The NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV track and field championships at Clifton High School last weekend represented a wide range of emotions for some local athletes.
For North Bergen senior Javier Cuevas, the meet represented a personal high, a two-day coming-out party that put him in a class with the finest distance runners in New Jersey – and in the history of the school.
For Memorial senior Bryan Durango, the meet represented a disappointing low, a constant battle with a nagging quad injury that hampered him from making a return trip to run with and against the best track athletes in the state, like he did a year ago.
Cuevas’ incredible weekend began last Friday, when he impressively steamrolled to the 3,200-meter state sectional title, easily defeating rival Paul Kornaszewski of Clifton by more than seven seconds.
Kornaszewski had gone head-to-head with Cuevas at the Bernards Invitational meet in April, but Cuevas was able to hold him off on the final strides. This time, there was not going to be a chance for a photo finish.
"I came in psyched and was ready to win," Cuevas said. "I really felt like I had my stride before the race. Two laps before the final lap, I felt strong and felt like it was time to go get it. I wasn’t even tired. I felt very strong."
On Saturday, Cuevas entered the 1,600-meter race, just hoping to compete. But once again, he impressively stormed past the entire field, winning the race by more than seven seconds once again.
Two state sectional championships, both by personal best times. A year ago, Cuevas made a move to simply compete. A year later, he came to simply dominate.
"I’m very surprised," Cuevas said. "It’s pretty amazing. I wasn’t looking to do a personal best. I was just wanted to qualify for the state meet [the first six finishers qualified for the Group IV overall championships in Egg Harbor this weekend]. I really don’t know what to think of this. It’s my senior year and I wanted to go out with a bang. I just trained hard for this."
Added Cuevas, "I just kicked it into a second gear here. I was going to be happy if I just won the two-mile [the 3,200], but winning both is really amazing. It really feels great."
North Bergen coach Yael Martinez had a feeling that Cuevas would show his very best at the state sectionals.
"I never try to expect anything, but I kind of hoped that he would," Martinez said. "I told him that he shouldn’t worry about anything, that he should just go out and run like he can. And he was just perfect. It was phenomenal. It’s been a long time since we’ve had someone win two."
And while Cuevas leaves to go to the University of Rhode Island to study computer engineering in the fall, there appears to be another track superstar in the making, as fabulous freshman Kevin Thompson placed second in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.
"Kevin also had a fantastic meet," Martinez said. "I think the others are also getting a chance to see that the hard work does pay off."
Strained quad
While Thompson was celebrating his good fortune, Durango, who was expected to lock horns with the Bruin youngster in both races, was bemoaning his bad luck.
Three weeks ago, when preparing for the Hudson County Track Coaches Association meet, Durango felt a twinge in his upper right thigh. The result? A strained right quad muscle, which do not heal easily.
"I thought it was getting better," Durango said. "I was getting therapy and it felt better."
However, in the time trials of the first event of the weekend, the 100-meter dash, Durango felt the quad pop again.
"It felt like it was going to rip," Durango said. "The timer looked at me and said, ‘That has to hurt.’ He could tell I was in pain by the look on my face."
Durango went to get medical attention and had the thigh heavily taped before the next time trial. He continued to compete with the injury and managed to finish sixth in the 100-meter finals, with a respectable time of 11.5, four places behind Thompson.
Durango went home on Friday saying that he was going to receive more medical treatment and therapy in order to come back to compete on Saturday. He came back and ran in the 110-meter high hurdles, where he finished second.
However, Durango was unable to compete in his strongest event, the 200-meter dash, which he won a year ago en route to a sixth-place finish in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
"I really had high hopes for this season," said Durango, who has already signed a letter of intent to play football at Rutgers in the fall. "Since indoor season, my quad hasn’t been the same. Football is very important to me and I don’t want to do anything that is going to jeopardize that. It’s very disappointing. I’m not used to losing. It’s tough seeing someone run in front of you. I don’t want to give up. I’ve been to this point three times. To sit and watch will be very difficult."
So Durango will head to Egg Harbor to compete in two events, the 100-meter dash and the 110-meter high hurdles. But he will not compete in his strongest event.
Some other Hudson County athletes who earned the right to compete in Egg Harbor includes Memorial’s Angelo Rosa (fourth in long jump) and Gregory Ramirez (fifth in high hurdles), and North Bergen’s Manny Ruidiaz (sixth in the 1,600). They will all compete in the Group IV meet.
Memorial’s Fatima Palomo earned personal best times in the 800-meter run and the 100-meter hurdles. Her time of 2:24.9 in the 800-meter was good for fourth and her time of 15.3 in the hurdles was good for second. Palomo also finished third in the long jump last Friday, so she’s the lone Hudson County female athlete to earn qualification in three events.
McNair Academic’s Kelechuku Okoji, definitely the best name in the meet, qualified in the Group I 800-meter run, finishing third at the sectionals, and was fourth in the 1,600-meters. Okoji was also third in the 3,200-meters, so he also qualified to compete in three events.
Milton Orellana of Secaucus earned an invitation with his third place finish in the Group I 200-meter dash. – Jim Hague