Two years ago, the Memorial boys’ track team went to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River with the hopes of winning the school’s first-ever state sectional indoor track championship and the Tigers fell a little short, finishing sixth overall.
Last year, there were more of the same hopes and aspirations. The Tigers did make improvement, finishing third overall.
So when the Tigers prepared for another journey down the Garden State Parkway to Exit 82 and the Bennett Center once again, they had one thing in mind – securing that elusive trophy.
There was only one slight obstacle. The Tigers went onto the track at the Bennett Center with a team of just five competitors. That’s not an easy thing to do, compete with some of the top track and field programs in New Jersey with five kids.
“These kids knew what it was like to lose and were very motivated when they got there to not let it happen again,” veteran Memorial track coach Julio Lopez said. “They came close before, so they knew that they had to be focused and do all the things they had to do.”
But with just five kids?
“It’s very difficult,” senior Kelvin Amonte said. “We all knew that it was. But we had a lot of motivation for what had happened over the last couple of years. We were right there and didn’t get a chance to win. We talked about it every day since cross country season. We put in the work and wanted to win.”
“We only have five guys,” said junior Rafael Hernandez. “It just meant that we had to work a little harder.”
The Memorial “Fab Five” certainly did that, scoring as many points as possible to pull off the unthinkable, winning the North 1, Group IV state title, the first in the school’s history. The Tigers collected 62 points, compared to 54 for East Orange, with West Orange a distant third.
“It’s a great win, especially since Hudson County teams don’t get a lot of credit or respect from the rest of the state,” Lopez said. “It’s great when a team from Hudson County does well. Everyone knew what they needed to do to succeed.”
The star of the day was senior Onasi Cuevas, who earned three medals. He won the 400-meter dash in 50.73, improving by almost a full second over his seeded time where he was ranked seventh and still managed to win. Cuevas also finished third in the 55-meter dash, but his biggest contribution came in running the anchor leg of the 4×400-meter relay, winning the race in 3:31.76.
The relay team of Cuevas, Almonte, junior Anderson Heredia and junior Jose De La Cruz knew that they had to either win or place second in order for the Tigers to have a chance of winning the meet, considering they were not going to score points in the field events.
So the relay team was do or die – and they did.
“It meant a lot,” Cuevas said about crossing the finish line first. “We worked throughout the whole summer for that moment. We were prepared for it. It’s the greatest feeling to be the first champions ever.”
“That’s some day that kid had,” Lopez said.
Hernandez was also influential. He won the 3,200-meter run in 9:50.49 and placed second in the 1,600-meter run.
Hernandez said that it was tough to prepare for an indoor track meet with the conditions outside.
“Running 10 miles on the treadmill is horrible, so I have to go outside,” Hernandez said. “It’s the worst thing to look outside and see all the snow. But even if there’s snow, I have to go outside to train. It’s the only way to go.”
“I tell them that if you don’t see the mailman out there in the snow, then they don’t have to run,” Lopez said. “But they’re like the mailman. They’re out there no matter what, no matter what the conditions are, even running on their own when there’s no school.”
Heredia also earned two medals. He won the 800-meter run in 2:01.00 and ran on the victorious relay team. Almonte collected two as well, finishing second in the 55-meter hurdles and joining the rest on the gold medal winning relay team that clinched the state crown.
“You could see the emotions of the kids, hugging each other after they won the relay, crying,” Lopez said. “It’s not an easy thing to do. They had to be truly dedicated.”
“We put a lot of work into it, a lot of training,” Hernandez said. “Finally to see our hard work pay off is a blessing.” – Jim Hague
NOTE: The weekly Athlete of the Week feature will return next week.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.