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Leonardo overcomes hurdles to capture NHC crown
MADISON — Just 10 days after spraining her ankle at the Pearl River Holiday Festival at Rockland Community College, Passaic Valley senior Rebecca Leonardo captured the annual Northern Hills Conference 55-meter hurdles championship at Drew University.
Leonardo edged conference rival Samantha Kee of Lakeland by just 0.01 seconds to finish in a career-best 9.18 seconds. The latest victory was Leonardo’s third major hurdle title, after capturing two previous 100-meter crowns in last spring’s NHC and Passaic County meets.
In a career riddled with injuries, Leonardo did everything she could to compete in this highly anticipated meet as she had both ankles heavily taped. Last year, Leonardo was forced to miss the annual event with another injury and feared that this year’s version would be compromised due to her latest injury on Dec. 27 at Rockland Community College.
"I wanted to run in this meet," said Leonardo. "I felt a little stiff, but I put on some new flats and went after it."
Despite the senior’s showing, Passaic Valley did not finish at the top as defending champions Madison took the girls’ team title, while Wayne Valley finished in the runner-up spot.
Joining Leonardo in the winner’s circle was Passaic County Tech’s Amber Allen, who captured the 400 and took second in the 55-meter dash and was the opening leg in the Lady Bulldogs’ relay victory.
On the boys’ side, PCT had the area’s top showing as the Bulldogs finished fourth behind team champion Millburn.
Passaic Valley long distance standout Nick Roman captured the 3200-meters in 9:52.06 as he was the only area athlete to finish in a top spot in any event.
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