Ridge Girls And Boys Win Skyland Conference Championship

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The Ridge Girls and Boys Track Teams were victorious this past Sunday when they competed and won the Skyland Conference Indoor Championship in Toms River.

The girls' team emerged victorious, securing a win over Pingry by 27.75 points. Demonstrating their depth and versatility, they scored in all 10 events, showcasing their well-rounded talent.

Meanwhile, the boys team claimed their second consecutive Skyland Conference Championship and their 4th win in school history. With strong performances in both the sprints and distance events, as well as some personal bests in the field events, they sealed a decisive 76-57 win over Hillsborough.

On the girls side setting the tone for the meet, Daphne Georgiades won the 400m dash with an impressive sub-60 performance of 59.80.

After the 400, the 1600 kicked off with Ryan Ireland, Rachel Biondo, and Isabella Beadry placing third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. Together, the girls put up 12 points, all running under 5:20 and personal bests.

To follow, Jenna Inscore scored 10 points in the 55 Hurdles. After placing first in the prelims, she was able to come back and win the finals too.

Next, Daphne Georgiades and Jenna Inscore came back in the 55m Dash. Inscore placed fourth, and Georgiades was behind her placing sixth. The two also scored a total of 6.25 points in high jump; Inscore placed second, and Georgiades tied for sixth.

In pole vault, freshman Georgie Chatzopoulos jumped a personal best of 8-6 to place fifth.

Ryan Ireland and Isabella Beaudry came back in the 800m to place third and fourth, with Beaudry running a personal best of 2:26.54.

Meanwhile, Aarna Mishra scored 8 points in shot put, placing second, and throwing a mark of 35-0.5.

Then, in the 3200, freshman Maia Zalmover placed third running a very impressive personal best of 11:09.47. Her time is a Ridge top three all-time performance and a freshman school record.

Finally, the meet closed with the 4x400 relay composed of Sara Raustad, Allie Chen, Ryan Ireland, and Daphne Georgiades placing third and scoring 6 points.

To kick off the boys meet, the boys had a dominant showing in the 400. Hillsborough came into the event seeded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, looking to score huge points against Ridge.

Despite being the underdogs, the trio of Joseph Dachnowicz, Ryan Schmolze, and Tristan Frank placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, running 52.38, 52.91, and 53.40. Tristan also ran his race from the second heat, so he beat out several kids that were seeded higher than him in the final heat.

With these placements, the boys took an early lead against Hillsborough, 18-11, in an event that was supposed to go the other way. Right after the 400 was the 1600.

Brenden McMahon won the race with a time of 4:25.51, and Kaleb Huang placed 5th in 4:27.96. Nick Alapatt also set a huge PR, running 4:30.99 for 8th. With 30 points in the first two events, Ridge was off to a strong start.

Following the 1600, Ryan Swan placed 2nd in the 800, running 2:00.26. Kaleb, doubling back from his 1600 shortly before, placed 4th in 2:01.22. Freshman Axl Asaro ran a 2:04.76, a PR that landed him 7th.

Joseph Dachnowicz then doubled back in the 55m hurdles, running 8.16 to place 4th. Notably, Marcus Reilly set a big PR to run 8.20, which qualified him for the finals.

As the meet went on, Ridge started pulling away from Hillsborough, especially after the 800. Brenden McMahon won his second race of the day in the 3200, running 9:37.48. Nick Alapatt was right behind him in 2nd, completing a very successful double in 9:44.98. This was also Nick Alapatt’s debut in the 3200.

These performances scored an unanswered 18 points. Following the 3200, the track events ended with the 4x400, which Ridge won in 3:32.08. The team of Ryan Swan, Joseph Dachnowicz, Jared Rascio, and Ryan Schmolze pulled away from Hillsborough and won by over 3 seconds.

In the field, both Jared Rascio and Will Ligos set PRs in high jump. Jared jumped 5-8 to tie for 7th, and Will Ligos cleared 5-10 to secure 6th.

Overall, the boys had lots of strong performances throughout the meet, defeating a strong Hillsborough team by a considerable margin.

On Monday, the day after the Conference Championship, Jared Rascio jumped 21-3.75, placing 4th in the event and setting a new school record. Then, on Wednesday, the boys DMR of Kaleb Huang, Joseph Dachnowicz, Ryan Swan, and Brenden McMahon ran a 10:17.23. This is currently, US #8, and the 4th fastest DMR in school history.

Ryan Swan set a big PR on the 800 leg, running 1:56.5, an incredible time for his first track season.

All 4 boys put down fast splits, and will continue to drop their times as the season progresses.

Next up for Ridge will be the NJ North 2 Group State Sectional Championships, which will be held back at The Bubble on Sunday, Feb. 9.

— By Ryan Ireland & Brenden McMahon