Jr. Raiders Track Has Strong Showing

The Hillsborough Jr. Raiders track team had a great showing at the Voorhees Invitational recently, competing with the Hunterdon Hawks and North Hunterdon Lions track clubs.

Parker Taylor led off the evening with a medal for third place in the 100-meter sub-Bantam races.

Cody Booker also ran a great race in his first ever track meet. In the 1,500 meter Stephanie Mauer continued to improve her times with a second-overall medal and a time of 5:24, and in the 400 meter came in third in her heat with a 1:13 time.

In the hurdle races, Michael Watt came in third for the 80 meters and Robert Mauer came in third in the 100-meter hurdles. Jordan Terracciano had a strong showing in her first race in the girls 80-meter hurdles. The 200-meter bantam division had Kennedy Taylor placing first in her heat with a time of 38 seconds and for the boys Philip Voronin placed third in his heat. In the youth division, Kelsey Vieira came in fourth overall in the 200 meter. Kelly Cianciola ran strong races all evening and did well in the 800 meter. Diana Voronin also ran well in the 400 meter with a time of 1:24.

The challenging field events did not deter the success of the Jr. Raiders track team. Diana Voronin came in first place in the Midget division for long jump. Kelsey Vieira in the older youth division took a strong second place with a jump of 14 feet, 3 inches. The Jr. Raiders finished 1, 2 in the midget javelin boys division with Nick Angelo’s throw of 70.5 feet taking first and Michael Watts a strong second with a throw of 66.6 feet. In the bantam division Philip Voronin had a nice throw of 34 feet. Jordan Terracciano showed that girls can also throw the shot put with several nice tosses of the six-pound metal ball.

The coaches Bob Lawton, Beth Booker, Greg Voronin and Ralph Terracciano were ecstatic for the team. Lawton mentioned that he was proud of his team, the effort they all showed and wished to thank coach Rich Refi for his help and support getting the program rolling. This was the first big test for the group in participating in a large event. There were over 250 youth athletes in attendance but the Jr. Raiders did not get overwhelmed. They proved they belong. With time and support they will continue to represent Hillsborough and their families proudly.

For more information about the track program or the football and cheerleading programs, please go to www.jrraiders.org to register today. Registration is currently open for the football and cheerleading programs during May. On May 10, the last mandatory in-person registration for all players who need a jersey or other equipment will be at the municipal building from 6 to 8 p.m. Teams and squads will start to be formulated after this date and no guarantees of team assignment after June 1. You can register today at www.jrraiders.org.

– Submitted by the Jr. Raiders track program.