Ridge Boys Win 6th Straight Somerset County Relay Championship Title

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — On Sunday, Jan. 12, the Ridge boys took a trip to Ocean Breeze to compete in the Somerset County Relay Championship.

Battling against Hillsborough for most of the meet, the boys won the meet 71-57 against Hillsborough.

This was the boys’ 6th consecutive County title, exemplifying dominance across over half of a decade.

Kicking off the meet was the Distance Medley Relay. The team of Kaleb Huang, Tristan Frank, Nick Alapatt and Brenden McMahon placed 2nd. The race was highlighted by a negative-split 1200 from Kaleb, and PRs from both Tristan on the 400m leg and Nick Alapatt on the 800m leg of the relay.

Shortly after the DMR was the Shuttle Hurdle Relay, in which Marcus Reilly, Jason Wiatroski, Jared Rasico, and Joseph Dachnowicz placed 2nd with a time of 31.77. The boys took an early lead with 16 points in the first two events of the day.

The boys next scored 10 points in the 4x800, taking the win with a time of 8:15.74.

Nick Alapatt returned for his second race of the day, leading off in a 2:05.13. Next up was Ryan Swan, making his debut for an 800. Swan ran an incredible split of 2:01.94, handing the baton off in 1st place in his first 800 ever. Freshman Axl Asaro then held onto the lead with a PR of 2:05.73, and Brenden McMahon brought it home with a 2:02.94 split.

Following the 4x800 was the SMR.

Leading off was Ryan Schmolze, running an impressive 51.52 400m leg to hang on to the lead pack. Schmolze handed the baton off to Joseph Dachnowicz, who ran a speedy 22.96 200m leg. Next was Ryan Turner, splitting 23.21, and then Kaleb Huang, who fought with the leaders until the line, splitting a strong 1:58.74 800m leg (his second race of the day) and securing a 3rd place finish. The team’s time of 3:36.42 is the new school record!

Closing out the scoring events on the track was the 4x400.

Axl Asaro led off with a strong 52.66 split. Joseph Dachnowicz then split 52.24, shortly after his sub-23 split in the Sprint Medley, which was less than an hour prior to the 4x4. Tristan Frank was the 3rd leg, and he split 52.69, his second sub-53 effort of the day.

Anchoring the relay was Ryan Swan, who split a huge personal best of 51.61, fighting to the finish and ultimately placing 2nd. Ryan Swan had a great day overall, with a powerful first 800 race of his career and a big PR in the 400 to finish off the meet.

Although the boys were putting up big numbers on the track throughout the meet, they were able to secure the win with dominance in the field as well. The boys won both the Long Jump and Triple Jump relays.

Jared Rascio competed well in both, placing 1st in LJ and 3rd in TJ. Jacob Medenilla helped secure the win in Long Jump, and Nick Elissa helped get the win in the Triple Jump. Marcus Reilly and Owen James both cleared 10’ in pole vault, winning that event as well. Marcus also would go on to tie his PR at 12’6. Last but not least, the Shot Put team of Sam Ginn and Nate Schneider threw a combined 80’1’’ to place 6th, with Sam Ginn throwing a PR of 42-7.5

With dominant performances in distance, sprints, and the field, the boys secured the County Title, continuing the streak of success.

There were also several strong performances in the open events.

In the 400, Andrew Dachnowicz placed 2nd with a time of 54.62, and Dan Caesar placed 5th in 55.76.

In the 1600, there were lots of great races. Matias Valle won in 4:40.91, Max placed 2nd in a big PR of 4:45.35, Wyatt came in 3rd with a huge PR of 4:50.84. Rehaan Wadhwani placed 4th in 4:51.19, Bryan Seo was next in 4:51.86, and Russell Hagerman placed 6th in 4:53.75; all 3 of those times were personal bests. Jack Schon rounded out the sub 5 squad in 4:55.70, and there were several good performances and personal bests from other runners in the event.

The next championship meet for the boys is the Skyland Conference Championship. Between now and then, some of the boys will be traveling to Virginia Beach to compete in the Virginia Showcase, a prestigious high school meet for the best across the country.

— Written by Brenden McMahon