The Union Catholic girls continued their remarkable streak of dominance by extending their record to 12 straight team titles and the Elizabeth boys won their third straight championship at the Union County Relays on Saturday at the Jersey City Armory.
MINUTEMEN 3-PEAT
The Elizabeth boys showcased their versatile firepower strong and balance on their way to a 50-38 victory over runner-up Union Catholic to capture their third consecutive title and fourth in five years.
The Minutemen, who also won the title in 2022,three races and scored fourth or better in four other events.
Elizabeth won the shuttle hurdles in 31.91, finished first in 8:39.98, took first in the sprint medley relay in 3:41.47, and it finished third in the 4×200, third in the shot put, fourth in the high jump and fourth in the 4×400.
Elizabeth head coach Austin Holman pulled off a great daily double!!! He didn’t just celebrate a county title, he also celebrated his daughter’s birthday!!! How awesome is that!!
“This is a great way to start 2026, a relay team championship on my daughter Kennedy’s 7th birthday,” said Holman. “Great individual efforts from lots of our athetes. Bryan Palamar had a PR throw of 41-6.5, the 6th best throw of the meet, to get us secone in the shot put. Mr. Everything for us, Jaydan Cadet, tied for 3rd in high jump with 5-10 to lead us to a 4th place finish. He also led us to a shuttle hurdle championship. But our relay team MVP went to Davian Simon, who was a double-winner on the 4×800 and SMR, anchoring the SMR with a 2:02 as with team finished with a 3:41.47. Outstanding job from our coaching staff, Mike Penta, Anthony Williams, Bryant Cordova, Henry Wilson, Patrick Castro, Sarah Regha and Mike Sacca.”
VIKINGS NEARLY PERFECT AS STREAK HITS A DOZEN
There was never a doubt about the outcome of the girls competition as the UC Vikings nearly threw down a perfect score on their way to a staggering 12th straight time. UC won 7 of the 8 events and finished second in the shot put to finish with a mind-bending meet record final score of 78!!! That’s just 2 points short of the maximum possible total of 80. Union and Elizabeth tied for second with 25 and Oak Knoll was fourth with 24.
Jola Strayhorn, Morgan Holley, Abbey Robisky, Abriyah Thompson, Kairah Jones and Priscalla Hylton were all double winners for UC and several more athletes contributed to the victory.
Here’s UC’s results –
DMR – first place in 13:03.10
Shuttle hurdles – first place in 33.86;
4×200 relay – first place in 1:43.5
4×800 relay- first place in 10:12.06
Sprint medley relay – first place in 4:08.74 (Aubrey Devers anchored in 2:17)
4×400 relay – first place with a meet record 4:03.10.
High jump — first place as Morgan Holley and Priscilla Hylton each cleared 4-10
Shot put — 2nd place as Alyssa Kenol unloaded a meet-best 34-5.50.