Old Tappan's Layla Giordano wins two medals at Meet of Champions

PENNSAUKEN — Three years ago, when Layla Giordano started throwing discus at Northern Valley/Old Tappan, she hoped to show a different type of thrower in her program. Giordano did just that, helping to redefine the event across the state.

“There are certain stereotypes when it comes to pitchers and three years ago I came in as a little skinny kid,” Giordano said. “Pitchers come in many different forms and I’m excited to put my stamp on being a different type of pitcher.”

Giordano won a gold medal and a silver medal while setting a meet record in his final high school track and field meet in New Jersey on Wednesday, the meet of state champions at Pennsauken High School.

“This has always been my favorite event, so to come here and set a record is special,” Giordano said. “When I started organizing this event, I could never have imagined that it would lead to a record.”

Giordano entered the event as the defending state champion, winning last year with a throw of 159-7 and setting the third-best distance in event history. Giordano was not only competing with the field, but also with history. On his final throw, Giordano unloaded for a throw of 171-7, just shy of a personal best but setting a new SMOC record by more than three feet. Afterwards, Giordano thought she could have done even better.

“I felt a little weird and I think there’s something I could have done to go even further,” Giordano said. “The distance was solid and doing it on my last throw was even better.”

Giordano nearly won a second gold medal in the shot put final, but was edged out by Jessica Oji of Livingston. Oji won the state title with a throw of 48-3.5 in qualifying, beating Giordano’s best throw of 46-4.75.

On his second of three throws in the final, Giordano crossed the 50-foot line and would have won gold. It would also have been at least the fifth longest shot put in State Meet of Champions history and the first to eclipse that mark at the event since 2017. However, Giordano wobbled after the throw and committed a circular foul to cancel. the draw.

“I think I was so excited and I wasn’t used to the speed,” Giordano said of the foul. “I’ve been looking forward to this event all year, so I’m a little disappointed to fall overboard, but I know I have more in the tank for the next competition.”

After the national championships, Giordano will retire from his Old Tappan uniform for Princeton’s, remaining in New Jersey. The senior says it’s important for her to stay close to her family and support system in the next steps of her athletic journey.

NV/OT’s Dennis completes the loop and wins the 100m hurdles

The National Meet of Champions took place Wednesday for the first time ever at Pennsauken High School and some athletes were on that track for the very first time. That wasn’t the case for NV/Old Tappan’s Abby Dennis, as the senior had fond memories of the track. It was two years earlier that Dennis arrived at Pennsauken and won the first of his three group championships in the 100m hurdles.

“This track holds a special little place in my heart,” Dennis said.

Dennis was able to run this track once again, winning gold in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.14. edging Aaliyah Murphy of Morristown by four-hundredths of a second.

It could have been a much busier day for Dennis, but the senior opted out of competing in the 400m hurdles ahead of the national championships later this week. By choosing the events to participate in, the senior was able to balance competition and pleasure.

“The end of the season for runners can be a long two weeks,” Dennis said. “Sections, groups, states and nationals all happen within a two-week window, so I knew it was going to be hectic. It was all about recovering, sleeping and eating well. But it s It’s also about having fun.”

After winning gold, Dennis did just that and climbed to the top of the podium to try to convince her coaches to run the 200m. Dennis finished fourth in his heat with a time of 24.70, which was good enough for seventh place.

Bryan-Jones ends Highlands legacy with bronze in 400m hurdles

Anna Bryan-Jones was a three-sport athlete involved in championship moments for Northern Highlands in swimming and volleyball. Wednesday ended the senior’s legacy as a Highlander in an unexpected way.

“I was a little nervous because I had a bad race last week,” Bryan-Jones said. “A lot of it was training during the week to get off to a better start and my coaches thought I had a better performance in me.”

This better performance allowed Bryan-Jones to win the second heat with a time of 1:01.88, more than three seconds better than his time of 1:05.04 at the group championships. It also put Bryan-Jones five hundredths of a second behind Grace Smiechowski’s school record in the event in 2018. Bryan-Jones would finish with a bronze medal, a fact that surprised the senior.

“I didn’t really watch the third set,” Bryan-Jones admitted. “I didn’t think I was going to place. I was happy with my performance and I knew there were other heats, but my coaches came to tell me and I was surprised.”

Bryan-Jones said Wednesday’s feat meant a lot to achieve an individual feat at the end of a successful athletics career at Northern Highlands. Bryan-Jones also hopes it could lead her to continue her education at Rutgers, where she will begin attending in the fall.