Seneca wins Group 3 track title

Michelle Brown and her Seneca track-and-field teammates have a flair for the dramatic.

For the second time in seven days, the Golden Eagles waited until the final event to pull out a team victory.

Saturday's team win was for the state Group 3 title in the Group 1, Group 3, and Non-Public boys' and girls' competition. The previous Saturday's victory was for the South Jersey Group 3 crown.

Both wins were repeats of sectional and state team championships - a goal set before the spring season - and both victories were decided in the 4x400 relay.

Seneca won the meet with 48 points. Sparta was second with 46, and Kingsway third with 45. A win in the 4x400 would have given Kingsway the team title. However, Sparta crossed the finish line first, Seneca second, and Kingsway third.

In the girls' Group 1 competition, Pitman and Westwood tied for first with 40 points, and Lindenwold came in third with 34.

Bishop Eustace finished highest in Non-Public A among South Jersey teams with 29 points for sixth place. Paramus Catholic won with 95 points.

The top six finishers in each event won the right to compete in the Meet of Champions, scheduled for Thursday at South Plainfield.

Brown had no chance to catch Sparta's anchor, Erika Veidis, but she knew she could stay ahead of Kingsway's anchor, Kayle Green, if she didn't let up.

"I knew that we had to beat Kingsway to win the meet, and Kingsway was behind me, so I gunned it in the last 50," Brown said. "I did all I could do."

All that Brown did was significant, winning the 200 in 24.87 seconds on Saturday and the 400 in 0:54.49 on Friday as well as placing second in the 100 for a total of 36 points.

Pitman's Shona Potrzuski did her part in lifting the Panthers to first place. The senior won the 800 in 2 minutes, 13.76 seconds on Saturday. Afterward, she placed second in the long jump with a leap of 16-61/2.

On Friday, Potrzuski placed third in the 400 in 0:58.31.

"This keeps the team in the running for the state title," she said after she won the 800. "I broke the school record by six seconds. Rachel Greenberg had it with a 2:19 [last year]."

Bishop Eustace senior Kelsey Damato helped the Crusaders by placing second in the 400 hurdles Friday in 1:04.88 and winning the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday in 0:15.27.

"I felt tight from the [100] trials," Damato said. "I was aiming for a 14.5 because I'm trying to qualify for nationals. I won this last year, too."