Boys Track: Westfield Has Strong Finish with Top Performances at UCC Championships

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ — The Westfield boys track team had solid performances at the Union County Championships (Watchung Division) at Governor Livingston High School April 30-May 1.The Blue Devils finished third in the division with 112 points. Union Catholic (134) took the top spot with Elizabeth (115) second. Scotch Plains-Fanwood (53) and Oratory (47) rounded out the top five.Here are the key performances: Three top nine finishes occurred in the 800 meters as senior Christian Buonopane (1:56.95) took the top spot. Senior Brody Toriello placed third (1:59.62) and senior Declan McGorty (2:03.93) finished ninth. In the 3200 meters, junior Brent Kengeri (9:57.74) finished first, junior Matthew Logozzo (10:16.49) placed fourth and junior Robbie Epstein (10:21.08) rounded out the top five.Three top six finishes happened in the shot put as junior Nicholas Dena (49-9.50) finished first, junior Luke Romano (46-11.50) finished fourth and junior Jayson Alves (43-8.50) placed sixth.The discus throw produced three top 11 finishes with junior Nicholas Dena (141-3) finishing runner-up. Alves (109-5) placed ninth and junior Luke Romano (105-7) finished 11th.In the javelin throw, junior Branden Janusz (136-0) finished second, junior Paul Palles (127-5) placed fifth, and junior Henry Weinstein (117-4) finished seventh. In the 400-meter hurdles, junior Luke Scheiner (58.98) finished third, while senior Douglas Gee place fifth (59.24).The pole vault had sophomore Toby Bronsteen (10-0) second, freshman James Catalano (10-0) third, and sophomore Casey Lawlor (9-6) sixth.In the 1600 meters, Toriello (4:24.31) finished third, sophomore Lincoln Staiger (4:28.39) placed fifth, and junior Nikos Davlouros (4:28.98) finished sixth.In the high jump, sophomore Ewan Beard (5-8) finished third, while senior Lucas Damji (5-3) and freshman Ben Healey (5-3) each tied for eighth.Junior LeRoy Armstrong (51.49) finished sixth in the 400 meters.In the 110-meter hurdles, senior Douglas Gee (15.61) finished fifth and junior Pierce Rowan (17.22) placed sixth.Junior Melisizwe Ndlovu (23.59) finished 10th in the 200-meter dash.Sophomore Mason Gewirtz (18-10) placed ninth in the long jump.In the triple jump, sophomore Andrew Quay (36-4) finished seventh, sophomore Carter Surowitz (34-1) placed 10th, and sophomore Copper Biggers (33-2) finished 11th. The Blue Devils finished third (3:31.35) in the 4x400 meter relay. “We had a number of season and career-best performances from a number of guys,” said Westfield boys track head coach Chris Tafelski.“Christian’s win in the 800 was a real turning point for him,” he said. “Brody, Lincoln and Nikos all had lifetime personal bests in the 1600. Brent ran a really smart race to take the win in the 3200. Our shot guys, Nick, Luke and Jayson, had a great series, moving up spots in their final throws to go 1-4-6 in the event. We got very strong contributions from Luke Scheiner, Doug Gee and Pierce Rowan in the hurdle events.”“We’re excited for the County Championships this week, which should set us up well as we look ahead to State Sectionals next weekend,” he added.