Lakeland Indoor Track: Breaking Records, Winning Awards
Courtesy of the Lakeland Live Feed
Some of the best boys runners in LRHS history celebrating the state sectional win.
Lakeland Regional High School had a phenomenal 2019-2020 indoor track season, winning many events and breaking records.
As the season got underway, many athletes were back from last season. Boys Head Coach Damiano Conforti explained how they “had one goal, to win the state sectionals. Everything we did was to win that meet and push as many seniors through to the state meet of champions.” The girls, under Coach Louise Marlow, also had high hopes for the season, with many young athletes looking to win championship meets.
After the boys won both conference and state sectionals, Coach Conforti was able to say “Mission Accomplished!” He explained how they “became the first Passaic County team to ever win the state championship, and we did it in style sweeping all the distance races (800, 1600, 3200).”
Coach Conforti had to give credit for the success to many athletes. Seniors Jesse Campoverde, Zach Voll, and Ray Schmitt all played crucial roles in the state sectional victory. Seniors Mason Murphy and Carlos Cuevas, juniors TJ McCormack and Ethan Lehr, and sophomore Owen Gibson were also given credit by Conforti and Voll.
Voll told The Lancer, “Collectively we came together and did great things, and I wouldn’t want any other team to do it with.” Voll placed second in the conference and fourth at state sectionals in the 1600 meter run. He did not run this race in counties. Voll broke the school record in the 800 meter and won the event in the conference, counties, and state sectionals. Voll was one of three boys to break a record and also make it to the State Meet of Champions where he placed 13 out of 25.
Ray Schmitt took sixth place at the State Meet of Champions, a great feat.
Another one of the boy athletes who broke a Lakeland record and made it to the State Meet of Champions this year was Schmitt, who finished sixth out of 25 in the 55 meter dash. According to MileSplit NJ, Schmitt won both the conference and counties for the 55 meter, while being runner up in the state sectionals. He also placed first in the 200 meter dash at the conference and fourth at counties.
Campoverde also placed ninth out of 25 in the 3200 at the State Meet of Champions while breaking the 1600 and 3200 meter school records. He won the 1600 and the 3200 in conference, counties, and state sectionals. He was an outstanding athlete throughout the whole season.
McCormack was also a great help. He won conference and got second in counties while throwing shot put.
Murphy, Lehr, Gibson, and Cuevas all had respectable finishes in each of the meets as well.
The DMR team with Murphy, Cuevas, Voll, and Campoverde won the state sectional relays and had the 10th fastest team in the nation at the time.
On top of these individual feats, the distance medley relay team won the state sectional relay championship for that event. Runners Murphy (1200), Cuevas (400), Voll (800), and Campoverde (1600) ran a 10:44, which at the time, was a top 10 time in the nation.
On the girl side, the team took the conference championship and got third at both the counties and the state sectionals. Sophomore Angelina Perez was beyond happy with the season. She gives credit to teammates and fellow sophomores Abigail Horevay, Hanna Miles, and Caitlin Fahy and senior Devyn Tanajewski.
Horevay had a phenomenal season running the 1600 and 3200 throughout the season. In the conference, she placed second in both events. In the counties and the state sectionals, she placed fourth in the 1600 and second in the 3200. She advanced to the Meet of Champions where she placed 17 out of 25.
Perez finished first and Horevay finished second in the 3200 meter in the conference, counties, and state sectionals.
Miles played a crucial role, running the 400 throughout the season. She finished first, third, and sixth as the season progressed from the conference to counties to state sectionals
Fahy and Tanajewski each had respectable finishes in two events in the first two championship meets and one event in the state sectionals.
Perez won the State Meet of Champions in the 3200 meter and she is only a sophomore.
While many athletes did great, the superstar was Perez, who finished first in the conference, counties, and state sectionals for the 3200. She also won the 1600 in the conference and state sectionals and placed second at the counties. She advanced to the Meet of Champions where she won first place in the 3200 and was named to NJ.com’s All-State First Team. The day after her win she spoke to The Lancer. She explained, “I’m really excited I was able to compete in the meet of Champs to finish off the winter before spring track starts! I’m still in shock I came in first!” She also broke the school’s 3200 record this year.
As the season wrapped up Lehr and Gibson reflected upon the season. “It was great to say the least. I expected the conference win, but the state win was a pleasant surprise,” commented Gibson about the boy’s season. Lehr weighed in, explaining, “We all worked really hard knowing that we had a chance to win a lot.” Lehr also gave credit to a strong cross country team carrying into some of the distance race victories on both teams.
Lakeland had some great athletes this year who had even greater feats of athleticism. Many athletes advanced to the State Meet of Champions and one even won an event there. Records were smashed and collectively Lakeland took home three of a possible six team titles.
Nathan is a senior at LRHS and is a writer for The Lancer Ledger. Nathan is not new to the journalism field - he has been a writer for the paper for multiple...
