Madison Track's Graddy Breaks Own Record in Teaneck

The Madison boys and girls indoor track teams traveled to Teaneck on Wednesday for the Fairleigh Dickinson University Field Events meet. Members of both the boys and girls teams placed throughout the meet, but R.J. Graddy had the most impressive performance for Madison with his school record-breaking first-place finish in the triple jump.

Individuals competed to place in the top six in each event, but no scores were kept for overall team performances. The top three finishers in each event were awarded a medal or trophy.

R.J. Graddy's 43-foot, 1-inch triple jump not only gave him a first-place finish, but also broke the previous Madison High School record of 42-feet, 3.5-inches, which Graddy also held. Buxton Carter also placed in the event for the Dodgers, taking sixth place with his 36-foot, 6-inch triple jump.

Grace Marotta and Elizabeth Hubbard were the first two Madison athletes to place in an event, taking fourth and fifth in the girls shot put event. They both finished with a length of 30-feet, 1-inch, but because Marotta had a better preliminary round, she was awarded the higher position.

Marotta and Hubbard have been placing throughout the winter track season, both as individuals and together in shot put relays.

"We've done better in the past. This meet wasn't as good as we thought it would be … but I'm still happy with the results," said Marotta.

Both girls will be competing in Toms River for the NJSIAA sectionals on Feb. 6, along with the rest of the Madison team, and both hope to place so they can advance to counties.

"I always try my hardest, so it's always a goal to get past the sectionals," Hubbard said.

Hubbard and Marotta were also looking forward to the spring track season, where they will compete in shot put, discus and javelin.

"The spring season is fun," Marotta said. "But also challenging. You have to do three events. Shot put I'm good, but not as much with the others. You have to practice all three, so it can get frustrating."

Siobhan McCulloch and Natasha Nikodijevic took home first and third for the Dodgers in the girls novice high jump event. McCulloch hit the 4-feet, 4-inch mark, and Nikodijevic jumped 4-feet even.

"We watched the varsity, and the girl who got second place was 4 foot, so we were excited to compete in the novice event. I was proud of both of us because we were able to jump as high as some older athletes," McCulloch said.

"I was pretty happy, because I've never gotten a medal in high jump before," Nikodijevic said.

As it turns out, if McCulloch and Nikodijevic had competed at the varsity level, they still would have earned top-three finishes, with McCulloch taking second and Nikodijevic taking third.

Conor Reeve was the first of the Madison boys to place in an event, taking sixth for novice shot putters, with a length of 36-feet, 4-inches. Graddy took home another medal for Madison with this third place finish in the varsity long jump, finishing with a length of 20-feet, 1-inch.

Aaron Shinn took first place in the varsity pole-vault event with a personal best in competition of 12-feet, 6-inches.

"There is this time when you go down the runway, and you run right into the box, and you can tell, 'I've got this.' That is why we practice," Shinn said. "You want to do it subconsciously, you want to have body control so that it is kind of an automatic thing, and that's how I felt today on the jumps that I cleared."

Melissa Iskandar, who has been among the top finishers in distance running events throughout the season, took first place in the girls varsity long jump with a finish of 14-feet, 9-inches. Nikodijevic finished third in the girls novice long jump with a distance of 14-feet, 10-inches, and McCulloch finished fourth in the event with a distance of 13-feet, 6-inches.

The next Madison indoor track meet will be for the NJSIAA sectionals in Toms River, on Feb. 6.