Senior Ashton Gage scored 22 points in three sprints, senior Humberto Cuellar added 16 points in the weights, senior Brandon Lamon was part of a 1st and two 2nds and the Eastern boys won their first sectional title Saturday at Lenape.
Lenape outscored 2nd-place Williamstown, 82-68, to win South Jersey Group 4. Eastern is the 8th different school to win South Jersey Group 4 in the last 12 years.
Some 10 schools scored at least 30 points, with Cherry Hill East [53] third, followed by Millville [51], Rancocas Valley [49], 2024 and 2025 winner Toms River North [48 ½], Egg Harbor Township [47], Southern Regional [41], Cherokee [38] and Bridgeton [30].
Eastern’s best previous sectional finishes were 2nd places in 2007, 2010 and 2013, all at Egg Harbor Township.
Gage won the 200 in 22.15, placed 2nd in the 400 in a PR 48.49 and was 4th in the 100 in 10.92.
Cuellar won the shot put with a lifetime-best 55-4 ¼, becoming Eastern’s first sectional shot put champion in 17 years, since Jarred Williams won in 2010 with a 51-3 ¾. Cuellar also threw 140-9 for 3rd in the discus.
The 400 was a huge event for Eastern, with Gage, sophomore Paul Moore and junior Keshawn Townsend going 2-3-5 for 16 points. Moore lowered his PR nearly a full second from 49.71 to 48.75 and Townsend dropped from 49.81 to 49.52. Gage’s previous PR was 49.18.
Eastern finished the meet by winning the 4-by-4 in 3:21.39 with junior Mike James, senior Brandon Lamon, Moore and Townsend in the lineup.
Lemon had a big weekend, running 1:55.92 for 2nd in the 800 and running a leg on the Vikings’ 2nd-place 4-by-8, which also included senior Liam Keet, junior Michael Young and junior Timothy Shack. They ran a school-record 7:47.45, the program’s first time under eight minutes.
In addition to his 5th place in the 400, Townsend ran a huge PR 55.76 for 2nd in the intermediates. His previous fastest 400 hurdles time was 58.41. He never ran the event before last month.
Junior Michael James also medaled in the 400 hurdles, taking 5th in 58.32.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 