BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
Some of the state’s best track and field talent will be on display tomorrow night when Howell High School hosts the annual Freehold Regional District Championships.
Colts Neck’s distance stars Craig Forys and Ashley Higginson are, of course, the marquee athletes, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. The overall distance-running talent in the District is as deep as ever.
Forys teamed with Zach Tedoff, Ryan Jagielski and Chris Clark Friday to run the fastest time ever in the Freehold Regional District, 10:13.34, and finishing third at the Penn Relays. During the winter, they won the indoor Distance Medley Relay national championship and turned in the fastest time in the nation (10:15.08).
Not all of the top boys are from Colts Neck. Freehold Borough’s Mike O’Flaherty has been running in the shadows of Forys and the Cougars, but is one of the Shore’s best, and will be running hard to win a District crown. Marlboro’s Scott Cohen has proven to be a quality runner as well.
Higginson is fresh off a 10:0298 at the Penn Relays for 3,000 meters — a time that is the best in the District and that got her a third-place finish Thursday at Penn.
Her teammates Danielle Plenzo, Kristen O’Dowd, Kim Lang, Rachel Grande and Christine Lynch are just a few of the talented Cougars who have made Colts Neck the area’s dominant team.
Howell’s Kellee Hand, Lindsey Lambert and Lauren Wiemken, Freehold Borough’s Elise Tagatac, Freehold Township’s Janel Parker and Charlotte Walsh, Manalapan’s Sofia Machado and Marlboro’s Erica Weitz are top runners themselves. Machado, a senior, has been a Freehold District champion, as has Hand.
With Earl Gray having graduated to the University of Maryland, there will be a new champion in the sprints. Gray dominated the 100, 200 and 400 meters like no one before, over the last three years.
Freehold Borough’s Nick Arnone, Marlboro’s William Gould and Manalapan’s Alan Berger will be looking to be the District’s fastest. Newcomer Danny Matthews, of Freehold Borough, could be a real factor.
Rose Drayton, of Freehold Borough, is the District’s best sprinter. She won the 200-400 double at the meet last year. Manalapan’s Annie Peraggine and Kristen Andrews are two of the best around. Peraggine won the 100 last year, and Andrews has 400-800 range. Howell’s Jamie Leacock will be a factor here as well.
In the hurdles, Freehold Township’s Sean Coyne is the one to watch for the boys, and for the girls, it’s Colts Neck’s Jackie Austin, Freehold Township’s Alyssa Diercksen and Christine Menhart, and Manalapan’s Mary Seery.
In the field, Freehold Township’s Danielle Dailey is one of the state’s best throwers, winning the county and Shore Conference shot put titles indoors. At the Penn Relays, she moved up among the elite, taking third place in a personal best, 41-1 1/4.
Howell’s Carly Graffeo, Brittany Napoli and Annamarie DePaola bear watching here.
Manalapan’s Steve Bachman was the indoor Monmouth County shot put champion. He’s recovering from an early-season injury and may not be near peak form.
Freehold Borough’s Justin Frick emerged as one of the state’s best high jumper in the winter, winning the SC title and finishing second at the Meet of Champions. He scaled 6-6 indoors, and is looking to go higher this spring. He would like to use the District meet to start jumping high. He was tied for third last year at 5-8, behind his teammate David Hickey (6-0), who is back.
Colts Neck’s Jesse Pagliano was the county indoor high jump champion. This event was owned in previous years by Debra Vento, of Freehold Borough, now jumping for Duke, and Maura Burk, of Freehold Township, last year’s champion, who is competing for Stanford. They co-own the District record with jumps of 5-10, second best in state history.
Marlboro’s Jenna Meagher and Colts Neck’s Gretchen Volherbst will resume their pole vault rivalry from the indoor season. Both advanced to the Meet of Champions, with Meagher finishing eighth.
Freehold Township’s boys and Manalapan’s girls are the defending team champions.
The Patriots scored in every event but one, rolling up 144 points last year, winning for the second time in three years. The Patriots have that same balance this year. Colts Neck, though, is a lot stronger all around, as proven by its recent upset of Matawan in a dual meet, and they, of course, pile up the points in the distance races. Manalapan has the same depth and balance as Freehold Township, and this will make it a three-way race.
Manalapan scored 159 points in outdistancing Colts Neck by 59 points.
Graduation hit the Braves pretty hard, but they have the numbers and versatility, as proven in their win at the Holmdel Relays.
Colts Neck is more a threat than ever, adding field points to its overwhelming edge in the distances, and the Cougars can get points in the sprints and hurdles.
Howell can’t be overlooked with its field depth and ability to score on the track with its sprinters and distance runners.
There will be many new champions on the boys side with Jagielski (800), Forys (1,600) and Hickey (high jump), the only returning champions.
Defending champions on the girls side include Peraggine (100), Drayton (200 and 400), O’Dowd (800) and Higginson (1,600 and 3,200).
Tomorrow’s meet will begin with the track events at 4 p.m.