BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer
Brick girls fare well at Ocean County meet
PHOTOS BY MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Above, Brick Memorial’s Karon Reid passes the baton to Neil Stucco during the 4×400-meter relay at Saturday’s Ocean County Championships at Neptune High School. At right, Brick’s Jackie Daniels and Brick Memorial’s Melany Weissingerunn run side by side during the 3,200-meter race. Below right, Brick Memorial’s Janelle Gobel nears the finish of the 3,200. NEPTUNE – Sophomore Ryeisha Boyd led four Brick Township girls who won medals in the Ocean County Track & Field championships with a pair of third-place finishes, before an unfortunate mistake spoiled an ideal opportunity for a third medal on Saturday.
Boyd clocked a 58.4 in the 400 and a 25.8 in the 200 for her medals. Sensational shot putter freshman Lisa Stuto recorded a personal best 36-foot-3-inch heave for fifth place, and Alyssa Kuklo was fifth in the discus with a 104-1 throw that coach Bill Brunner considered a “surprise. But we’re fortunate to have five girls who can throw over 100 feet, so anybody can place for us at any time. I have a lot of confidence in Alyssa.”
Sophomore Jackie Daniels was sixth in the 3,200 in 11:47. Freshman Deena Haluza nearly qualified for the discus finals, missing by just 1 inch with her personal best throw of 97-5 in the preliminary round.
Brick Memorial also had a double-medalist in sophomore Kristen Perrine, who came on strong down the stretch from 10th place to finish fourth in the 800 in 2:16, and clocked a 5:17 in the 1,600 for sixth. Teammate Melanie Weisinger finished just shy of a medal with a personal best 11:54 in the 3,200 for eighth place.
But it was Boyd whom Brunner said “had a great day” before she and her team suffered “a big-time low point.”
Boyd entered the long jump and recorded a 17-5 distance on her first try, the longest jump in the Shore this season, but was disqualified because she had neglected to sign in for the event.
“I believe she can come back and win the Shore Conference this weekend,” said Brunner of the championships scheduled on Thursday afternoon and Saturday at Neptune. “I have to take the responsibility with her for this [mistake in not signing in]. I think she’ll be a factor in the Shore Conference in the long jump, 200 and 400.”
Brunner also said confidently that he feels Stuto will place in the Shore Conference meet after she got her medal-winning throw on her fifth of six attempts (including three in Thursday’s preliminaries, which count). She also had a 36-1 throw.
Stuto’s throw was still shy but closer to the school record of 40-3 set by Erin Foster in the 1999 NJSIAA Group IV state championships.
“She injured her right hand in practice on Thursday, which I think was more mental than physical, and did not look good in the prelims but got her in [to the finals],” said Brunner of Stuto.
Brick Memorial girls coach Jessica Jones, meanwhile, was encouraged by Perrine’s performance going into the Shore Conference meet.
“She’ll do well if she runs her personal best,” said Jones.