On January 17, OP Track traveled to the renowned Ocean Breeze Indoor Track Complex to compete in the Union County Championship — an event that would turn out to be one of the fastest races in the country so far this year. Running against NJ Top 5 ranked programs such as Union Catholic and Westfield, the Rams stepped up to the challenge and set over 20 personal records while scoring points (placing top 6) in 5 separate events.
The first scorer for the Rams would be Junior Declan Kelly, who ran 4:33.7 to place 5th in a 1600m loaded with D1-bound milers. Kelly, who has been a model of consistency for the Rams, ran his third consecutive sub 4:35 mile in the process. His class-mate James “The Mountain” Martin would also score by taking 6th place in the shotput after throwing a 12lb ball 43-3.5 feet! The next two scorers for OP came in the Ram’s headline event: the 800m. Toeing the line next to a complete field, anticipation built for Oratory Track Supporters as Senior Tommy Hunt was the #1 overall seed and favored to win, while Sophmore James Nolan was in a prime position to score points. As the gun went off, Hunt would immediately go to the front and establish a lead he would never relinquish, winning the race in 1:57.34. This performance would not only win the race for Hunt by a solid 10 meters but also set the OP Track Indoor School Record in the 2nd fastest time in all of NJ this season! James Nolan’s performance in the 800m scored as well, running 2:02.3 to take 6th. Kelly, Nolan, & Hunt all doubled back to participate in the 4x400m relay, where the Rams placed 6th in an Indoor School Record time. Notably, Matt Pasternack set the Freshman 200m and High Jump record, while Sophmore Connor Bassolino broke Tommy Hunt’s sophomore 3200 time for the school record (10:18 for 2 miles).