Burlco Track "Previews"

Burlington County League
Liberty Division
Moorestown
Twenty freshman have joined the team and 24 sophomores have returned, but the key to the Quakers -- as young as they are – for coach Troy Pappas is production from its upperclassmen, namely sprinter Bryan Burnham and his veteran distance core.
Led by seniors James Mulski and Kevin Healey, along with juniors Ben Friedman, Alex Matteson and David Ringwood, the distance team is as formidable as it is deep, but for the Quakers to find success in the bigger meets, someone needs to step up and out of the pack.
Moorestown also runs deep in javelin throwers with Connor Tuck, Dan Sargent and Anthony Sullivan.
Northern Burlington
After finishing 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the division in 2007, the Greyhounds are hoping to be above average this season. Coach Tim Tedesco is counting on many, but none more so than juniors Chris Tomori and Michael Bowden.
For a winning season to happen, Bowden, among the elite South Jersey runners in the 1,600 and the 3,200, will need to be just as successful as he was last spring when he won the Central Jersey Group 3 Championship’s 3,200 shortly after placing second in the 1,600.
With Delsea’s Aaron Younger graduated, Tomori should find greater success as he is South Jersey’s best incoming intermediate hurdler.
Rancocas Valley
Coming off a 1-4 year, coach Joseph Holland feels his current cast of athletes, nine of whom are returning letterman, can contend for the division this season.
Along with the progression of senior throwers Larry Awoysana and Mike Osterhage, Holland hopes the addition of junior sprinter/hurdler O’Shane Rennie, a transfer from Freehold Township, can make an impact this spring. Rennie was part of a Red Devils 4x400 that advanced to the State Group 3 Championship (3:35.08).
That time might not be fast enough to keep up with divisional relays like Burlington Twp or Willingboro – the defending Liberty Division champs – but it’ll win their share of dual meets.

Patriot Division
BordentownThough the Scotties are rebuilding, first-year coach Casey McAleer said they still could be competitive.
Clocking in at 6.70 in the Meet of Champion’s 55-meter dash, junior Daequan “Prince” Kim is possibly the team’s best weapon, with seniors hurdler Tom Saddler and runner Gregg Pontious also looked upon as scoring threats.
McAleer feels the steady progression of distance runner Connon Degnon could impact future outcomes.
Cinnaminson
Two distance stars shined brighter than any in South Jersey during the tail end of last spring. Matt Poskus and Brian Tetreault just happened to be teammates and their exits – by graduation – happen to raises the question of whether these Pirates can defend their Patriot Division.
Coach Dan Fourney hopes so, although he thinks Holy Cross -- the State Non-Parochial B Champions led by senior Mike Sheehan -- currently are the team to beat. But given the coachable nature and the potential of his athletes, Fourney will have his squad ready to compete.
Among the 18 returning lettermen, senior throwers Dan Ennis (javelin) and Justin Embler (discus/javelin), both runners-up at sectionals and qualifiers at the Meet of Champion last spring, stack the field this spring.
But the Pirates possess fight on the track too, by way of All-Group 2 distance runners, Todd Campbell and Kenny Hoff, and that balance should keep them in the divisional running.
Delran
After his team graduated 10 letterwinners, Michael Guzik is treating his seventh year as coach of the Bears as a rebuilding one.
The team is loaded with youth and question marks, but Guzik knows inexperience can be erased quickly though strong work ethic, something he prides his team in possessing.
Guzik particularly expects thrower Kyle Littig to lead by example and have his diligence translate into team points.
Maple Shade
A .500 record is within reach for the Wildcats, according to 34-year coach John Mitchell. With eight lettermen returning from a 2-4 record, including seven seniors, the Wildcats' experience should pay off in a winning record.
While the distance is led by two seniors, Brian Abate and Sean Timmons, each capable of competing in the 800 through the 3,200, the sprints is one of the team’s soft spots, says Mitchell.
A fan of the technical, senior Mike Caruso will be part hurdler, part pole vaulter, and possibly All Group this season.

Freedom Division
New Egypt
New Egypt has had at least a stake of the division title the last three years, winning the last two outright.
And although it goes against the math of graduating only three lettermen while maintaining 12, coach Sam Palumbo said his team now needs to catch up to the talent of Florence to think about a fourth title.
New Egypt(6-1) is strongest in distance, led by mid-distance seniors Sean Vazquez and Matt Smith and 3,200 sophomore runner Andrew Lopresti, who was All-Division last year.
New Egypt has a solid shot putter in senior Kevin Stiles, who placed fourth in the Group 1 sectionals last spring, but a crop of younger throwers who still need to develop, Palumbo said.
Palmyra
Coach Kevin Peter says his team is rebuilding with the project’s completion timetable waiting on the young team gaining experience. Peter thinks this spring could be bright for juniors javelin thrower Warren Oliver and high jumper Jimmy Childs, who tied for fourth at the State Group 1 Championships by clearing 6-0.

FIVE TO WATCH
Chris Barnes, Burlington City, Sr. – A unique double threat, Barnes can beat you on the straightaway or in the air. In the Meet of Champions high jump, the senior tied for seventh by clearing 6-4, tying the top height jumped by a South Jersey athlete this season. Barnes also topped out sprinting 6.83 in the 55-meter dash at the State Group 1 Championship to place eighth.

Mike Sheehan, Holy Cross, Sr. – If he doesn't run the fastest, the long-distance senior may just have South Jersey's biggest battery. Rarely leaving a meet without circling the track 6,000 meters – including the 3,200, the 1,600, the 800, and a leg of the 4x400 – Sheehan has the motor to produce in each. His nice kick favors mid-distance events, like the 800 (1:57.3, clocked handheld) and the 1,600 (4:20.14), but, then again, he did finish second in the Non-Parochial A's 3,200(9:35.22) last spring and as the second SJ finisher at the Cross-Country Meet of Champs (16:09) this fall.

Chris Tomori, Northern Burlington, Sr. -- The state's top 400 hurdling returnee, who ran a 54.47 at the State Group 3 Championship for fourth, Tomori fills more than one niche for the Greyhoundsby being an able high jumper; he cleared 5-8 at last spring's Central Jersey Group 3 Championships to qualify himself for the state meet.

Sean Vazquez, New Egypt, Sr. – A regular visitor of sub 2:00 two-lappers, Vazquez hopes to revisit the Meet of Champs, in which he placed 19th in the 800 (1:58.11). Of the 18 that placed ahead of him, 15 have graduated, leaving Vazquez among a small group of state contenders. And his cross-country base can only help him.

Tyrone McRae, Willingboro, -- McRae came on strong toward the end of this winter, notching two personal records at the Group 2 Championships by placing fifth in the 400 (51.47) and seventh in the 55-meter dash (6.73). With track studs Antonio Abney and Julian Boyd graduated, McRae may find himself as the new anchor of a typically fierce Chimeras 4x400.

Cape Atlantic League "Previews"

(Published in Late March ...)
2008 Cape Atlantic League
American Conference
Absegami
When you’re in one of the toughest conferences in South Jersey, it helps to have two superior athletes.
Between the two of them, senior sprinter Geoff Navarro and junior Ford Palmer cover seven events just about as well as a duo can.
Navarro, the indoor Group 4 sectional champion in the 55-meter dash, reigns in any event less than or equal to 400 meters and All-Group junior Ford Palmer rules any event equal to or greater than 400 meters. Perfect, except for the being thin in depth and lacking big-meet throwers, triple jumpers and pole vaulters.
Sprinters senior Douglas Irwin and sophomore Rasheed Grandy, a transfer student from Atlantic City, should help shadow Navarro, possibly finishing in a fringe placing, but definitely solidifying one of the state’s best sprint relays.
For all their faults, the Brave remain strong conference contenders and, with a couple surprises, maybe even more.
Atlantic City
There’s no shame in admitting being overmatched, not in this conference anyway.
We’re going to struggle, said 15-year coach Tim Donnell, but that doesn’t mean the season can’t be without success. Juniors Danny O’Donnell and Matt Ardelean, along with several at Mainland, are a couple of the best distance runners in the league and should keep the Vikings (3-6) on the scoreboard.
Egg Harbor Township
Based on his record, senior Stevenson Cajuste may be the preseason favorite to win South Jersey MVP, if there was such an award.
In niche events most teams lack in, Cajuste flourishes like no other, able to dominate the 110 hurdles, the 400 hurdles, the long jump and the triple jump.
Coach George Wilikinson’s team, as a whole, excels in hard sought events. Tre Lathan is also a top hurdler, seniors Jared Pagano and Cyrus Manahan are strong 200 and 400 runners, and all together with Cajuste form a superb 4x400 relay, one that beat Absegami’s to win the Group 4 sectionals in 3:27.89. The Eagles (7-1) are soft in weights, pole vault and, for now, distance events. But besides having a cool name, freshman Dustin Roadside proved himself as a tough distance runner this winter. Without any cross-country experience -- or at least not any to be found by this reporter -- Roadside ran a 4:40 in an indoor 1,600. If he drops time and starts scoring in some big meets, the Eagles have to be the favorites.
Hammonton
Coming off a 1-8 year, the Blue Devils may need some time before they can compete. Coach Pete Lancetta knows this. But the season isn’t without loss nor goals.
Strongest in sprinting events, Hammonton could make some noise, especially with senior Chris Helm taking aim at the school’s record in the 100.
Millville
There’s a lot to like about Millville.
After three years of being among the elite, senior Chris Church narrowly enters this spring as the quickest sprinter in South Jersey.
The loss of All-South Jersey sprinter Marquis Bonds to graduation hurts the Thunderbolts, but, as shown this winter, junior Khalid Cherry is no slouch. Without knowing the other half, just the combo of Cherry and Church gives Millville (0-8) an edge in most sprint medleys, 4x100s and 4x200s.
And while not yet spectacular, juniors Kevin Dever and Josh Parr form the best pole vaulting platoon in South Jersey. And lastly, in 1:58.13, Elijah Jones ran the fourth fastest 800 in South Jersey this season.
But Millville has its share of gaping hole: short on throwers (Marvin Logan can throw a shot 43-plus, a discus about 140), and no serious hurdlers, high jumpers or long-distance runners.
While the Thunderbolts are dominant at times, all their deficiencies – until proven otherwise -- keep them from being considered legitimate conference contenders.
Vineland
The Fighting Clan(7-1) lost a lot of pieces that helped them tie Oakcrest and Egg Harbor Township for the division title last year. Of the fifteen who graduated, the contributions made by sprinter Yadid Chaniz-Rico, multi-event athlete Davon Goldsborough and distance runner Joshua Arocho will be hard to replace.
But coach Elliot DeShields – and many other coaches -- sees them as contenders nonetheless, and with his career record 108-18 in a perennial hard conference, it’s hard to disagree.
Junior novice Jamal Boozer was a major pickup, dashing 6.67 FAT. He joins a 4x400 of Stanley Lewis, Chris Tarpley and Anthony Rivera that placed third in the Group 4 sectionals in 3:30.45.
Being a Group 4 qualifier last spring, senior Travis Douglas should led throwers in the discus (146-08) and javelin.

National Conference
Buena
The division title has belonged to Bridgeton ever since 2005 and coach Mike Gillespie is not saying his Chiefs will break the three-year streak, but he’s also not saying they can’t.
Strong on leadership and unity, the Chiefs(5-3) have too many newcomers and question marks to be among the favorites – Pleasantville and Bridgeton – but if tradition means anything, they should contend, he said.
Three-event seniors Darius Melton and Martin Craig are looked to as leaders, as are senior throwers Len Smith and Darion Henderson who hope to diminish the loss of graduated Group 2 discus champ Steve Hague.
Holy Spirit
Long in leadership, short in numbers, Holy Spirit hopes (7-2) to be competitive this season.
With distance buff Mike Keebler now racing at Boston College, one of five Spartans lost to graduation, coach David Pfeifer is relying on scoring from senior thrower Pat Shell and senior sprinters Nick Hall and Bob DeMarco.
Middle Township
A small turnout has dashed any thoughts of the Panthers being a world contender, but coach Ed Letts has his goals.
With only 12 athletes, repeating even last year’s modest 1-8 record may be tough but Letts said his strong bunch welcomes the challenge. Throwers senior Dan Newcomb and sophomore Kevin Hebron, a Group 2 state qualifier in the discus, should score regularly and Letts also believes sophomore Charles Cooper has a 21-foot long jump in him.
St. Augustine
It has taken 10 years, but the Hermits finally have their track program back. But unlike the normal excitement that comes with a start-up program, this kind is also tinged with optimism. Thirty kids have signed up for it.
And of the young cross-country team that went 8-1 this fall, eight runners are partaking in track including freshman Ryan Mathews and sophomore Philip Fanz, both figured to switch off on or double the 1,600 and 3,200.
First-year coach Ed Fanz, who also coached the cross-country team, said senior Josh Maldorado will probably assume the sprinting duties, but other athletes still need to be evaluated before assigning other roles.

FIVE TO WATCH
Chris Church, Millville, Sr. -- Church proved himself as the fastest man in the whole wide South Jersey this winter, having won the Group 4 state title in the 55-meter dash, followed by an area-best 6.45 at the Indoor Meet of Champs for fourth. And last spring in the Group 4 meet's 100, Church dashed a personal-best 10.79 for third. Now, with the two gone and graduated, Church -- who has been among the best since his freshman year -- needs to step up before he can take over.

Kenny Davis, Pleasantville, Sr. – A class drop to Group 1 meant utter domination for Davis. Like a meandering Godzilla, Davis plowed through the small schools, earning wins in the high jump (6-2), the 55 hurdles, the 400 and the 4x400 at both the SJ Group 1 Championship and the State Group 1 Championship. For those with calculators, that's 80 combined points by one individual in two meets. Wow. Davis, the lone remnant of last year's great 4x400, now anchors another speedy cast, one of which finished second at the Eastern States Championships in a state-best 3:21.49.

Brett Johnson, Ocean City, Jr. – The "Boy's Cross-Country Athlete of the Year" crossed over to play basketball last winter; let's just hope his ankles remain unbroken this spring. Days after winning the 1,600 (4:22.22) and the 3,200 (9:51.00) at the SJ Group 2 Championships last spring, Johnson was shut down after finding a stress fracture in his left foot. Johnson looked fine this fall, placing fifth at the Cross-County Meet of Champions in a SJ-best 16:03. With the State Indoor Group 3 Champion in the 1,600, senior Ryan Birchmeier (4:20.51) running aside Johnson as a teammate, neither should slow down.

Dominique Williams, Bridgeton, Sr. – Not many shot putters can be formidable in the hurdle events, but Williams is able to pull off the odd couple. Although not being able to showcase his skills after being disqualified for forgetting to remove his spikes at indoor sectionals, thereby ending his season immediately, Williams showed he can throw a shot 52-9 and ran the 55 hurdles in 8.38 this winter. His farthest throw last spring traveled 54-2.

Ford Palmer, Absegami, Jr. – Football and long-distance running usually don't mix, but Palmer has the right blend of tenacity, speed and endurance to make it all work. Having had ran 1:54.41 for seventh at the Meet of Champions last spring, Palmer finished with South Jersey's fastest 800 this winter in 1:56.04, good for third at the State Group 4 Championships. In his lesser ran race, the 1,600, Palmer ran a 4:33.6 for bronze at the SJ Group 4 Championships.

NB: Montez Blair can (almost) jump over Samuel Dalembert .

(Notebook published April 4)
Suffice it to say, that whole matter of getting disqualified at last spring's sectionals for a misplaced earring – meaning it was placed in his ear – is all water under the bar for high jumper Montez Blair.
Like the sign of any great high jumper, the Timber Creek junior just got over it.
"We can laugh about it now," coach Chris Grottini said. "It wasn't funny then."
And in a 101-38 win over Seneca Wednesday, in his first competition since the Great Earring Faux Paus of 2007, this stud shined brighter than ever, clearing an incredible 6-10 to win by about a foot.
Clearing all heights up to 6-6 cleanly, Blair set a new personal best by clearing 6-8, and finally, on his third attempt, lifted himself over 6-10. Mainland's Paul Klemic set the state record of 7-4.5 in 2000.
"He has big plans for himself," the six-year coach said. "And he wanted to start this season off right."
To put Blair's launch in perspective, it's two inches higher than the winning height of both the most recent indoor and outdoor Meet of Champions, six inches more than that cleared by South Jersey's best jumpers this winter and one inch from Sixers center Samuel Dalembert's fro.
And while a handheld time at a dual meet may be subject to skepticism, there is no mistiming 6-10. But Blair is aiming higher, and with the junior still learning his steps, coupled with a confidence that's rolled over from a banner basketball season that saw his team play in the State Group 3 game, Grottini certainly thinks 7-0 is within his reach.
"That was one of his goals outdoor," Grottini said. "Every event has a barrier. For milers it may be 4:20, for 800 runners it might be to break 2:00 and for Montez it's seven feet. But, you know, 2:00 isn't seven feet."
The Chargers, ranked No.12 in the Courier-Post's Top 20, will compete at the Camden-Gloucester Relays at Pennsauken today at 10 a.m.

The Comebacks
The indoor season sure had its stars, but due to an injury or to a conflicting winter sport, the presences of some athletes' were missed. Here are some notables that could make a big impact:
Brett Johnson – The last time the Boys' 2007 Cross-Country Athlete of the Year took the track, Johnson was leaving the Group 3 sectionals with two wins – in the 1,600 (4:22.22) and in the 3,200 (9:51.00) – and a pronounced limp.
After inspection, the limp was determined to be caused by a stress fracture in his left foot, effectively ending his season. Johnson shook off whatever rust during the fall, joining senior teammate Ryan Birchmeier to form South Jersey's toughest duo.
The Ocean City junior took off the indoor season to play basketball for the Red Raiders, another passion of his and one that he credits in helping to build his formidable kick.
Kevin McDonnell -- No runner started the cross-country season as impressively as McDonnell.
The senior remained undefeated against South Jersey opposition, racing at full throttle while breaking meet records and team winning streaks, like the 244 consecutive dual meets won by Paul VI.
But his approach of stepping to each race as if it was his last ultimately proved prophetic as he developed a stress fracture in his left ankle that cut his season tragically short only weeks before the cross-country sectionals. McDonnell is ready to roll in the spring.
RJ Page -- A guard in the winter, the Kingsway senior will try to reestablish himself as one of the state's top sprinters this spring.
Placing in the top three in the 100, 400 (49.71) and triple jump (42-2.25) at the South Jersey Group 3 Championships last spring, including a victory in the 200, Page can lead a better Kingsway's team farther this spring.
Page joins junior sprinter Demurri Gaines, who took third in the indoor Group 3 sectionals' 55 dash (6.67), to give the Dragons one of the best 1, 2 punches in the state and an excellent jumper.
Josh Black -- Heavy mileage during the summer helped Haddon Heights junior Josh Black become South Jersey's most improved cross-country runner of 2007, but it also may've contributed to a sacral stress fracture that's sidelined the junior from the cross country's Group 1 state meet and to today.
The lower back injury usually takes five to nine months to heal and since Black is only entering his fifth month of recovery, coach Mark Martin isn't sure whether Black will return to action this year.
Senior teammate Mickey Borsellino has also been inactive the last two weeks as he suffers from mononucleosis.
Even without the team's two long-distance studs, the Garnets opened the season with two wins, beating Woodstown (88-41) and Audubon (107-33) thanks in part to sprinter/jumper AJ Toliver and runner Colin Lynch, who each had hands in winning two events.

Olympic clash EDITED
Washington Township looked like one of the best teams in the Olympic Conference this past winter, and looked primed to win the American Division this spring, but Cherokee, the defending champs, had other plans.
Led with five victories between seniors sprinter Kevin Merrigan and jumper Chris Steliga, the 11-ranked Chiefs downed the 5th-ranked Minutemen 78-62 Wednesday.
Steliga won the triple jump (43-1) and the long jump (21-2.5) and Merrigan captured the 100 (11.5), 200 (23.5) and the 400 (51.4).
Junior runner Xavier Fraction and senior thrower Kwabena Keene led the Minutemen with two wins apiece.
With both teams heavy in distance, Cherokee senior Alex Yersak gave the Chiefs a huge boost by winning the 3,200 (10:01).

Richardson is so the Girls' IT COY right naw

The Lenape girls' track team sure had numbers to start the season -- just not all positive ones.

Twelve seniors took turns leading the team during stretches, each counting down the seconds until it was time to switch over. Hanging over their heads from the gym rafters were zero championship banners. Zero also marks the team's scoring output at the indoor state championship last year.

However, coach Gerald Richardson and his staff spoke of different numbers to start the season, as in 53, as in the days until the Indians would march into the Bennett Center in Toms River and capture the Group 4 state relays championship.

Go figure.

"To be honest I didn't know whether we were a state championship team, but I knew we were very competitive," said Richardson, a six-year coach.

For being among the first to believe, and matching his level of optimism with an equal amount of dedication -- the kind tested by 6 a.m. high-jump practices -- Richardson is the Courier-Post Girls' Indoor Track Coach of the Year. Richardson, a special education teacher at Lenape, had his reasons to dream. Last winter before the shutout, Lenape played runner-up to Southern Regional at the relay championships.

That spring at the Group 4 sectional meet his team took second again.

A week later at the Group 4 state championships the Indians showed what a difference a season makes, scoring 13 points -- 13 more than it had in the winter meet -- to place 17th overall.

Southern Regional won all of the above last year and remained formidable despite graduating Danielle Tauro; they had a spare All-American, Jillian Smith, to carry it.

Richardson still believed a silver lining was there, somewhere, but with the team's seasoned talent not getting any younger and its futility streak not getting any shorter, he and the team sought only championship gold.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go out and have so many good athletes on one team," senior Lindsey Walsh said. "We wanted to set some records that will be here for a while."

Relay wins against the likes of Camden and Woodrow Wilson instilled some confidence into the team and at a good time; Richardson's countdown rolled to zero, when it would face Southern Regional at the state Group 4 relays.

Richardson knew his team was up for the challenge.

"He knows if somebody ran a good race or a disappointing race, if somebody ran or threw a personal best," said Erika Griffith, a senior co-captain. "He knows this team too well."

Flexing its depth, Lenape scored 54 points to stun Southern, beating its nemesis by 23 points en route to claiming the relay championship. History was surely made; however, the date remains in question for Richardson.

"I tell the girls that championships are won Monday through Friday, not on Saturday," he said. "I think that's when they won the championship."

When titles are lost is another matter. Lenape fell to Southern Regional by 2.5 points at the Group 4 sectional championship.

But the heart of this team -- composed of Walsh, Erika Griffith, Miya Johnson, Moira Cunningham, Brianna Beddall, Jennifer Houghton, Caitlin Orr and others -- knows how to beat back.

Everyone bettered her performance a week later at the Group 4 state championship, enough so to score 48 points -- again, a 48-point improvement over 2007 -- and defeat Southern by five.

At that moment, the hopeful message etched on preseason T-shirts given out by Richardson faded obsolete.

It read: "One Team, One Mission."

Mission accomplished.

What's domination sound like? Walshhhh, the Girls' Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.

If you spend nights contemplating life's great mysteries, like why Lindsey Walsh runs faster, jumps farther and throws longer than you can, that might be your first problem.

First to bed, first to rise and first in just about anything she tries this season, the senior arrives at the gym of Lenape High School with her teammates and coaches at 6 a.m.

Twice a week for the last four winters Walsh has worked on becoming the best high jumper in the state at a time when others watch sheep jump fences.

Mystery solved, Sherlock.

"They come in dragging a little bit, but once the bar goes up, they kind of perk up and get going," coach Gerald Richardson said.

Not only does morning practice set the right tone for the team, but it's necessary for two reasons, Richardson said: One, the basketball players don't like being outjumped by female track athletes after school and two, Walsh has other events to work on.

This winter alone Walsh has competed in the 55-meter hurdles, the 200, the 400, the 800, the long jump, the shot put and, oh yeah, the high jump.

"We're not just talking about a high jumper," Richardson said of Walsh, an All-South Jersey soccer player this fall. "We're talking about a pretty good athlete."

For being a full participant of both track and field, and the most versatile -- as well as valuable -- member on her championship team, Walsh is the 2008 Courier-Post Girls' Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.

During the team's breakthrough performance at the Group 4 state relays, Walsh had four of her own, clearing a state-best 5-7 in the high jump, anchoring her 4x55 shuttle hurdles team to a second-place finish and helping both the 4x200 and 4x400 place to ultimately contribute 28 of the winning team's 54 points.

"I love competition," Walsh said. "I love to be in the middle of a fast race."

Walsh qualified for the Group 4 state championships in three events and scored in each, winning the high jump (5-6), placing second in the 55 hurdles (8.45) and anchoring the 4x400 (3:58.8) with a personal-best split of 57.4 for third.

Although adding 24 of the team's 48 points, Walsh knows her teammates' contributions were just as crucial in capturing the narrow five-point victory over Southern Regional -- and a piece of school history: Lenape's first state track championship.

"I think all of the seniors could say they took the initiative and gave it everything they had," said Walsh, one of the team's 12 seniors. "That attitude causes everybody to want to get better. When we're working so hard, it causes the other girls to work just as hard."

Unbeaten statewide in the high jump, Walsh completed her Garden State dominance by coolly jumping 5-6 to break a three-way "jump off" at the Indoor Meet of Champions. She doesn't see the point of getting too worked.

"I enjoy winning, but it's not everything. I just love the sport," Walsh said. "My coach says if it's not fun then why are you doing it? You winning doesn't really mean anything for anybody else, so why worry yourself over it?"

Her dream season would continue at the Eastern States Championships where she bettered her personal-best long jump by nearly two feet, leaping a victorious 18-5.75, the longest by a South Jersey athlete in six years.

Moments later on tired legs, Walsh would suffer her only defeat in the high jump, tying for second with two others.

"That's an incredible performance at Eastern States," Richardson said. "To get first and second, that's pretty darn good."ÊHer success this year shines even brighter when contrasted with her previous winter when she had to convince her dad and distance coach, Jack Walsh, to allow her to compete occasionally with a season-long bout of mononucleosis.

How'd she fare?

"Not so hot," the Monmouth University-bound senior said. "It just motivated me to have a much better spring season. To watch everybody have such great seasons -- you're just dying to get out there."

Supreme Laws is a BIT COY (Boys' Indoor Track Coach of the Year, duh)

As soon as the 4x400 ended at the Meet of Champions last spring, closing the curtain on another track season, Pleasantville coach Alan Laws Sr. still had to make one final exchange.

"You're the guy," Laws told then-junior Kenny Davis, still huffing from running the second leg. "Get the guys together over the summer. You're the man now."This was the typical passing-of-the-torch moment right out of the movies, minus the torch. Davis provided the fire. Laws knighted him captain and in that cinematic moment, Davis became the leader. But leading whom?

Davis was the only remaining piece of the 2007 All-Group 4x400 that included Duke Mack, Alex Best and last year's Courier-Post Boys' Athlete of the Year Alan Laws Jr.

He took cues from his coach and prodded his new relay mates into joining a summer track club.

Along with Davis, senior Jamal Roberts, sophomore Larry Ramirez and Raymond Wilson, a senior who persuaded Davis to choose track over basketball last winter, comprised the relay and, as they would learn, much more.

In fact, with the exception of senior throwers Davin Drinkard and Jamal Thomas and senior jumper Matthew Newsome, the four athletes comprised Laws' entire varsity squad.

A drop from Group 2 to Group 1, as part of a realignment of state enrollments, raised Laws' season expectations and it didn't take long before one heard whispers of the winter of 1999, the last time the Greyhounds won a group state championship. (And even then they had only a share of the Group 2 championship after tying Bridgeton.)

A tall order? Sure. High hopes? Definitely. But, hey, why not? Right? Not according to Metuchen.

Metuchen edged Pleasantville by two points at the Group 1 state relays, a good measure of a team's depth. But already aware that his team's depth was shallower than some inflatable pools, Laws remained upbeat about the Greyhounds' chances come time for the individual-based state meets.

"They (Metuchen) gave us such great competition," he said.

"I knew they were the team to beat -- not the favorites, but the team to beat."

For keeping a sound, unwavering confidence in his team, Laws Sr. is the Courier-Post Boys' Indoor Track Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.

On the same day Pleasantville crashed its new group at the South Jersey Group 1 championships, Davis had his own coming-out party, winning all four of his events -- the high jump, the 55 hurdles, the 400 and the 4x400 -- to lift the Greyhounds over runner-up Haddonfield by 34.5 points.

That sectional championship gave Pleasantville something tangible for it to springboard off of and into states.

"We talked about it and I said `Well, guys, we can pull it off again,'â" Laws said. "And the way everything fell in place, that's what happened."

Thanks again to another 40-point, four-win effort by Davis, and individual contributions from Wilson, Rameriz and Roberts, the Greyhounds partied like it was 1999, winning the Group 1 state meet with 58 points, 11 more than Metuchen.

"It's like a miracle," Laws said. "We have a praying team and we do everything as a family."

In a season of the unexpected that culminated with a state championship, what was the biggest unexpected contribution?

"Jamal scoring, Kenny winning the 55 hurdles and the high jump and Jamal actually scoring, but Larry Rameriz getting second place in the 800, and Jamal scoring," Laws said before pausing. "Yeah, it was like a team effort."

He is Batdorf, the Boys' Indoor Track Athlete of the Year

When opportunity knocked on the baseball helmet of a freshman three springs ago, it came as a question posed by West Deptford gym instructor Mark Dixon to his freshmen class, and the answer reverberates to this day.

Who wants to take this here pole, run down that there path and flick over that bar?

Only Dan Batdorf stepped forward, and then he stepped up, way up, clearing nine feet -- a height unreached by many varsity vaulters -- in 20 minutes of practice.

Class dismissed.

"Dan, um, you're playing baseball now, but if you don't want to play baseball, if that doesn't work out for you, you might want to try pole vaulting," suggested Dixon, the 15-year boys' track coach.

Although a decent outfielder, Batdorf put down his glove the following spring, a move that's materialized into two back-to-back pole vault state titles.

Lifting himself head and shoulders over the other state vaulters in his senior year -- not one was within a foot of his 15-6 clearance at the state Indoor Meet of Champions -- Batdorf is the 2008 Courier-Post Boys' Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.

Not bad for someone who entered this winter limping.

A sprained right ankle after a block in the Eagles' football championship game last fall sidelined the tight end for the remainder of the game and confined his early winter workouts to the weight room or the hot tub.

"After the game I was worried about what impact it would have (on vaulting)," Batdorf said.

Batdorf found out on Dec. 23 when Dixon cleared him for takeoff at a throwaway Olympic Conference meet. But for fear of reaggravating the injury, Dixon limited Batdorf's usual running start of 14 steps to about five.

Even on his restricted runway, Batdorf managed to vault 13-0 for second. It would be the only time he would lose this season.

Five times this season Batdorf has cleared at least 15-0, including two 15-6 performances to win on track's biggest stages, the Meet of Champions and the Eastern States Championships.

Soon after winning the state Meet of Champions last spring with a jump of 14-6, Batdorf took Dixon's advice and checked into Fiber Benders, a Pennsylvania pole vault camp, three times. He funded his last couple stays by cooking, cleaning and coaching as part of an agreement with camp owner Lance Atkins.

Combining the technical with the physical -- "He benches close to 300 pounds and runs the 200 in 21.1 seconds," Dixon said -- Batdorf is the total package."Dan has all of that," Dixon said of the 6-foot, 174-pound athlete. "When he comes running down there you're talking momentum. That's a lot of speed and a lot of mass."ÊFor some poles, even too much momentum.

En route to finding his perfect match last year, Batdorf outgrew and consequently broke four poles, none bigger than the one used by former Haddon Heights vaulter Bob Green when he set the outdoor South Jersey record of 16-0 in 1992.

"I had a good jump on it, and it couldn't hold my weight," said Batdorf, who is still looking at colleges. "It sounded like a gunshot."Batdorf, who holds the indoor South Jersey record, hopes to break more than just Green's pole, but Dixon is hesitant of him using bigger poles -- and not just because they cost $400 to $500 apiece.

"My first priority is his safety," said Dixon, who acknowledges both the benefits and dangers of suddenly using a bigger pole by likening it to suddenly racing a faster car. "This is an event a kid could really get hurt on."

At Eastern States Championships, with the blessing of Dixon, Batdorf went from using a 15-7 pole made to support 185 pounds pole to a thicker 15-7 pole built to withstand up to 205 pounds, the resistant difference allowing Batdorf to spring off farther, like a pea catapulting off a bigger spoon.

"I'm looking forward to coming out, and jumping 16-6 (outdoor)," Batdorf said. "That's what I want to do."

Soldiers love children's handwriting

Not many thank-you notes are reciprocated with another thank-you note, but Doris Middleton has a collection of them. In an exercise of both punctuation and appreciation, the third-grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School last year had her class write letters to an American military post, building a correspondence that ended with the school year last spring.

Another scrapbook completed, another page turned.

But soon after beginning her 26th year at the Washington Township school, Middleton reached into her school mailbox to discover something completely novel -- a future soldier reaching out."We have recently been down on morale and came across your students' letter(s) that were in a locker that someone left from last cycle," Private Chris Lindsey wrote from Fort Benning, a basic training school in Georgia, on Sept. 9. "We called the entire platoon to formation and read the letters out loud. I have never seen my platoon so motivated and encouraged."

The next morning, Middleton rallied her class of 20, proceeded to read Lindsey's letter and dispersed the necessary materials: paper, tools mightier than swords, and a tangible way to "Support the Troops."

"It was difficult writing to somebody you don't know, but it was like we were on a mission," said Middleton, a Gloucester Township resident. "We were there to help boost their morale."

Middleton originally challenged her class with the task in the 2006-2007 school year, instructing her students to send letters to the unit of Private Gordon Adams, the uncle of her then-student Celeste Pacheco and an enlistee stationed 900 miles away at Fort Benning, Ga.

After noticing other cadets receiving little or no mail, Adams wrote to his sister, Jennette Fowler, the mother of Pacheco, requesting backup -- a bunch of eager 8- and 9-year-olds who wanted new pen pals of their own.

"As young as they are, they seem very appreciative, and they realize these people are defending them and our country," Middleton recalled.

While eternity may precede recess for some third-grade students, days run even longer at Fort Benning. The infantry school tests endurance through mile repeats, strength through pushup workouts and accuracy through shooting practice, among other things. On the day of graduation, the last of the 17-week training period, Adams had unfortunately guessed right; many of his fellow trainees had no family or friends nearby. But armed with a stack of letters, Fowler made sure the pen pals' presence was felt by his homesick peers.

And lucky for these National Guard soldiers, the students didn't get too creative with their letters. "(The cadets) would get teased about it if you decorate the envelopes," said Fowler, 28, a Washington Township resident, remembering a note Adams wrote soon after arriving there. "One of the guys got a heart-shaped letter and had to do extra pushups to (be allowed to open) the letter. They just bust their chops."

Adams, 25, lives in West Deptford, but is set to depart for Iraq in June.

"Because he's still here" Pacheco said she doesn't currently write to him, but plans to when he's overseas.

"It makes me feel proud because my uncle is in the army," said Celeste Pacheco, 10, a fourth grader.

Along with showing support and showcasing their artwork, both of Middleton's classes loaded their letters with questions. And the cadets had the answers -- generally.

"No, I don't get to drive an Army car," then-Private David Willis wrote. "We just get to ride in the back."

"Yes, good eye sight is needed in the military . . . ," Justin Witter noted as a private on May 6. "I assume by the time you are old enough to decide to join the military, they can correct being color blind."

But Brandon Parr, then a 19-year-old private, was asked something a bit more personal.

"My reason for joining the military is for the simple fact that it was the right thing to do," he wrote.

Although the penmanship is unmistakably that of students, it's not always clear who's doing the asking in the notes, Middleton said.

"Sometimes they would get help from their parents and I think you could hear the parent's voice in there, too, thanking them and talking to them about it," she said.

In a digital world where it seems everyone is texting or IM'ing or e-mailing, reading and writing between the lines may seem as old as papyrus.

But stick a feather in your pen, Middleton said, because freehand writing still serves a function.

"I'm from the old school. E-mail has its advantages and disadvantages, but there's nothing like a handwritten note," said Middleton, who also had her class write to third-graders at Birches Elementary School, to "grand pals" at Cardinal Retirement Village and to her husband, Wes Middleton, a veteran, after a recent hip replacement. "It's so much more personal."

Student Mary Kate Anastasi, 9, still prefers e-mail lingo over English, but said she doesn't mind writing to soldiers. In fact, she hopes the class will write to her step-brother, Michael, a full-time Coast Guard officer living in Boston, next.

"I tried to make it the best I could," Anastasi said. "I don't really write letters like this."

The soldiers haven't yet responded to the students' last batch of letters in November, but both the students and the teacher can't wait until the troops arrive back home. Until then, they only have old letters to hold:

One read: "I remember when I was in grade school and we wrote those "Dear Soldier' letters. I didn't think they meant anything, let alone actually sent them off. If nothing else, I want you to know that we all thank you for sending those letters.

"Your friendly American soldier. PFC Chris Lindsey."

Notebook: Girls bring it at Eastern States

Running like a girl now carries new meaning locally after South Jersey's showing at the Eastern States Championships Tuesday.

Of the total 16 events for each gender at the tristate meet, South Jersey girls captured seven, including three relays, while also setting three meet records. On the xy side, a couple guys also mined New York for some gold, each setting a meet record.

Ladies first

Even with her bid to repeat her 2007 win in the Meet of Champions' 55-meter dash dashed last Saturday, Eastern sophomore English Gardner still had her win at last year's Eastern States to defend.

With the MoC winner, Chatham senior Ogechi Nwaneri, disqualifying herself by false starting in the semi finals of the 55, Gardner's chief competition became Immaculate Conception sophomore Dominique Booker, who had edged Gardner (3rd, 7.02) for silver at the MoC.

But Gardner wouldn't be denied redemption, barreling to the finish in a victorious personal-best 6.92 for her second Eastern States title in the 55. Booker took second in 6.99 and Deptford junior Audrey Wilson placed fourth in a season-best 7.12.

Oh Snapp

Oakcrest junior Nijgia Snapp had no such titles to defend, but an impressive win in the 400 at last Saturday's Meet of Champions brought the bulls-eye, making her one of the favorites Tuesday.

"I've been saying for a long time I wanted to win something at the Meet of Champs," Snapp said. "That's basically what I told my coach and she's been giving me a lot of hard workouts and getting me emotionally and physically ready for the race."

Originally slated to run the 800 at Eastern States, a decision made after narrowly missing the national qualifying mark of 2:18 by running a 2:18.01 on a flat (slower) track at sectionals, coach Kim Nath spoke with meet organizers – those interested in stacking their races with the best talent – and made the switch without a hitch Sunday night.

Too confined to warm up in the busy New York Armory, Snapp, accompanied by Nath, headed outside in the cold rain and ran 15 to 20 minutes along the sleek streets of New York City.

Snapp, a cross-country runner in the fall, ended up catching more than a cold Tuesday. Boxed in after a quick 200 meters, Snapp broke out, ripping past one runner and outsprinting New Rochelle senior Elizabeth Mott on the homestretch to win in a meet record 54.91, fourth best time in the nation. The win makes Snapp 4-for-4 in open 400s this season.
"I go into each race with a set plan, but it never unfolds like I think it will," Snapp said.

2 Fast 4 U

The Lenape relay of seniors Brianna Beddall, Miya Johnson, Moira Cunningham and sophomore Caitlin Orr had a South Jersey-best time in the 4x800 heading into Eastern States action Tuesday.

But the girls needed to do better than their previous best of 9:31.30 to even place in the top four Tuesday and, girl, did they.
The relay set a meet record with the nation's eighth fastest time this season, 9:11.94, for an eight-second win. The super sophs at Seneca, Michelle Brown, Mary Bohi, Nicole McGrainer and Lyndsy Horn placed seventh in 9:36.42.

Jump around

Known for jumping high over bars and hurdles, Lenape senior Lindsey Walsh proved to be perfectly capable of jumping long at Eastern States, taking first in the long jump in 18-5.75, a quarter inch farther than runner-up Ridge's Josefine Kvist.
Last Saturday at the Meet of Champions, Walsh, caught in a three-man "jump off" in the high jump, escaped for the win by clearing 5-6, making her undefeated against state opponents in the event.

Walsh tied for second with three others in the high jump Tuesday by clearing 5-4. John B. Stevens senior Yasmin Parks won with a 5-6.

Sharp hurdles

Woodrow Wilson senior Samantha Sharper made up for a disappointing performance at states to win the 55 hurdles at the Meet of Champions last Saturday, then in a personal-best 8.09.

"Then" because Sharper, on Tuesday at Eastern States, ran a meet record 8.01, eighth fastest time in the country. Summit senior Susan Scavone crossed the line next in 8.36.

Take two

The Camden relay of juniors Assante Johnson and Jamie Jones and seniors Miriam Boyd and Kamice Smalls never ran the 4x200 as fast as they did in the prelims Tuesday at Eastern States, winning the close race in 1:42.39, already a South Jersey best, to become, um, first in line at the finals.

There, the Panthers found another gear, becoming the first of four teams to finish under 1:42 in 1:41.19. Danbury was second in 1:41.36.

For the Mill

Millville owned South Jersey's best 4x400 time before Tuesday and held onto that honor even with Camden clawing.

Millville's squad of sophomore Nyrae Newman, senior Alyssa Barrow, and the fastest female twins in the state, juniors Brooke Kott and Britney Kott, burned up the 200-meter track a total of eight times in a meet record 3:54.82, fifth fastest in the nation.

Camden's Boyd, Smalls, Jones and junior Shaquanda Gainey finished second in 3:56.52, the country's seventh fastest.

He is Batdorf

After the first week of his only season of indoor track, West Deptford senior Dan Batdorf has never lost a game of pole vault.

On bad days on bad legs, Batdorf still found some way to squeak over a height insurmountable to the rest. Batdorf did that last Saturday against the best vaulters in the state – and then, to challenge himself, raised the bar once more to a personal-best 15-6.

The only thing that fell, besides Batdorf, was the meet record. The championship gives Batdorf two in as many seasons.

Unlike the MoC, Batdorf needed a vault of 15-6 to beat two 15-foot jumpers Tuesday at Eastern States and did so, setting another meet record.

Two Fast
The success Haddonfield's Boo Vitez has had as a sophomore in both cross country and track can be dizzying to fathom. Now just imagine how Vitez felt Tuesday, circling the New York Armory's track more than 16 times to win the 2 Mile in a meet-record 9:34.38.

It's a personal-best time as in, but when converted to the more conventional 3,200-meter race, gives Vitez about a 9:30.98, second to only Shawnee sophomore David Forward.

Holy Cow

The week leading up to the Meet of Champions, Holy Cross had already accomplished what no other Non-Parochial school had done since 1980 – sweep state championships with both their boys' and girls' teams.

The boys' team, led by Renaissance man Mike Sheehan, held off Bishop Eustace (51) to capture the Non-Parochial B title with 65 points. Scoring 51 points in a win was the girls' team.

Sheehan helped score 32 points by winning the 1,600 (4:26.02), the 4x400 alongside senior Terrence Osborne, freshman Justin Ramsey and junior Rich Fisher, taking second to Bishop Eustace senior Brian Laskowski (2:00.10) in the 800 (2:01.44) and fourth in the 3,200 (10:07.09).

"He was so psyched coming up to the state championship," coach Ed Battaglia said. "He wanted the team to win. He wanted to do everything. He knew he was running four races, in fact, he told me he was running all four. That's Mike."

Seniors Ayana Davis (8.91) and Rose Johnson (9.01) went 1,2 in the 55 hurdles. Johnson also took first in the high jump (4-10).

The drop down to Non-Parochial B helped the teams' chances, sure, but Battaglia and fellow co-coach Jim Younglove said the kids still had to earn it. To ease any anxiety days leading up to the big meet, Battaglia scratched practice for a coed game of volleyball.

"I think that helped the enthusiasm get going," Battaglia said. "No pressure. Let's just have fun."

Oh Snapp! No she didn't! (Yes she did)

Photos Courtesy of Scott Anderson
TOMS RIVER -- If nothing else, Saturday's performance at the NJSIAA Meet of Championships showed that Oakcrest junior Nijgia Snapp could sprint better than she could bowl.

Arriving at the Bennett Center promptly for the original start of the state's final meet – but five hours too early for the snow-delayed start that had been rescheduled Thursday -- Snapp and the rest of the Oakcrest crew had to make use of their false start.

"We were going to go to the mall," coach Kim Nath said," but I thought staying at the mall for four-to-five hours would not be good mentally for somebody's who's running one of the biggest races of her life."

The obvious alternative then, decided Nath, was a couple hours of bowling mixed in with a few sessions of Dance Dance Revolution, a combination that proved to be the perfect warm up for Snapp.

The first of five champions from South Jersey Saturday, Snapp won the 400 in record fashion, breaking the 1998 meet mark of 55.45 in 55.19.

"We didn't do anything hardcore," Nath said. "It was just to take our minds off of the meet."

The junior credits her personal-best time, far from her 60-second performances of yesteryear, to a year-round training regimen that involves running track during the summer and cross country in the fall.

Whether it be sprinting on the track or jogging around her neighborhood, the Group 4 state champ said she hasn't taken a day off this year.

"The more long-distance running I do, the easier the 400 gets," said Snapp, who said she will compete at the Eastern States Championships at the New York Armory Tuesday. "It helps me with my endurance and mentally it helps you."

Snapp took the lead from Passaic Tech sophomore Amber Allen (55.74) after 100 meters and lengthened it with a killer kick. But not until the finish could she relax, she said.

"I was confident but there's a lot of good girls in my race so I couldn't be overconfident," said Snapp, the top seed. "I knew I had to go out harder today."

To win the high jump, on the other hand, Lenape senior Lindsey Walsh knew, after three failed attempts at clearing 5-6, the height that won her the Group 4 state title last week, one successful jump would be enough to escape the three-man jump off with the MoC title.

And coach Gerald Richardson knew Walsh had it in her to do so.

"She's the No.1 high jumper in the state, she was seeded first," coach Gerald Richardson said. "It was hers to lose."

After false starting in the 55 hurdles at last year's start championship, an automatic disqualification, Woodrow Wilson senior Samantha Sharper made her MoC debut a memorable one.

Sporting a hair color that matched the Lady Tigers' orange-and-black colors, Sharper bobbed over and blazed past the five hurdles in a victorious 8.09, a personal best.

Sharper was seeded third after clipping a hurdle last week but didn't let the unusual start rattle her.

"It really doesn't matter where I'm seeded," Sharper said. "Only the outcome matters. I blocked everybody else out and I just focused. Then it was just me and the time."

Eastern sophomore Eastern Gardner bettered her winning time in the 55-meter dash of last year with a 7.03, but so did Chatnam's Ogechi Nwaeri (6.93) and Immaculate Montclair's Dominique Booker (6.98), giving Gardner a bronze. Camden junior Assante Johnson placed fifth in 7.27.

The Winslow Township boys' 4x400 didn't run at the MoC last year despite qualifying for it, but the senior squad of Davis McNeil, Barry Cephas, Darin Washington and Gerald Stephens-Holland don't look back on the coach's decision with anger.

"Our best time was only like a 3:28," said Washington, the third leg. "We weren't good enough."

With a year under them, the seniors proved they belonged to be not just in the race, but in the front of it.

After placing third in the 400, Cephas, the second leg, took the baton and then the lead over the relays Camden (2nd, 3:24.64), Pleasantville (3rd, 3:24.83) and Highland (4th, 3:25.82). Washington and McNeil widened the gap to the 3:24.32 win, short of their personal best.

"We knew we could win it," Washington said. "Like today, everybody had a bad day. On a good day, nobody could see us."

West Deptford pole vaulter Dan Batdorf was the other South Jersey winner on the boys' side, clearing a personal-best 15-6 for a meet record and a one-foot victory.

Ocean City's John Oberg of 2006 and Governor Livingston's Anthony Abitante in 2005 previously shared the meet mark of 14-6.

National bests were set by two North Jersey athletes – Morristown shot putter Nick Vena, a freshman, with a hurl of 66-0.75 and West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior Brian Leung with a 3,200 of 8:59.77, a meet record.

Racing behind the back-and-forth blur of Leung and Gill Saint Bernard junior Doug Smith (9:01.86), the two fastest 3,200 runners in the nation, Shawnee sophomore David Forward fared well, placing fifth in a personal-best 9:28.34, one of the 14 runners to break 9:40.

"A lot of states don't have that [level of state talent]," Forward said. "That really pushes you each week … It kind of sets the tone for the whole state."

Ocean city senior Ryan Birchmeier, the Group 3 state champ in the 1,600, used a slow start to his advantage, conserving enough power to boost him from sixth place to second in the last 300 meters to finish in a personal-best 4:20.51.

Camden senior Matt Marshall, who anchored the Panthers' runner-up 4x400, placed third in the 55 hurdles in 7.53.

Notebook: Indoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions

Here's a weather prediction we can all get by: an overestimated amount of snow will plow back the start time of today's Indoor Meet of Champions from its original time of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

While this gives every competitor four more hours to visualize themselves winning, Washington Township shot putter Kwabena Keene might find the wait hard to stomach: the Group 4 state champion refuses to eat before his event.

"I don't eat before I throw. Nothing. No food," the senior said. "I like to stay focused. I feel I can do better with an empty stomach."

Last Saturday's hunger strike lasted until the end of his event, or about 5 p.m., when the senior, standing 6-0 tall and weighing 220 pounds, threw a winning distance of 54-4.25.

Keene has reason for his regimen, recalling a time during his freshman year when he almost hurled before his, um, hurl.

"I ate so much that I almost had to throw up," Keene said.

Keene, the top thrower from South Jersey, will need a Herculean effort to contend with the likes of Scotch Plains senior Mike Alleman (63-8.5) and Morristown freshman Nicolas Vena (62-7.5), who rank No.1 and No.2 in the nation, but has a realistic shot at a bronze if he can match his personal best of 56-9.5, third best in the state.

Fast Forward

With his sophomore cotillion scheduled for Friday night, Shawnee sophomore David Forward has snow problem with the meet's late start.

The delay allows him to sleep in, possibly relive last Sunday's Group 3 Championship 3,200, a 16-lap race in which his "legs were on fire with four laps to go" and the fear of being lapped was as real as the preying pitter-patter of Brian Leung, the West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior who burned down the straightaway while racing to a national-best 9:02.61.

"Within the second lap, I couldn't even see him," said Forward, who, along with the rest of the top heat, let Leung take the race out by himself.

Fives laps in and Forward was feeling good until doing some quick math and realizing he was in sixth place, the last spot to move on to the Meet of Champions.

Aware of the talent in Group 3, Forward moved up, niching his spot of third.

"I counted it and I was just like, 'I'm on the verge of not even making it," Forward said. "I didn't want to be there. I know I have a good kick but I didn't want to save it for the end."

Unlike all but one other, though, Forward avoided being lapped by placing third in a South Jersey-best 9:28.94, the best time by a sophomore in at least Burlington County history. Northern Burlington junior Michael Bowden just missed the cutoff by placing seventh in a personal-best 9:38.69.

"I was feeling awful with three [laps left], but once I saw the clock I was feeling much better," said Forward, who stayed on his goal of breaking 9:30 by running the last 400 in 65 seconds.

Pretty good for someone who dreads the event altogether.

Forward talked coach Gary Hill into letting him run the 1,600 -- a distance he's enjoyed since his middle-school days -- at sectionals, but that didn't mean Hill was going to pardon him from the race he's enjoyed the most success in all season.

"Enjoyed" may not be the right word as Forward sees the 3,200 quite technically as two 1,600 races -- with the pain from one rolling over to the next. And others – like classmates – can't feel his pain.

"People ask, 'What's your mile time?" Forward said with a laugh. "It seems like no one cares about what your two-mile time is."

Hill said there're a lot of mile races to be run in the spring, but, for now, you got to put your best foot forward.

"I'm sure he can faster [in the 1,600] but you got to go with the hotter race," said Hill, a coach since 1992. "There's just times when one race is going better than the others. Sometimes there's no reason."

"Anything I think he might be able to do, he always does a little better than that."

In an always intriguing matchup, Forward will measure up against Haddonfield sophomore Boo Vitez, who won the Group 1 state meet by about 12 seconds in 9:35.03.

But the front of the race will most likely be decided between Leung and Gill St.Bernard junior Doug Smith, the possessors of the country's two fastest times in the 3,200 this season.

In telling interviews with Milesplit.com this week, Smith (9:06.05) and Leung agreed that a personal best was probably going to win it.

"Given the style that Doug and I race, I can't see why one, if not both of us, won't break nine minutes," Leung said. "Both of us like to keep the pace honest from the start, so it will be a great race."

Smith also added that his favorite band was Hannah Montana.

Chatting English

We might want to imagine a fierce rivalry between Eastern sophomore English Gardner – last year's MoC winner in the 55-meter dash – and Chatham senior Ogechi Nwaneri, holder of a state-fast 6.99 in the dash this season, but we'll just have to keep dreaming, Gardner said.

They're friends. And not just any kind of friends, but Facebook friends.

Gardner, whose season-best time is 7.05, messaged Nwaneri on the social Web site soon after the senior broke the elusive seven-second mark.
Seeking advice, Gardner asked how Nwaneri improved so dramatically since last winter when she placed 15th at the MoC in 7.53. Nwaneri's answer was a familiar one for Gardner: just hard work.

In the 55-meter dash today, Gardner is seeded first after winning the Group 4 state title in 7.08 and Nwaneri second after winning the Group 2 state title in 7.12. But the order of finish is secondary for Gardner.

"Whatever the race goes, we're both winners," said Gardner, who plans on competing at the Eastern State Championship on Tuesday. "I'm rooting for her, she's rooting for me. We're both winners."

Nice move, King her

Risking a poor seeding at – or even possible elimination from – the MoC, Kingsway sophomore Chelsea Ley raced the 1,600 before her signature 3,200 to give her team a few more points at the Group 3 Championships Sunday.

The selfless move luckily did not cost her as she racked up personal-bests in both: 5:04.16 for third in the 1,600 and 10:49.55 for first in the 3,200.

Ley will probably skip the 1,600 to concentrate on the 3,200, an event she's seeded fourth but has a great shot at unseating top seed Allision Linnell (10:48.33), a Colts Neck senior.

Welcome freshmen

As well as Ley has run, two freshmen have quickly closed her once gaping distance in the last couple races. Shawnee phenom Casey Doyle ran 5:08.56 in the 1,600 for fifth and Highland wunderkind Megan Venables placed fourth in the 3,200 by running 11:10.72.

Church and Byrd

Like Ley, Millville senior Chris Church lowered the best mark in South Jersey to a 6.54 when winning the Group 4 Championship's 55-meter dash, but still can't shake a certain freshman.

Timber Creek's Damiere Byrd took second in the Group 3 Championship in 6.56, the second best area time.

Neither is top seed, but both should compete in the fastest heat.

Going the distance

About three weeks ago Lenape junior Ryan Garvin winced while describing how he brought his 1,600 from the mid 4:40s last year to his then best time of 4:30.05.

Answer: it hurt in a way only runners and mothers could know.

But then what could have possibly kept Garvin moving to a personal-best 4:20.93 – a ridiculous 10-second drop -- for third at the Group 4 Championship last Saturday?

Garvin would like to know, too.

"I don't remember the end. It was kind of hazy," Garvin said. "I don't remember catching the kid from Hillsboro. I just remember coming down the stretch and collapsing."

Garvin was edged by Washington Township junior Xavier Fraction, who placed second in a South Jersey-best 4:20.73. Franklin's Jermaine Coore won in 4:18.35.

Local top seeds

Of the 20 total events happening between boys and girls at the Meet of Champions, South Jersey is representing six top seeds – three for each sex – including: Eastern sophomore English Gardner (55 dash, 7.08), Oakcrest junior Nijgia Snapp (400, 55.65), and Lenape senior Lindsey Walsh (high jump; 5-6) for girls; West Deptford senior Dan Batdorf (pole vault, 14-6), Camden senior Matt Marshall (55 hurdles, 7.56), and Winslow Township's 4x400 team of seniors Barry Cephas, Darin Washington, Gerald Stephens-Holland and Davis McNeil (3:25.16) for guys.

Pencil in Lenape girls for a state title

TOMS RIVER -- Forget about last week, Lenape girls coach Gerald Richardson told his team.

If everybody performs up to their capabilities, he said, the Indians can make up the difference they lost to Southern Regional at the group sectionals last week – 2.5 points – and leave the Bennett Center Saturday with their first state championship ever, a span of more than 50 years.

"Let's bounce back and show the state what we're made out of," Richardson told his squad. "Let's show the state that, hey, we're not just a group team who won the [NJSIAA Group 4 Championship]."

The girls certainly listened, winning the NJSIAA Group 4 Championship with 48 points, five more than Southern Regional.

And the bounce-back, fittingly enough, started with the high jump.

While Richardson was penciling in star athletes in their signature events, one of his elites, junior Danielle Ward, was coloring in Mr. Potato Head and Curious George in the high-jump area.

"It's just relaxing so I just do that for fun," she said of her coloring-book hobby.

With that warcry, Ward, one half of the Indians' amazing duo of high jumpers, leaped 5-4 for third place. Sometime during the two-hour duration of the high jump, senior teammate Lindsey Walsh landed the top height of 5-6, took second in the 55 hurdles in 8.45 and ate some peanut butter crackers.

Given their quirks, both jumpers still put more time in the event than anyone knows – anyone who wakes up after 6 a.m. anyway.

"If I can jump at six in the morning on the gymnasium floor, it makes it a little easier to come out here and jump late in the afternoon on a nice surface," Walsh said.

With the meet already in hand, the 4x400 team of juniors Katie Duffey, Mikki Livingston, seniors Brianna Beddall and Miya Johnson did not let up, running a season-best 3:58.58 for third.

Before officially making history, sophomore Caitlin Orr, in tough company, hung in the 3,200 for third place, running the 16 laps in a season-best 11:15.74. Being one of the top six finishers, Williamstown junior Maria Ruiz is also moving on to next week' Meet of Champions by placing fifth (11:28.74).

Against tougher company, say, All-American Southern Regional's Jillian Smith, Lenape senior Miya Johnson's second-place finish in a season-best 5:09.05 gleams in gold to Richardson.

"We weren't trying to beat Jill," coach Gerald Richardson said of Smith, the current holder of the national-best time in the mile (4:48.83). "Miya's a classy enough runner that she can run for second."

Eastern sophomore English Gardner, who was the 2007 state champion in the 55 dash and the 400 as a freshman, zipped to a 7:08 for the dash repeat and passed on competing in the 400.

"Just out of respect for the competition, we had to pick one or the other," Anderson said. "It would have been tough to come and make that double with that time frame.

In that 400, Oakcrest junior Nijgia Snapp improved upon last week's winning time with a 55.65, a new personal best.

With Old Bridge winning the boys Group 4 Championship with 28 points, Washington Township edged Absegami for second, by one point for South Jersey bragging rights.

While coming close to a state title last year, Washington Township senior Kwabena Keene won the shot put with a hurl of 54-4.25.

"He narrowly lost [ the state title] by two inches," Washington Township coach Rich Bostwick. "That's been with him for a year. It's nice to get that title out of the way."

While the heartbreaking loss ate away at Keene, the senior's stomach was empty up to his 5 p.m. throw, a result of his anxiety.

"I have to concentrate on one event the whole meet. I can't relax until the meet is over," the 6-foot, 220-pound defensive lineman said moments after his 5 p.m. event. "I like to stay focused."

Minuteman teammate junior Xavier Fraction placed second in the 1,600 in 4:20.71, edging Lenape junior Ryan Garvin's 4:20.93 who nipped Hillsborough's Jason Walton. The ending was a blur for Garvin, who bettered his personal record by nearly 10 seconds.

"I don't remember the end. It was kind of hazy," Garvin said. "I don't remember catching the kid from Hillsboro. I just remember coming down the stretch and collapsing."

Although he qualified for the 1,600 last week, Absegami Ford Palmer skipped it to concentrate on the 800, a decision that helped result in South Jersey's fastest time this season, 1:56.04, good for third.

Millville senior Elijah Jones placed fifth in the race in 1:58.13 while senior teammate Chris Church beat Absegami's Geof Navarro (6.6o) to win the 55 dash in 6.54.

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."

Snowboarding in JERSEY!

One wrong turn and a series of right ones.

Chris Cefalli was in the middle of that sequence, staring down a double black diamond and at the prospect of death.

If a double black diamond sounds more like a rattlesnake than an advanced alpine trail, you're not too far off.

Long, winding and suddenly dangerous, a trail on Vermont's Stratton Mountain had the 21-year-old snowboarder snaking between oncoming trees, narrowly avoiding the biggest splinter of his life by latching onto another.

``I thought I was going to die,'' the Mays Landing resident said.

Thanks to the tree hug, the only limbs Cefalli broke were branches.

Shedding much of its counter-culture stigma with its acceptance into the 1998 Olympics,shredding - as the kids call snowboarding - has since snowballed in popularity to now arguably dethrone skiing as the new national king of the hill.

Despite being flatter than road kill, South Jersey is home to a number of avid snowboarders and is within day-trip range of several mountain ranges.

Style for miles

It's hard to turn down a free ride, but as snowboard freeriding goes, Chris Sinclair, 22, would rather freestyle.

A snowboarder since age seven, when he started on the bunny slopes of Mountain Creek Ski Resort in Vernon, Sinclair knows double black diamonds here to Canada like the back of his mitten.

Still, the Voorhees resident, like one of the many surfer/skater crossovers, favors style over speed, opting to carve his credentials in both ice and air.

`I like to do a trick and get better at it,'' said Sinclair, a Rutgers-Camden junior. ``It's a thrill. Just the speed and the excitement is an adrenaline rush.''

While Mountain Creek's top top, Vernon Peak (1040 feet), is a mole hill compared to most mountains out west, the resort's park boasts the largest terrain park in the East at 60 acres, brimming with ramps, rails and pipes.

Here Sinclair tries to perfect a switch 540 - one and a half aerial rotations from his weaker stance - during the weekends between mid-December and mid-March, the peak months.

Unless competing, don't expect any of the freestylers to know the score, said Joel Green, owner of the Eastern Mountain Sports store in Marlton.

``When they're in the terrain parks with each other, it's really laid back,'' said Green, 27, at his Maple Shade business.

``Everybody is just taking turns, having fun, pushing each other to go harder and go bigger.''

Participation in snow boarding has gone bigger from 1996 to 2004,jumping from 3.1 million Americans to 6.6 million, according to National Sporting Goods Association, a recreation industry trade group.

Green said the sport owes much of its popularity to one man.

``Look at Shaun White,'' Green said of the 21-year-old Californian who won the men's half-pipe at the 2006 Olympics. “Kids look up to him.

``Just 10 years ago, snow boarding was perceived as that rebellious, that down-hill counterculture. It's mainstream now.''

Snow pain

Half a moment after separating himself from the tree, Cefalli knew he was lucky.

Sore, sure, but after seven years on the mountains, Cefalli knows the risks of snowboarding.

It's X-treme. It's X-citing. It’s also X-rays.

Cefalli broke his left wrist, sprained the other and, oh yeah, suffered a concussion; Sinclair was dealt a concussion, his first from snowboarding but his fifth overall (surfing: 2), after falling on a rail headfirst.

Rosemary Camezzi, a Stockton classmate of Cefalli's, never thought her Christmas present from two years ago would put her in a cast on her 21st birthday. And, no, it wasn't a Red Ryder BB gun.

``I was out all of last winter,'' the Cape May resident said about landing a six-foot jump on her left arm, breaking it. ``It happened on my 21st birthday. I got sympathy shots out of it.''

Once down, Camezzi, 22, knows the best pick-me-up is a ski lift, having purchased lift tickets from both Blue Mountain and Jack Frost Mountain this winter.

``I was kind of nervous, but once I was riding again I was pretty good,'' she said. ``I started with a couple little jumps again, and I was back riding. You can't let the fear hold you down.''

Rather than shy away from the sport, Cefalli tries to introduce the sport to new friends.

``I don't think there's a much better feeling than flying down a mountain with the beautiful view and wind blowing past your face,'' he said.

Snow fight

Andrew Katz would probably agree with the above statement if not for one issue - Cefalli is a snowboarder.

``As a skier I'm not allowed to do that,'' said Katz, 22, a sales specialist at REI, an outdoors shop in Marlton.

While he was kidding, the historic relationship between is icy.

Seen as a threat to their safety and their skiing tradition, 93 percent of American winter resorts prohibited snowboarding in 1985. But due to stagnant skiing attendance, pressure from snowboarders and recognition by the Olympics, more than 95 percent of resorts are welcoming the $275 million industry, according to NSGA.

With the announcement of Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico ending its snowboarding ban for March 19, only three U.S. holdouts remain, according to Taos' Web site.

``It's not like there's this turf war going on, people on battlefields raising up their boards and skis,'' said Green, who's involved in out door retail for more than a decade. ``But 10 years ago, it would've been closer to that case.''

Katz has seen the acceptance of snowboarding manifest itself at the Poconos.

"In the last four to five years, snowboarding has picked up dramatically," said Katz, who's skied on Bear Creek Mountain, Blue Mountain and Camelback Mountain for 14 years. ``You used to see maybe a snowboarder or two a day and now it's mostly snowboarders.''

A recent trip to Veil, Colo. showed a greater ratio of skiers to snow boarders than that of the East Coast, Katz said.

Having collided with them before, Katz wasn't missing the local crowd; after all, these snowboarders are no snow angels.

``There seems to be a lack of awareness which could be from their blind spot,'' said Katz, referring to their inability to see behind their side-stance. ``It could be that they just don't care in general.''

Sinclair sees it differently.

``[Skiers] take up a lot of mountain space. They go from side to side and are just a little slower,'' he said. ``You're faster and you never know what they're going to do.''

Whomever is getting in the way, freeride boarders sometime pave it, ruining the mogols that skiers bob on. Other times, Katz sees boarders packing ice together, creating hazardous ramps and not always intentionally.

``When there's a steep downhill, the snowboarders will just scrap down, stopping sideways down, and that just makes a big sheet of ice. And it makes me very upset,'' the Drexel senior chided. ``Ice is not good.''

Above: Joel Green, store owner of Eastern Mountain Sports in Marlton. Photo courtesy of the Courier-Post's Douglas M. Bovitt

Get airborne

And you thought the double black diamond was steep.

Buying the mininum snowboarding gear - board, binding, boots - can range from $500to more than $10,000 while resort rentals usually range from $25 to $50.

Although recommended, a helmet typically comes separately.

Lift tickets - from hour to day to night passes - are treated as admission and can cost $30 to $70. Prices for both tickets and rentals are cheapest weekday nights; weekend days are the most pricey - and crowded - time to shred.

Although you won't tap the Rockies in or around the Garden State, Katz said a good time can be had regardless of your sleigh of choice.

``Out there you're getting 3[,000]-4,000 vertical feet. Here you're getting 800,'' he said. “But don't get me wrong, skiing here you're still getting out there. And to me that's what it's really about - getting out there.

``I rather get out there here, then not get out there at all.''

empathy for the lactose intolerant

So it seems I've been hanging around the wrong crowd. All my life, 22 years and counting, I've stayed within the same circles -- breathing the same air, drinking from the same cups, sleeping in the same beds -- until it was too late. One day I'm the prototype of humanity, the next I'm a Bronchitis monster.

Hi, my name is Steve W***, I'm sick and this is my story.

It all started about a week ago; I was prancing through virgin cornfields and such, admiring the butterflies and so, broke as a broken pocket, but my health was intact. I was happy. And then someone close to me – I'm not going to name names, partly because I don't know whom and partly because I'm a bigger person – betrayed me with the figurative kiss of mono. In that moment, my life would never be the same for the following two weeks.

It’s hard to recall life before Bronchitis, but before contracting this not-so-common cold, I embodied twenty-something normalcy. I kissed babies, brushed dogs, clipped coupons, you know, normal shit.

And on Jan. 1, I joined the billions in making a resolution, mine a pledge to cut back on caffeine. Don’t get me wrong; my coffee intake never took center stage at family interventions, but I knew my highs no longer were so high and my lows began in the Grand Canyon. I needed a new start.

Parlaying that resolution with my ongoing bid for Mr. Universe, I swapped the coffee for protein-rich milk. I’m not referring to some synthetic kind of milk, just your usual jug of one-percent cow juice. More protein, less caffeine: the balance in my little world had certainly shifted.

But work does not stop for resolutions -- my boss told me that. For background, my job is basically this: I write gold, clean toilets, pick up my boss’ soap bars, slowly scrub his floor, get paid, say thank you and remember to turn off the light.

Although my boss might say otherwise, nothing is harder than finding a dozen ways to spell ‘win’; you wring your mind for 12th-grade synonyms, but going along with the dumb down, you settle on trite ESPNisms, each sponging your soul little by little until it’s as empty and dry as the Grand Canyon. You tire quickly. So do I.

When the computer screen blinks more than I do, it’s time for a real jolt. Instead of coffee, though, I had milk, you know, the stuff mommies lactate when their babes can’t sleep. I don't know what I was thinking. Meanwhile, the wrestling roundup needed about 12 more inches – about 400 words – in 15 minutes and I was just trying not to nod off.

My stomach tightened around the milk -- one quart headed for my single utter, the other shooting a gaseous pinball up my throat -- the upshot being a cough, cute and innocent at the time, but portending something disastrous. One cough led to another, enough coughs led to an episode and enough episodes led to a short-lived CW television series, the perfect medium for viewers in search of schadenfreude behind a quarantine shield of glass.

So I was suddenly sick. And milk, well, didn’t do my body good. I could deal with the illness and the people who kept their distance – that was OK. But days derailed before they started; after all, what was I going to have with my breakfast cereal? Orange juice? I wanted milk dammit, in fact I wanted any form of dairy: cheese, ice cream, yogurt with extra live cultures. Anything.

And in my delirium, the mirror spun to face me and I saw who, what I had become: a transient lactose intolerant. Intolerant of milk as a dog is of vacuums, as a librarian is of kazoos, as a circle is of right angles. While my impotent indigestion puts the white stuff on hold for now, my libido rages on. And so does my fight.

An estimated 70 percent of all adults are lactose intolerant, according to Wiki. And the other 30 is intolerant of any form of compassion, whether it be for those who’ll never taste a Blizzard without upsetting their stomachs or for those who suffer taunts like “Fall in some tar, Bronchosaurus."

So until you spend an half-hour in a waiting room, forced to scribble private information for strangers, to overhear the latest celeb news that you don’t care about, to read outdated Highlights magazines, to suffer strangers who strip you with their eyes, you cannot begin to imagine what life with Bronchitis is like.

Go ahead, wish me well. You’ll still make me sick.