Holmdel – Favored Christian Brothers Academy did what was expected in easily winning the Monmouth County Boys Track Championship Friday with 127.75 points. Matawan was a distant second with 94.85.
The girls meet was much closer with Freehold Township scoring 68 points in holding of f surprising Middletown North, who was runner-up with 62.
As in most of its wins, CBA used its superior depth, especially in the distance running events where the Colts picked up 46 points.
Junior Blaise Ferro won the 1,600 in 4:21.47 and came back to place third in the 800. Actually, his best race is the 3,200, but he ran the 800 because of a prom that night.
Two other CBA standouts were Andrew Liskowitz who doubled in the shot put (59-10) and discus (165-1) and Mike Zupko, who won the 400 (48.50) and was second in the 200 (22.03.).
Not all of the top performers were from CBA as Shore’s Kevin Mazzella, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional football star Charley Volker, and Red Bank Regional’s Sean Patterson all earned gold medals.
Mazzella (1:55.14) used a strong closing finish to beat out CBA’s Drake Anzano and Ferro, who were second and third respectively. Mazzella’s win was no surprise as he had won the 800 last year in both the Shore Conference and Central Jersey Group I meets.
“I decided to make my move at about 300 meters,” said Mazzella, who will run track at Monmouth University next season. “My main goals now are to win again at the Shore Conference and state meets.
“I’m looking for a time of 1:52.5 in the upcoming meets,” he said. “That would be awesome.”
Volker, who will be playing football at Princeton this fall, outran Neptune’s Mar v Morgan to win the 100 in 10.80, but had to settle for third in the 200 despite a 22.08 clocking.
Volker had the seventh fastest time (22.62) in the trials, but that put him in the second flight in the finals with only one other runner. He won that race, but only the top six runners by time in the trials competed in the first flight, which was won by Matawan’s Greg Edwards in 21.89.
Patterson, who will run track at the University of Rhode Island, won the intermediate hurdles (54.54) by a second over runner-up Chris Alexander of CBA. Surprisingly, Alexander ran a brilliant 13.7 in the 110 high hurdle trials but that didn’t carry over to the finals, where he placed third with 14.35.
“The 400 hurdles is my best race,” said Patterson. “I would love to break 54 seconds this spring. That would be a very happy end to the season.”
In the girls meet, Mater Dei sophomore Marisa Bryans, the latest in a long line of good high jumpers for the Seraphs, cleared five feet to win the high jump over Middletown North’s Kayla Pfleger, who also went over five feet. Bryans, however, won on fewer misses.
“That was my personal best height,” said Bryans. “My previous best was 4-10. I just willed myself over and my goal now is 5-2.
“I didn’t do well in the high jump last year,” she said. “This year, Fallon Quigley, who won this event last year for Mater Dei, came back to help me. That has become a tradition at Mater Dei where former high jumpers return to help out.”
Holmdel’s Marin Warner had a good day in the girls meet, holding off a closing rush from Red Bank Catholic’s Mary Kate McNamara to win the 800 in 2:15.53 and finishing a close second in the 1,600 (5:00.54), won by Freehold Township’s Clara Roche in 4:59.97.
“The 1,600 is my best race,” said Werner. “I wanted to hang back in the 800 and then make my move in the final 100 meters.
“I’ll run the 800 and 1,600 in the Shore Conference meet and then stick with the 1,600 in the state meet.”
Red Bank Regional’s Sara Dixon (43-06.50) won the shot put by a half-inch over RBC’s Jules Fidele (43-06).
Individual local winners were RBC’s Rachel Kershner in the javelin (126-4) and Middletown North’s Jenna Reid in the high hurdles (15.23). North also won the 4 x 400 relay in 4:00.12.
