Keira Hackett’s freshman year isn’t even over yet, but that hasn’t stopped her from having the best season that any North Arlington track & field performer has had in decades.
This past weekend at Ridge High School, Hackett added to her already historic spring when she became the first North Arlington girl to win a sectional title in a running event in 18 years when she cruised to a North 2, Group 1 title in the 3200 Meter Run with an 11:57.77.
The performance was the highlight of a weekend where Hackett also took second in the 1600 Meter Run and fourth in the 800 Meter Run. Hackett’s time of 2:24.91 in the 800 on Friday set a new school record, giving the freshman the record in all three of her main events.
“It’s really hard to find an athlete who really is ready for the big moment and who really wants it,” North Arlington coach Kevin Blackford said. “And she’s one of the few athletes who, all this stuff doesn’t faze her anymore. The big stage doesn’t really faze her.”
Fresh off a record-setting 11:47.21 a week earlier at the Gene Littler Bergen County Championships, Hackett entered as an overwhelming favorite to win the section title in the 3200. While that admittedly made Blackford more nervous than in the other events, those concerns were quickly put away with Hackett finishing more than 26 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
While Hackett has already run at Nike Nationals and the Penn Relays, the weekend of May 29-30 will be her first time in the Group Championships. An appendectomy days after the sectionals during indoor track ended her winter season early and prevented her from competing in the groups, something Blackford believes will serve as a motivator.
“She wanted to go out and compete with the best group one athletes in the state,” said Blackford. “You saw the drive the whole season from her to get back to that stage and be considered one of the best distance girls in the state.”
North Arlington’s Giuliana Grabias-Barros also qualified after taking fifth in the 100 Meter Dash.
Hackett wasn’t the only Observer-area girl to make history this weekend. In the North 2, Group 2 Championships at Warren Hills, Nikalena Iacono won gold in Shot Put for the third year in a row, with a personal best throw of 39-2.75. Iacono also qualified for the Group 2 Championships in the Discus after placing third with a personal best throw of 109-7.
Sophomore Jaylin Vuono Reid was a triple medalist for the Bears, finishing fourth in the High and Triple Jumps, and fifth in the Long Jump. Also medaling this weekend for the Lyndhurst girls with school record setting performances were the 4×100 Relay team of Raeleen Ortiz, Logan Lacorte, Hanna Akegnan and Ahlexis Marizan, as well as Alexis Dembowski in the Pole Vault and Cathia Nogueira in the 3200 Meter Run.
Also at Warren Hills, in the North 2, Group 3 Championships, Havana Alvarez continued her breakout freshman season by taking first in the Long Jump (18-5) and second in the 200 Meter Dash (26.03). Teammate Ellie Oldak was a triple medalist for the Raiders, taking third in the 100 and 400 Meter Dash, and sixth in the Long Jump. Ava Iacona (second in the Pole Vault) and Meya Ranges (second in the 3200) also medaled as did the fourth place 4×800 Relay team of Maia Gonzalez, Lara Hindistan, Celena Ranges, Meya Ranges.
At the North 1, Group 4 Championships in Livingston, Bloomfield medaled in seven events, headlined by Inez Brewster, who medaled in the 400 and 800 Meters, while also being a part of the Bengals’ 4×800 Relay team alongside Audrey McLaughlin, Alexandra Klotz and Madison Bernhard.Thalia Bell medaled in the Shot Put and Discus, Emily Brodowski took second in the Pole Vault and Amira Nicholas finished sixth in the 100 Meter Dash.
Belleville’s Darrill Rowe qualified for Groups after taking sixth in the Discus as did the Kearny 4×800 Relay team of Keala Cicchino, Rachel Kelly, Niahm Devlin, Adrianna Soriano, who took sixth.
In the Boys North 1, Group 4 Championships, Bloomfield’s Joelle Urdanivia dominated the field in the Discus with a throw of 177-9 that was more than 26 feet further than runner-up Austin Lobban of Kearny. Urdanivia, a junior, also took third in the Shot Put.
Also medaling for Bloomfield were Said Diop (second, Long Jump), Shane Fernandez (second, Shot Put), Jeremy Tejada (third, 110 Hurdles), Blake Harrison (fourth, Pole Vault) Carlos Vega (fifth, 200 Meter Dash), Jon Zeqa (fifth, 3200 Meter run) and the 4×100 Relay team of Vega, Marcel Rosario, Tejada and Johnny Cobb, which took fourth.
Lobban was a double-medalist for Kearny, also taking fourth in the Shot Put. Miguel Betancourt took second in the 400 Hurdles, fifth in the 400 Meter Dash and was the anchor of the Kardinals’ four the place 4×800 Relay team, which included Alan Cohetero, Kaden Santos and Raul Cielo. Braidan Logue took fourth in the 1600 Meter Run.
Lyndhurst, North Arlington and Nutley are each sending two boys to the Group Championships. The Raiders’ Jalyn Caraballo took third in the Javelin and Marcus Durham finished fourth in the Triple Jump. Bears teammates Omar Oweida and Daniel Bojilov, took third and sixth respectively in the High Jump. The Vikings got fourth place finishes from Tyler Hackett in the 3200 Meter Run and Ronald Rosario Jr. in the Long Jump.
Learn more about the writer ...
Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)