Kearny High School head track and field coach Al Perez believes that the best meet for his team to attend are relay championships.
“I love coaching relays, because you need a total team effort,” Perez said. “From a coaching perspective, there’s a little bit of a challenge and strategy involved. You have to find the right combination to get your team points. You can’t just put your best runners in one relay. You have to spread it out. You have to forecast how well your team will shape up with the competition. You want to score as many points as possible.”
Last weekend, Perez’s girls’ team churned out a completely unselfish effort, with 19 different girls competing on relay teams that scored points.
That was enough of an impetus for the Kardinals to capture their second Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League Relays championship in the last five years. The Kardinals outperformed North Bergen, Union City and St. Dominic Academy in the process. It’s only the second time ever that Kearny won the county relay title.
Perez was overly pleased with his team’s effort.
“We were asking kids to stretch themselves further than they ever had,” Perez said. “We had a lot of kids doing multiple events, so we were asking them to come back to us and compete with us. This way, you’re bringing in kids who are fresh. You need a total team effort if you want things done.”
One of the key performers in the championship run was sophomore sensation Maria Laverde.
“We had her run the anchor leg on four different relays,” Perez said. “Instead of exhausting herself to try to catch someone, we told her to just go out and do her best. What you really need in relays is to put three others in the right position. That’s what makes it a total team effort. It puts the rest of the team in a comfortable position.”
The Kardinals won both hurdles events, the shuttle hurdles and the intermediate hurdles. Getting those 20 points were huge in the team total.
Dainaris Calcano, Julie Castillo, Sereen Abu Al Hawa and Melissa Waters were the participants in the winning shuttle hurdles, while Castillo, Abu Al Hawa and Kaitlyn Millar were the winners in the intermediate hurdles.
Calcano, one of the most diverse athletes in recent memory at Kearny, also ran a leg in the 4×200-meter relay, along with Waters, Cassandra Javellanos and Luciana Pina.
Diana DeSousa and Rachelle Del Rosario combined to win the javelin relay. Del Rosario also competed in the shot put relay that placed second and also threw the discus in the Kards’ discus relay.
“She was just great,” Perez said.
Another major contributor was senior Nicole Veloso.
“She had a huge role,” Perez said. “She ran the leadoff leg in the distance medley relay that set us up for the rest of the day. Nicole ran great.”
Veloso was overjoyed to help bring the county relay title back to Kearny.
“It feels great,” Veloso said. “I always wanted to get it. It proves that all the hard work we put in was for a good reason. We deserved it.”
When Perez told his team before the event that they had a chance to win, Veloso took those words to heart.
“Yeah, I believed it,” Veloso said. “I told my team that we could do it.”
Junior Gianna Nigro was also a key contributor in the distance races.
“She had a lot to do with it,” Perez said. “Her and Nicole put all of the distance relays together.”
Fellow senior Kelly Bryan was also ecstatic to be able to capture the county crown.
“It’s a good feeling,” Bryan said. “It’s nice to finally have an accomplishment. It meant a lot to finally get it in our last chance. We’re usually pretty close.”
The Kardinals finished second in each of the previous two county relay championships by only a handful of points.
“We run individually, but it’s always being able to work as a team together,” Bryan said. “Coach Perez knew that we had it. It was a lot of fun. It was just so nice to see everyone so excited. We were able to achieve what we wanted.”
Perez gave credit to Laverde, who has helped change the face of the entire program.
“It’s great having her,” Perez said. “Practice-wise, her work ethic pushes the rest of the team. She increases the intensity of the workouts. Her talent creates so many options for you. Whatever relay team she’s on, she gives that team a chance. She makes everyone on the team better.”
Veloso agreed.
“Maria is a really good motivator,” Veloso said. “She tells us all that pain is temporary and it’s all in our heads. We listen to her and it does work.”
Needless to say, it was a great day for the Kearny girls’ track team.
“I’m very proud of them,” Perez said. “I’m extremely happy that we won. Going in, I knew that we had the ability to score a lot of points. We’ve been so close in the past and came in second so many times. It’s rewarding to see how happy the girls were in winning.”
CAPTION
The Kearny High School girls’ track and field team was excited after winning the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League Relays team title for the second time in school history. Photo courtesy of Al Perez
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”