Palmyra's Marigna used to being on the run

To manage a day like ReJeana Marigna's, you have to be motivated and you have to be committed and more than anything, you have to be really, really organized.

“My locker is so clean everybody makes fun of me,” Marigna said with a laugh. “I've always been able to manage my time and find a way to get everything done. I'm just an organized person.”

Marigna may be one of the most organized girls in Burlington County track history, and she's definitely one of the fastest.

Marigna, who attends Westampton Tech and runs for Palmyra, has spent the last four years not only collecting gold medals at track meets around the state but doing it while acing a challenging academic load, devoting her time to the Big Brothers-Big Sisters program, participating in a student nursing program and commuting daily from Beverly to Westampton to Palmyra and back to Beverly.

She leaves the house at 7:15 a.m. She gets home between 6:30 and 7. Then she gets started with homework. Then she goes to bed and gets ready to do it all over again.

“Honestly? I don't know how she does it,” said Kevin Potor, who coaches Palmyra with wife Claudia. “Coming over from Tech, she gets to practice late, usually about a third of the way through or even halfway through, but she always gets there. And she stays till she's done with everything, even if it's getting dark out and she's the last one out there.”

Marigna is the latest in an impressive list of Westampton Tech students who have excelled in track at other schools because Westampton doesn't have a track team. Rob Novak was a national champion in the 800 and sprint medley at Bordentown, Kenneth Dudley ran on a sectional champion relay team for Willingboro and Sean Morris was a Liberty Division 400 champ for Burlington Township.

Two members of the current Palmyra boys team — juniors Lyndon Alfred and Deon Parham — also make the daily Westampton-to-Palmyra commute.

“We're always talking about how good we'd be if we had a track team,” Marigna said.

Since they don't, Marigna runs for the school she would compete for if she didn't attend Tech.

On Saturday, Marigna won the 100 and 200 at the County Open, giving her five career Open titles. Only Michelle Glover, Carol Lewis, Tonya Lee, Mandie Dulin, Lillian Rivera and Lynlee Phillips won more. With four straight 100 titles, Marigna joined only Lewis and Lee as four-time Open winners in the same event.

Marigna, a three-time state Group 1 champion, has run 12.17 for the 100, eighth-fastest in county history. She's also run 25.90 in the 200 and 58.08 for the 400. She'll compete in all three next weekend in the South Jersey Group 1 meet at Egg Harbor Township, where she's two-time defending champ in the 400.

Marigna has meant a great deal to the Palmyra program over the years and had a hand in 28 points when Palmyra won its only sectional title in 2006 and 28 more when the Pals placed second in the state Group 1 meet.

“I never ran before freshman year,” she said.

“I used to play basketball. But by the end of freshman year I started to think maybe I could be pretty good. That was a great season because we had such a good team.”

Just as impressive as her athletic credentials are her academic ones. Marigna is a member of the National Honor Society.

She's fast and smart. And, yes, organized.

“I've gotten used to the schedule the last two years,” she said. “The first couple years were tough, but I guess I've gotten accustomed to it. It's hard. Especially this year, because we don't really have any other sprinters, so I'm out there running by myself a lot. But I wouldn't change anything. I love running.”

Marigna is studying health occupations at Westampton Tech, is a certified nurse's aide and is active in HOSA — the Health Occupations Students of America. She plans to run in college and is leaning toward Eastern Michigan.

If you're getting the idea that Marigna is some sort of renaissance woman, you're right.

“I'm always busy — I don't know I do it,” Marigna said. “I don't even remember the last time I went out or went to a movie or anything like that. I don't know how I find the time to do everything, but I do.”

TOP FIVE: 1. Lenape, 2. Seneca, 3. Cherokee, 4. Moorestown, 5. Burlington Township.

WHO'S HOT: Rancocas Valley sophomore Morgan Gordon placed second in the 400 at Saturday's County Open in 58.33, fastest time ever at the Open by an R.V. girl. Sophomore Mary Bohi became the fourth straight Seneca girl to win the Open intermediates, following Rachel Jochem in 2005 and 2006 and Shelley Gibney last year. Northern senior Ariel Stephens-Woodard is the first NBC girl ever to win the long jump and only second Northern girl to double at the Open, following Erica Davis in the shot and discus in 2001. Erika Cotton is first Cherokee girl to win discus since Jill DeLucio in 1995.

DID YOU KNOW?: How fast was the 800 Saturday? Moira Cunningham's winning time of 2:15.54 is fourth-fastest in meet history, Mary Bohi's 2:16.85 is fastest second-place time ever (Tasha Minkins 2:18.0 in 1991), Casey Doyle's 2:18.80 is fastest third-place time ever (Dierdre Cargile 2:21.3 in 1995), Brianna Beddall's 2:19.47 is fastest fourth-place time ever (Cunningham 2:22.81 last year) and Rachel Byrne's 2:21.30 is fastest fifth-place time ever (Byrne ran 2:22.81 for fifth last year).

WHAT'S NEXT: Several county schools will compete today in the sixth annual Eastern Regional Relay Invitational at Willingboro. Sectionals are this weekend, with county schools scattering to four sites — South Jersey Groups 1 and 4 at Egg Harbor, South Jersey Groups 2 and 3 at Buena, Central Jersey Groups 1 and 4 at Hillsborough and Central Jersey Groups 2 and 3 at Monmouth Regional.