CHS indoor track teams finish second at Essex County meet

By Joe Ragozzino
Sports editor
The Columbia High School boys’ and girls’ indoor track and field teams each finished second in their respective boys’ and girls’ team standings at the Essex County Championships at Seton Hall University last Sunday Feb. 5.
Olivia Baker won three events to lead the girls’ team. The sophomore captured the 400-meter run in 56.87, just missing the meet record of 56.70. She also won the 200-meter dash in 25.70 and the 800-meter run in 2:20.03.
The CHS girls’ team also won the 4x400-meter relay in a meet-record 4:02.46  The old mark stood for 26 years.
The CHS girls finished with 67 points based on top-six finishes in the events, five points shy of Newark Tech, which won the girls’ team title.
On the boys’ side, Brian Armand took second in both the 55-meter dash and 200-meter dash, while David McCombs took second in the 3,200-meter run and third in the 1,600-meter run to lead CHS.
St. Benedict’s Prep won the boys’ team title with 91 points. CHS amassed 58 points.
ESSEX COUNTY
CHAMPIONSHIPS
BOYS
TEAMS: 1-St. Benedict’s Prep 91 points. 2-Columbia 58. 3-West Orange 47. 4-Montclair 23. 5-Seton Hall Prep 22. 6-Weequahic 16 1/2. 7-Livingston 16. 8-Irvington 15 1/2. 9-Central 12. 10-Newark Tech and Millburn 8. 12-Cedar Grove and Bloomfield 6. 14-West Essex 4. 15-Glen Ridge 3. 16-Nutley and Verona 2. 18-East Orange 1.
CHS top-six finishes
55-METER DASH: 2-Armand, 6.65.
200-METER DASH: 2- Armand, 22.92.
800-METER RUN: 3-Victor Jimenez, 2:01.02.
1,600-METER RUN: 3- McCombs, 4:29.23.
3,200-METER RUN: 2- McCombs, 9:53.09.  
HIGH JUMP: 2-Xavier McIntosh, 6 feet, 6 inches.  4-Leonard Dupree, 6-2.
SHOT PUT: 3-Josuah Nijman,  46-10.
1,600-METER RELAY: 4-Columbia 3:38.14.
 
GIRLS
TEAMS: 1-Newark Tech 72 points. 2-Columbia 67. 3-Mount St. Dominic 38.16. 4-Irvington 26.16. 5-Montclair Kimberley 24. 6-West Orange and Weequahic 20.16. 8-West Essex 18. 9-Livingston 16. 10-Montclair Immaculate and Cedar Grove 8. 12-Bloomfield and Montclair 7. 14-Verona 5. 15-University 2. 16-Millburn 1. 18-Shabazz .16
CHS top-six finishes
55-METER DASH: 5-Whitney Jackson, 7.46. 
200-METER DASH: 1-Baker,  25.70.
400-METER RUN: 1-Baker,  56.87. 5-Maya Hinton, 1:01.16.
800-METER RUN: 1-Baker, 2:20.03. 2-Shanika Dessein,  2:21.98. 3-Imani Coleman,  2:22.44.
1,600-METER RUN: 2-Coleman, 5:19.87.
3,200-METER RUN: 6-Dessein, 12:32.01.
1,600-METER RELAY: 1-Columbia, Maya Hinton, Coleman, Brittany Padmore, and Raquel Williams, 4:02.46 record; former record, 4:03.50, Shabazz, 1986.