Kenny Davis is Superman

TOMS RIVER -- Winning four events the week prior set the bar pretty high for Kenny Davis at the NJSIAA Group 1 Championship Saturday, possibly too high.

But even after delivering two superhero efforts in the 55 hurdles and the 400 , both personal bests, the Pleasantville senior walked from the high-jump area at the Bennett Center disappointed, his head bowed as low as the crossbar he knocked down.

"C'mon Kenny, there's only one Superman," coach Alan Laws pleaded.

But since no high jumper had cleared the given height, Davis found himself in a "jump-off" with nemesis Metuchen's Chris Pisano.

Given the chance to save the day and bring home Pleasantville's first indoor group championship since 1999, Davis turned around, ripped off his warm-ups and flew over the 6-2 height for the win, ultimately contributing 40 of the Greyhounds' winning 58 points.

"Maybe I was mistaken," Laws said. "Maybe there is more than one Superman."

Along with his three individual wins, Davis capped the meet anchoring the 4x400 slower than a speeding bullet but faster than everyone else, hustling his relay team of Raymond Wilson, Jamal Roberts and Larry Ramirez to a season-best 3:31.13.

But the Superman comparisons end there; Clark Kent doesn't usually calm his nerves with Pepto Bismol before a meet.

"When I first got here I was kind of nervous. My stomach was real upset," Davis said. "This was the first time I've ever been nervous."

Davis' grandma, Nellie Griffin, will mount his four new gold medals with the four earned last Saturday, a collage that's been growing across the playroom wall since his freshman year.

But you won't hear Davis say she's running out of wall space.

"He's very humble, he's not selfish. Everything he does is for the team," Laws said. "He must celebrate in the inside, because he holds in a lot. He must go home and break down."

Laws also credits Rameriz's second-place performance in the 800 (2:01.6) and Roberts's fifth-place showing in the 55 dash (6.73) as keys to victory.

Metuchen – the Central Jersey team that ran over the Greyhounds to win the Group 1 State Relays -- finished second with 47 points. Haddonfield placed third with 32 points, 20 of which came off of wins by sophomores Colin Baker and Boo Vitez in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Limited to running 40 miles a week because of a pair of stressed legs this winter, Baker still managed to catch Metuchen's Julian Fensterheim, a 1:57 half-miler, with 300 meters to go.

Baker sprinted to an indoor personal-best 4:28.71, outleaning Fensterheim by a mere .03 second. Senior teammate Dan Carreon (fourth, 4:31.21) and Pennsville senior Anthony Mowers (sixth, 4:33.64) will also move on to next week's Meet of Champions by finishing in the top six.

"Winning a state championship has been my goal all season so when I got to that the homestretch and saw he was that close, I just couldn't let him beat me," said Baker, who trains on a stationary bike three times weekly.

"I just thought about how hard I worked all season, and all the injuries, and how bad I wanted it."

Vitez stayed with a fast pack for the first 1,200 meters of his 3,200 before turning gears and turning the race to a game of Solitaire, blasting to a personal-best 9:35.03 and pairing his group title with the one he won in the State Group 2 Championship last fall in cross country.

Pennsville senior Mark Kearney captured second (9:47.12) and Haddon Heights senior Mickey Borsellino finished fourth (9:49.24).

Eastern's James Brown felt good sprinting to a personal-best time of 6.60 for second in the 55 dash.

On the girls' side, Haddonfield junior Greta Feldman helped her seniors strike group-championship gold for the first time in five years, winning all three of her races – the 400 (58.76), the 800 (2:20.92) and the 4x400 with seniors Athena Wright, Maggie Lupinski and Kirsten King -- in personal-best times.

Like they did for Davis, the internal butterflies got the best of Feldman.

"I was really nervous coming in this week," she said. "I never been in this kind of position with the titles on the line but I think I feed off my nerves."

Teammate senior Alyssa D'Orazio speeded to a personal-best 5:12.16 in the 1,600 and junior twins Elizabeth (11:27.89) and Jackie Sikkema (11:52.84) finished second and third in the 3,200.

Haddonfield amassed 58 points, 25 points more than runner-up Madison.

"We're where we thought we would be and a bit more," coach Mike Busarello said. "They were really focused the past couple of weeks. We didn't really talk of winning but that's what they wanted to do."