Watson leads talented Falcons on the track
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

METUCHEN — Despite no official dual meets scheduled in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division, the St. Joseph High School winter track team is busy training for the GMC individual meet, the county relays, and the GMC All-Division Meet.

"Although we don’t compete in official meets with score-keeping we do have developmental meets," St. Joseph head coach Gary Trojanowski said. "We also competed in the Catholic Conference West Point Relays."

The Falcons traveled to West Point, New York, Dec. 19 to compete in a field of over 15 teams. St. Joseph’s 3,200-meter relay team comprised of Kevin Lipovsky, Ed Tessalone, Mark Brubaker and Jeff Pierik-Payel finished second in a time of 8:50.6.

Trojanowski and the rest of the Falcons hope the relay team can pull off a repeat performance when the county relays occur Jan. 20-21 at Farleigh Dickinson University in Hackensack.

Earlier in December, junior Errol Watson showed signs of what spectators can expect when the GMC All-Division Meet takes place. The meet is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 27-28.

At a developmental meet with Christian Brothers Academy, Watson turned in a time of 6.5 seconds in the 55-meter dash and finished the 55-meter hurdles in 7.6 seconds.

"Errol is our superstar," Trojanowski said. "He is one of few that is a nationally talented athlete. He has tremendous talent, and you will hear more about him if he is not hurt or sick."

Watson also recorded a time of 23.9 for the 200 meter race the state incorporated to replace the mile.

Also turning in noteworthy performances against CBA was Tessalone and Michael Scheller. Tessalone, a senior, finished the 800 in 2:09m while Scheller raised eyebrows in the shot put event. Scheller’s best throw was measured at 46 feet, 9 inches.

At a recent dual meet at Edison High School, competing against Edison and J.P. Stevens, Watson continued to amaze. He finished the 55-meter hurdles in 7.8 seconds and the 55-meter dash in 6.4.

"Errol had a good day," Trojanowski said. "He really had a standout performance. If he continues to perform at that level and if the other guys will hold their own, we could do well at the end of the season."

Watson should certainly be in the thick of things at the GMC Individual Championships, which is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 12 at Lehigh University.

Also worth looking out for in individual competition is Lipovsky and Tim Acevedo. Acevedo turned in a time of 53.3 in the 400 this winter, and Lipovsky has been performing well in both the 400 and 800.

"For a sophomore Kevin [Lipovsky] is good," Trojanowski said. "He’s been running about 54 seconds for the 400 recently ran a 2:10 in the 800."

Fellow sophomore Michael Wardenski is also capable of turning in a 2:10 for the 800, if not better.

"We will lay low for a while now that we are back in school," Trojanowski said. "We will meet South Plainfield in the second week of January, but other than that we will be getting ready for the county meets."