While it was a somewhat down year for Colonial Valley Conference track and field where the NJSIAA Meet of Champions was concerned, it was definitely an up year for three athletes from Hamilton Township schools who reached the MOC for the first time.
Nottingham senior Ernest Gaykai qualified in the shot put, Northstars’ freshman Ti’Kayla Smith reached in the javelin — in just her first season doing track — and Hamilton West senior Zairra Galloway advanced in the triple jump in her second season of competing.
Gaykai is the most experienced of the trio. He arrived at Nottingham with aspirations of playing college football and was an offensive lineman for Milo McGuire’s squad.
He was encouraged to try track by former Northstars’ coach Mary Johnson.
“I never even heard of shot put, and she introduced me to it,” Gaykai said. “I got really good throughout a couple weeks. My best mark was 32. I did discus, but shot was my best.”
He would surpass that best by 20 feet by the time he was a senior, but first Gaykai had to undergo some heavy lifting.
“I worked with him two years in the spring and before in winter track,” Nottingham throws coach Andrew Parsons said. “He needed to work on a lot of his foot placement on his spin. He had to get that down. But he goes out there dependably doing what he needs to do.”
The shot/discus man learned his lessons well, and set the Nottingham record last year with a throw of 50 feet, 10 inches. This year the goal was to beat that mark, which Gaykai first did with a second-place throw of 51-7 in the Colonial Valley Conference meet.
“Weren’t high with expectations about the Meet of Champions,” Parsons said. “But after he put up that 51, I started looking at the numbers and thought there was a good chance to get there.”
After finishing third with a 49-7 in the Central Jersey Group III meet, he again broke his record with a 52-0 in the Group III meet, which qualified him as a wild card for the MOC.
“It was a big accomplishment for me,” Gaykai said. “I always wanted to go there since junior year. I just heard about it junior year so that was going to be a big goal for me my senior year.”
He tried to low-key the event when he got there. “I saw a lot of big athletes over there,” Gaykai said. “But I just looked at it as a normal meet.”
It was not, however, a normal meet.
“I remember coaching him at Meet of Champs and how he never thought he was gonna be there and how amazed he was he made it this far,” said Kenley Souffrant, the boys team head coach. “It’s a very intense atmosphere.”
Unfortunately, Gaykai had a tough day, with his best throw being a 48-10.
“I was a little nervous, plus it was hot that day,” he said. “I didn’t really do well. That was my first time over there, so I didn’t really prepare myself for that type of day. I was disappointed a little bit, but I look back at all the stuff I did this season and that was good.”
Souffrant, no stranger to the MOC as he was there with the Northstars’ 4×400 relay team during his running days, was pleased with Gaykai’s season.
“If anything, he’s been very consistent all year, very dependable,” the coach said. “He’s been a great leader amongst the throwers.”
Gaykai’s progress has landed him scholarship offers to Division II Caldwell and Division I St. Peter’s, which he is still deciding on.
The football dream only lasted a year.
“After what I did the last two years,” Gaykai said, “I wasn’t going to waste the talent I had.”
Smith showed a lot talent in her first year of throwing the javelin. She wanted to try something new and was given an option by the coaches as to what to try, and “javelin was the most fun for me.”
Like any first-time thrower, Smith had to learn the different releases and how to keep it high for better control. Her footwork progressed as the season advanced.
“We started with the basics,” Parsons said. “How to throw it, how to release it. Over time she started to improve, but she didn’t hit her stride until the (CVC) Freshman-Sophomore meet. That’s when she broke out. She threw 92 feet (and six inches) and got second place there.”
Smith was just getting started. She took third in the Mercer Coaches Classic with a throw of 95-1 before unloading a PR throw of 111-11 to win the CVC championships. It was a pleasant surprise for the 9th-grader.
“That meant a lot,” Smith said. “I was new to this, so being able to win that showed me I was good.
“I was able to keep improving each week. Probably at sectionals I started to think about (MOC) a little bit.”
Smith slumped to 96-11 at sectionals but it was good for fourth place and still advanced her to the Group III meet. She re-emerged at states with a throw of 109-4, and nearly reached her PR in the season’s biggest meet with a 16th-place toss of 110-5 at the Meet of Champs.
“Overall I was grateful to be able to compete there,” she said of the MOC. “I just thought that I was there for a reason. I went out and did my best.”
Smith said her goals now are to keep improving “and hopefully get back to the same spot one day.”
Parsons would not bet against it.
“She’s dedicated, focused and totally relentless when it comes to practice,” the coach said. “She would be at practice every day. The day after sectionals I said ‘You want to take a day off?’ and she said ‘No I want to practice.’”
He then paid Smith a huge compliment.
“She made me a better coach,” Parsons said. “When she’s doing everything thing she has to, I have to raise my efforts to meet her. I can’t wait to see her by the time she’s finished.”
Galloway finished on a high note despite competing in her “secondary” sport. The Hornets’ senior is headed for Rutgers-Camden to play basketball next year, but has also decided to do track.
She did the sport her sophomore year, but had to fit it in between her travel basketball schedule. Despite being spread thin, Galloway reached the Group III meet in triple jump with mark of 33-3.5-feet (she also ran and did high jump that year).
“Her junior year, she realized it was too difficult for her mom to drive her back and forth between basketball and track and she wanted to focus on improving in her true love, which was basketball,” West’s veteran jumps coach Jerry Van Slooten said.
With her basketball future decided, Galloway came out again this year. “We knew that we had a limited time to get her to an elite level,” he said. “She scrapped high jump for long jump, which was a little less technical and allowed her to compete with her natural athleticism, which she has plenty of.”
The results were noticeable as Galloway finished second in the Mercer Coaches Classic in the triple (35-1) and long (16-11); first in the CVC Championships in triple (35-4.25) and long (16-6.5) and first in CJ III in triple (36-2.5) and long (17-9).
At the Group III meet Galloway had an off-day in the long jump at 16-0, but finished sixth in the triple in 36-5.75 to gain a wild card berth to the MOC. She capped her West career with a second-best lifetime mark of 36-3 to finish 16th.
“She matured a great deal from her sophomore season,” Van Slooten said. “Her experience as a basketball player and getting comfortable at West really changed things.”
But that athleticism sure doesn’t hurt.
“I was lucky to get the chance to work with her this season, “Van Slooten said. “Ultimately, when I saw her touching the rim in the gym I had big dreams for her as a jumper. She is fast, but she is strong and bouncy as well. She’s a rare athlete.”
But an athlete with time constrictions.
“The original plan had always revolved around qualifying for Nationals and using the extra two weeks to continue her progression, but she just ran out of time,” Van Slooten said. “She was improving rapidly at the end of the year.”
She improved enough that she will attempt to play basketball and do track at Rutgers-Camden.
“I firmly believe she has the talent to compete at a really high level,” Van Slooten said. “It’s up to her how far she wants to take it.”
Nottingham senior Ernest Gaykai, qualified for the Meet of Champions in the shot put.,
