By Ken Weingartner
When it comes to sprinting, the boys on Ewing High’s track-and-field team see some tough competition on a daily basis. It’s called practice.
The Blue Devils have continued a tradition of excellence in the sprint events this season thanks to a talented group led by senior Christian Patterson.
Ewing flashed its speed at the Mercer County Championships in May, when Patterson won the 400-meter dash and anchored the Blue Devils’ winning 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. The 4×400 squad, which also included Eashwayne Haughton, Kamal Williams and Junior Abel, set the school record of 3:20.4.
In addition, Haughton won the 200 and finished fourth in the 100.
Other top individual finishers among the sprinters were Williams, who finished second to Patterson in the 400 and placed seventh in the 200, and Marcus Daniels, who was seventh in the 100 and 11th in the 200. Abel was ninth in the 400 and Devin Oyola was 10th in the 400 hurdles. All are juniors.
Ewing finished third in the overall Mercer County Championships standings, behind Hamilton West and Allentown.
“We’re an incredibly well-performing sprints team,” Ewing coach Matt Dalessio said. “We’re very happy with where we are. It’s their work ethic during practice, which is what I hope gets passed down to the young guys, coming together and trying to drive each other.
“They try to create a sense of competition amongst themselves in practice, so that carries through on meet days. They push each other because they’re all at that level where they’re ready to take the next step.”
Last year, Ewing’s 4×400 relay team won the Central Jersey Group II championship, finished second in the statewide group final, and was 13th at the Meet of Champions. Patterson, Williams and Oyola were part of that squad, along with then-senior standout Chinedu Amonu (now on the track team at UConn).
“Christian last year had Chinedu and before Chinedu you had Evan Johnson and they pushed each other,” Dalessio said. “It’s carried on. Christian is making every one of these juniors better. These (juniors) want to know who is going to be the next Christian. They all want it, so it’s making them all good.”
The Blue Devils refer to each other as a family, and understand the importance of working together.
“My teammates work extremely hard,” Patterson said. “I have to tip my hat to them because without them I wouldn’t be where I’m at. My teammates push me every day. We’re family. It’s easy to push each other when we all want to get better.
“We wanted to make a statement this year. This is my last year and I appreciate their work ethic. I love them. Since wintertime, we talked about winning championships and getting these gold medals. It’s been a blessing. We know we’re good, and we know we can get better. We all love track. This is what we do.”
Haughton, who joined the track team only a year ago, was also part of Ewing’s winning 4×100 team as he left the Mercer County Championships with three gold medals.
“Chinedu took me under his wing (last year) and really helped me,” Haughton said. “This means a lot because it shows me that hard works pays off. It gives me a lot of confidence.
“Christian is always calling us to workout, even on side days he’s always ready to go and he motivates everyone,” he added about the Blue Devils’ work ethic. “There’s a strong bond between us. That bond keeps us going. I have to live up to the standards that he sets.”
Williams agreed. “That’s our big brother; we look up to him,” he said. “He’s the leader. It’s going to be real sad next year without him.”
Williams ran the third leg of this year’s winning 4×400 relay. Last year, he finished second to Amonu in the Central Jersey Group II 400 final.
“Before every relay we talk about what we need to do, what each individual needs to do,” Williams said. “If we do what we do best, no one can beat us. When you run a relay you’re not running for yourself, you’re running for the team. We represent the school and all of Ewing Township, and we take pride in that.”
Abel, who ran the second leg of the 4×400 at the county championships, recorded a personal-best split of 51 seconds to help the Blue Devils to victory.
“I may not be the fastest person on our team, but I try to do my part and keep up with them,” Abel said. “We try to feed off each other. We showed everyone what we can do, what we’re made of. There were a lot of teams doing a lot of talking, but it means a lot to us to come out and show we’re not only here to compete, we’re here to win.”
Daniels, who picked up a gold medal with the 4×100 relay team, said individual success is good, but being part of a winning group is even better.
“It’s fun to share it,” Daniels said. “We all like to go home happy together. You just have to make sure everybody does their part. Sometimes people feel like they can’t do it and we tell them they can. We push each other.
“We’re competitive in practice; it gets pretty competitive,” he added. “We all like winning. That’s a good thing.”
It’s also an infectious thing. Sebastian Agyarkoh was ready to quit track, but after sitting out a season came back because of all the fun he saw his friends having.
“To be honest, I was really lazy,” said Agyarkoh, who was on the 4×100 championship squad. “I didn’t think I had the speed, so I thought I was never going to go far. I realized, though, that it was boring watching them all run and seeing how much fun they had. I came back and they all pushed me. Coach Dalessio pushed me too. And I pushed myself.
“Being lazy is not going to help me get far in life. I thank all of them. That’s why I’m here now. We’re all family, brothers. It’s been a learning and growing experience. I’m happy.”
With the number of top sprinters expected to return next year, Ewing is poised for another big run.
“I’m not saying we’re not going to go out and try to win sectionals this year, because that’s our plan, but I like our chances next year even more,” Dalessio said. “Next year is going to be the true test to how much noise we can make in the county and state.”
The Blue Devils finished third in the Mercer County tournament held on May 12, 2014. Eashwayne Haughton, left, finished first in the 200-meter race and Christian Patterson finished first in the 400-meter and anchored winning 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. (Photos by Suzette J. Lucas.),
