TOMS RIVER—Five Hammonton High School athletes earned berths to the State Group 3 indoor track and field championships with their strong performances at last week’s South Jersey Group 3 championships.
Kaylie Ranere, Domenic DeRose and his 4x400 relay teammates Aaron Lasasso, Aaron Mull and C.J. Handy will compete for state titles later this month after placing among the top six finishers in their respective events last weekend.
Ranere was sixth in the girls 1,600-meter run, posting the third-best indoor time in Hammonton history, 5:35.14.
The boys 4x400 team of DeRose, Lasasso, Mull and Handy placed fifth, posting a time of 3:39.56. The time broke the school record set in 2017.
DeRose also earned a trip to states in the 400-meter dash, where he was sixth overall with a time of 52.92 seconds.
DeRose, a senior, led a Blue Devils team that had five top-10 finishes in the meet. Along with the 4x400 team and his 400-meter time, Mull, Fernando Flores and Anthony Liakhnovich all earned top-10 finishes.
Mull was ninth in the 55-meter dash, posting a time of 6.85 seconds. Flores ran the 800 meters in 2:08.74, good for eighth place, and Liakhnovich was ninth in the shot put with a mark of 44-feet, 3-inches.
Natalie Clauhs had a top-10 finish for the girls, placing 10th in the 3,200-meter run (12:42.47).
Also for Hammonton’s girls, Lasyah Johnson finished the 55-meter dash in 7.80 seconds, while Ilianna DeJesus had a time of 8.23 seconds and Rachel Nartey finished in 8.40 seconds.
Amina Sykes ran the 400 in 1:07.08, while Journe Lucas (1:08.29) and Jessica Shinske (1:11.64) also competed. In the 800-meter run, Jordyn Colasurdo finished in 2:47.79, Ilema Sinon had a time of 3:10.74 and Rosanna Randazzo finished in 3:23.95.
In addition to Ranere’s state-qualifying finish in the 1,600, Maria Medina posted a time of 7:20.48 and Kaitlyn Falconi finished in 7:24.87.
In the 55-meter hurdles, Hailee Keubler finished in 10.45 seconds, Shinske had a time of 11.02 and Nartey finished in 11.15. Colasurdo and Juliana Dogostino each cleared 4-feet, 4-inches in the high jump.
For the boys, Dom Alber ran the 55-meter dash in 6.96 seconds and Josiah Miller finished in 7.29. Handy posted a time of 55.17 seconds in the 400-meter dash, with Berto Barber finishing in 58.23.
In the 800, Lucas Iuliucci finished in 2:18.27 and Jesus Flores had a time of 2:20.77. Tristan Sabol ran the 1,600 meters in 5:14.29, and in the 3,200-meter run, Matt Martino finished in 11:01.06 and Sean Fudala had a time of 11:01.78.
Aidan Ellis ran the 55-meter hurdles in 10.03 second. Rolison Turpin (10.47) and Dan Trindle (11.70) also competed for the Blue Devils.
In shot put, Christian Medina had a throw of 39-feet, 9.75-inches and Elijah Church threw 39-feet, 8.25-inches.