Boys Finish Seventh, Girls Place Fifth at NJACC

The Northern Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at Drew University, held on Saturday, are split into two, with the larger teams competing in the "American" events, while the smaller teams compete in the "Freedom" events. Chatham, being classified as a small school, competed in the Freedom events.  

The Chatham boys finished in seventh overall in the Freedom Conference, earning a total of 16 points. Chatham's girls team took fifth overall with 34 total points. The Morris Hills girls and boys teams both took first.

Sohomore Anthony Malatesta continued to perform well, as he has throughout the season, earning a fourth place finish in the 1600 meter event with his time of 4:52.10. He scored four points for his team.

"I had three events last night," said Malatesta, "I'm tired. I didn't expect to take one of the top places today."

Senior Kat Grimes started the day off for the girls with a first place finish in the 1600 meter event. Her time of 5:23.32 earned her a medal and won her team 10 points, putting them in third place overall early in the meet.

Grimes is coming back from an injury, but she still expects top performances from herself.

"I know the other conference is much more competitive. So, coming in knowing that, I thought I would be favored, and I took it fast and kept the lead," said Grimes, adding, "This is only my second race of the season."

With four events scored, the Chatham girls were tied for fifth with Madison. Both teams had 10 points. With four events scored for the boys, Chatham held seventh place with four points.

But the Chatham girls did not place in the next two events, and dropped to sixth place overall. Morris Hills was in first with 47 points and Hanover Park was in second with 38 at the end of six events.

Junior Jake Neuman took sixth in the boys' shot put event with a length of 44 feet, 3.25 inches, scoring an additional point. At this point in the meet, eight events were scored and the Chatham boys were in eighth place with five points. Morris Hills was in first with 60 and Hanover Park was in second with 50.50 points.

Grimes scored eight more points for Chatham in the girls 1000 meter event, taking second place with her 3:12.43 finish.

Chatham head girls Coach Terence Ferguson had expected that Grimes would come back from her injury and be among the top competitors this season.

"She is a returning indoor and outdoor track state competitor. So, we are not surprised. Looking at other competitor's times, we knew she would sit in those first and second positions," said Ferguson.

Senior Jack Beecher earned the only first place finish of the day for the Chatham boys. With his time of 10:19.08 in the 3200 meter, he scored 10 points and improved Chatham's standing to seventh overall.

"I didn't expect to get first. I thought I would be in medal contention, but not first. I went out pretty fast at the beginning, then let others make the pace for me and just pulled it out in the end," Beecher said.

Sophomore Tara Hanley's time of 11:31.8 was good enough for a first place finish in the girls 3200 meter event, earning 10 points for Chatham. Senior Kathleen Lavelle also placed in the event, taking third and six more points. With nine events now scored and the final competitors lining up for their events, the Chatham girls were in fourth place with 34 points, only four points behind third place Hanover Park.

But after the final event, Chatham's girls were passed by Butler in the standing and dropped to fifth overall.

Chatham's next track meet is on Monday at Drew University for the Morris County Freshman and Sophomore Championship.