May 2010

The St. Benedict's spring track and field campaign came to a conclusion at the East Coast Relays.

The Gray Bees placed in both sprint races, the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x200 relays on a Monday night in Randolph.

Coach Marty Hannon's 4x100-metter relay ran a time of 43.31 to place fifth in that event. The pace was well off the season-best and school-record of 42.50 that Matt Taylor, Leighton Smith, Walter Jean-Jacques and Martin Otieno established at the Essex County Relays in April.

The 4x200 team ran a 1:29.55 and placed third behind New York's Mount Vernon (1:28.57) and East Brunswick (1:29.46).

The East Coast Relays came just two days after the Essex County Championships. Martin Otieno, who injured his groin only three days earlier in the Gray Bees' second-place finish in the State Prep Championships, placed third in the 200-meter dash. It was in the 200 a year earlier that Otieno established a school-record with a 21.94, a time that would have easily won this year's race.

Leighton Smith, who placed fifth in the 200 with a 22.90, ran a 49.26 in the 400-meter dash for a fourth-place finish. Other notables included while Kenyon Wright's fifth-place effort in the high jump (6-2) and Ryan Rhodes sixth-pace showing in the shot put (44-7 1/2).

"It was tough to end the year with a couple of key injuries, but I have to say that it was a very good year," said Hannon. "The guys did far better than any of us had any expectation for."

Hannon's is especially pleased with his graduating seniors. Walter Jean-Jacques is headed to Columbia, Otieno and Paul Oyefesobi are Lehigh-bound, Taylor is on to New Haven and Smith will be taking his talents to Maryland-Eastern Shore.

"The best thing for me is seeing these seniors graduate and go on to great colleges," said Hannon. "The important thing is that these kids move on into a great situation."

GRAY BEES HAVE TO SETTLE FOR ANOTHER SECOND PLACE FINISH IN STATE PREPS

May 12, 2010

Any hopes St. Benedict's may have had of winning a State Prep Championship on Wednesday diminished almost immediately when its star sprinter, Martin Otieno, went down with an injury.

Otieno was the favorite to win at least two events and lead a strong relay team for a shot at another victory.

But without the services of the Lehigh-bound senior, the Gray Bees had to settle for their third straight runner-up finish to Lawrenceville. The Gray Bees finished a distant second to the host school from Mercer County.

"It was really disappointing when he went down," said sophomore Matt Taylor. "We definitely needed his points and not having Martin in there really made it impossible to put up a fight."

Taylor was the direct benefactor of Otieno's loss, although he wasn't too thrilled that it came at the expense of his teammate.

Without Otieno, who injured his groin in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash, Taylor went out and swept the 100- and 200-meter dashes. He won the 100 in 11.26 and the 200 in 22.84. Teammate Walter Jean-Jacques placed third in the 100 (11.51).

"Martin pushes me to do better whenever I run against him," said Taylor. "I won because he wasn't there, but it definitely wasn't my best effort."

Otieno, who anchors St. Benedict's top-ranked 4x100 relay team in the state, is questionable for the Essex County Championships this Friday and Saturday in Montclair. He will undergo therapy on Thursday to see if his groin responds to treatment.

Leighton Smith, who finished second to Taylor in the 200, won the 400-meter dash in 50.12, while Kenyon Wright won the high jump with a leap of 6-2.

Kalonji Foster placed second in the 110-meter high hurdles (16.02) and Darien Edwards placed fourth (16.19). Ryan Rhodes had a runner-up finish in the shot put (47-1 3/4), while Obinna Nwosu placed third in the discus with a throw of 123-0.

Notes: Otieno established a school-record in the 200-meter dash in last year's Essex County Championships. His time of 21.94 eclipsed the school-mark of 22.11 established by Brian Bucknor two years earlier.

GRAY BEES EXCEL AT COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS, SWEEP SPRINT RELAYS
Coach Hannon's team places third in the team standings

May 1, 2010

The Gray Bees' 4 x100-meter relay was extremely disappointed about not being able to crack the 43-second mark in the Penn Relays last weekend.

What a difference a week makes.

The St. Benedict's sprinters not only responded to the disappointment from a week earlier, they swept all three sprint relay races on Friday night at the Essex County Relays.

With the captain, Martin Otieno, chasing down runners in seemingly every race, the Gray Bees claimed victories in the 4x100, the 4x200 and the 4x400-meter relays and came home with third place honors at Livingtson High School, despite entering the meet with a depleted lineup.

"It was great meet for us and the sprinters were great!" said St. Benedict's coach Marty Hannon. "It was a hard fought and strongly fought meet by our guys."

Bringing home a third-pace trophy in itself is quite remarkable. Hannon's club doesn't have athletes competing in two events during the outdoor season and, in this meet, was without three other members of his team for various reasons.

"We can't do anything about not having anyone in certain events. We can only go out there and do our best in the ones we are in," said Otieno, whose team wound up behind West Orange and Seton Hall. "It felt good knowing we gave it all we had and went out and won our races."

Although things didn't go accordingly at famed Franklin Field a week earlier at the Penn Relays for the 4x100 contingent, Hannon's sprinters - Matt Taylor, Leighton Smith, Walter Jean-Jacques and Otieno - more than made up for it at county's.

When Otieno crossed the finish line with 42.50, it marked the first time in school history that a Gray Bees contingent had broken the 43-second mark in a 4x100-meter relay. The time shattered the mark of 43.07 that Brian Bucknor, Kevin Parker, Morgan Mark and Mark Robinson put up in 2007.

"They were disappointed about not being able to run that well at Penn," said Hannon. "But I think that gave them more motivation to go out and do it this time around."

Otieno, a future Lehigh University product, chased down the leader in both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays to give the Gray Bees the victory. In the 4x200, in which he was preceded by Nduka Ukponu, Smith and Jean-Jacques, Otieno crossed the line in 1:29.31, edging West Orange by .03 seconds.

"I'm just out there trying to help us win the race," said Otieno. "Our goal is just to go out there as a team and run as fast as we can. But it makes me want to run faster when I'm chasing after someone and to know I'm the one who decides the outcome."

The senior stalwart was perhaps at his best in the Gray Bees 4x400 race - a race in which he usually runs the second leg, but was re-set by Hannon into the anchor leg. It may be a spot he holds down for the foreseeable future.

Otieno followed Taylor, Smith and Ira Ford with a personal best 48.5 in the anchor and out-kicked Dexter Valley of West Orange over the final 50 meters and gave his team the victory with a time of 3:21.62.

"Martin was pretty pumped and understood the role he was in as the anchor," said Hannon. "He wanted it and took it upon himself to get motivated. It was a great showing by him and all the other runners."

Notes: The Gray Bees also took third-place in the team shot put (93-43/4) and wound up in fourth in the sprint medley (3:40.25).

--Photos by Mike Scanlan

RELAY TEAM LOOKING FOR SCHOOL RECORD AT PENN THIS WEEKEND

April 22, 2010

St. Benedict's 4x100-meter relay team seems to be peaking at the right moment.

The team of Matt Taylor, Leighton Smith, Walter Jean-Jacques and Martin Otieno will attempt to crack the 43-second mark this weekend at the Penn Relays and establish a school-record in the process.

"The kids are all pumped to break that record and hopefully get into the finals of the small schools (division)," said St. Benedict's track coach Marty Hannon. "The guys are working hard and with a bit of luck and cool nerves, they can get it and go under 43 (seconds)."

The relay team placed first in last week's Morris Hills Relays in a time of 43.12, which ranks as the third fastest time in school history.

The school record holders in the event are Brian Bucknor, Kevin Parker, Morgan Mark and Mark Robinson, who posted the mark to beat of 43.07 in 2007.

"The trick is to get the baton handoffs right, which is always tricky," said Hannon.

They Gray Bees will kick off the Penn Relays at famed Franklin Field Friday morning in the preliminaries. The finals will be held Saturday afternoon.

Hannon is also optimistic that his 4x400-meter relay team will be around for Saturday's noon final too. Otieno, Taylor, John Joseph and Leighton Smith are expected to carry the baton for the Gray Bees in that event.

The 4x400 team, with Ira Ford in the lineup instead of Joseph, placed second in the Morris Hills Relays last Saturday, as did the Shot Put team that consisted of Nigil Whyte, Olu Ijandipe and Ryan Rhodes, who combined for a total distance of 136-11 1/2. The Gray Bees finished second in the small schools division.

ST. BENEDICT'S CONTINUE STRONG SHOWINGS IN TRACK & FIELD
Coach Hannon's team wins 4 Golds in Preps & wins Catholic Conf.

April 8, 2010

Coach Marty Hannon's track & field team continues to shine in the early going this Spring.

The Gray Bees captured four Gold Medals in the State Prep Relays last Wednesday, just a few days after capturing a season opening meet in the Kearny Relays. Hannon's club then went out on Saturday a secured the B Division title in the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Relays.

In the Prep Relays at Keuffel Stadium in Lawrenceville, Martin Otieno anchored the winning 4x100 in 43.6 and the 4x200 in 1:30.9. St. Benedict's Prep also won the high jump (11-6) and shot put (86-83/4).

Otieno, who was just honored as The Star-Ledger's Athlete of the Week for his performance at the Kearny Relays, ran the final leg of 4x100, behind Naduka Ukponu Matt Taylor, and Walter Jean-Jacques. In the 800-meter relay, Taylor, Leighton Smith and Jean-Jacques preceded Otieno in leading the Gray Bees to victory.

Kenyon Wright (6-0) and Kalonji Foster (5-6) combined to win the high jump with a total of 11-6, while Ryan Rhodes (41-1) and Olu Ijandipe (45-91/2) had an aggregate heave of 86-101/2 to win the shot put.

The Gray Bees also ran in the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Relays this past weekend and came away with the B Division title. Hannon's club placed third overall, behind CBA and Notre Dame, the host school.

The only victory of the day came in the 4x400-meter relay when Martin Otieno, John Joseph, Michelet Brutus and Leighton Smith turned in a time of 3:25.20, which was over two seconds faster than runner-up, St. John Vianney.

The Gray Bees also placed second in the 4X100- and 4x200-meter races, as did the team High Jump tandem of Kenyon Wright, Kalonji Foster and Nduka Ukponu who combined for a total of 16'-8". The shot putters wound up in third place.

GRAY BEES OPEN THE SPRING TRACK SEASON WITH A VICTORY
Otieno ignites team effort once again

April 4, 2010

Martin Otieno of St. Benedict's Prep began the spring season where he left off in the winter - leading St. Benedict's to victory.

Otieno, who capped the winter season by leading the Gray Bees to the state Prep Championships, opened the Spring meet by capturing MVP honors while leading his team to victory in the Kearny Relays on Saturday.

In the Division 1 competition, the Lehigh-bound Otieno was sensational. He anchored the winning 4x200 (1:30.0) with a 22.4, led off the runner-up sprint medley with a 22.3 and anchored the winning 4x100 (43.4) with a 10.8.

"It's great to win this because I just missed getting (the MVP Award) last year,'' Otieno told The Star-Ledger after Saturday's event. "I'm really happy with the way I ran and with how we did as a team.''

John Joseph was also instrumental in the St. Benedict's victory, running three strong 800 legs with little recovery time. Joseph ran 2:03 on the DM, 2:04 in the 4x800 and 2:03 in the sprint medley.

Coach Marty Hannon's team won the 400-meter, 800-meter and 3,200-meter relays, while Kenyon Wright and Kalonji Foster won the team high jump with a combined effort of 11-6.

KEARNY RELAYS
DIVISION 1

TEAMS: 1-St. Benedict's Prep 85. 2-Manchester Twp. 82. 3-Sussex Tech 63. 4-St. John Vianney 62. 5-Hillside and Weequahic 26. 7-Snyder 20. 8-Newark Central, Hudson County Prep and Science Park 12. 11-Dover 7. 12-Montclair Immaculate 6. 13-University 4. 14-Marist 1.

400-METER RELAY: 1-St. Benedict's Prep (Matt Taylor, Walter Jean-Jacques, Ndukaa Ukponu and Martin Otieno) 43.4. 2-St. John Vianney 45.0. 3-Weequahic 45.3. 4-Manchester 45.6. 5-St. Benedict's Prep 45.8. 6-Hillside 46.2.

800-METER RELAY: 1-St. Benedict's Prep (Matthew Taylor, Leighton Smith, Ryan Johnson and Martin Otieno) 1:30.0. 2-Snyder 1:32.7. 3-St. John Vianney 1:34.2. 4-St. Benedict's Prep B 1:34.9. 5-St. Benedict's Prep C 1:36.1. 6-Weequahic 1:36.7.

1,600-METER RELAY: 1-Snyder (Rashawn Taylor, Dwight Andrews, Dennell Johnson and James Crawford) 3:35.5. 2-Manchester 3:36.6. 3-Hillside 3:39.5. 4-Weequahic 3:39.5. 5-Sussex Tech 3:43.9. 6-St. Benedict's Prep 3:44.7.

3,200-METER RELAY: 1-St. Benedict's Prep (Garland Miller, Jason Presley, Adebayo Eisape and John Joseph) 8:39.5. 2-Hudson County Prep 8:45.60. 3-Science Park 9:02.3. 4-University Charter 9:14.5. 5-Dover 9:26.0. 6-Hillside 9:37.0.

6,400-METER RELAY: 1-Manchester (Matt Brown, Rodney Copeland, Scott Davern, and Dylan Ramistella) 20:17.4. 2-Sussex Tech 22:45.5. No other places. SPRINT MEDLEY RELAY: 1-St. John Vianney (Mike Antorino, Chris Randise, Kyle Tuohy and Brian O'Connor) 3:37.3. 2-St. Benedict's Prep 3:41.3. 3-Science Park 3:49.3. 4-Hudson Prep 3:52.2. 5-Snyder 3:57.7. 6-Hillside 4:01.0.

DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY: 1-Manchester (Rodney Copeland, Kali Carmichael, Dylan Ramistella) 11:33.10. 2-St. John Vianney 11:49.5. 3-St. Benedict's Prep 11:57.2. 4-Dover 13:10.9. 5-Sussex Tech 13:23.7.

SHUTTLE HURDLES: 1-Manchester (Stephan Jokic, John Rementer, John Reed, and Joshua Marsillo) 1:05.00. 2-Weequahic 1:08.5. 3-Sussex Tech 1:09.4. 4-Newark Central 1:17.5. No other places.

TEAM INTERMEDIATE HURDLES: 1-Sussex Tech (Richard DeJesus, Steven Jakabowski and Brenton Black) 3:19.3. 2-Newark Central 3:19.5. 3-St. Benedict's Prep 3:20.2. 4-Weequahic 3:21.8. 5-Manchester 3:22.1. 6-Dover 3:52.0.

TEAM HIGH JUMP: 1-St, Benedict's Prep (Kenyon Wright and Kalonji Foster) 11-6. 2-Hillside 11-4. 3-Manchester and Sussex Tech 11-4. No other places.

TEAM LONG JUMP: 1-Manchester (John Reed and Desmond Jones) 39-23/4. 2-Sussex Tech 37-10. 3-Hillside 36-11/4. 4-St. Benedict's Prep 35-71/4. No other places.

TEAM SHOT PUT: 1-St. John Vianney (Anthony DiPaula and Nick Leonte) 86-51/4. 2-St. Benedict's Prep 84-2. 3-Manchester 76-41/4. 4-Sussex Tech 65-13/4.

TEAM DISCUS: 1-St. John Vianney (Chris McGovern and Anthony DiPaula) 241-4. 2-Manchester 233-3. 3-St. Benedict's Prep 228-3. 4-Sussex Tech 191-2. 5-Montclair Immaculate 138-6.

TEAM JAVELIN: 1-St. John Vianney (Chris McGovern and Matt Barbieri) 289-11. 2-Manchester 252-10. 3-St. Benedict's Prep 228-7. 4-Sussex Tech 224-8. 5-Montclair Immaculate 162-7.

TEAM POLE VAULT: 1-Sussex Tech (Steven Jakabowski and Brian Dubord) 20-0.