Another school record was broken by Bridgewater-Raritan High School in the final race of Tuesday’s grueling six-hour day at the 2026 Skyland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
That was not all.
On a successful day that saw its girls’ squad collect a sixth-place team finish (26 points) and its highest overall placement in nearly a quarter of a century at one of New Jersey’s toughest events, Bridgewater-Raritan’s boys’ 4x400 meter relay team of junior Maximilian Pasewaldt, junior Justin Reid, junior Kenneth Graham, and sophomore Jeremiah Wiley crossed the finish line in a scorching 3:24.62.
While the Panthers’ aforementioned quartet fell just short of a gold medal to Warren Hills Regional High School (3:24:01), they surprised host Hillsborough High School by edging the Raiders by just over half of a second for the race’s silver medal. However, to cap the meet’s final race, they crushed Bridgewater-Raritan’s school record by nearly two seconds to put an exclamation point on the Panthers’ big day Tuesday, May 5, in Hillsborough.
Junior Jordan Estomata, who previously shattered a 26-year-old school record in the boys’ shot put last Tuesday at the Somerset County Outdoor Track & Field Championships, also edged last week’s mark with a throw of 51-1 en route to a second-place finish.
Bridgewater-Raritan placed 10th overall on the boys’ side (27 points) but notably second (119 points) in the lethal Skyland Conference Delaware Division only to division champion Hunterdon Central Regional High School (165 points), which also finished runner-up (110) behind division champion Hillsborough (201 points) on the girls’ side.
The Panthers’ girls’ team also produced a third-place finish with a school-record 93 points in the Skyland Conference Delaware Division, which was formed at this event in 2019 and is the event’s most competitive group above the conference’s Raritan, Mountain, and Valley Divisions. In addition to this mark shattering Bridgewater-Raritan’s previous record for points in this division at the Skyland Conference Championships by over 30 points, the last time the Panthers placed as high as it did overall on the girls’ side was in 2003.
Including the boys’ 4x400 meter relay race, five silver medals were achieved by Bridgewater-Raritan to highlight the day’s results. Graham also finished runner-up in the 200-meter dash (22.6 seconds), which saw Hunterdon Central junior Peter Labbate win by just 0.06 second. The second-place finish for Estomata, who also placed ninth in the boys’ discus throw (126-3), only trailed the 54-1 measurement tossed by event winner and Franklin Township High School junior Daniel Riga.
On the girls’ side, freshman Charlotte Dixon and junior Maddy Corbitt hurled triple-digit marks of 112-9 and 111-8 in javelin and discus, respectively. Dixon’s toss was only behind Hillsborough senior Isabella Ruffa (131-3), while North Hunterdon Regional High School junior Charlotte Letko (114-10) edged Corbitt for the Skyland Conference crown.
Rounding out the scoring for Bridgewater-Raritan’s girls’ overall placement were junior Kaitlyn Chu (fourth, 1600-meter run, 5:10.13), junior Violette Cornfield (fourth, pole vault, 9-06 mark), and senior Dahlia Adams (fifth, 800-meter run, 2:21.73), who also registered an eighth-place finish in the 1600-meter run (5:17.91).
Similar overall top-10 milestones were achieved by junior Lana Guelich (eighth, 800-meter run, 2:25.27) and senior Durva Ghandi (10th, pole vault, 7-6 mark).
Amongst the Skyland Conference Delaware Division field, top-10 results were produced by junior Rachael Ally (eighth, 100-meter hurdles, 19.31 seconds, senior Dhitika Madduri (ninth, 100-meter hurdles, 19.40 seconds), and junior Meera Buddhikot (ninth, 100-meter dash, 13.74 seconds), who also sprung to a 16-0 mark in the girls’ long jump to tie for 11th place overall in the Skyland Conference with Bridgewater-Raritan senior Tori Torres.
In addition to setting their aforementioned 4x400 meter relay school record, Pasewaldt also placed fifth in the 100-meter dash final (11.29 seconds) and tied for 11th place overall in the boys’ long jump with Reid (19-3 mark). Wiley, who closed out the Panthers’ exciting relay results, also placed sixth in the boys’ triple jump (41-0.5 mark) and 10th in the 800-meter run (2:02.78) to go with Graham’s 200-meter dash silver medal to punctuate a big evening for the Panthers’ boys’ 4x400 relay team members.
Just going back to last Tuesday’s Somerset County Championships, which were also contested at Hillsborough High School on April 28, Bridgewater-Raritan’s boys’ squad has therefore previously set and/or broken school records in the shot-put throw, 4x400 meter relay, and the 4x100 meter relay, with the latter squad not competing on Tuesday afternoon.
Also placing in the top 10 overall was Clayton Williams (eighth, 110-meter hurdles final, 17.15 seconds), who also placed third in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles of the Skyland Conference Delaware Division (16.45 seconds) followed by junior Pon Rathinam (fourth, 18.33 seconds) and sophomore Albert Buniowski (sixth, 18.33 seconds). Zachary Urbanowicz, who also took 11th place in the boys’ 800-meter run, collected an eighth-place finish in the boys’ 1600-meter run (4:29.24).
Closing out the top 10 on the boys’ side were ninth-place results by juniors Zane Hoffman (3200-meter run, 9:57.02) and Andrew Ciccotelli (pole vault, 12-0 mark).
Bridgewater-Raritan will now prepare for the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 4, Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be contested over a two-day span starting at 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 15 and 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16, at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge according to the NJSIAA’s 2026 Spring Track & Field Regulations. Those who place and/or tie for sixth or better at their corresponding state sectional championship, per these regulations, will advance to the state group championships.
Those who qualify from Bridgewater-Raritan’s North 2, Group 4 section will then compete at the NJSIAA Group 4 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be contested along with Group 1 over a two-day span starting at 2:30 p.m. Friday, May 29 and 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 30, at Franklin Township High School in Somerset.
Any contestant who places and/or ties for second or better in the corresponding event in each group will automatically advance to the 2026 NJSIAA Meet of Champions, which will launch at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 3, at Pennsauken High School in Pennsauken. The next best 18 contestants in each corresponding event across all public and non-public groups, will also advance to the Meet of Champions from their respective group meets as wildcard qualifiers.