It was a long week of running, but when all the smoke cleared St. Mary’s Da’mon Merkerson had set some records to say the least.

Last Saturday, the senior Gaels runner won four races in the Non-Public B group at South Plainfield, the first runner to win four events in that group and only the third New Jersey runner to do that in the history of the tournament.

Merkerson won the 100, 200, 400 and 800 meter races. Earlier in the week, he grabbed the 400 race in the Bergen Meet of Champions, the tougher of the two meets.

In the state fantastic four, the Gaels senior broke the Non-Public B record that was set last year by his fellow teammate, Donald Lee. Merkerson smashed Lee’s mark by .11 seconds at 11.08.

"To be around his mark was an honor, but to beat his record was truly an accomplishment," said Merkerson who added though that Lee was truly a great overall athlete as he was also in the jumps.

It was tougher in the Bergen MOC where he won in the 400 meters as he easily ran past Ausar Walcott of Hackensack. Merkerson had his personal best with a 48:07 while Walcott was back in the pack at 49:34.

In the 200-meter county race, he finished second behind Teaneck’s Rashad White. Merkerson finished with a 22.24 while White came home at a 21.97. Despite the second place finish, the St. Mary’s senior was content with the silver. "I always want to come out first, but I was happy to with second because it was to a great runner," said Merkerson.

Merkerson added that he is looking forward to going up against the best sprinters in the state this weekend at South Plainfield.

"I feel good in the big meets and I like the competition," said Merkerson who will be playing football for Syracuse University next fall. "It is the best time of the year and it is great competition."

As of last weekend he had not decided on what races he would participate in the SMOC, but one is definitely the 400. He added that he would need to get close to 47 seconds to win the 400.

"I’m not sure yet, but the 400 definitely and maybe the 200 or the 100," said Merkerson. "I’m not doing all four that would be very difficult."

After Merkerson the South Bergenite track and field athletes were few and far between in the state group meet. On the girls side there was just Nicole Guirland of Lyndhurst who placed with a fifth in the discus after a throw of 102-8 to qualify for the state Meet of Champions. The top six finishers automatically qualify for the state MOC.

While the results were scant in the state tournament, the South Bergenite schools did better in the Bergen County Meet of Champions on May 29 at Hackensack High School.

Along with Merkerson, Rutherford’s Charles Goold took the 1,600 with a time of 4:24.33, more than two seconds better than Northern Highlands Andrew Gaidus.

In the boys’ long jump, North Arlington junior Rubin Santos came in eighth place with a jump of 20-feet-5 inches. In the girls’ high jump, Rutherford sophomore Heather Gearity finished eighth with a leap of 4-feet-10.

In the long jump, junior Kellie Dunn came in ninth place with a leap of 15-feet-3 ¾ while in the triple jump sophomore Amanda Pollifrone came in fifth with a jump of 34-feet-8 ½. For Queen of Peace, sophomore Stephanie Rojas came in seventh in the discus with a throw of 103-2.