Cassie Wong Article (NJ)

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http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qst ... FlZUVFeXk2

Ridgewood's Wong raises bar


Saturday, May 14, 2005

By GREGORY SCHUTTA
STAFF WRITER

HACKENSACK - Cassie Wong didn't want to know what the standards were being set at. But she couldn't miss how far up they were going.

"I was saying to myself, 'stop, stop.'Ÿ" said Wong, who already had broken former teammate Kerri Norton's Bergen County pole vault record.


Then the Ridgewood junior went out and set the bar even higher, clearing 11 feet, 4 inches on her first attempt to establish the record on the first day of the NNJIL Track and Field Championships on Friday.

"I was so happy when I realized I'd cleared it," said Wong, who told the officials not to tell her what the height was. "The last few days I was [vaulting] terribly, and even in warm-ups today, I wasn't myself. I told them not to tell me what they were putting it at. I just wanted to go out and do it."

After Wong cleared 10-6, tying her personal best set last month at the Bergen Relays, spectators were telling her to skip 11 feet, which would have tied Norton's record set last year, and go to 11-1. She reluctantly went along with the crowd and cleared it on her third attempt.

After clearing 11-4 on her first attempt, Wong missed on three attempts at 11-6.

"I never even tried 11 feet in practice," she said. "I don't like to pump myself up to do something like that. But everybody was telling me I could do it and I had the ability to do it."

Wong's vault, leading a 1-2-3 finish for Ridgewood in the event, was a big one for the Maroons as they took a 70½-67 lead over second-place Hackensack after seven events in what is shaping up to be a heated battle for the Division A girls championship.

Ridgewood swept both Division A titles last year, but Hackensack moved into Division A this school year after sweeping both the boys and girls championships in Division B a year ago. In the boys meet, the Comets hold a 17-point lead over second-place Teaneck and a 20-point lead over Ridgewood after six events.

The Clifton girls, who haven't won the league meet since 1986, have laid claim to the girls Division B title, jumping out to a 96-40 lead over second-place Montclair after seven events. Betty Bodyziak (84-10), Marta Leja and Connie Musleh swept the javelin while Laura Myers (10-0), Michelle Telofski and Brooke Mullen went 1-2-3 in the pole vault for the Mustangs.