati, and Emily Carrollo, the all-group 800m champion, ran in the seeded section, finishing in a time of time of 9:19.88, second to Lenape High School with a winning time of 9:11.94. In the 4 x 400 relay, Bieganousky, Loechner, and Carrollo teamed with freshman Kelsey Steele to win their section in a time of 3:58.96. The star of both relays was Carrollo who turned in very fast splits in both races. Steele also PRed on her leg, running a very fast spilt of 60.6.

All in all the meet provided several solid performances and sets up the team well for the NSIC national meet.

ARMORY TRACK & FIELD CENTER, NYC (March 14 - 16, 2008) - The indoor season came to a disappointing end when the Lions left the venerable 168th Street Armory without any new All-Americans. With entries in the girls SMR, 4 x 400, 4x 800, and 4 x 1 mile, along with boys competing in the 1 mile run, high jump and triple jump, the outlook going into the meet called for placements in more than one of the entered events. The results did not live up to the expectations.

The first event on Friday was the girls SMR, an event that the Lions thought they could win. Sophomore Erin Smith, freshman Kelsey Steele, and juniors Sarah Bieganousky and Emily Carrollo were primed and ready. Smith opened with a PR split of 26., but then catastrophe. On the first baton exchange, Steele was required to take the stick in lane six. The exchange zone was at the top of the banked turn, an exchange that is impossible to practice unless you train on a banked track. Just at the moment of the baton pass, Smith and Steele either tangled feet or Steele's right foot slipped off the edge of the track and Steele fell to the track. By the time she recovered, the competition has passed and she valiantly sprinted to get the baton to Bieganousky for the 400 meter leg. Sarah ran a blistering 300 meters and got the girls to third position, before fading in the last 75 meters. By the time Carrollo got the stick for her 800m leg, she was in fifth position, about 50 meters behind the leaders, Benjamin Cardozo of Brooklyn. Like Sarah, Emily tried to get the team back into the race and she went out hard. Her 600 meter split was outstanding, but she could not carry off the impossible as she locked up on her last lap. Carollo split 2:14., but the girls final time of 4:12. was only good enough for twelfth place.


Laura Loechner	Dylan Hurley	Brianna Bourlier and Alisha Lolk