Delsea captures first outright team crown

After winning two gold medals Friday, Delsea sprinter Brianna Crofton returned to Egg Harbor Township's Silver Eagle Stadium on Saturday and helped her team make history at the state Group 2, Group 4 and Non-Public B track and field championships.

Delsea finished with 65 points in Group 2 to win its first outright team title thanks to victories by Brianna Hunt in the high jump and Janiece Rose in the shot put, along with a third-place finish in the 200 meters by Crofton and a fourth place in the 800 by Felicia O'Donnell.

The Crusaders shared a state championship in 1989 with Kingsway. Haddonfield finished second with 44 points and Willingboro was third with 42.

"I really can't explain how happy I am to be part of this team, making school history," Crofton said. "Everyone put forth a great effort, and everything fell into place for us."

Crofton, who finished first in the 100 and 400 meters, is concentrating on the Meet of Champions. The first six places and wild-card entrants will compete on Thursday for overall state titles.

"The 400 is going to be my main focus," Crofton said. "That's my strongest event, and I think I can do well."

Delsea coach Jimmy Rafferty said he thought the key to his team's success was its depth.

"Outstanding effort by the girls," Rafferty said. "They're good kids, have good character, and the team has good overall balance. The girls who advanced found a way to score points for us."

Leading Haddonfield was University of Texas-bound Marielle Hall, who cruised to victory in the 800 in 2 minutes, 11.69 seconds.

"Things went well today," Hall said. "I raced to win, not so much for time today. It's not my best time this year, but I'm happy with it, but I can definitely improve upon it.

"I'm looking forward to the Meet of Champions next week, just to get in a more competitive atmosphere."

Also winning in the 800 was Wildwood Catholic's Tara Wuko, who captured her second gold medal in three years by taking the Non-Public B race.

"I won the 800 as a sophomore and was disappointed last year," said Wuko, who is headed to Rutgers. "I'm excited about getting the title back my senior year.

"I wasn't sure about the competition today. I wanted to get a good time, so I knew I had to take it out and push myself."

The St. Joseph quartet of Sarah Bariglio, Jade Howard, Tykeemah White, and Juanita Caldwell closed the Non-Public B girls' meet by taking first in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:07.30.

Eastern's English Gardner, in Group 4, joined Willingboro's Vanessa Arientyl (Group 2) as the only other girls with a pair of wins.

After winning the 100 meters Friday, Gardner earned her second gold medal of the meet by taking the 200 in 24.04.

Arientyl was queen of the hurdles, winning the 100 low hurdles in 14.38 to go along with her win in the 400 intermediates.