New Jersey Report - By Ed Grant

[Nick]

ED GRANT'S INDOOR WEEKLY ROUNDUP
WEEK NINE
In some events, the New Jersey all-group meet at Princeton'? Jadwin Gym this weekend will be as
much about who is not there as about who is.

     The principle example of this paradox will be the girls' 3200-meter run where Jen Clausen of
Jackson appears a sure bet to repeat as champion with the national 2M leader Britttany Sedberry
of Ocean City probably watching from the stands.

       Brittany took herself out of contention six weeks ago when she scratched from the event at the
Gr. III championships, feeling she had not yet recovered from a prolonged cross-country season. But,
last Saturday, she was back in action, winning the 2M at the Coca Cola Invitational at the New York
Armory Center in a meet record 10:37.02. And the way she did it was even more impressive, running
the first mile in 5:30 and the second in 5:07.    

     The next day, Clausen ran away with the Gr. IV title at Jadwin in 11:05.29, a win  which gave her
team a 50-44 victory over Winslow Twp.

     Also missing on Sunday will be key members of the Colts Neck and Seton Hall Prep 3200-meter
relay teams which waged a classic struggle in the Coca Cola meet, the Cougars winning in a meet
record 7:51.21 and the Pone Pirates running 7:52.03. Sophomore Craig Forys, who missed his
January group meet due to injury, ran 1:56.7 on the third leg for Colts Neck, but still lost ground
to Bernie Lauredan of Seton Hall, who clocked 1:55.8.

     Lauredan also ran on the Seton Hall 1600R team which won that event in a meet record 3:22.27.
Seton Hall, which could have made a big difference in last Sunday's Group IV boys meet (as well as
in the state relays on Jan. 9), has avoided the Jadwin track this winter, preferring to run on the faster
New York oval.

    The Coca Cola meet generally upstaged the state meet last weekend even though one Armory
star was present in a big way at Jadwin. That was Janine Davis of Queen of Peace who has set one
national record in New York this winter and threated a couple of others. She became the first girl in
New Jersey history to deliver a state title to her school all by herself, scoring 36 points to nip
defending champ Hanover Park by a single marker in Gr. I.

        Alaina Alfano, who tallied 24 points for Hanover Park on Sunday, won the long jump at the
Coca Cola meet with a record 18-5 1/4, while teammate Caitlin Kelly was second in the SP at
40-6 1/2. Kelly won the SP the next day, but Alfano's LJ talents were of no help as that event is
not included in the state program.

        Two other Cola Cola winners (and record-breakers) will be very much on hand on Sunday
and both will be favored to win their events. Anthony Abitante of Governor Livingston (Berkeley
Heights) again soared over the PV bar at 15-0, whie Lakewood sophomore Shavon Greaves
continued her undefeated season in the 55M at 7.18.

        The team battles in the state meet presented an anomaly with individuals (or couples)
dominating the Gr. I scene, while team efforts prevailed in Gr. IV, a reversal of the usual practice.

        Bishop Eustace, easily the best team in the Gr. I girls meet, fell just short of the individual
heroics of Davis and Alfano, finishing in a third-place tie with Shore Regional at 33 points. And,
in the boys' meet, Anthony Pomo of Saddle Brook doubled the 55 and 55H and added six points
in the 200 to team with distance runner Chris Guerriero for a 36-31 win over Bordentown, which
got 28 points from Rob Novak in the 400, 800 and 1600.

       In contrast, Jackson scored in almost every event to counter a 38-point outburst by
Krystal Cantey of Winslow Twp for a 50-44 victory. Bryana Johnson won the 55H, Lauren Blake
scored in the 200 and 400, Amanda Marino was 4th in the 1600, Kelly Fortune third in the HJ
and Shakira West just missed scoring in the SP. Tha Jaguars didn't even have to double Marino
and Clausen.

         In the boys' Gr. IV me?t, Chris Haley and Latif Brewer gave Union the early lead, scoring
28 points between them. Haley won the HH at 7.66 and the HJ at 6-4. At that point, Christian
Brothers had yet to score.

         But things changed quickly when the distance events got under way. Greg Leach won the
1600 for CBA with reverse splits (2:15/2:07) in 4:22.87, Justin Wheat placing fourth. Leach came
back to place second to a late charge by Hayrol Cruz of Passaic in the 800 and Pete Glackin
charged up to take second, leaving the Colts have a point back. The closing 3200 saw CBA
go 2-4 with Chris Horel the apparent winner until Anthony Kelhower of Lenape came from 30
yards back on the final lap, running it under 30 seconds.

       The entry this Sunday will also be affected by the fact that the Eastern meet follows the
next evening at the NY Armory. Davis, for example, will run only the 800 and drop her defense
of the 400. The top distance runners will also be limiting themselves to one event which may
spoil some interesting matchups. Leach and Anthony LaMastro of Pope John will choose the
1600 over the 800, which still leaves the latter event with the most talented field of the meet
with Novak, Cruz, Marcel VanEeden of Mendham, Mike Pachella of Wallkill Valley and Pat
DiGioacchino of Bernards ready to face the gun.

       The big question is whether there will be another faceoff of Bryant McCombs of Old Bridge
and national 600M record-holder Shaquan Brown of Paterson Kennedy in the 400. This was no
contest in the Gr. IV meet last Sunday with Brown, suffering the effects of a flu bout, took off
slowly and only came on in the final 100M to place a distant second to McCombs' 50.55.  
Bryant also heads the 200 field  where Carl Smith of Camden and Kevin Thompson of North
Bergen will provide the competition.

         The most wide open event of the meet may be the boys' 55M where four boys ran
between 6.66 and 6.68 in the group meets. Junior Doug Cloninger of Morristown is undefeated
this season and had a pair of big hand-time victories at two armory meets after taking the
Gr. III title on Jan. 16.

       A major confrontaion also looms in the boys' shot put where Steve DiGiorgio of Bayonne
will try to join older brothers' Kevin and Glenn as all-group champ. DiGiorgio topped Sal Delhierro
of Toms River East in the Gr. IV meet at 59-1 1/4, but his rival still heads all throwers this season
in NJ with a 60-11 mark.

      With Davis out of the 400, the race shapes up as a battle among Tiffany Grant of Ocean Twp,
Symone O'Connor of Franklin and Canty, who won it as a freshman two years ago, then lost to
Janine last winter. A dark horse is LaShonda Carter of Rahway who may have to run out of  a
lower-seeded heat after finishing only fifth at the end of an arduous day in the Gr. II meet.
LaShonda will also be involved in a tight 200M race with Toneisha Friday of Franklin, Racquel
Vassell of East Orange and Avionne Sloan of Camden.

         The 1600 appears to be Danielle Tauro's for the asking. The outdoor AG from Southern
Ocean Regional has been under 5:00 twice this winter and won the Gr. IV 1600 last Sunday
from Lisa Burkholder of Cherokee. The third "man" in this one is Leah Brogan of Msgr.
Donovan, the Gr. II champion.

      Another close race will be the 55H where Sonya Sullivan of Manchester Twp is the
defender. Sonya won the Gr. II title convincingly six weeks ago, but faltered in her latest
outing at the Shore Conference meet.

        The New Jersey Eastern entry will, as usual, be a strong one, including those events---
the long jump, triple jump and relays---which are not part of the state program. Special emphasis
will be on the DMR with several teams trying to nail down a place in the Penn Relays.

          The other major event this past week was the Bergen County championships which [b?]fortuitously was snowed out of its original President Day's date and moved to Wednesday
evening. Even with Davis skipping the event, there was plenty of classy action.

          The extra rest gave Pomo a chance to show his multiple talents as he won the HH in
7.6 and the LJ at 21-11 and ran second in the 55 to a hand-timed 6.2 by Brian Gilbert of Teaneck.

      Other impressive winners were Matt St. Germain of Queen of Peace in the 300 at 36.0, Garrett
Kroner of Indian Hills in the 400 in 49.4, Chris Wilk of Bergen Catholic in the 600 in 1:23.3, Niall
Buckley of Ridgewood in the 800 in 1:56.9, Byron Williams of Ridgewood in the 1K in 2:34 and
Mike Cator of Ridgewood in the 1600 in 4:24.3.

      On the girls' side, Amma Walcott of Hackensack had a 7.1 win in the 55 over teammate
Consandria Walker who was returning from an eight-month injury layoff. Cristina Law of
Ridgewood won the 600 in 1:38.8, Cheyenne Ogletree of Garfield the 800 in 2:16.7, Lisa Sinkovitz
of Immaculate Heart Academy the 1K in 3:03.4, Lindsey Jeltes of Indian Hills the 1600 in 5:15.6,
Amy VanAlstine of Midland Park the 3200 in 11:21.9 and Michelle Smith of Teaneck the 55H in
8.0, her first performance of this winter that matches her junior marks.

          The boys' pentathlon saw Dan Oquendo of Hackensack register a meet record of 3,576 points.