Stephens, relay earn All-American

By Tim Murphy

Ridgefield’s shuttle hurdle relay finished fifth at the indoor track nationals, earning All-American honors. Shown (left to right) are assistant coach Bill Owens, Megan Schaefer, Jamie Heaslip, Esther Tan, Molly Bower and head coach Sandy Hoddinott.

Five members of the Ridgefield High girls indoor track team earned All-American honors with top-six finishes at last weekend’s 25th annual National Scholastic Indoor Championships.

Fifteen RHS athletes — 10 girls and five boys — competed at the meet, which took place at The Armory in New York.

Senior Heather Stephens had Ridgefield’s best finish, placing second in the 5,000-meter race with a new school and state record time of 17:24.66. That was nearly 30 seconds faster than her previous school and state mark of 17:54.68, which she set while finishing fourth at last year’s indoor nationals.

Chelsea Ley, a sophomore at Woolwich Township (N.J.), won the 5,000 in 17:03.79, the fifth fastest time in high school history.

“Heather ran a great race. She knocked 30 seconds off her previous best time,” said Hoddinott. “But the other girl [Ley] just had a marvelous day. No one was going to beat her.”

Ridgefield’s 4x55-meter shuttle hurdle relay of Jamie Heaslip, Molly Bower, Esther Tan and Megan Schaefer was fifth in 36.01 seconds, also setting a new school and state record and earning All-American honors.

“Before the season started I told them that I thought they had a chance to become All-Americans,” said Hoddinott. “They worked very, very hard to make it happen.”

Ridgewood (N.J.) won the event in 35.23 seconds.

“We are fortunate to have four good hurdlers,” said Hoddinott. “Many teams don’t even have four hurdlers period.”

Ridgefield’s 4x1-mile relay of Isabella Corso, Jenna McClane, Katie Howley and Stephens was 12th in a time of 21:42.16, and the 4x800 relay of Kelly Holmes, Kelly Baker, Howley and Corso finished 32nd in 9:47.82.

Kelly Jorgensen tied for 21st place in the high jump by clearing 5’1.

At the boys indoor nationals, Ridgefield junior Austin Von Ohlsen competed in two events, finishing 15th in the 200-meter dash (22.35) and 21st in the 60-meter dash (7.17).

Nick Nelson was 31st in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:59.88, breaking the two-minute mark for the second time this season, and Mike Ignatowich finished 37th in the 5,000 (16:29.39).

Ridgefield’s sprint medley relay of Nelson, Chris Wilson, Von Ohlsen and Connor McCarthy was 25th in 3:38.40, breaking the old school record of 3:45.30 set in 2006.