Winning the Group II state championship was important. However, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School sprinter Charlie Volker wanted to do something more significant and historic, like winning the 100- meter dash at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions (MOC) June 3 at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield.
Volker earned the title of New Jersey’s fastest runner when he won the 100-meter final with a personal best of 10.81.
“I wanted it,” Volker said after his triumph in South Plainfield. “At 60 meters, I was able to hit a fifth gear.”
That extra gear helped him pull away from the state’s fastest sprinters and become Rumson-Fair Haven’s first 100-meter dash MOC champion.
“It’s great to see all the hard work,” he said.
After a fourth-place finish in his qualifying heat, Volker said he made the mistake of looking around seeing where everyone else was. His time of 10.84, though, easily put him the final, where he didn’t make the same mistake twice. “I stayed focused. I looked straight ahead,” he said.
Volker, who is headed to Princeton University, where he will continue to play football, said he hopes to continue his sprinting there as well.
The Rumson-Fair Haven senior has experienced the highest of highs in the two sports, leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back state sectional titles on the gridiron and now individually in track and field. The difference, he noted, is not having “my guys” to celebrate the state title with.
Christian Brothers Academy’s (CBA) Drake Anzone has come out of nowhere this spring, and he completed his unlikely rise by winning the 1,600-meter championship with a late charge. His time of 4:11.36 was six seconds faster than his previous personal best set at the Non-Public A state championships.
Heading into the race, Anzone, who is just a sophomore, took a “why not me” approach. “I knew I had the capability [to win],” he said. It was a matter of running the race the right way tactically, and that would be utilizing his late-race kick.
“If I put myself in position at the bell lap, I know I can hang in there until the end,” he said.
Anzone followed pace-setters William Daly and Colin Daly until unleashing his kick in the final 50 meters, catching and then passing them to become CBA’s newest standout.
The sophomore was inspired by teammate Blaise Ferro’s triumph as a sophomore in the 3,200 last spring.
“[The MOC has] been a goal of mine since I saw Blaise do it last year,” he said. “I wanted to do the same thing.”
Ferro, now a junior, was looking to complete the MOC indoor/outdoor 3,200 double for a second straight year. However, his kick was too little, too late this time, and he settled for third place (9:03.32).
CBA sprinter Mike Zupko was runnerup in the 400-meter dash (48.30).
Shore Regional High School’s Kevin Mazzella has been lowering the Blue Devils’ 800-meter school record all spring, and he did it again in the season finale. The Group I state champion ran 1:54.24 at the MOC, placing fifth.
Ocean Township High School’s Michelle Mazza was the top Monmouth County thrower in the shot put, taking sixth place at 41-9.
CBA thrower Andrew Liskowitz was a double medal-winner in the shot put and discus. He was third in the shot put (57- 10½) and fourth in the discus (175-4).
Top 10 finishes were turned in by Red Bank Regional High School’s Lauren Sipone, 10th in the 800 (2:15.47), and Red Bank Catholic High School’s Fidele Jules, ninth in the shot put (40-3).