Ridgewood Boys Impress at Penn Relays

PHILADELPHIA—It was day three of the Penn Relays, and Franklin Field was packed as 54,310 people watched the competitors. Track enthusiasts would have recognized Usain Bolt, Alison Felix, and Dee Dee Trotter walking around the stadium. Flags from the United States, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas, among others, were wrapped around shoulders everywhere.

In front of all of them, Ridgewood boys took to the track to compete.

First up was InSoo Hwang, competing in the 400-meter hurdles championship. Hwang, running in heat three, went into the event ranked 15th among the competition.

Hwang went out fast, but at the end of the first turn was in third place. Still the race was a close one, and Hwang stayed close to the pack.

By the end of the first straightaway, Hwang and two others had emerged as the clear leaders in the race. Going into the second turn it was hard to tell who had the advantage.

Then on the final straightaway, the race leader seemed to hit a wall, and Hwang seemed to find his second wind. He picked off both of the runners in front of him, finishing strong and in first place for his heat. He crossed the finish line in 54.49, which was good enough for fourth place overall, and was the second best time for a New Jersey competitor at the 2010 Penn Relays.

Later in the day, Hwang joined teammates Matt Grundy, Juan Llinas, Jon Reimerto run the boys 4x400-meter relay. Each leg of the race put forward a strong effort and the boys blew away the other teams in their heat, taking first by more than two seconds over the next team.

Hwang was not the only individual competitor that Ridgewood had.

Tommy DeVita competed in the high jump championship. DeVita went into the event ranked 11th among the competition. He cleared the opening height of 1.92 meters on his first attempt. The bar was raised to 1.96 meters and, again, DeVita cleared it on his first attempt. The bar was then raised to 2 meters, and DeVita missed on all three of his attempts. His performance tied for ninth place.

Additionally, John Wisener competed for Ridgewood in the pole vault championship. Wisener went into the event ranked 19th among the competition. He entered at 4.20 meters, and cleared it on his second try. The bar was then raised to 4.35 meters, and Wisener missed twice.  With one try left he cleanly soared over the bar. The bar was then raised to 4.50 meters, and Wisener would miss on all three attempts.  His final height was good enough for 12th place overall.

With the Penn Relays behind them the Ridgewood team can now look toward the end of the season meets, including county championships as well as the Meet of Champions.