Brick Memorial's Andrew Brodeur (pictured above at the Penn Relays) took home second place in the 3200m race.
Central Jersey
Group IV Boys
800m
Senior
Monroe Kearns of Jackson Memorial took home first place in the 800m
run Saturday afternoon with a time of 1:54.25, beating his time last
week at the Shore Conference Championships (1:55.88).
“I
knew it was going to be close race between me, Walton and Andrews,”
Kearns said. “My coach told me not to lead it, just go for the win
so that’s what I did and it worked out.”
The
Rutgers-bound runner will be running next week during the Group Finals,
where he expects the race to be a good watch for spectators.
Jason
Walton of Hillsborough came in second with 1:54.41 and junior Robbie Andrews
of Manalapan finished third with a 1:57.00. Senior Nick Iuele of Middletown
North also medaled for sixth place with 1:58.55.
110m Hurdles
Senior
Dan Mularz of Freehold Township won the upper hand of a photo-finish—but
for second place. Senior Devon Hill of Trenton Central, the favorite
in this event, won with a 13.88, breaking the previous meet
record of 14.30, held by Kyle Edmonds of Metuchen in 2006. Mularz narrowly
won second with 14.54, edging out Rolston Braithwaite, also of Trental
Central, with 14.55.
“I
knew it’d be a challenge to beat Trenton. I just did the best I could
to come in second. Second, I’m pretty pleased with,” Mularz said.
“It was a great race. They’re very strong in the hurdles. I knew
coming out here it’d be a little tough, but I just tried to keep my
focus and do the best I could.”
3200m
Senior
Andrew Brodeur of Brick Memorial had a second-place performance with
a time of 9:40.02 while Colts Neck junior Mark Leininger came in
third and freshman Michael O’Dowd fourth with times of 9:41.37 and
9:42.02, respectively. Senior Austin Santillo of Jackson Memorial, who
captured first last week in the Shore Conference meet, rounded off
the sixth spot with a 9:51.55. Travis Mahoney of Old Bridge was too much
for the Shore Conference as he took home first in the event with a time
of 9:35.55.
4x400 Relay
Freehold
Township took home a third-place finish in the last event of the afternoon.
Sophomore Ralph McFadden, junior Bobby Searby, senior Dan Mularz and
junior Ryan Spadola finished the event with a time of 3:23.35.
“Going
in, we were hoping to win it. I’m a little upset right now. But it
happens and we have next week coming up now so we have to refocus,”
Mularz said.
As
far as the facing some of the best in the state, he said, “This is
one thing I’ve been looking forward to because at dual meets you’re
always out in front. And then you come here and there’s only the best
kids here. It’s great, I look forward to it every year.”
Freehold
Township head coach Brian Golub said he’s satisfied with the overall
performance of his team.
“Overall it was pretty good team effort.
We had kids everywhere scoring,” he said.
“It’s
a very loaded meet when you have the four county champs. The Middlesex County
champ is Old Bridge, Mercer County is Trenton, Monmouth is us and Jackson
is Ocean, so it’s just a loaded section. When 21-5 doesn’t place
top six in the long jump at a sectional meet, it’s pretty intense.
There was a lot of talent here today and I think we did okay.”
Javelin
Senior
Max Lit of Freehold Township was the only thrower from the Shore Conference
to medal in this event. He earned his team six points after placing
third with a throw of 164-04. Brian Florek, a senior from Old Bridge,
took home first place and a new meet record with a throw of 198-10.
Discus
Junior
Shane Carle of Jackson Memorial was the only Shore Conference member
to medal in this event. He placed fourth with a mark of 139-11. Senior
Brian Florek of Old Bridge took first place honors with 154-07.