The Delbarton Track & Field team delivered an outstanding performance at the Morris County Winter Championships on Wednesday at Ocean Breeze, finishing second overall in a thrilling team race decided by the narrowest of margins. Nearly every Green Wave athlete recorded a personal best, as Delbarton fell just short to Chatham, 52–50.5, in the team standings.
Senior Alexander Makovsky highlighted the day with a championship performance in the pole vault. After a neck-and-neck competition forced a jump-off at 11'9", Makovsky cleared the height on his first attempt to secure Delbarton's lone individual county title. The victory marked his first county championship after spending the previous two seasons competing behind two of the top vaulters in the state. Senior Dever Hanlon also impressed, clearing a personal-best 10'6" to tie for sixth place.
The meet opened with senior captain Aidan Ponzio setting the tone in the 55-meter hurdles. Ponzio raced well in the trials to advance to the finals, where he finished second overall in a new personal best of 7.95 seconds. The time moves him to ninth on Delbarton's all-time list, with several weeks still remaining in the season.
Moments later, senior Luke Eisenhardt followed with a breakout performance in the 55-meter dash. After posting a massive personal best in the trials to earn the center lane in the finals, Eisenhardt finished second to the defending county champion. His time of 6.62 seconds ranks fourth all-time in Delbarton history, trailing only three former record-holders at the school and county level.
Delbarton continued to rack up key points in the middle distances. In the 600 meters, juniors Joshua Akakpo and Hans Clovis delivered an outstanding double effort, placing third and fifth, respectively. Akakpo's time of 1:24.00 now stands as the third-fastest in school history, while Clovis moved up to fourth all-time with a 1:24.46.
The 1000 meters produced another strong showing, as juniors Lucien Bret and Todd Smith scored in fourth and fifth place. Bret ran 2:36.59 in the seeded heat to earn fourth and now ranks sixth all-time at Delbarton. Smith clocked 2:40.12 from the unseeded heat, running against the clock to outpace several athletes from the faster heat.
In the 300 meters, junior Giovanni Bushell emerged from a deep field with a sixth-place finish in a personal-best 37.03. The time is now the fifth-fastest in program history. Senior Trevor Wyso rounded out the individual scoring with a sixth-place finish in the shot put.
The meet concluded with a dramatic 4x400-meter relay, where Delbarton showed tremendous grit. Despite a stumble early in the race, the Green Wave fought back to finish second while still posting one of the fastest relay times in school history. The quartet of Akakpo, Clovis, Bret, and sophomore Ryan Alessi displayed remarkable heart to keep Delbarton in championship contention. Earlier in the meet, Alessi narrowly missed scoring in the highly competitive 600 meters, but his time of 1:29.65 placed him on the Delbarton all-time list in just his second attempt at the distance.
The Green Wave will return to Ocean Breeze on January 31 for the Ocean Breeze Invitational, where they will look to improve seed times ahead of state-level competition later this season.
Go Green Wave!
