Pole Valuters Highlight Relay Championships for Eagles

Competing in one of the first big state meets of the winter season, the West Deptford indoor track and field team had a few standout performances at the NJSIAA Group 2 Relay Championships over the weekend in Toms River.

The girls' team recorded six points in the final team standings, thanks to solid performances in the pole vault. Senior Claudia Theriault and sophomore Elizabeth Douglas both finished in the top 10, earning six points for West Deptford in the process. Theriault finished with a vault of 9feet, while Douglas' top vault was 8 feet, 6 inches. Their efforts allowed the Eagles to finish in third place overall behind Ramapo and Delsea.

The Eagles placed in the top 10 overall in a few of the races on the track, though they failed to earn any points for the team score. In the girls' 1600 sprint medley, sophomore Nicole Pinto, junior Kelly Meagher and seniors Millie Kipp and Megan Knoblock won their heat by a wide margin with a time of 4:35.83. Their mark was good enough to place ninth overall out of 36 schools.

In the distance medley, Knoblock and Pinto teamed up with sophomore Karen Knoblock and freshman Anna Kipp to place ninth with a time of 13:28.40.

The boys also put up a good showing in the 4x800m relay. Juniors John Ladner, Dale Johnson and Raymond Parsons, along with senior Andrew Cappola, finished in ninth place with a time of 8:39.89. They had just missed finishing in the top six by less than a second, having been edge out by Red Bank Catholic and Governor Livingston's teams.

The boys' shot put failed to earn any points for the team. However, junior Nick Pullie did have a very impressive throw of 47 feet, 10.50 inches. His throw was the sixth-best overall.