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Netters:
The
New Jersey HS group championships went off yesterday at Holmdel County Park
without any real surprises and set up some interesting races at the all-group
meet next Saturday.
For those unfamiliar with the
NJ system, we have six groups, four public (which have sectionals two weeks
before the groups) and two parochial (a misleading name since it is a catchall
of private schools or all or no religious denomination, regional Catholic
schools and actual parocial, i.e., parish, schools).
The
top three teams from each group plus the two fastest among the others,
qualifying, as well as any individual who finishes in the top 10 in his/her race
or has one of the top ten (plus ties) times from otehr positions Group IV
monopolized the wild cards this time.
Tthe
boys' race next Saturday looks like a sizzler between two boys who entered HS
three years ago with high expectations: Mike Myers of Eastern (a
second-gerenation star) and Brian Boyett of Parsippany Hills. They both won
yesterday. Boyett, in slightly worse wather consitions oin a very changeable
day, ran 16:16; Myers ran 15:54. This looks like a lkot but means nothing for
Brian always simply follows the pace then makes his move at leisure. In the
sectona, an intervening county meet and yesterdfay, he has had the same runner
to follow, Pat Slattery, kid brother of Colorado's Steve.
The
question in the girls' AG race will be not who wins (unless some kind of
disaster takes place for Erin Donohue), but who takes second. Erin ran in a very
stiff breeze yesterday and was still 30 seconds faster than anyone else at
18:52. There are half a dozen claimants to the silver, led by Gr. IV winner
Shannon hawrylo of Hunterdon Central, Gr. III winner Jesse Mizzone of Passaic
Valley, a soph, and Julie Ullmeyer of Shore Regional, a frosh. who finished 2nd
to Donohue on Gr. II.
As far as the team races are concerned, Christian Brothers Academy, which had
lost five weeks earlier to Cherokee at the Shore Coaches meet, was much the
better team yesterday, averaging 16:38 a man (to Cherokee's 16:49) in a
1-2-3-4-5 finish. This has been done only three times before in state meet
history (CBA itself once had a 17) and one of those teams, Bernards in 1981,
went on to win the AG race. while Morris Catholic five years earlier had a
two-meet streak broken in a close one with Westfield.
The
girls' title is really up for grabs. Hunterdon Central was the fastest
yesterday, but two other contenders, Moorestown and Red Bank Catholic, got poor
races from usually reliable runners which may be repaired in a week's time. (The
Moorestown girl didn't even finish the race and her team finished 3rd in the
best race of the day in Gr. II).
There
were a couple of notable happenings yesterday. For one, the writer beat the
runner (as coaches) in the Parichial B boys' race, Marc Bloom's all-junior St
Rose team team finishing first, while Tom Fleming's Motclair-Kimberley Academy
squad was a pretty close 3rd, behind Bishop Eustace. MKA frosh star Oskar
Nordenbring won with teeammates Mike Dulong (Art's nephew) and Doug Wall
finishing 5-6, but the other two were way back.
Hunterdon County, which has just five schools, won three girls' titlss, Voorhees
in gr. II, North Hunterdon in Gr. III and Hunterdon Central in Gr. IV. This is
not a record for total group wins for the county which produced Anne Marie
Letko, Brad Hudson and Andy Martin in the 80s, but it is the first time it has
swept three races of the same gender (Its lone Gr, I school, South Hunterdon,
does not participate in the sport).
There
was also an historical oddity. The third man in the CBA parade was junior Jeff
Peterson. Forty-eight years ago, Bayonne HS had an unprecedented 1-2-3 finish
(for the post-WW II era) in winning Gr. IV and the third man that time was
Jeff's grandad, Al Peterson, who was recently inducted into the Villanova Hall
of Fame. (Al was a classmate of Olympic champ Charlie Jenkins at Villanova and
ran with him on the Wildcats' first Penn relay winners.)
Ed Grant
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