Hillsborough girls track and field coach Richard Refi has been around some great teams over his 30+ years at Hillsborough, but his 2024 crew might be the best overall group he’s ever coached. Refi uttered those words following the end of Day 2 at the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 1 and Group 4 meets in Hillsborough, where his Raiders walked away with the Central Jersey, Group 4 crown for the fourth year in a row. Hillsborough captured its eighth sectional title in program history in dominating fashion, racking up a total of 148 points and collecting a total of nine gold medals in the meet.
“It’s awesome (winning four straight sectional championships),” Refi said. “We had a great meet. Everyone stepped up at the right time.
” Hillsborough dominated the field portion of the sectional tournament, placing first in six of the seven field events. Michaela Ruffa (shot put), Chloe Montgomery (long jump), Isabella Ruffa (javelin), Ella Karolewski (pole vault), Nai’Ceona Leonard-Brown (triple jump) and Angela Volkova (discus) all walked away with a gold medal for the Raiders. Senior Sabrina Sardar added three gold medals to Hillsborough’s ledger with her impressive all-around performance in the sectional tournament.
“My main goal in all of this was helping [Hillsborough win a fourth straight title],” Sardar said. “I wanted to go out never to have lost a sectional meet. It feels really good.
It shows that this team is working for each other more than themselves.” S.
