June 23, 2008

Joseph McCloud can’t wait for his senior year to begin.

Overshadowed for much of his career by the now graduated Brandon Jarrett and Brian Bucknor, McCloud showed why he his ready to assume the mantle at St. Benedict’s.

McCloud eclipsed his own school record in the long jump by one-inch with a leap of 23-2 ½ to secure a second-place finish Saturday, June 21, in the 18th Nike Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

“I expected to make the finals, but to finish second? I was shocked,” said McCloud, who achieved the silver medal, despite fighting a strong head wind and trouble with his footing. “It was a struggle the entire competition, but I came through when it mattered most – on the last jump.”

McCloud, who first bettered the school record by 14 ½ inches with a 23-1½ showing in the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Championship, went an inch better on his final jump Saturday at North Carolina A&T. He also established and NJCTC meet record on his final jump last month.

“I always seem to wait for the last moment” said McCloud, who also won the prep and Essex County meets earlier in his junior campaign on his last attempts. “It’s good knowing I can get it done when the pressure on and it’s all on the line.”

McCloud, who also set a school record with a leap of 6-5 in the high jump – and event that ran concurrently with the long jump at the nationals – is anxious to get the 2008-’09 campaign going. He said his footing was so off that he managed the record leap despite starting his jump from nearly a foot behind the board.

“This boosts my confidence incredibly,” said McCloud, who got a call from Bucknor, who is on his way to Seton Hall, after Saturday’s great showing. “Brian told me the focus is gonna be on me now. I’m so psyched for next year. I just have to stay focused, but go out and have fun at the same time.”

TRACK AND FIELD TEAM COMPLETES SEASON WITH CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26

The St. Benedict’s track and field team fielded a full team for the first time this spring.

And it came with no time to spare.

With Brandon Jarrett and Brian Bucknor together in the same meet for the only time this outdoor campaign, the Gray Bees won the B Division title – it’s last meet of the season – on Sunday, May 25, in the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Championships.

St. Benedict’s, which finished second in the overall standings, claimed the B Division title with 56 points behind a winning effort from Jarrett in the 3,200-meter run and a record-setting performance by Joseph McCloud in the Long Jump. Bucknor, who placed second in the 200, ran a strong lead off leg for the winning 1,600-meter relay team at Notre Dame in Lawrenceville.

McCloud, the mainstay of the team during the outdoor season, won the long jump with a leap of 23-1½, which eclipsed the meet record by one half-inch. It also shattered the school record of Siemon Sacey (2004) by 7½ inches and bettered McCloud’s personal best by 14½ inches.

“He has done everything four us – long jump, high jump and even tried the triple jump while being an alternate on our relay teams,” said St. Benedict’s coach Marty Hannon of McCloud, who also placed second in the high jump. “He has just done a superb job for us all season.”

Jarrett, the sensational Harvard-bound All-American who ran in his first meet this season after suffering a foot injury, won his final high school race on New Jersey soil by coasting to victory in the 3,200 in 9:10.70. Jarrett, however, will run in a St. Benedict’s uniform one last time when the Nike Outdoor Nationals are held June 19-21 in North Carolina.

Bucknor, who’s headed to Seton Hall, is nearly 100-percent after fighting a strained hamstring for most of the year. He ran the leadoff off leg in the 1,600 and was followed by Morgan Mack, Kevin Parker and Leighton-Jon Smith with a winning clocking of 3:20.20.

NEW JERSY CATHOLIC TRACK CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

TEAMS: 1-Msgr. Donovan 78. 2-St. Benedict’s Prep 56 (B Division champions). 3-St. Joseph’s (Met.) 47. 4-Seton Hall Prep 46. 5-Christian Brothers and Bergen Catholic 40. 7-Union Catholic 37. 8-Pope John 35. 9-Notre Dame 31. 10-Delbarton 22. 11-St. Rose 20. 12-Don Bosco Prep 20. 13-St. John Vianney 19. 14-St. Peter’s Prep 11. 15-Bishop Ahr 10. 16-Roselle Catholic 9. 17-St. Patrick 4. 18-Cardinal McCarrick and Red Bank Catholic 1.
100-METER DASH: 1-Nyshier Oliver, St. Peter’s Prep, 11.03. 2-Charles Davis, St. John Vianney, 11.20. 3-Chris Medina, Msgr. Donovan, 11.27. 4-Shariff Stubbs, Union Catholic, 11.29. 5-Kevin Parker, St. Benedict’s Prep, 11.51. 6-Greg Kohle, St. Peter’s Prep, 11.58.
200-METER DASH: 1-Clayton Parros, Seton Hall Prep, 22.15. 2-Brian Bucknor, St. Benedict’s Prep, 22.27. 3-Garrett Ellis, Union Catholic, 22.28. 4-Jayce Maxwell, Msgr. Donovan, 22.56. 5-Shariff Stubbs, Union Catholic, 22.61. 6-Brenton Widgeon, Cardinal McCarrick, 22.89.
400-METER RUN: 1-Clayton Parros, Seton Hall Prep, 48.64. 2-Garrett Ellis, Union Catholic, 48.95. 3-Dom Gaston, Bergen Catholic, 49.85. 4-Jonathan Marques, St. Joseph’s (Met.), 50.35. 5-Morgan Mack, St. Benedict’s Prep, 50.50. 6-Dylan Hurley, Pope John, 50.91.
800-METER RUN: 1-Justin Cornell, Christian Brothers, 1:58.29. 2-Jamie Gibilisco, Notre Dame, 1:58.37. 3-Brendon Pierson, Christian Brothers, 1:58.43. 4-Jorge Marques, St. Benedict’s Prep, 1:58.70. 5-Kyle Havard, Christian Brothers, 1:59.86. 6-Jon Juleus, Pope John, 1:59.95.
1,600-METER RUN: 1-Rob Molke, Don Bosco Prep, 4:18.77. 2-Pat Schellberg, Delbarton, 4:23.39. 3-Ben Horel, Christian Brothers, 4:23.60. 4-Graham Matthews, Msgr. Donovan, 4:24.87. 5-Raymond Coles, Msgr. Donovan, 4:25.92. 6-Bobby McGann, Red Bank Catholic, 4:27.38.
3,200-METER RUN: 1-Brandon Jarrett, St. Benedict’s Prep, 9:10.70. 2-George Johnson, Msgr. Donovan, 9:45.72. 3-D.J. Thornton, Union Catholic, 9:50.47. 4-Rich Grendelli, Christian Brothers, 9:54.05. 5-Jesse Castellanos, St. Joseph’s (Met.), 9:55.74. 6-Gregg Donnelly, Christian Brothers, 9:57.02.
110-METER HURDLES: 1-Shaikat Bardhan, Bishop Ahr, 15.15. 2-Robert Rogers, St. Rose, 15.41. 3-Albert Bastien, St. Joseph’s (Met.), 15.63. 4-Victor Servito, Bergen Catholic, 15.67. 5-T.J. Lynch, Msgr. Donovan, 15.68. 6-Brendan Ensor, Msgr. Donovan, 15.76.
400-METER INTERMEDIATE HURDLES: 1-Robert Lynch, Msgr. Donovan, 55.02. 2-Robert Rogers, St. Rose, 55.25. 3-Jervis Hudson, St. Joseph’s (Met.), 57.81. 4-Nick Calotta, Delbarton, 57.90. 5-Francis Rivera, Delbarton, 58.17. 6-Kyle Johnson, Pope John, 58.56.
HIGH JUMP: 1-Kevin Bostick, Bergen Catholic, 6-6. 2-Joseph McCloud, St. Benedict’s Prep, 6-4. 3-Chris Thomas, Pope John, 6-2. 4-Albert Bastien, St. Joseph’s (Met.), 6-2. 5-Jake Bartlett, Christian Brothers, 6-2. 6-Joe Badru, St. John Vianney, 6-0.
LONG JUMP: 1-Joseph McCloud, St. Benedict’s Prep, 23-1½, meet record; former record, 23-1, Chris Gandy, Union Catholic, 2000. 2-Chris Medina, Msgr. Donovan, 22-3¾. 3-Kevin Bostick, Bergen Catholic, 21-6½. 4-Obinna Nwafor, Union Catholic, 21-5½. 5-Kyle Webster, Seton Hall Prep, 21-0¼. 6-Kevin Carter, Msgr. Donovan, 20-10.
TRIPLE JUMP: 1-Kevin Bostick, Bergen Catholic, 48-0. 2-Chris Thomas, Pope John, 45-0. 3-Obinna Nwafor, Union Catholic, 44-9½. 4-Idris Pitt, St. Patrick, 41-6. 5-Marquis McEwen, Notre Dame, 41-5. 6-Nick Orzol, Notre Dame, 41-4 1/2.
SHOT PUT: 1-Chris DiLorenzo, Seton Hall Prep, 55-9. 2-Eric Davis, Notre Dame, 53-11. 3-Steve Marino, Delbarton, 53-0. 4-Jonathan Fernandez, Msgr. Donovan, 52-2. 5-Steven Caprio, Seton Hall Prep, 50-11. 6-Eugene Okparaeke, St. Benedict’s Prep, 48-1.
DISCUS: 1-Saquan Gore, Notre Dame, 152-8. 2-Chris DiLorenzo, Seton Hall Prep, 150-10. 3-Ricky Okoye, Pope John, 148-4. 4-A.J. Coulson, Msgr. Donovan, 144-10. 5-Joseph Tarr, St. Joseph’s (Met.), 136-2. 6-Eugene Okparaeke, St. Benedict’s Prep, 136-2.
JAVELIN: 1-Robert Dawson, St. Joseph’s (Met.), 170-3. 2-Dominick Murphy, Roselle Catholic, 165-5. 3-Jonathan Fernandez, Msgr. Donovan, 161-10. 4-Scott Varanelli, Pope John, 160-3. 5-Steve Marino, Delbarton, 156-8. 6-K.C. Murray, Roselle Catholic, 155-8.
POLE VAULT: 1-Scott Weismiller, Don Bosco Prep, 13-0. 2-Mike Reese, St. John Vianney, 13-0. 3-William Schubiger, St. Joseph’s (Met.), 12-6. 4-Robert Rogers, St. Rose, 12-0. 5-James Miller, Christian Brothers, 11-6. 6-John Keale, Christian Brothers, 11-0.
1,600-METER RELAY: 1-St. Benedict’s Prep (Brian Bucknor, Morgan Mack, Kevin Parker, Leighton-Jon Smith) 3:20.20. 2-Msgr. Donovan 3:24.57. 3-St. Joseph’s (Met.) 3:25.82. 4-Seton Hall Prep 3:29.27. 5-St. John Vianney 3:29.48. 6-Union Catholic 3:30.28.
3,200-METER RELAY: 1-Msgr. Donovan (Brandon Zisa, Alex Pereira, Matt Crosta, Corey Crowe) 8:08.40. 2-Pope John 8:18.52. 3-Christian Brothers 8:21.50. 4-Bergen Catholic 8:30.07. 5-Notre Dame 8:31.58. 6-St. Joseph’s (Met.) 8:31.77.