Union Catholic’s Randolph, Sheppard, and Cox Break Records
By Jim Lambert
Rhia Randolph and Paige Sheppard each broke state freshman records and Taylor Cox took down a school record to highlight a huge weekend for the Union Catholic track and field teams.
At the Purple Champions Invitational on Saturday night at the NY Armory, Randolph of Union broke her second state freshman record when she led a 1-2-3 finish for UC in the 400 with a winning time of 55.92. That broke the mark of 55.94 set by Samantha Anderson of Matawan at the 2014 Eastern States Championships on the same track. Randolph’s time is also NJ No. 2 this season and is tied for No. 2 in the U.S. among freshmen. Last month, Randolph, who ran a state freshman record 24.44 to win the Union County title, also placed fourth in the 200 in 24.65.
Right behind Randolph in the 400 was Taylor Aska, second in 56.77 and Sydney Chadwick placed third in 57.02, the 8th fastest time in state history for a freshman.
Also at the Purple Invitational, junior Taylor Cox finished second in the 55 dash in a school record 7.01, and she won the 55 hurdles in 7.85, just off her state-leading time of 7.82. In the 55 dash, Cox’s 7.01 broke the school record of 7.04 set last year by Aska, and it moved her up to No. 2 in the state this season.
On the boys’ side, Michael Devine ran an indoor personal best of 9:33.85 to place third in the 3,200 and Keandre Kelly ran 1:59.99 to finish sixth in the 800.
On Sunday, the spotlight shined on Sheppard at the Ocean Breeze Invitational on Staten Island.
Sheppard broke her second state freshman record of the season when she placed third in the 800 in 2:09.79. That broke the NJ freshman record of 2:10.45 that legendary Olympian Ajee’ Wilson of Neptune set when she finished first at the 2009 Meet of Champions.
The 2:09.79 by Sheppard is also No. 10 in NJ indoor history, the 8th fastest time ever run by a freshman indoors in U.S. history, and it’s the No. 4 time in the country this season.
Sheppard ran a 4:50.19 in the 1,600 last Sunday at the NJCTC Championships on the same track, which shattered the state freshman record.
In case you are wondering, the national freshman record in the 800 is 2:03.98 set in 2020 by Sophia Gorriaran of Moses Brown School in Rhode Island. Gorriaran is currently a freshman at Harvard.
