Budd Ninth in 1,600 in Tough Night for West Deptford Track

It was a tough opening night for ’s track and field athletes at the state Group 2 meet in South Plainfield Friday, with no one advancing to the Meet of Champions.

Samantha Budd came the closest, finishing 9th—four spots above where she was seeded—in the 1,600, after running a 5:12.71, slightly faster than her time last week. Winner Dana Giordano took the title in 4:58.10.

Budd would’ve needed to clock a mile close to the West Deptford school record to qualify for the next level, with the six qualifiers all running under 5:06.

Megan Knoblock also had a good showing in the 1,600, carving nearly seven seconds off her time from last week to finish 13th, in 5:21.09.

On the boys’ side on the track, Kyle Perry missed out on advancing in the 400, running a 51.82.

In the field, Megan Kirschling and Nick Pulli were each 11th overall in their respective events.

Kirschling leaped 34-6.5 in the triple jump, slightly shorter than what she did at the South Jersey meet, while Pulli threw 49-0.5 in the shot put, also slightly shorter than what he did at Buena last week.

Pulli had the extra challenge of going against top seed Braheme Days of Bridgeton, who broke the meet record with a heave of 64 feet even.

Saturday's action will see Budd and Kirschling go after individual titles in the 800 and high jump, respectively, among other action.