|
TOP
|
t r a c k
Depth carries Seton to title Scotland stands out for St. Benedict's but it's just not enough
Monday, January 12, 2004 BY JIM LAMBERT
For the Star-Ledger
Bryan Scotland did everything he could to help St. Benedict's keep its title, but even his memorable performance
couldn't stop Seton Hall Prep from regaining its championship at the Essex County Relays yesterday at Seton Hall University in South Orange. Scotland anchored three winning relays,
but Seton Hall Prep was able to overcome that effort by winning four events and finishing no worse than fourth in the other four events.
Seton Hall put on a great display of depth and
balance as, led by Jeff McGhee, Museveni Akanno and Patrick Altema, it scored 68 points to finish 14 ahead of runner-up St. Benedict's, which won the title last season with it dethroned Seton Hall.
"Last year left a bad taste in our mouths," McGhee said. "We wanted to bring the relay title back home."
Seton Hall got out to a fast start and
never trailed after winning the high jump (12-0) and taking second in the shot put (86-11 1/2). In the high jump, Akanno leaped 6-2 and Isaac Mireku went 5-10. Akanno also ran on the winning shuttle hurdles
(32.9). Seton Hall also won the 4x200 in 1:34.2 and the 4x400 in 3:30.88. In the 4x200, Altema (23.3) combined with Blackie (22.9), McGhee (23.8) and Plucinski (23.8). McGhee also ran on the 4x400 and split
7.4 in the hurdles.
"Scotland was great for St. Benedict's, but I think what we showed today is that you need more than a superstar to win," Akanno said. "We really
don't have one guy that carries us, but we have a bunch of guys that all contribute and that's what you need to win a meet like this."
Scotland, a junior at St. Benedict's, didn't
have to go all out when he split 4:40 to anchor the distance medley to victory in 10:54.62. But he had to use everything he had to come from way back in the sprint medley and 4x800 to rally his team to
victories.
In the sprint medley, Scotland grabbed the baton in fourth, about 40 meters behind the leader, Seton Hall's Phil Baldwin. Scotland moved up to second at the start of the
bell lap and finally was able to get past Baldwin with 20 meters left to complete a 1:56.6 800 anchor and give his team the victory in 3:39.90.
In the 4x800, Scotland split 1:59.2 to
bring St. Benedict's across first in 8:19.7. "The race went just the way I had been visualizing it for the last week," Scotland said of the sprint medley. "I knew I'd be pretty far behind and
have to run fast for us to win."
After his 1,600 DM anchor about an hour earlier, Scotland wasn't sure if he was going to have enough left to catch Baldwin. "There was a time
when I thought about just getting second, but then I kept remembering how I envisioned the race and I just gave it all I had to get him," he said.
As for losing the team title,
Scotland said the better team won. "I did all that I could to help the team, but Seton Hall Prep was just too strong for us," Scotland said.
Andre Fearon also had a strong
meet for St. Benedict's, running a 3:15 1,200 in the DM and a 1:59.7 third leg in the 4x800 to get Scotland in position to pull out the victory.
Shawn Hollis and Darrell Williams of
St. Benedict's accomplished one of their biggest goals of the season by breaking the school record in the team shot put with a combined 98-6 1/2. Williams had a throw of 50-11 3/4, his best this season, on
his first attempt, while Hollis hit a 47-6 3/4 on his third throw, a personal best by three feet.
"We've been thinking about this all week," Williams said. "After being
so close last week, the only thing on our minds at practice has been getting this record. Now that we have it, we'll try to go for 100 feet next time."
Dave Alfano, the Essex
County cross-country champion this past fall, had a strong meet. He ran a 4:26.2 on his 1,600 anchor in the distance medley to rally West Orange from fifth to third in 11:03.92. A couple hours later, Alfano
led off the 4x800 with a 2:03.5 to put his team in front. West Orange wound up third in the 4x800 in 8:35.1 and took third in the meet with 26 points. Andrew Anderson of Montclair put together two impressive
splits, anchoring the 4x200 in 22.6 to bring his team across second in 1:35.0 and running a 50.5 400 in the sprint medley to lead Montclair to third in 3:44.07.
TEAMS: 1-Seton Hall Prep 68. 2-St.
Benedict's 54. 3-West Orange 26. 4-Shabazz 22. 5-East Orange, Montclair and Columbia 14. 8-Millburn 8. 9-Montclair Immaculate 6. 10-West Side, Barringer, Nutley, Caldwell and Livingston 4. 15-Irvington 2.
800-METER RELAY: 1-Seton Hall Prep (Patrick Altema, Patrick Blackie, Jeff McGhee and Brad Plucinski) 1:34.2. 2-Montclair 1:35.0. 3-Shabazz 1:37.3. 4-Columbia 1:37.8. 5-St. Benedict's
1:38.0. 6-East Orange 1:39.6.
1,600-METER RELAY: 1-Seton Hall Prep (Patrick Altema, Brian Wilkes, Phil Baldwin and Jeff McGhee) 3:30.88. 2-West Orange 3:33.08. 3-Shabazz 3:34.80. 4-St.
Benedict's 3:35.01. 5-West Side 3:40.35. 6-Columbia 3:42.48.
3,200-METER RELAY: 1-St. Benedict's (Andres Parra, Anthony Battle, Andre Fearon and Bryan Scotland) 8:19.7. 2-Seton Hall
Prep 8:22.6. 3-West Orange 8:35.1. 4-Columbia 8:50.1. 5-Livingston 9:01.1. 6-Irvington 9:10.4.
SPRINT MEDLEY RELAY: 1-St. Benedict's (Carl Parker, Hineef Wilson, Kamar Ormond and Bryan
Scotland) 3:39.90. 2-Seton Hall Prep 3:40.17. 3-Montclair 3:44.07. 4-East Orange 3:44.41. 5-West Orange 3:47.81. 6-West Side 3:48.08.
DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY: 1-St. Benedict's (Sean
Voisin, Eric Harris, Andre Fearon and Bryan Scotland) 10:54.62. 2-Columbia 10:59.65. 3-West Orange 11:03.92. 4-Seton Hall Prep 11:08.86. 5-Livingston 11:23.04. 6-Caldwell 11:45.88.
SHUTTLE HURDLES: 1-Seton Hall Prep (Museveni Akanno, Grant Porter, Tim Tremba and Jeff McGhee) 32.9. 2-Millburn 34.5. 3-St. Benedict's 35.2. 4-Shabazz 35.8. 5-Caldwell 36.3. 6-Irvington 37.9.
TEAM HIGH JUMP: 1-Seton Hall Prep (Museveni Akanno and Isaac Mireku) 12-0. 2-East Orange 11-5. 3-Shabazz 11-2. 4-Barringer 10-11. 5-West Orange 10-10. 6-Caldwell 10-6.
TEAM SHOT PUT: 1-St. Benedict's (Darrell Williams and Shawn Hollis) 98-6 1/2. 2-Seton Hall Prep 86-11 1/2. 3-Montclair Immaculate 85-10 1/2. 4-Nutley 82-3 3/4. 5-West Orange 81-11.
6-Columbia 80-2. |
TOP
|
s w i m m i n g
Seton Hall wins 7th straight title, sets relay mark
Tuesday, January 06, 2003
BY MATT CHEPLIC For the Star-Ledger
Seton Hall Prep maintained its dominance in Essex County yesterday, capturing its seventh straight county championship at Seton Hall University in South
Orange. Already holding a substantial lead with one event remaining, Seton Hall capped its performance with the only record-setting effort of the day. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Matt Curtis,
Sean Hebron, Jeff McTernan and Joe Scala swam a 3:22.19 to eclipse the former meet standard of 3:23.67, also set by Seton Hall in 1993.
"It feels good to be county champs,"
Scala said. "Our goal was to come here and win this, and everybody stepped up. Our relay teams were awesome today. What they did says a lot about our depth." Scala, a junior, also took first in the
50-yard freestyle with a 22.74 and swam a 49.34 in the 100-yard freestyle to place second.
Seton Hall placed first in the team standings with 286 points while Livingston was second with 192.
"Watching them break the county record was especially
satisfying," Randy Schweitzer, who took over as head coach in 1988, said. "The 400 is tough because everyone is so tired. But you're going to be hurting anyway, so you might as well
win." Curtis, McTernan, Scala and sophomore Don Jones delivered another winning effort in the 200 freestyle relay, posting a 1:33.36. And in one of the meet's most exciting races, Seton Hall
senior Joe Braunreuther took the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:54, edging out Mike Kirwan of Newark Academy and Montclair Kimberley's top-seeded Andrew Kyrejko. "That was the first individual
event I've won, so it was really fun," Braunreuther said. "Andrew had already beaten me in the individual medley, and I know he's a strong finisher, so I didn't want it to come down to the last 25
yards."
Danny Kim of Livingston arrived at the meet with three goals: Win the backstroke, break the meet's butterfly record and win a relay event. Although the senior didn't
accomplish the first two, he helped his school secure a second-place team finish, and he remained upbeat after the meet. "I was just going all out," Kim said after finishing second in the 100
backstroke to Rob Willhoit of West Orange. "This is my last year, and I wanted to have fun. I already won the butterfly, so I'm happy about that. I just wanted to help my team."
Kim's top butterfly time of 52.84 led a fine showing by Livingston in the event. Kevin Jung finished second and Sean Estok placed fourth. Kim, Jung, Dennis Estok and Jason Chen
teamed to capture the 200 medley relay in 1:43.95. The same foursome was second in the 200 freestyle relay.
Mike Kirwan of Newark Academy viewed the county meet as nothing less than a
shot at redemption. Seeking to overshadow a less-than-memorable showing last season, Kirwan won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:47.08, beating top-seeded Bart Mebel of Millburn (1:49.20) and posting his best
high school clocking. Kirwan also took second in the 500 freestyle, finishing ahead of defending champ Andy Kyrejko of Montclair Kimberley.
As a sophomore, Kirwan raised eyebrows at
the 2002 meet when he won the backstroke in 57.08. Last season, Kirwan finished fourth in the event. "I was caught in an awkward transition at last year's meet," Kirwan said. "I was getting
away from backstroke and sprints and more into mid-distance and distance free. Now, I feel like I've come full circle and everything is falling into place."
West Orange only
scored one first-place finish -- senior Rob Willhoit's 100-yard backstroke performance (55.52) -- but the team was consistent enough to amass 155 points and a third-place finish.
Willhoit also led off the 200 medley relay team, which took second place. Travis Lee, Michael Navata and David Robart rounded out the lineup which finished in 1:47.82. Willhoit, Lee, Ryan Handley and Kirk
Smith captured third place in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:36.54. Also for West Orange, Michael Navata was third in the 200 individual medley (2:10.99), Robart fourth in the 100 freestyle (52.57)
and Travis Lee added a fifth in the 100 backstroke in 1:08.94.
Millburn's Bart Mebel took home a victory in one of the meet's closest finishes. Mebel and Seton Hall's Joe Scala swam
neck-in-neck in the 100 freestyle with Mebel's 48.98 besting Scala's 49.34.
In the 200-yard freestyle, it was the Millburn senior who had to settle for second place, trailing Mike Kirwan of Newark Academy.
"I really wanted to win both
events," Mebel said. "My 200 time should have been better. But I'm happy with how I finished in the 100, considering I'm coming off a two-week break and I swam unshaven and untapered."
TEAMS: 1-Seton Hall Prep 286. 2-Livingston 192. 3-West Orange 155. 4-Caldwell 111. 5-Millburn 109. 6-Montclair Kimberley 93. 7-Montclair 70. 8-West Essex 61. 9-Columbia 59. 10-Newark Academy 52. 11-St.
Benedict's Prep 36. 12-Newark East Side 10.
50-YARD FREESTYLE: 1-Joe Scala, Seton Hall, 22.74. 2-Matthew Bialko, Cedar Grove, 24.05. 3-Justin Zelenka, Columbia, 24.21. 4-Don Jones,
Seton Hall, 24.45. 5-Asher Phipps, St. Benedict's, 24.48. 6-Dennis Estok, Livingston, 24.52.
100-YARD FREESTYLE: 1-Bart Mebel, Millburn, 48.98. 2-Joe Scala, Seton Hall, 49.34. 3-Jeff
McTernan, Seton Hall, 51.65. 4-David Robart, West Orange, 52.57. 5-Nick Bassolino, Montclair Kimberley, 53.64. 6-Kevin Garden, Caldwell, 54.02.
200-YARD FREESTYLE: 1-Mike Kirwan,
Newark Academy, 1:47.08. 2-Bart Mebel, Millburn, 1:49.20. 3-Sean Hebron, Seton Hall, 1:52.66. 4-Jeff McTernan, Seton Hall, 1:54.49. 5-Harry Squires, Caldwell, 1:55.88. 6-Brad Ashenfelter, Glen Ridge,
1:57.27.
500-YARD FREESTYLE: 1-Joe Braunreuther, Seton Hall, 4:54.25. 2-Mike Kirwan, Newark Academy, 4:56.65. 3-Andy Kyrejko, Montclair Kimberley, 5:00.10. 4-Sean Hebron, Seton Hall,
5:03.05. 5-Michael Taylor, West Essex, 5:06.33. 6-Harry Squires, Caldwell, 5:08.59.
100-YARD BUTTERFLY: 1-Danny Kim, Livingston, 52.84. 2-Kevin Jung, Livingston, 55.73. 3-Matt Curtis,
Seton Hall, 58.81. 4-Sean Estok, Livingston, 59.87. 5-Pat Finnegan, Seton Hall, 1:00.34. 6-Nick Van Nispen, Millburn, 1:00.71.
100-YARD BACKSTROKE: 1-Rob Willhoit, West Orange, 55.52.
2-Danny Kim, Livingston, 56.09. 3-Dan Fletcher, Cedar Grove, 57.28. 4-Nick Bassolino, Montclair Kimberley, 57.30. 5-Jason Chen, Livingston, 59.59. 6-Matthew Bialko, Cedar Grove, 1:01.24.
100-YARD BREASTSTROKE: 1-Justin Zelenka, Columbia, 1:02.97. 2-Michael Taylor, West Essex, 1:03.61. 3-Lou Puopolo, Seton Hall, 1:05.37. 4-Christopher Ray, Seton Hall, 1:07.82. 5-Travis Lee,
West Orange, 1:08.94. 6-Alex Fishman, Livingston, 1:08.99.
200-YARD INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: 1-Andy Kyrejko, Montclair Kimberley, 2:01.26. 2-Joe Braunreuther, Seton Hall, 2:06.12. 3-Michael
Navata, West Orange, 2:10.99. 4-Sean Estok, Livingston, 2:12.07. 5-Dan Fletcher, Cedar Grove, 2:13.12. 6-Lou Puopolo, Seton Hall, 2:13.19.
200-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY: 1-Seton Hall (Matt
Curtis, Don Jones, Jeff McTernan, Joe Scala) 1:33.36. 2-Livingston 1:35.50. 3-West Orange 1:36.54. 4-Millburn 1:38.64. 5-Caldwell 1:38.93. 6-Montclair 1:40.09.
400-YARD FREESTYLE
RELAY: 1-Seton Hall (Matt Curtis, Sean Hebron, Jeff McTernan, Joe Scala) 3:22.19, meet record; (former record: 3:23.67, Seton Hall, 1993). 2-Livingston 3:27.49. 3-West Orange 3:32.86. 4-Millburn 3:39.47.
5-Montclair Kimberley 3:40.59. 6-Montclair 3:42.38.
200-YARD MEDLEY RELAY: 1-Livingston (Jason Chen, Danny Kim, Kevin Jung, Dennis Estok) 1:43.95. 2-West Orange 1:47.82. 3-Seton Hall
Prep 1:48.12. 4-Caldwell 1:50.70. 5-Montclair Kimberley 1:54.49. 6-West Essex 1:54.89.
|
TOP
|
Costner triggers Seton by St. Pat's
Monday, January 05, 2003 BY MIKE KINNEY
For the Star-Ledger
SHP photos by RCM
The glowing reputation of 6-8 junior Brandon Costner was
built on his ability to play a small man's game with a big man's body.
He can handle the ball against pressure, is an accurate
and creative passer and also happens to be Seton Hall Prep's best 3-point shooter.
But there is another side to Costner, which had not
been so evident until he'd packed a little more muscle onto his now-230-pound frame. He has a nifty repertoire of inside moves, too, which Costner is finally confident enough to showcase.
With a drop step here, a baseline turnaround there and an up-and-under elsewhere, Costner erupted for 27 points and added nine rebounds and three assists to lead
Seton Hall Prep over St. Patrick's, 68-61, yesterday at the Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children Basketball Festival before 3,065 at the Yanitelli Center in Jersey City.
Junior guard Andrew Pusar, a multitalented playmaker, scored 23 points and added five rebounds for Seton Hall, but, ultimately, did nothing out of the ordinary for him.
Costner, however, had only occasionally displayed the kind of interior strength and imagination he flaunted yesterday.
"Actually, I like the inside better," Costner said. "Last year I was a little skinny, though, so I would rather shoot from outside. Now, I
feel I can play inside."
He played somewhat like a bully in a sandbox, accounting for all but five of his 27 points on shots within 10 feet of the basket.
Costner was 1-of-4 from 3-point range and hit two free throws late in the game after being fouled soon after an inbound pass.
His other 22 points were either on baskets (six) near the cylinder or on free throws (10-of-11) after being fouled on tough inside moves.
"I like that part of Brandon's game and I think he needs to do more of that," Seton Hall coach Bob Farrell said. "He was aggressive on
the block and didn't rely on his 3-point shots. He got the ball inside and got them into foul trouble."
St. Patrick's found itself in deep trouble even before the fouls mounted. Senior guard Devon Moffat hit four 3-pointers and had 14
points in the first quarter and a half, but left with an apparent ankle sprain with four minutes left in the first half. Seton Hall was ahead, 24-21, at that point.
"I knew if I was in the game, we would have had a better chance to win," Moffat said. "I felt good, too. I really wanted to come out and help my team win."
Even with Moffat, Seton Hall's ball movement, defense and effective inside-outside game may have been too much. Seton Hall built a
33-24 lead by the half, finished the third quarter ahead, 48-39, and led by as much as 60-41 with 4:57 to play.
"For three quarters and four minutes, I thought we played outstanding," Farrell said. "I thought we played great defense, rebounded
the basketball and took good shots. We gave up a few 3s in the first half, but they were contested 3s."
Farrell was less thrilled about the game's last four minutes, when his team committed five turnovers against pressure and allowed St. Patrick's to whittle away at the lead.
Costner also hoped for better control down the stretch, yet was not surprised by St. Patrick's last gasp.
"They keep playing hard," he said. "They never stop. Never quit."
SETON HALL PREP (68): Pusar 10-0-3-23, Andrews 2-0-0-4, Solomon 1-0-0-2, Harvey Jr. 2-0-0-4, Costner 6-1-12-27, Braswell 2-1-0-7, Wujciak 0-0-1-1. Totals: 23-2-16-68.
ST. PATRICK'S (61): Sanders 1-1-2-7, T. Cook 5-1-2-15, Moffat 0-4-2-14, Fisher 4-1-2-13, Youngblood 1-0-0-2, Formbornono
2-0-0-4, D. Cook 1-0-4-6, Guilliendeux 0-0-0-0, Rogers 0-0-0-0. Totals: 14-7-12-61.
Seton Hall Prep (5-1) 16 17 15 20--68
St. Patrick's (2-4) 15 9 15 22--61
PICTURES IN THE WORKS |
|
TOP
|
t r a c k
Seton Hall Prep Takes Iron Hills Championship
Saturday, January 03, 2003 BY JIM LAMBERT
For the Star-Ledger
Seton Hall Prep and Morris Hills didn't have to search very hard to find incentive.
After each failed to
successfully defend their titles last season, they refused to leave without them last night at the 25th Iron Hills Conference Track and Field Championships at Drew University in Madison.
Seton Hall Prep, led by Jeff McGhee and Museveni Akanno, scored in every event and rolled to the boys Iron Division title with 98 points.
Morris Hills, with victories from Dave Tague, Evan
Colquhoun, Brandon Rodkewitz and Shawn Bolcarovic, posted the second-highest score in meet history with 131½ points to win the Hills Division by a staggering 62½ points.
"After being second
last year, we really wanted this," said Bolcarovic, who won the 55-meter hurdles, led off the winning 4x400 and was fifth in the 300. "We knew we were capable of coming in here and dominating and everyone
performed well for us."
Tague led a 1-2-3 finish for Morris Hills in the shot put with a 46-10¼, Colquhoun won the 1,600 in 10:17.43, Rodkewitz led a 1-2-3 finish in the 3,200 in 10:17.43
and Morris Hills won the 4x400 in 3:41.15. Morris Hills
In the Iron Division, Seton Hall Prep, third last season, received victories from McGhee in the hurdles in a
personal-best 7.81, Akanno in the high jump at 6-2 and the 4x400 team that ran 3:36.36. McGhee ran a 52.2 second leg on the relay.
"Last year, we didn't focus on this meet because we had the
county relays the same weekend, but this year we came in ready to get our title back," McGhee said. "We have a very deep and strong team and we came here and showed that."
"We aren't surprised at all by how much we won by. We expected this."
The best individual performance of the meet was turned in by Jeremy Zagorski of
Parsippany Hills. Zagorski put together a final 400 of 61.9 and a last 200 of 30 flat on his way to a meet-record 2:34.13 in the Hills Division 1,000. That topped the former mark of 2:38.31 set in 2000 by
Colin Brown of Columbia.
"I didn't know what the record was," Zagorski said. "All I was concerned with was trying to go under 2:35, so I am very happy with this. This is all part of my
training for the Hispanic Games."
The Hispanic Games, set for Jan. 10 at the 168th Street Armory in New York, is where Zagorski will attempt to qualify for the Millrose Games high school
mile. The Millrose Games will take place next month at Madison Square Garden.
Jacob Nettleton of Columbia scored two big comeback victories in the Iron Division.
In the 1,600, Nettleton, a senior, was in fifth place with 175 meters left before exploding to win in 4:42.08.
"There were times in the race when I felt a little out of it, but
I knew if I just kept them in sight I had a chance," Nettleton said. "On the last lap I wasnt sure what they had left, but when I started to use my kick I kind of sensed that I was going to win. "
Nettleton also rallied in the 3,200, coming from third place with two laps to go to win in 10:13.30.
Perry Hellriegel
of West Morris, second last season, unloaded a personal indoor best of 51-1¼ to win the Iron Division shot put.
"This is the first big title that I have ever won, so Im
really happy," Hellriegel said. "Ive gone up in all my meets this season and Im hoping to get to 55 by the end of the season." [RESULTS>>>] |
|
|
SHP 6 - Brick 0
photos -RCM
|
| |
|
|
TOP |
|
SHP 3 - Meadville [PA] 3
photos -RCM
|
| |
|
|
|
|
