MHS senior misses Meet of Champs cut
By: Rudy Brandl
Armand Fodorean knew he had to duplicate his heroics of the previous weekend to have a chance to place against the tough competition at Saturday’s State Group 1 Track and Field Championships in Egg Harbor Township.
The Manville High senior shattered his prior best marks to win the Central Jersey Group 1 discus title at Hillsborough over the Memorial Day weekend. Back in action as his school’s lone State Group 1 competitor, Fodorean planned on continuing his late-season surge and making a trip to the NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
It didn’t work out for Fodorean, whose throw of 126 feet, 6 inches placed him 11th among discus throwers in Group 1. That mark would have been good enough to set a new personal best the previous weekend, but it fell 14 feet, 2 inches short of the sixth and final qualifying mark for the Meet of Champs. Fodorean’s monster 141-2 mark from the CJ 1 meet would have earned him sixth place Saturday. He still finished with the longest mark in Central Jersey, but a bunch of guys from North and South Jersey beat him.
"Everyone was good and pretty balanced out," Fodorean said. "I’m proud of my season but I was hoping I’d do better and make it to the Meet of Champions. It just didn’t happen."
Fodorean spent most of the season hovering around the 120-foot mark, which was plenty long enough to take first place in dual meets. He stepped up his game in a huge way at the sectional meet, setting a new personal record on four of his six throws. That progression was highlighted by the clutch throw on the last round of the finals, also the final throw of the competition.
The MHS senior and weights coach George Zevan tried to repeat the preparation process from the previous week. Fodorean felt fine in the competition. The weather was nice, maybe a bit humid, but Fodorean offered no excuses.
"We had a good week," Fodorean said. "We kept the same practice schedule as last week."
Fodorean felt he may have been a bit conservative in competition. Instead of letting it all hang out, he wanted to be sure he didn’t foul. He was pushed by Metuchen’s Andy Draina in the CJ 1 competition, which pushed him to go for broke on his final throw. There wasn’t the same pressure from one rival thrower at this event.
"That was a good thing," Fodorean said of the back-and-forth competition with Draina at the sectionals. "I didn’t push as hard as I could today because I didn’t want to foul out."
Fodorean’s 126-6 came on his second throw of the preliminary round. He didn’t qualify for the finals, which would have given him three additional attempts to improve his mark. Perhaps that would have increased Fodorean’s chances to get a throw down the middle, where he usually gets his longest marks.
In the CJ 1 meet, Fodorean launched most of his throws down the right side of the discus area. His final attempt and personal-best throw sailed beautifully in the center and landed far, far away. There was no such central flight on any of his State Group 1 attempts.
"Me and Coach Zevan were talking about that," Fodorean said. "I usually throw better when I’m in the middle. Today just wasn’t my day."
Fodorean was the last Mustang standing in a very productive spring athletic campaign for his school. Fodorean, who will graduate with six varsity letters (three in soccer, two in track, one in wrestling), put a fitting exclamation on his final scholastic athletic career by winning a CJ 1 title. He just wasn’t ready for it all to end Saturday.
"I’m proud of what I achieved," he said. "I thought I could do a little better today and go farther."