Somerset County’s indoor track and field teams went right to work after the turn of the calendar.
One day after the New Year, Bridgewater-Raritan High School was among its county’s squads that competed at this year’s edition of the Somerset County Indoor Track and Field Relay Championships, which were contested Friday, January 2, at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island.
While heavy favorite Ridge High School comfortably swept both the boys’ and girls’ Somerset County titles, the Bridgewater-Raritan boys’ squad (38 points) edged third-place Montgomery High School (37 points) and fourth-place Montgomery High School (36 points) en route to a runner-up finish.
Ridge collected 95 points to win as a team on the boys’ side, while its girls’ squad tallied 99 points to win the Somerset County title over runner-up Hillsborough High School (62 points) and third-place Mount Saint Mary Academy (40 points).
Bridgewater-Raritan girls' team took home fourth place with 28 points.
The Panthers’ long day was highlighted by a pair of gold medals on the boys’ side: one by the Panthers’ 4x200 meter relay team (1:32.40), and the other in the pole vault by junior Andrew Ciccotelli, who sprung to a 12-6 mark to win the event over Bound Brook High School senior Jake Markey (11-6).
Bridgewater-Raritan delivered points in eight of its nine boys’ events that were scoring events, along with six of its nine such girls’ events, which awarded points to the top six competitors in each event. The Panthers also combined for eight medals: five on the boys’ side and three on the girls’ side. These were claimed by teams who finished in the top three of their respective events.
All three of the Bridgewater-Raritan girls’ medals were silver medals.
Junior Violette Cornfield (9-0) finished second only to Montgomery High School junior Kayleigh Boraski (9-6) in the girls’ pole vault, which also saw junior Lillian Jalshgari (7-6) collect points via a fifth-place mark. The Panthers’ 4x800 meter relay team (9:56.89) was a sub-10 mark that was only eclipsed by event winner Ridge, which dashed to a gold medal-winning time of 9:52.03.
Ridge (12:32.31) also won the girls’ distance medley relay over Bridgewater-Raritan (12:37.58), which had the only other team time below 13 minutes. Completing the scoring for the Bridgewater-Raritan girls’ were the 4x200 meter relay team (1:54.73, sixth) and the 4x400 meter relay team (4:43.38, sixth).
Rounding out the performances in scoring events for the Bridgewater-Raritan girls’ team were the sprint medley relay team (5:06.55, ninth) along with a pair individual marks in each of the long jump and shot-put girls’ events. Junior Meera Buddhikot (14-11.50, seventh place) and senior Tori Torres (long jump, 14-7, 12th place) competed in the long jump, while senior Addison Lewis (23-4.50, 13th place) and freshman Brenna Weith (21-8, 17th) both tossed their respective marks in the shot-put event.
On the boys’ side, the Panthers’ 4x400 meter relay team (3:32.21) finished runner-up only to Ridge (3:29.52), but Bridgewater-Raritan edged Hillsborough (3:32.66) for the event’s silver medal. Junior Jordan Estomata tossed a 47-11 in the shot put to edge Franklin Township High School senior Stafford Ferguson (47-0.50) for the runner-up finish. Estomata’s spot was second only to Franklin junior Daniel Riga, who threw a 56-0.50 to decisively win the gold medal.
Bridgewater-Raritan’s shuttle hurdle relay team (35.41 seconds) rounded out the boys’ medals with a third-place finish.
Also scoring on the boys’ side for the Panthers were the distance medley relay team (11:04.67, fourth), junior Maximilian Pasewaldt in the long jump (19-3, fifth), and the 4x800 meter relay team (8:43.70, sixth). Closing out the results in the boys’ scoring events were the sprint medley relay team (4:05.64, ninth), another top-ten individual mark in the shot put by junior Justin Albanese (35-4, 10th), and one more individual result in the long jump by junior Santiago Castro-Martinez (12-11, 12th).
According to the meet’s program, scoring from first place down to sixth place was 10 points, eight points, six points, four points, two points, and one point.
Full results of the 2026 Somerset County Indoor Track & Field Relay Championships courtesy of MileSplitNJ can be found by clicking here.https://nj.milesplit.com/meets/720933-somerset-county-relay-championships-2026/results
Next up for Bridgewater-Raritan will be the Wayne Valentine Invitational, which will be contested at 9 a.m. Saturday, January 10, at Drew University in Madison. The Panthers will then have multiple trips to the venue known as ‘The Bubble’, starting with the NJSIAA Group 4 Winter Track and Field Relay Championships, which will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday, January 17, at the Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River.
The Panthers will then return to this venue at 9 a.m. Sunday, February 1, for the Skyland Conference Championships before coming back to Toms River to launch their postseason bid at the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 4, Championships at 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 7.