Forys is back at the right time; Rebel runs pb at championship
By tim morris
Staff Writer
Matt Forys is back, and just in time. For the last month, Forys has been battling the lingering effects of a cold.
Although he was able to defend his Freehold Regional High School District title last month in the rain, he was relegated to just 18th place at the Monmouth County Championships. What’s more, he hadn’t broken 17:00 at Holmdel Park and was wondering if his season of promise was going to go unfulfilled.
The Howell senior put that all behind him Saturday at the Shore Conference Championships as he cranked out a personal best 16:23.2 at Holmdel and finished in seventh place.
"It was hard mentally going into races not being 100 percent," Forys explained. "I had high expectations this year. It was so frustrating not running well.
"Last week I ran a school record 16:09 at our home course (Manasquan Reservoir) in a dual meet, and that showed me I was in shape," he added. "No one expected anything from me this week. I told myself I’ve got to prove what I can do."
And prove it Forys did, running the kind of race he expected to run all year. It was an almost 40-second improvement on his best time this year and four seconds better than his pb from last fall.
Forys did make a strategic concession, and that was to run more economically for the first two miles and then see where he was.
"The first two miles I was running conservatively," recalled Forys. "When I got to the tennis course, I was running well and made a little move there. It felt good to be able to make that move."
"It was a big relief," added Forys. "I’m so happy I was able to come back with a pb. Coach (Kevin) Dee was at the finish line and he told me, ‘you’re back.’
This is the time of the season to be running pb’s, because on Nov. 9 the Central Jersey Group IV Championships at Holmdel Park begin the march toward the Meet of Champions. Only the top 10 individuals and top five teams will advance from the sectional to the Nov. 16 Group IV state championships. It turned out that Forys was part of a very special race Saturday, as Toms River North’s Peter Hess broke the 21-year-old Shore Conference record at Holmdel Park of 15:41 set by Manalapan’s Tom Fischer, who that year went on to win the state championships. Hess ripped off a 15:36.5 in besting a very talented SC field. It’s the fourth fastest ever at Holmdel Park.
"I was in the bowl, and I looked ahead and saw that Hess was 200 meters ahead," said Forys. "I was expecting a close race between Hess and (Toms River South’s Eddie) Baynes. It was so amazing. When I saw that, I knew he was going to run a very fast time."
Howell’s super freshman Kellee Hand again led the way in the girls’ championship. She clicked off a 20:08.7 to finish 11th in a race that featured Katy Trotter’s 18:18.3 victory, which is the sixth fastest ever at Holmdel. Twin sister Amanda Trotter ran an 18:18.6 and occupies the No. 7 time.
Hand’s teammate Leslie Holleran continued her improvement at Holmdel, posting a 20:23.1 and finishing 16th.
Howell, running without its injured No. 2 runner Jessica Hoffman, finished 11th (317). Toms River East easily won the team championship with a score of 60.