Vikings Look Great at NJCTC Relays

The Union Catholic track and field squads put on a sensational show when the Vikings threw down several sparkling performances at the NJCTC Relays on Sunday night at the New York Armory.

The girls showed once again that they have the talent to maintain its status as the top program in the state and one of the best in the nation by winning every varsity race on the track, and racking up a staggering nine victories, including the fastest time in the nation this season in the shuttle hurdles. The UC boys also had a great meet by smashing two school records and winning three events.

In the girls shuttles, freshman Ajanae Thompson split 7.8, senior Felicia Quainoo went 7.6  freshman Alexandra Bonn went 7.9, and junior Avery Jordan, who ran in three winning relays, anchored 7.8 as the quartet combined to stop the clock at 31.3, the No. 1 in the country so far this winter. Thompson and Bonn have the makings of future stars as they continue UC’s recent trend of talented freshmen who have made immediate impacts. .

Bonn and Quianoo also had strong performances in the field. Bonn cleared 4-6 in the high jump and soared 16-11 3/4 in the long jump. Quainoo went 35-1 Vikings to victory in the triple jump, and also went 16-1 1/2 in the long jump.

In addition to its shuttle hurdle triumph and triple jump victory,the girls also won the 4×200 in a NJ#1 1:44.24, the 4×400 in a NJ#3 4:07.04, the 4×800 in a NJ#4 10:00.26, the sprint medley in a NJ#1 4:16.32, the distance medley in a NJ#2 12:45.52, the team high jump, and the freshman/sophomore 4×400 also finished first in 4:35.69..

A’Liyah Thomas had a great all-round meet for UC. She cleared a meet best 5-4 to lead the Vikings to the high jump victory, threw 27-3 in the shot, and split 26.2 on the 4×200. Abby Granrath, who ran a school record and NJ#1 11:10.85 in the 3,000 last week, split 5:17 in the DMR, and went 61.0 for 400. Junior Morgan Williams split 2:23 in the SMR, and 59.9 in the DMR. Senior Chi Chi Nkulume led off the SMR (25.9 for 200) and the 4×200. Sophomore Jada Mia Puryear had a big personal best of 32-9 1/2 in the shot put for UC, the third best throw of the meet.

On the boys side, seniors Oluwafemi Asenuga and Matt Axt combined to win the long jump and triple jump to break the school records in both events with marks of 86-0 1/4, 40-8 1/4, respectively, and UC won the 4×400 in a NJ#2 3:26.14.

In the field, Asenuga went 43-1 1/4 in the triple jump, the second best mark of the meet, and 20-6 in the LJ, the third best mark of the meet. Axt recorded a personal best of 42-11, No. 3 n the meet, and he went 20-2 1/4 in the LJ, the fifth best performance of the meet.

In the 4×400, the foursome of junior Connor Cooper, senior Tyhir Jones, sophomore Myles Plummer and senior Elijah Brown (49.6 anchor carry) combined on the victory. UC also ran a NJ#7 1:31.93 to place second in the 4×200 as Cooper, Jones, Brown (22.8 carry), and Axt shared the baton, and Plummer anchored the runner-up DMR (NJ #3 10:54.49) with a 4:24.4 carry.