Track: Highlights from the 2024 Bergen County Boys Track Championships

OLD TAPPAN -- In a year where the traditional Bergen County boys powers maintained or regained their hold on the Gene Littler Bergen County groups championships, Waldwick made it's return.

Ridgewood easily captured its fourth straight A division title and seventh in eight years with a 150 1/4-84 defeat of Hackensack, while Demarest rolled to its seventh consecutive B title by a near record margin, 189-94 over Old Tappan. Hasbrouck Heights claimed its third straight C title (and fourth in five years), 149-80 over Pascack Hills.

Even relative newcomer Don Bosco won its first E title since 2016, 207-173 over Bergen Catholic after losing the previous three seasons to the Crusaders by a combined 18 points.

Then there's Waldwick.

Waldwick wins first boys division title since 1989

The last time the Warriors won a Bergen group championship, their head coach Eric Wizemann was in the seventh grade, and now he's a veteran skipper of more than 20 years. The realignment of divisions was still 15 years away and most of the parents of today's team hadn't graduated high school yet.

In his preview, Wizemann said his team was hoping for a .500 season in the league. The Warriors went 2-7. In the NJIC Patriot division, the Warriors finished eighth of eight teams with just 16 points, well behind four Division D teams they beat at the Bergen meet.

Waldwick scored 108 points, a record for the school at any major meet and knocked off Emerson and Midland Park, 108-97-93, in a seesaw battle that wasn't decided until the Warriors, with a team of freshman Luc Ysern, Matt Harris, senior Marshall Carver and sophomore Eric Mezini won the final event, the 4-x-400 relay by nearly 20 meters, leading from the opening gun to the finish.

How could that happen?

The secret may have been hidden in something else Weizmann wrote in the preseason preview. "We expect of have depth in multiple events this year,'' he said in his write-up. "We are able to spread kids around in all events.''

"We talked Friday about getting off to a good start and after our day 1 performances, we knew there was a possibility that this could happen,'' said Wizemann, who watched London Hom and Ethan Brezdan got 2-4 in the opening event, the 400 hurdles and soph Matt Elsasser and senior Bryce Hamilton go 1-3 in the 100. Carver, a four year stalwart took third in the 1,600 and Ysern and Hom went 2-4 in the 400, and when the Warriors 4-x-800 relay took fourth in an event they'd rarely competed in in the past, Waldwick led by 13 points over Emerson and 16 over Midland Park, despite getting only six points (Eric Wang's third in the long jump) in the three field events.

Carver then set the tone for the second day by scoring a win in the 3,200 in 9:58.63, a 16 second PR and the Warriors were off and running.

"We needed him not only to score points but get a great performance in the process to give us a chance,'' said Weizmann and he did that.

Ryan Andersen took 6th in the hurdles final and Waldwick won a tight battle in the 4-x-100. With 2 events to go, Emerson led Midland Park and Waldwick, 87-86-79.

"I was sweating the 200,'' said Wizemann. But again Elsasser and Hamilton came through with a 1-2 performance and Hom took sixth as the Warriors opened a six point lead before the climatic 4-x-400.

"It's the first meet all year that we were healthy,'' said Weizmann. "I don't know if the kids fully appreciate what they've done.''

Don Bosco returns to form, wins E title

From 2001-2015, Don Bosco won eight titles in 15 years in group 4, division A and then after the Non-Publics were placed in their own division in 2016, the first division E crown, followed the longest title drought in decades.

Dalton Friend had been part of the last Bosco team to win the Bergen Division A meet in 2014 before the separation and he took the head coaching job last spring convinced he could bring his alma mater back to prominence.

It came more quickly than expected.

"I didn't think the pieces would together this quickly,'' said Friend, whose team won seven events en route to their 12th overall title. "The biggest moment might have come in the javelin throw when we took 1-2-4 with three underclassmen throwing personal bests.''

Noel Montero, James Patrick Gibbons and Colin Brennan were the scorers in that event Friday which led to the Ironmen opening a 32 point first day lead over six-time defending champ Bergen Catholic which quickly became 61 after 1-2 finishes in Saturday's first two events.

State triple jump champ Bobby Mays won his specialty and freshman Isaiah Alvarez was second and Ryan Locicero and freshman Matthias Fontao went 1-2 in the 3,200 to relax a little.

"Ryan had a great meet and Bobby's achievements speak for themselves,'' said Friend. "But always got great meets from kids Jack Dowd, Jan Siek and Joey D'Angelo that make her team dangerous in most events.''

Demarest's talent and extraordinary depth provide seventh straight B title

Maybe, Demarest won't repeat as the state group 2 champions. State group meets are notorious for the best laid plans going awry. But the Norsemen are clearly as talented as they were a year ago and just might be deeper.

That was apparent in their 95-point win in a division that features stars like state champions Jack Small of Old Tappan and Jaden Marchan of Leonia, with contenders like Goran Saric of OT, Patrick Kurtz of Pascack Valley and Liam Schwabik of Rover Dell.

The Norsemen have their own stars of course, led by Liam Paneque, who scored an amazing quadruple win which showcases one of the state's most versatile athletes and a middle distance team led by Enrico Parrella, Luke Davis and Ivan Timochko that may the best in North Jersey in a non-Ridgewood jersey. And in a long sprint world where Marchan is clearly the king right now, junior Adam Kaufman is the heir apparent.

The most impressive thing however, may be Demarest's depth.

"Our second and third and sometimes when needed even our fourth kids in an event come through when it counts and we need them,'' said Demarest coach Mike Theuerkauf. "We have such a great deep coaching staff that creates player development and makes it happen.''

The major meet monsters create that depth, in part because of dual meets, which have lost some luster in recent years.

"We get geeked up for dual meets because it's there that we let those younger kids start to be in positions that matter,'' says Theuerkauf. "It's an honor to go head-to-head.''

Demarest's depth was such that on the weekend, the Norsemen would have been second to Old Tappan overall without its top athlete in every event (but the relays).

And here's the bad news for future Norsemen opponents in 2025. Of the 189 points scored by Demarest, less than 20% were scored by seniors.

Ridgewood shakes off injuries, inexperience and keeps rolling in A

While Ridgewood continues to have one of the great distance programs in New Jersey, the Maroons' inexperience in most other events seemed to provide some real challenges in extending their dominance of the A division. Then their top returning non distance runner, Victor Souza suffered a significant hamstring injury in an early season winter meet putting his whole spring season at risk and making a seemingly shallow Ridgewood team even more bereft of the depth needed to succeed at the levels the Maroons are accustomed to.

Things aren't all that they seem.

Souza continued his comeback from injury with a spectacular personal best and meet-leading performance in winning the 110 hurdles Saturday, one day after a personal best performance in a second place finish in the grueling 400 hurdles. That combined with the usual sterling distance performance in the four longest running events and the continued development of an unheralded throws team led to an easier than expected win and continued satisfaction from long-time coach Josh Saladino.

"The jump Victor's made from his first race in the league to now is excellent and I think he can make another jump going forward,'' said Saladino. And knowing we can compete the way we have in the throwing events give us more confidence and depth when we try for a third straight sectional title in a few weeks.''

Matt Schwindt, a kicker on the football team, also proved he could throw, winning the discus and javelin while junior Jack Fitzgerald took second in the shot.

And of course the stellar Ridgewood distance team was as usual, stellar.

State 3,200 meter champ Luke Pash won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 runs, with a spectacular move on the inside to win the 800, his final event. DJ Murphy and Chris Brady went 2-5 in the 1,600, both in personal bests and Murphy and Brady went 3-5 in the 3,200. Jack McKenna was fifth in the 800 and the Maroons' 4-x-800 team easily took that race, providing a total 60 points, just 24 less than runner-up Hackensack got in the entire meet.

"After the Bergen Meet of Champions Friday we have a long layoff until the sectionals,'' said Saladino. "We have a chance to win the sectional again if we're ready.''

Can Heights take the next step?

After an excellent winter with breakout performances from sophomore sprinter Michael Napolitano and jumper Matt Murrillo and the continued excellence of distance star Aidan Morrow, can Hasbrouck Heights duplicate the performance of the 2023 girls team and win a state title?

The Aviator boys finished seventh last year and fifth the year before, but adding a terrific throws team headed by Oscar Solis, Brady Shine, Tyler Cappadonna, Joe Russo and Joe Formisano, a huge step up might be coming.

But the biggest breakthrough of all might be the development of Ryan Ober, a solid cross-country runner on Heights' cross-country team who has had a breakthrough season in the 400 hurdles and 800 meters, especially in the latter event.

Ober outran Morrow running a negative split in the 800 meters (running the second half of the race, faster than the first) and had a six second PR to 1:59.49 and now gives the Aviators a potential scorer in nearly every event at sectionals and in more than half of the 18 events at states.

The Aviators, who won the indoor sectionals without a point from the shot put, a rare occurrence for the usually dominant throwers, scored 46 points in the throws with Solis winning the shot and taking second in the discus with Shine tossing the javelin 177-2 in his fourth meet ever. The throw launches him into second place in New Jersey this year.

Aviator coach Rob Brady demurs a little from the excitement.

"There's a long way to go yet and we've got lots of work to do,'' says Brady. "We have a lot of talent and they keep getting better. We'll see."

Summaries

TEAM SCORES

DIVISION A: Ridgewood (RW) 150 ¼, Hackensack (H) 84, Teaneck (TEA) 61, Bergenfield (BERG) 54, Northern Highlands (NH) 46, Bergen Tech (BT) 42 ¼, Fair Lawn (FRLN) 38, Garfield (GAR) 32 ¼, Ramapo (RPO) 28 ¼, Tenafly (TEN) 18, Cliffside Park (CP) 4.

DIVISION B: Demarest (DEM) 189, Old Tappan (OT) 94, Pascack Valley (PV) 70, Leonia (LEON) 58, River Dell (RD) 57, Dwight Morrow (DM) 48, Mahwah (MAH) 18, Fort Lee (FTL) 15, Lodi (LO) 7, Ridgefield Park (RP) 2.

DIVISION C: Hasbrouck Heights (HH) 149 , Pascack Hills (PH) 80, Rutherford (RUTH) 69, Glen Rock (GR) 65, Becton (BEC) 46, New Milford (NM) 36, Indian Hills (IH) 27, Ramsey (RAMS) 26, Lyndhurst (LYND) 25, Dumont (DUM) 24, Elmwood Park (EP) 10, North Arlington (NA) 1.

DIVISION D: Waldwick (WALD) 108 , Emerson (EM) 97, Midland Park (MP) 93, Park Ridge (PR) 55, Cresskill (CRES) 54, Ridgefield (RF) 46, Saddle Brook (SB) 45, Wood-Ridge (WR) 29, Bogota (BOG) 20, Wallington (WALL) 2, Palisades Park (PP) 1.

DIVISION E: Don Bosco (DB) 207, Bergen Catholic (BC) 173, Paramus Catholic (PC) 115, Dwight-Englewood (DE) 24, St. Joseph (SJR) 2, St. Mary’s (SM) 1.

100: Andrew Jeremiah Boakye (BC), 11.10; Michael Napolitano (HH), 11.13; Adam Kaufman (DEM), 11.20 ; Saundrae Palmer (DM), 11.22; Omar Brown (LEON), 11.24. Also: Joshua Williams (TEA), 11.31; Matthew Elsasser (WALD), 11.75.

200: Jaden Marchan (LEON), 21.70; Boakye, 22.05; Bryan Porter (BC), 22.53; Gregory Celariste (DB), 22.59; Kaufman, 22.61. Also: Seven Garcia (H), 22.83; Marco Bozza-Caballero (RUTH), 22.97; Elsasser, 24.08.

400: Marchan, 47.42; Kaufman, 49.62; Garcia, 49.69; Corey Sanders, Jr., 49.79; Goran Saric (OT), 50.02. Also: Steven Longo (BEC), 50.77; Charlie Denekamp (MP), 52.85.

800: Patrick Kurtz (PV), 1:56.11; Luke Pash (RW), 1:56.79; Ryan Welch (RPO), 1:56.94; Liam Schwabik (RD), 1:57.22; Luke Davis (DEM), 1:59.19. Also: Ryan Locicero (DB), 1:59.23; Ryan Ober (HH), 1:59.49; Denekamp, 2:04.92 .

1,600: Pash, 4:18.69; DJ Murphy (RW), 4:22.20; Dylan Guarquila (H), 4:23.02; Josh Tejada (TEA), 4:23.38; Kurtz, 4:26.17. Also: Locicero, 4:30.76; Aidan Morrow (HH), 4:33.45; Patrick Tallman (PR), 4:41.42.

3,200: Pash, 9:29.01; Tejada, 9:32.64; Murphy, 9:40.36; Jimmy Hernandez (BERG), 9:41.01; Morrow, 9:42.19; Also: Locicero, 9:56.39; Marshall Carver (WALD), 9:58.63; Marcus Koshy (PV), 10:04.50.

110 HH: 1. Victor Souza (RW), 14.68; Adrian Laing (PC), 14.83; James Alati (RUTH), 15.10; Tyler Caswell (GR), 15.11; Liam Paneque (DEM), 15.23. Also: William Cusick (CRES), 15.90.

400 IH: Maximus Daniels (IH), 54.92; Anthony Senatore (BT), 55.74; Saric, 56.71 ; Souza, 56.76; Caswell, 56.77. Also: Jaidyn Johnson (PC), 59.22; Denekamp, 59.41.

Shot put: Benji Shue (BC), 64-3; Jack Small (OT), 57-11; Marco DeCroce (DEM), 52-7 ¾; Oscar Solis (HH), 47-8 ½; Arsham Beyrami (FTL), 47-6 ½. Also: Jake Douma (MP), 47-2; Everton Bills (TEA), 47-1.

Discus: Shue, 198-4; Bradley Weiner (RAMS), 165-6; Small, 161-5; DeCroce, 153-7; Lamont Lester (DB), 150-6. Also: Eddie Schaefer (RF), 133-2; Matt Schwindt (RW), 131-7.

Javelin: Brady Shine (HH), 177-2; Julius Catuogno (MP), 172-0; Colin Krause (PV), 166-5; Cusick, 165-4;Evan Brooks (OT), 165-2; Also: Noel Montero (DB), 143-7; Schwindt, 132-5.

High jump: Paneque, 6-4; Brandon Alef (DEM), 6-2; Luke Adami (NH), Tristan Oliver (BC) and Darreyle Simpson (EP), 6-0. Also: Lasana Darboe (RF), 5-8.

Long jump: Paneque, 23-2; Bobby Mays (DB), 22-10 ¾; Joshua Yoon (CRES), 22-1 ¼; Anthony Santana (LYND), 22-0 ¼; Darboe, 21-10. Also: Adami, 20-7.

Triple jump: Paneque, 46-6 ½; Yoon and Mays, 45-7; Adam Shaw (PV), 44-10 ½; Matt Murillo (HH), 43-0. Also: Bradley Allen (H) and Irasel Sawyers (BERG), 42-4.

Pole vault: Allan Villavicencio (TEN), Timothy Lee (OT) and Michael Dao (PH), 13-0; Ben Mandler (PH), 12-6; four tied at 12-0. Also: Peter Fordahl (EM), and Cornelius Wallace (DB), 10-0.

4-x-100 relay: Bergen Catholic, 42.68; Paramus Catholic, 43.17; Don Bosco, 43.21; Leonia, 43.41; Ridgewood, 43.67. Also: Pascack Hills, 43.96; Waldwick, 46.07.

4-x-400 relay: Hackensack, 3:21.46; Bergenfield, 3:22.87 ; Paramus Catholic, 3:22.89; Dwight Morrow, 3:23.90; Demarest, 3:26.01. Also: Rutherford, 3:28.26; Waldwick, 3:42.91.

4-x-800 relay: Ridgewood, 8:18.64; Teaneck, 8:26.27; Hasbrouck Heights, 8:27.22; Glen Rock, 8:28.64; Demarest, 8:30.71. Also: Bergen Catholic, 8:34.54; Park Ridge, 8:52.83.

How'd he do?

As he does every year, Paul Schwartz picks the winner in every event in the Gene Littler Bergen County group meet as well as the team champions.

Here is how he did division by division:

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Track: Highlights from the 2024 Bergen County Boys Track Championships