West Side High School Track Teams bring home the Gold at the Prestigious Penn Relays in the boys and girls 4×400 meter relays.
Every team that won their race received a winning plaque.
On Thursday, November 9th, Kishona McCray of Central High School, announced that she will attend the University of Northern Illinois where she will receive a four year/full ride scholarship to continue both her academic and athletic (track) success.
As a junior, Kishona took home the New Jersey Meet of Champions title in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.06. This performance capped off a season that saw Kishona achieve many victories, notably with a top performance at the Penn Relays, and a win in the 55 Meter Hurdles at the Essex County Track & Field Championships.
By Mike Gurnis | For NJ Advance Media | June 08, 2016
[BAYVILLE, NJ] In 1984, Newark Central coach Bruce Berry took home a Meet of Champions title for West Orange in the 400 meter hurdles.
Now, as a coach at Central, one of his athletes came through on Wednesday, as junior Kishona McCray took home the M of C title in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.06, narrowly beating out Union Catholic’s Amaya Chadwick (14.25), who was considered the favorite going in.
“Its tremendous because I’ve coached a lot of M of C winners, but this is the first one from Central,” Berry said. “To have her as a junior, I basically told her right before that its anybody’s race. If you want it, you’ve got to believe in it. She came out and she proved it, so it was great.”
McCray’s win was the first M of C title for an athlete from Newark Central.
“It opens up a lot more doors, a lot more opportunities,” Berry added. “First one in the city of Newark ever in the 100 hurdles, so she’s just a groundbreaker all over. It’s a great thing, and I’m very proud of her.
“It means a lot,” said McCray. “I know there’s more to come. So, I’m just trying to stay humble.”
“I was happy, I was excited, I was ready to have fun,” the junior added. “That’s what its for, to have fun.”
| GIRLS 100 METER HURDLES FINALS | |||||
| Name & Place | Grade | School | Prelims | Finals | Wind |
| 1-Kishona McCray | 11 | Central High School | 14.20 | 14.06 | -0.7 |
| 2-Amaya Chadwick | 10 | Union Catholic | 14.28 | 14.25 | -0.7 |
| 3-Simone Kirton | 11 | Chatham High School | 14.44 | 14.57 | -0.7 |
| 4-Sarah Jones | 11 | Bishop Eusta | 14.86 | 14.60 | -0.7 |
| 5-Shelby Francis | 12 | North Brunswick | 14.78 | 14.63 | -0.7 |
| 6-Elizabeth Garcia | 11 | Academy of T | 14.67 | 14.89 | -0.7 |
| 7-Viviane Orleans | 12 | Jonathan Day | 14.74 | 15.24 | -0.7 |
| 8-Lenaami Morton | 11 | Camden High School | 14.08 | 18.89 | -0.7 |
By: Brian Deakyne | For NJ Advance Media on April 28, 2016 10:26 AM, updated April 28, 2016 6:08 PM
PHILADELPHIA – Kishona McCray was the top New Jersey finisher in the meet-opening 400-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays on Thursday morning. Placing second in the final heat and ninth overall, Newark Central’s McCray stopped the clock in 1:02.57. Jillian DiGiacinto took 15th in 1:05.50 and Northern Highlands’ Hilary McElwain was 18th in 1:06.33.
On February 6, 2015 at the North Jersey Section II Group II State Championship Kishonna “Fresh” McCray Junior set a NEW State Sectional Record in the 55 Meter Hurdles winning easily in 8.36 to a distant 2nd place time of 8.97. She also placed 2nd in the 55 Meter Dash.
The Boys 4×400 Relay placed 3rd.
Both Kishonna and the 4×400 Relay qualified for the Group II State Championships on February 20th in Toms River.
Go Big Blue!
Kishonna McCray, Junior at Central High School has won the 55 Meter Hurdles at the Essex County Track & Field Championships. This is Kishonna’s 2nd County title in 2 years. She also won the 100 Meter Hurdles during the 2015 Spring Season.
Congratulations Kishonna!
The time was a US #1 time for the 2016 season!
Jim Lambert For The Star-Ledger
The Weequahic boys inched closer to the state and national records in the boys shuttle hurdles with another blazing performance at the 46th East Coast Relays on Monday in Randolph.
Using a different order than usual, junior Ihmir Marsette led off with a 14.2, senior James Jean followed with a 14.3, senior Stephan Hughes then went 14.2, and sophomore Isaiah Greene anchored in 14.2 as Weequahic stopped the clock at 56.86.
The 56.86 is the second fastest time in N.J. history, No. 4 in U.S. history, a meet record, and the fastest time in the nation this season.
Weequahic’s 56.86 broke the meet record of 56.88 set in 1988 by Camden Wilson, just missed the state record of 56.63 set by Union Catholic when it won the New Balance National title, and is very close to the national record of 56.32 set in 2004 by Westside of South Carolina.
Weequahic dropped nearly a second off its previous best time this season of 57.82, which it ran at the Blue Devil Classic in Westfield last month.
“We wanted to touch 56 today and get a glimpse of what that feels like and then go back and work on some more things to get faster,” said Marsette.
Congratulations to the boys’ and girls’ track teams at Weequahic High School for capturing the NJSIAA State Sectional Outdoor Track Championships on Saturday May, 24, 2015!
Having both genders from the same school win a state track title is a rarity and has not been accomplished in Newark since the 80’s.
Coaches Kycied Zahir, Eddie Greene and Mahdi Sumter should be commended for their guidance in helping the Indians bring home the title.
Check out photos of the Boys’ Track Team and Girls’ Track Team.
Congratulations to the Weequahic Girls Indoor Track Team and to head coach Kcyied Zahir on winning the school’s first ever State title in the NJSIAA Group 1 Relays. The victory at the state meet marks the first time a girls team from Newark has won a state relay title since 1997.
The team effort was bolstered by performances from Senior Yaminah Smith’s anchoring of the 4×400 relay team as well as freshman Carla Hines 0.01 second lean-in win over Metuchen in the 4×200 relay.
Capturing the state title follows on the heels of Weequahic winning its second straight Super Essex Conference American Division title in December.
“Everyone has worked so hard for so long for this,” said Zahir, in his 12th year as head coach at Weequahic. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me, the girls, the program and the city of Newark. I am so proud of what these girls did today. They were amazing.”
