Alleman, who swept the Meet of Champions both indoors and outdoors last year and is one of the great clutch throwers in state history faces the unusual role of being underdog to freshman sensation Nick Vena of Morristown, who took over the national shot put lead with a throw of 63-2 ¾ and handed Alleman his first loss last Monday night in an invitational meet in New York. In suffering his only defeat to Vena, Alleman also established a career best with a 62-4 throw and seems motivated by the freshman wunderkind, who was recently featured in Sports Illustrated.
“It’s exciting to throw against him. We both make each other better,” said Alleman,who unloaded a 60-5 to win his specialty in Group 3.His next matchup with Vena takes place in the state Group 3 meet on Sunday at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
Led by Alleman, the boys finished fourth with 27 ¼ points, well behind conference for Irvington which had 76, mostly in the sprints. and Millburn, which dominated the distances for its 62 points
Junior Martin Sweeney, Scotch Plains placed fourth in the 1600 in 4:37.74 and seniors Pat Doliber (10:08.60) and Dan Sapienza (10:15.05) finished fourth and fifth in the 3200 meter run.
Junior Louvan Powell qualified third in the high jump with a 5-10.leap and Larry Dent also placed, tying for sixth with 5-4. Junior Matt McQuoid grabbed the final qualifying spot in the shot put with a sixth place throw of 40-6 1/2.
In the girls contest, Jones, the defending Group 3 outdoor sectional champion added the indoor title with a throw of 36-3 ¼. Jones will be a decided underdog this Sunday against one of the state’s top duos DeAnne Hahn and Lisa Stuto both of Brick, who each exceeded 41 feet this past weekend.
Led by Jones, the Raider girls were third with 37 well behind winner Ridge, which scored 112. Senior Erin Rossi, who was injured most of the winter, gave the team a big lift with a 33-3 for third in the shot put.
Junior Brittney Veeck was the team’s top scorer, unleashing her finest distance double to date, finishing second in both the 800 meters (2:26.82) and the 1600 (5:29.72).Senior Cathy Harley ran a strong 12:06.04.to qualify fourth in the 3200 meter run. The Raiders’ 1600 meter relay also placed sixth in 4:23.36.
Showing their usual balance, the Westfield boys were fourth in a powerful Group 4 meet with 32 points. Leading the team was senior Adam Bergo who had the top mark of any section and will be the top seed in the high jump with his 6-6.effort, just below his career best of 6-8.
In the 800 meters, the Blue Devils qualified two runners senior Alex Tarlow fourth in2:02.62.and sophomore Josh Einbinder sixth in 2:04.69.Senior Evan Friedman, Westfield held on for third in the 1600 meter, running 4:39.28. Westfield displayed its usual strength in the pole vault with Danny Markowski third in 11-0. and Tim Woods, tied for fourth in 10-0. The Blue Devils’ 1600 meter relay ran 3:37.29 for fifth.
The Westfield girls finished with ten points in a tough Group 4 meet. Sophomore Lisa Nehring, Westfield finished fifth in the 800 with a 2:29.26, sophomore Claire Stevens-Haas placed fourth in the pole vault (9').and the 1600 meter relay of Christina Obiajulu, Ashley Edwards, Cat Cognetti and Tessa Schaaf was fourth in 4:17.83. Last Friday at the Collegiate Invitational at the Armory the 4 by 800 team of Schaaf 2:24.7, Rose Driscoll 2:31.6, Nehring 2:27.1 and Cognetti 2:23.7dropped their time to 9:47.3 in an effort to earn a spot at the Eastern States Championships.
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