Town Topics: Featuring Jean-Marie’s Brilliance, Slew of Personal Bests, Stuart Track Finishes 3rd at Prep B State Championships

By Bill Alden

Although the Stuart Country Day School track team didn’t place first at the Prep B state outdoor championship meet last week, the Tartans still produced a winning effort.

With numerous Stuart athletes achieving personal bests, the squad finished a strong third in the team standings, piling up 71 points as Montclair Kimberley tallied 111 to win the title with Villa Walsh coming in second at 71.50.

Heading into the competition which was held on May 23 at Newark Academy, Stuart head coach Len Klepack wasn’t sure how his young squad would perform under the pressure of a state meet, especially since there hadn’t been a Prep B state outdoor championship meet since 2019.

“I was hoping to finish in the top five; we knew Giselle Jean-Marie would get a lot of points but other people reached new levels for us,” said Klepack of sophomore standout Jean-Marie who ended up scoring a lot of points for the Tartans, placing first in the high jump, triple jump, shot put, and 100-meter hurdles.

“They all just did what you want as a coach, we want them to try to be their best and is basically that is what happened.”

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