Nottingham’s Whittle, Ewing’s Okwudibonye are our CVC Athletes of the Year
He was the established star trying to cement a legacy as one of the greatest sprinters in New Jersey high school track & field history. She was a relative unknown on the scene until breaking out with monster performances in the hurdles.
Nottingham’s Shamali Whittle and Ewing’s Miriam Okwudibonye are our CVC Track & Field Athletes of the Year.
Whittle capped off his senior season and spectacular career by winning the Group II state title in both the 100 and 200 despite a left hip flexor injury that was clearly bothering him and eventually forced him to scratch from the New Balance High School Nationals.
Still, Whittle produced the top 200 time in the state this season when he clocked a personal-best 20.55 on May 10. The 21.17 he ran at the Group II Meet set a new meet record.
“I want to be the greatest track athlete to ever come out of New Jersey,” said Whittle, who is headed to the University of Georgia in the fall. “That’s what I’m working to be. Hopefully, I’ll be up in that discussion when I leave.”
Whittle first burst onto the scene as a freshman running with the state’s top 4×100 relay, and you wonder what he could have accomplished if the coronavirus pandemic had not wiped out his sophomore season. He came back from the lost season to capture the MoC double in the 100 and 200 as a junior.
“He’s an untapped potential,” said his father Curtis Whittle, who is also the Nottingham coach. “As a dad, you can’t push him too much. You know what he needs, but you can’t coach him up as much because then you can have a rift. You want to give him just enough for when he goes to college.”
Okwudibonye wasn’t a hurdler until this spring, but the senior caught on quickly and started dropping some of the best 400 hurdle times in the state.
As she started racking up wins for the Blue Devils, it became apparent that she could contend with the state’s best, which she proved by finishing second at the MoC when she ran a personal-best 1:02.15.
“It’s been a crazy year, really challenging,” Okwudibonye said. “The first time I did the hurdles it was like 68 (seconds). I was like, ‘OK, it’s not too bad.’ I kept winning counties and all that.”
When all was said and done, Okwudibonye finished with the fourth quickest time in the state all year.
“I didn’t know I was goo at track until this year,” Okwudibonye said. “Last year was my first experience and I was like behind. This year has been really great and I’ve achieved a lot.”
While she’s undecided on her college plans for the fall, Okwudibonye wants to run and there’s no doubt a host of schools would love to have her.
“She’s just a phenomenal athlete,” Ewing coach Dan Johnson said. “She works hard each day and is a great team player.”
Honorable mention for CVC boys goes to Hamilton West’s Jeremy Ellis, who won the high jump at the MoC when he cleared 6-6, and Princeton High’s Zach Della Roca, who was fourth at the MoC in the 400. On the girls side, Hamilton West’s Mikayla Hall was a Group III champion in the long jump and Nottingham’s Jianna Molin collected the sprint double in the 100 and 200 in Group II
Outside the CVC, Lawrenceville Prep’s Gregory Foster capped a monster year in the jumping pits by winning the triple jump and long jump titles at the New Balance High School Nationals. He posted a jump of 51-0.5 in the triple jump and then upped that by leaping 25-6.25 in the long jump for the best mark by a NJ high school athlete since the legendary Carl Lewis of Willingboro went 26-8.25 at the 1979 Pan American Championships.
Additionally, the Princeton University commit was the first Big Red athlete to take home a Penn Relays championship when he leapt 24-11 in the long jump.