The Hudson County Track Coaches Association championships were all set to be held in mid-May, a meet that Carleisha Forteau was anticipating.
“I worked hard for that meet for four years,” said Forteau, a Secaucus High School senior. “I was really looking forward to the competition in that meet.”
Forteau mentioned Jeffania Cherry of Ferris as being someone who she wanted to face.
“I was really looking forward to facing her,” Forteau said.
But a few days before the county championships, Forteau felt ill.
“I got a message at midnight from her father,” said Secaucus head track and field coach Bayu Sutrisno. “I was dead asleep. The message said that Carleisha had 101 fever. Right there and then, I knew that she wasn’t going to be able to try to push herself and compete the next day.”
The result was a viral infection that would keep Forteau on complete bed rest for an indefinite period.
“It was devastating for the kid,” Sutrisno said.
“It was a big blow to me,” Forteau said. “I wanted to help my team out and wanted to compete. We all thought we had a chance to win the team title. I was beyond frustrated.”
But there was nothing she could do, especially with such a serious diagnosis.
“I didn’t understand what it was,” Sutrisno said. “Her father didn’t tell me how serious it was. I was very worried that she was that sick. I just didn’t want her to end her career like that.”
But with a viral infection, there’s always concern about a full recovery.
“We knew that she had a bright future and it make no sense to try to push her,” Sutrisno said. “It wasn’t that important.”
Forteau simply rested for a few days and tried to get healthy, but she missed the county championships.
“I was definitely determined to come back and be better than ever,” Forteau said.
However, missing key training time at the end of the season is never easy. There was no guarantee that Forteau would return to top form.
“After a few days, I began to feel a lot better,” Forteau said. “I knew I was going to be ready for the state sectionals.”
Forteau had no idea how truly ready she would be.
At the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I meet two weeks ago, Forteau competed in four events and won medals in all four races. She won the gold medal in the 400-meter dash and helped Secaucus win gold in the 4×400-meter relay. She also took second in the 200-meter dash and second in the high jump, punching her ticket to last weekend’s overall Group I state championships in Egg Harbor.
At the Group I championships, Forteau was fourth in the high jump, clearing five feet even. She was third in the 200-meter dash in 25.84 seconds and last but certainly not least, she won the Group I state championship in the 400-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 58.15 seconds.
With the victory, Forteau became the first female Secaucus track and field state champion since Lacey Martens won the Group I discus gold medal in 1998 and the first Secaucus female runner since two-time state champion Renee Zengel, who won the 3,200-meter run in 1992 and 1994.
So Forteau is the first Secaucus track girl to win a state title in 17 years and the first to win on the track in 21 years.
For her efforts, Forteau has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Forteau is stunned with how long it had been since the Patriots had an overall Group I state champion, considering the rich tradition of the Secaucus program.
“I really wanted to win the 400 [meter dash],” Forteau said. “I was very nervous about it. I was on the track with some strong runners. I was able to run past the Saddle Brook girl [Tajia Lagomarsino] with about 50 meters to go. It was amazing.”
Forteau said that she couldn’t believe that she won the race, then ran looking for Sutrisno.
“I ran off the track, looking for my coach, then gave him a high-five,” Forteau said. “It feels really good to be able to bring something back to my school, something they haven’t had in so long.”
“She really finished strong, getting four medals at the sectionals and three at the Groups [Group I],” Sutrisno said. “It is amazing. Throughout her whole career, we were trying to mold her into a star. She worked hard in the weight room, getting stronger, to get her to a point where she could compete for a state championship. We knew from the start that she was going to be a star, a very humble star. We knew she had something special.”
Forteau, who is headed to the University of Rhode Island to run track in the fall, was slated to compete in three events, the 200 and 400-meter dashes and the high jump, at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions Wednesday in South Plainfield. Forteau and a host of others will battle for the supremacy in the state.
“She wants to break her own school records, so that’s what we’re shooting for,” Sutrisno said. “She never settles for mediocrity. She always wants to be the best. It’s just fantastic what she’s been able to do. I’m so happy she got healthy in time.”
Forteau missed a good portion of her junior year due to ankle injuries, so winning a state title more than makes up for it.
“I’ve been running since elementary school,” Forteau said. “I honestly did not think that anything like this could happen. I have a lot of pride in myself for being able to do this for my school and my program. It really feels good.”
Forteau doesn’t know what events she will participate in while at Rhode Island, where she will major in communication studies.
But she is sure of one thing.
“I’m ready for anything that is not a distance,” Forteau said. “I respect it and I understand it. But I don’t want anything that has to do with distance. I don’t have that kind of stamina. I don’t know how others are able to run for miles and miles without stopping. That’s just not me. I know that I still have a long way to go. I’m not anything special.”
But when asked if she understands the title of Group I state champion, “Yeah, that sounds good to me. I was ready to come back after I got sick. I wasn’t ready to count myself out just yet.” – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.