Chatham Track Teams Defeat Pequannock, Fall to Hanover Park in Meet

The Chatham boys' and girls' track teams' strength in distance running events lead them to victories over Pequannock Wednesday at Cougar Field. Both teams fell to Hanover Park in the tri-meet.

The boys' team started strong, placing first and third overall in the 400 meter hurdles. Steven Bangs won the event with a time of 60.7 seconds.

But it was the distance events in which Chatham dominated.

Sophomore Corey Black placed first overall in the 800 meter race with a time of 2:09.1, and fellow sophomore Anthony Malatesta had the overall best time in the 1600 meter race for the meet, running 4:44.8 and taking first. Teammate Stephen Leonard quickly followed with the second best time at 4:46.8

Chatham's Jack Beecher won the 3200 meter race and tied his personal best time.

"I felt good—it was a good pace all along," said Beecher.

Beecher's sights are set on the Morris County Relay Championship, which will begin this Friday. He also hopes to help his team attain a Chatham high school record in the distance medley relay. The Chatham record is 11:01 and the Cougar medley team has run a best of 11:06.

The Chatham girls' team also had a strong showing in the distance events.

Like her fellow sophomore counterpart, Tara Hanley placed first overall in the 1600 meter race with a time of 5:37.6.  Her teammate, sophomore Tara Malanga, placed second with a time of 5:47.3.

In the 3200 meter race, senior Kathleen Lavelle and teammate Kayla Michell placed first and third overall with the times of 12:15.4 and 13.10, respectively.

It was the 4 x 400 meter relay to close the meet that got the most excitement from the team. 

When it entered the second leg of the relay, Chatham was trailing closely behind Hanover Park. When the baton was passed to Chatham's Katie Hurt, it took her 100 meters to pass the Hanover Park runner and leave the competition in the dust. As Hurt completed her lap around the track she passed the baton to Sarah Wang, having given the team a sizable lead.

"It felt pretty refreshing being able to run after Katie who gave us a big lead—it felt great," Wang said. The relay team finished first over Hanover Park and Pequannock with a time of 4:29.8.

Like Beecher, Wang also has her eyes on the upcoming Morris County Relay Championship.

"I'm really optimistic about the four by four [hundred meter relay] in counties," said Wang.

The county championships are Friday and Saturday at Morris Knolls High School.