Mendham Boys, Girls Sweep Winter Track Sectional Titles

Mendham’s boys and girls track teams had a better weekend than most, bringing home team titles in the North 2, Group 3 sectional titles held in Toms River.

For the boys, the team was led by junior Christian Kildal-Brandt en route to a 16-point victory over its nearest opponent, Morristown, winning the event 66-50.

Kildal-Brandt won two individual gold medals in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter dash, and brought home a third as part of the 4x400 relay team.

Junior Dylan Heraghty added points to the team by coming in seventh in the 400 meter as well, followed by senior Ian Graham with a 21st place finish in a field of 33.

Junior Paul Ehmann just missed a first place finish in the 1,600-meter run, coming in only .81 seconds behind winner Sean Lyons of Morristown. Senior Tyler Pressl came in fifth in the 800-meter dash, less than three seconds behind Kildal-Brandt’s top finish.

Heraghty, Graham, and Malcom Montilus rounded out the 4x400 relay team that brought home gold, and junior Spenser Clouse topped the competition in the high jump with a leap of 6’2” to take home gold. Montilus came in third in that event with a jump of 5’6”.

The girls team was equally triumphant, ousting sister school West Morris Central by three points in the team total to win the overall competition.

Juniors Sierra Tonnesen and Audrey O’Neill came in first and second, respectively, in the 400-meter dash, finishing just 0.57 seconds apart.

Adding a slew of points to the team total were O’Neill and Courtney Foshay, coming in second and third, respectively in the 55-meter dash, followed by Nicole Skuraton in eighth place.

Senior Mackenzie Barry, who recently signed her national letter of intent to run for Providence College, obliterated the field in the 3,200-meter race with a time of 10:53.31. Her nearest opponent, from Randolph, was more than 21 seconds behind.

The relay team of O’Neill, Margo Medenbach, Cali Heffernan and Tonneson took gold in the 4x400 as well.