Boys Track to Rely on Depth and Talent for Spring Season

The cupboard is brimming with talent and numbers for the Westfield High School boys track team.   

Talent as in senior sprinter Jhakyse Williams, junior 400-meter man John Henry, senior 400-meter man Kevin Ramos, senior pole vaulter Dave Fishman and senior distance runner Ryan Scrudato. That's an outstanding core to start and don't forget distance runner Mike Kelly and senior middle distance man Tyler Cusick.   

Westfield is coming off a winter title in the Union County Relays. The team was a
runner-up in the North 2 Group IV meet to Franklin. The Blue Devils' cross country team won the state Group IV title last fall with Scrudato, sophomore Jack Leahy, junior Zach Lizmi, junior Andrew Kirna and Cusick leading the way.   

"We have good kids,'' said longtime coach Jack Martin, who said that 140 youngsters have been working out. "We'll look at kids different events. They have to grow into them. We typically don't have freshmen who'll be stars, but they'll grow into their events.''   

The Blue Devils were a fourth-place finisher in last year's North 2 Group IV
championships, but this team has the ability to move up a few rungs.   

"We had a pretty good winter season and we have everybody back from that team except for two kids, and we have a lot of new kids,'' Martin said.    

The team is already gearing up to the top meet of the year, Penn Relays.

"We're really excited to go on to the Penn Relays, and get some qualififers in the
group (meet) and the MOC (meet of champions), we should be pretty strong,'' said Ramos.   

The team's relays should be very strong, especially the 4x400 and distance medley
relay teams.   

"As of now we have a strong distance medley relay, but our 4x2 and our 4x4 is really strong, that is probably the strongest part of our team,'' said Williams, whose fastest split time for the 4x4 really is 50.7. "Our spring core is very good, but we have some very good distance guys. We had some great sprinters back in the day and we're trying to get that back.''   

Henry has run the 800 meters in 2:00 flat and has gone 49.5 for a split on the 4x400 team and 50.7 in the open 400. The 4x400 team is looking to go below 4:20 in the spring.

The team will be hosting the annual Blue Devil Classic on Saturday, April 17. The annual all day relay event will attract high school track teams from across northern New Jersey.

Fishman, a third-place finisher in the North 2 IV outdoor meet last year, cleared
13-feet recently in practice in the pole vault. Westfield will also get points from
football standout Pat Grey who will run the 200 and 400.   

"He can do a lot of things,'' Martin said.   

Willie Johnson, a strong linebacker for the football team, looks like the lead shot
puters.   

"He's been throwing in the low to mid 40s,'' Martin said. "We have a couple of
other kids in the 40s. We don't have stars, but we have pretty good depth.''