Marissa and Rosa Colon are sisters born one year apart, so naturally they have a few things in common.
For one, each took a year or so to find their niche in track and field. Another is, once they did, both have enjoyed increasing success.
Rosa, a senior at Nottingham High, came out for track as a freshman and competed in the 100 high hurdles, the 400 meters and 800 meters. She also ran on the Northstars’ record-setting 4×400 relay team. As a sophomore, she began investigating the 400 hurdles, and as a junior she focused on them more intently and finished sixth in the county tournament and eighth in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III meet.
This year, Rosa won every dual meet in the 400 hurdles and finished third at at the Mercer County championship meet in 1:10.21. She has also become a solid high jumper, but considers hurdles her best event.
“I like the 400 hurdles better than the 400 because it’s more interesting than just running around the track,” Rosa said. “And I like them better than the 100 hurdles because I know I’m better at them. The 100 hurdles have more techniques. I have my three steps down in the 100 but I don’t have perfect technique.”
And then there is Marissa, a junior who has blossomed as one of the top long jumpers and triple jumpers in the Colonial Valley Conference this year.
After being talked into coming out for the team by Rosa, Marissa was put in a bunch of running events as a freshman. Other than increasing her times little by little, she wasn’t setting the track on fire.
“They were average times,” Marissa said.
During her sophomore year, coach Melissa Foley suggested Marissa try jumping. She had done the high jump, but the coach wanted to see how far she could go horizontally in the long and triple jumps.
“As a freshman, she was focusing on a lot of the same things her sister was doing,” Foley said. “But when I put her in the jumps as a sophomore, she started to excel at the end of the year. She went through a whole season of jumping and got better as she went along.”
Marissa immediately liked it, and missed advancing to the NJSIAA Group III championship meet last year by one-half inch in the sectionals.
“That was really depressing to miss it by that much,” she said in mid-May. “But I still have this year and next year to do it.”
The Colons were always soccer players growing up. After Rosa’s freshman year playing for the Northstars, coach Elyse Diamond suggested she go out for winter track to stay in shape for soccer. Rosa liked it so much she went out for spring track and, after her sophomore season of soccer, she switched to cross country.
“I originally didn’t want to do it until Ms. Diamond asked me,” Rosa said. “I ended up liking running a lot better than soccer. It’s more of an outlet for me. I can channel my energy a little differently, and it was just something I had a passion for.”
Her passion was so great that she began to work on Marissa to come out for track as a freshman. She, too, was reluctant, but that sibling competitiveness kicked in.
“Knowing her, I knew she was naturally competitive,” Rosa said. “I knew when she did it, she’d want to see if she could do as well in the sport as I could. It was like a competition with us.
“Mostly it is during practice now because we don’t compete in the same things in meets. But we push each other in workouts.”
Foley has watched it all unfold.
“You can definitely tell they’re sisters,” she said. “They’re pretty much the same, they are both extremely competitive and dedicated. They have that dedication that is hard to find in a lot of athletes nowadays. They both know they have to work hard to improve, which is good.
“Rosa is very composed. I don’t know if it’s because of her age or what. She’s more composed, and Marissa is more aggressive, but they’re both pretty similar for the most part. They will run whatever event I need them in. They each do four events every meet, and they work hard and have a positive attitude.”
Marissa credited Rosa for helping her a lot during that first year, as far as how to prepare for meets and practices. But she quickly made her own way.
“Marissa created her own identity right away,” Foley said. “I’m sure having Rosa as a sister is motivating, because Rosa is an extremely motivated person. She has a 4.2 (grade-point average), she’s in the top 10 in her class. She’s really smart and just committed to academics. I think going out there and seeing her sister’s success rubbed off on Marissa.”
Both are enjoying their best seasons this year. Marissa set the school record in the triple jump at 34-feet, 3 inches and has a personal best of 16-7 in the long jump, 64.2 seconds in the 400 and 4-10 in the high jump. With one tri-meet still left on the schedule, Marissa had amassed 99.5 team points after finishing first or second in the long and triple in every meet.
“She’s strong,” Foley said of Marissa’s jumping success. “She’s fast and she gets a lot of power coming down the runway. At practice she really focuses a lot on technique in drills.
“Her form has come a long way. Speed is crucial in jumps. And she’s just competitive. As soon as she hears someone has a good jump she wants to go out and beat it.”
Marissa had to work hard to get where she is.
“When I first started, I would just run and then jump,” she said with a laugh. “I had no form at all.”
Rosa had a personal-best time of 68.3 seconds heading into the sectional meets and was hoping to take a run at the school record of 66.2. She has hit 4-10 in the high jump. After graduation, she will head for Richmond University, which has made the sisters’ bond a little tighter.
“We’ve definitely gotten a lot closer over the past year,” Rosa said. “We used to argue a lot more. We’re definitely closer knowing that I’m leaving and won’t be here for next four years.
“I was just glad to have her on the team. She definitely pushed me a lot. I don’t want my little sister to beat me.”
Asked who won in the workouts between them, they girls agreed it’s about half and half. And that compromise probably proves more than anything that they’ve gotten a lot closer over the past year.
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