Time for elite to step to the line at SJ Groups

(Pub May 24)

It's widely thought that seniors Winslow Township's Barry Cephas, Absegami's Geoff Navarro and Kingsway's RJ Page represents the best South Jersey, and probably New Jersey, has to offer in the sprinting department.
Over the course of this weekend, Cephas and Navarro will line up against each other four times at the South Jersey Group 4 meet at Egg Harbor Township, the last time as anchors to tonight's finale, the 4x400 relay.
"Barry and I have been competing for years ," Navarro said. "We've traded wins in the past. It should be exciting."
Meanwhile, Page, who coach Melvin Carter says is "at the top of his game", faces a less stacked field at the South Jersey Group 3 meet today at Buena. The eighth-year coach isn't ready to admit that, though.
"This time of year, kids start peaking," Carter said. "We don't look past anybody."
The Boston University-bound senior's main competition looks to be Delsea senior Udochi Okoro, Moorestown senior Bryan Burnham and Highland junior Jamal Davis.
And going by what Carter said, Egg Harbor Township sophomore TJ Johnson -- the best sprinting underclassman this spring -- could possibly challenge Cephas and Navarro.
In a dual meet two weeks ago, Johnson and Navarro split the 100 and 200. Navarro, whose allergies were inflamed then, bounced back, showing his seniority by winning both races at the Cape Atlantic League Championships last Saturday.
Pleasantville senior Kenny Davis and Glassboro junior James Brown are the top dogs in the South Jersey Group 2 meet, also held at Buena today.

The Other Greyhound
Anyone who saw a track meet during the indoor championship season knows Kobe Bryant is to the Los Angeles Lakers what Kenny Davis means to Pleasantville.
Davis just won more. From Group 1 sectionals to Group 1 states, Davis collected eight gold medals and one Group 1 State Championship.
But Davis didn't win the Group 1 4x400 relay or the Indoor Group 1 State Championship by himself. And his lonesome didn't rank the Greyhounds No.2 in the Courier-Post's Top 20.
Senior Raymond Wilson is one of those guys who's cast under a long shadow but still able to shine. Check out his day at the CAL Individuals meet: wins the long jump (22-7.25), places second is the 400 (50.3) and serves on the runner-up 4x400 relay team (3:19.4).

Waiting to Boyle
The road to running the 800 was a long one for Shawnee senior Ian Boyle, full of tempting exits, roadblocks and detours.
Not to mention shot puts, bicycles, benches and failed soccer tryouts.
The same body that won him the 800 in a personal-best 1:58.0 at the Burlington County Open last Saturday – OK, maybe a tad shorter and stouter – failed Boyle in middle-school athletics.
"I was a big kid then," said Boyle, who was subsequently pushed to the field portion of track and field at Memorial Middle School in Medford, competing in the discus and shot put.
Yoho, yoho, the thrower's life was for he. But only it wasn't; this thrower was most apt at not using his hands.
A year after starting shot put and discus, Boyle went out for his eighth-grade soccer team. Or was it cross country?
"All they did in tryouts was run, run, run. Go out and run and see how far you can go," Boyle said. "The top 20 kids made the team. I wasn't even close to the top. I didn't make it. I was so mad."
Not ready to give in to running just yet, Boyle took his anger out on his bike, riding it five miles a day, every day after school. The treading wasn't the only thing that disappeared.
A thinner, fitter Boyle stepped to the line of his eighth-grade gym mile and left with, um, encouraging results.
"I did it in 6 minutes and I was like 'I want to try the 800,'" he said. "In the fall that year I ran like 7:20 [in the mile] so yeah, 6 minutes was good."
Boyle spent next fall riding the pine for his freshmen soccer team – no auditions needed – and came out for cross country the following year, running 19:30 as a sophomore and then 17:30 as a junior. That spring he ran a 1:59 800 and a 4:36 1,600.
The College of New Jersey-bound senior attributed the dip to hard work, running 60 to 70 miles a week during the summer.
His also attributes a sidelining injury this fall to the pounding mileage. Boyle is clearly back, up and running, joined by sophomore stud David Forward to form one of the best distance duos in South Jersey.
Boyle will run the 800 and a leg of the 4x400 relay today in Buena at the South Jersey Group 3 Sectional Championships. He'll team with Cherokee's duo of Alex Yersak and Kevin Schlicking next fall at TCNJ.
"I think I'm still getting better. I've only been doing this for so long," Boyle said. "I know kids, like Dave [Forward], he's in sixth, fifth grade running 5:30 miles or something. That's just not me."

Dominique
A brief look at Bridgeton senior Dominique Williams' day at the Cape Atlantic League Individual Championships on May 15:
Williams won the javelin (171-6) and the discus (149-7), took third in the shot put (48-3) and placed fourth in the 110 high hurdles (15.0), the latter against arguably the two best short-distance hurdlers in South Jersey, Egg Harbor Township's Stevenson Cajuste (14.1) and Pleasantville's Kenny Davis (14.1).
Who was the last shot putter who threatened in the high hurdles?
And the scary part is his hurdle and shot put performances were subpar for his standards.

Ladies' Man
It's been a season of ups and downs for Willingboro senior Tyrone McRae. The once infallible Chimeras, winners of 34 state championships between 1979 and 2004, were winless for the first time in school history, finishing 0-5.
McRae, though, has kept the winning tradition alive.
At the Burlington County Open last Saturday, the captain won the 200 (22.38) and 400 (49.57), both in personal bests.
"That's my first open 200 of the season," he said. "I expected to do all right, but I didn't expect to win. It's a major confidence booster."
With his high school career ticking away, the Cheyney University-bound senior said he has regained focus, even at the expense of a few broken hearts.
"You got to get the foolishness out of the way. The girls and all that," said McRae, smiling. "There're a lot of girls and you just got to stay away. You just got to block all that out.
"There's plenty of time for the women."
Taking a page out of the women-weaken-legs philosophy first practiced by Mickey Goodmill and on his boxing protege Rocky Balboa, McRae will look to compete in the 200 and the 4x400 relay today at the Central Jersey Group 3 meet in Tinton Falls.

Young Kings
Kingsway has a stellar set of freshmen, but you would be hard-pressed to spot them since they run like upperclassmen.
Highland's Jamal Davis (1:59.1) prevented Dragons Tivo Rivera and Rondell Gilmore from sweeping the 800 at the Tri-County Conference All-Star Meet last Thursday. Rivera finished first in a personal-best 1:58.5 and Gilmore third in a personal-best 1:59.9.
Junior Ryan Culbreath has been a great influence on the youngsters by showing what it takes to win, as he did in the 1,600 in 4:28, coach Melvin Carter said.
"Those kids have been working hard," Carter said. "Coming into the season, we knew we needed Culbreath to step up. But Tivo and Rondell Gilmore – these freshman have been doing really well for us too."

No more Mono
Mononucleosis never stopped Haddon Heights senior Mickey Borsellino from running this spring. It just stopped him from liking to run.
"Running with mono was such a hassle," Borsellino said. "Now it's fun again. I have confidence in my legs and everything now."
That confidence was on display when Borsellino waited until 200 remained to outkick Haddonfield senior Dan Carreon in the 1,600 at the Colonial Conference All-Star meet Monday.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Geoff Navarro
Absegami
Grade: Senior
Events: Sprints
Accomplishments: A force all year for the Braves, Navarro stamped his name on two more school records by winning the 200 in 21.1 and anchoring the 4x400 relay of Demetrius Rooks, Ford Palmer and Santiago Galeano past Pleasantville (3:19.4) and to a South Jersey-best 3:17.8 at the Cape Atlantic League Individual Championships May 15. He also won the 100 in 10.6, although not quick enough to top the school record of 10.4 – set by Navarro last year. Oh, and the 400 record -- that's his as well (48.2). Narvarro will compete in the 200 and the 4x400 at today's South Jersey Group 4 meet in Egg Harbor Township. Perhaps his biggest feat has been not letting the success inflate his head.

Comment: "I try to be humble," Navarro said. "When people ask me about my times, if you say you're dominant in certain things, the moment you lose is the moment people turn their backs on you. My coaches always say 'You're only one little fish in a big pond.' … My focus [this weekend] is to do everything within my power to have Absegami come away with a sectional title."