TRACK - A CHAMPION'S TAKE: IN WITH THE NEW

By Ashley Higginson, DigitalSports Correspondent

    SOUTH PLAINFIELD --  This year’s Meet of Champions had some familiar uniforms crossing the finish line, but with very new faces beaming proudly. Once the younger girls on the team, Southern and Colts Neck’s new bright stars led the way as the Shore Conference continued to be a powerhouse, with six female champions and three male winners throughout the meet.
    In the distance races, Allison Linnell of Colts Neck started the trend with a decisive win in the 1,600 meters in 4:54.87. After a conservative pace in the first half, Linnell put on a move with 500 meters to go that the rest of the group could not respond to.
    "I made my move when everyone became settled and surprised people by pushing before they were ready to kick," Linnell said.
    This move certainly did allow for Allison to gap the field and continue to her first state championship crown; a very deserving title after an impressive senior year. With three years of Danielle Tauro blasting her way around the track for four laps, Allison saw the chance to rise up and grabbed the win with no apologies, being only the second girl at Colts Neck to win a Meet of Champions title.
    “I’ve never won a race like this and I am just so happy all my hard work paid off,” said Linnell, who will attend the University of Washington in the fall.
    As an alum of Colts Neck High School, watching a best friend and great training partner finally prove what we could see at practice all along, was the best moment of the meet for me personally. Through leading a revamped Colts Neck team, Linnell grew in confidence and started to race with a ferocity that was left under the radar, until now.    
    On the other side of the track, another good friend and former rival sat in anticipation to watch one of her own former teammates take the stage. Southern’s Jillian Smith captured her second crown in the 800 meters in a dazzling 2:05.26, a new Shore Conference record. Not far behind was teammate Chelsea Cox in 2:09.85, good for second place. After devoting her efforts to the team wins at sectionals and groups, Smith was excited to have fresh legs.
    “There was so much less pressure without the team as my first priority," said Smith, who ran four events last weekend to help her team win the Group IV Championship. "When it comes to them, it doesn’t matter how I feel, I just have to get it done. But today I was able to just focus on running fast and as best as I could."
    Cox was just as excited to be behind her teammate, staying composed and moving up while others started a bit too quickly and faltered. The duo continued their triumph a bit later in the 4X400 as the last two legs of their winning relay team, breaking another Shore Conference record in 3:49.57. After Cox moved up the field from fifth to first in the final straightway, Smith took the baton as the anchor, Danielle Tauro’s former leg in the relay, and ran to the win.
    Said Smith: “I think it just speaks a lot for the program and coaching for all of us to be so composed and prepared to race time and again. The success is just even more exciting to have with your teammates."
    The Southern girls certainly have a lot to look forward to with both of their top runners being underclassmen. Who knows who else may be innocently walking through the halls, ready for head coach Brian Zatorski to help her become the newest chapter in Southern track and the next rising New Jersey star.
    On the boys side, Robby Andrews, a junior at Manalapan, placed second in the 1,600 meters with a 4:11.65 behind a meet-record performance by Brett Johnson of Ocean City.
    “I expected the pace to go out quicker, but when we reached the half in 2:10 I felt confident because I go through the half at around that same time,” said Andrews, who finished his last lap in under 58 seconds proudly placing second in a great competition.
    Monroe Kearns of Jackson placed second as well in the 800 meters in 1:51.43, a big breakthrough for the senior.
    Time and again, the distance performances proved that there is always an emerging star on the rise willing and ready to prove they are better than the last. With names we became used to hearing like Craig Forys and Tauro gone, a new breed flew out of the gate and made for a very exciting 2008 Meet of Champions. The times and the determination did not falter and the titles remain the property of the Shore Conference. More great times should come with the postseason just getting started with the Nike Outdoor Nationals and USATF Junior Nationals to look forward to in two weeks. You can bet these new fast faces are ready to prove themselves again, on an even bigger stage.

Former Colts Neck star and Meet of Champions winner Ashley Higginson is a correspondent for DigitalSports.