Newark track athletes competed in Hispanic Games in NYC

On Jan. 5, seven members of the Newark Indoor Track team competed in the Hispanic Games at the 168th Street Armory in NYC.

More than 2000 athletes competed and Newark did well against tough competition. Three athletes placed in the top six in their respective events.

The top finisher for Newark was senior Jennifer Hart in the girls Pole Vault. Jen was the returning champion in this event but couldn't match last year's performance. She still managed to vault 8 feet and 6 inches, good enough for fourth place.

'It's hard to do as well as I did last year,' stated Hart. 'We (pole-vaulters) don't have the facilities to practice like we used to.' She refers to the closing of Midlakes High School's indoor vaulting facility because Midlakes no longer has an indoor team. Last year Newark athletes practiced there once a week and this year they haven't been able to go at all.

Ryan VanHalle was sixth in the boys pole vault at 12 feet. He has the second best vault from all athletes in Section 5.

Jesse Contario was fifth in the boys 3200 meter race. His time of 9:39.8 places him at the top of the Section 5 leader board.

Coach Joe Contario said, 'We were really hoping that Jesse would run under 9:30, but because of the hard week of training he put in this week, this time isn't bad at all.'

Senior Brandon Schroeder ran a personal best of :52.0 in the 400, which placed him among the top 30 finishers in a large and strong field of runners. Brandon's time is the second fastest ever run by a Newark athlete.

Competing in the girls 400 meter race was Senior Lisa Curtain. Lisa finished with in :65.3 but said she could have run faster if she had been able to get around some of the slower runners in front of her.

Senior Peter Chambers ran the mile in 4:42.20; although he did not place at the meet, this time is good enough to place him fifth in Section 5.

Sophomore Angie Washburn ran the 3000 and finished with a time of 11:23.3, the sixth fastest time run by any Section 5 girl this year.

The Reds took home three plaques and added to the Section 5 leader board in five events. The Reds next competition is January 13 at the University of Rochester.

top of page

Copyright © 2001
Courier-Gazette, 613 S. Main St. Newark, N.Y. 14513 - 315-331-1000
All Rights Reserved