Another banner year in the books for athletics

BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

The year 2006 will be remembered as an unusual one for the Brick Township high schools.

The perennial powerhouse teams of girls soccer at Brick Memorial and girls bowling at Brick Township did not prevail atop the state this season. In fact, the three-time state champion Brick Township girls bowling team finished eighth in the state, and the Brick Memorial girls soccer team, which played its best soccer at the end in a rebuilding season, never reached the state section title after having a three-year reign in Group IV snapped the year before.

Even the Brick Memorial football team, which had high hopes of reaching the NJSIAA Group IV Central finals, was stopped a game short by Howell.

Instead, the spotlight fell on a sport that had been shunted aside over the years — boys basketball. The Brick Memorial boys team had its best season ever with 22 victories, a repeat of the Shore Conference A South title and its first-ever advance into the state Group IV Central finals before losing to Trenton. It was the final game under coach Ron Gerlufsen, who also stepped down as tennis coach after directing that team into three straight state tournament and Shore Conference tournament berths. Brick Township also made both tournaments.

It also was a good year for the girls tennis team at Brick Memorial, which had its winningest season in history at 17-6 by winning its last eight matches in a two-week span and finished in third place in the Ocean County Tournament.

Perhaps the only thing not surprising was that gymnastic star Lindsay Poplaski repeated as state champion in the balance beam, but did it with the most points ever scored by the judges while finishing tied for second in the all-around.

And Brick Memorial’s wrestling team went on to regain its district championship after having that string snapped at 19.

Instead, part of the focus went on establishing new teams in the district — boys lacrosse last spring and girls volleyball, which played on a junior varsity level and will remain there for another year before playing a Shore Conference varsity schedule.

“The administration and Board of Education supported boys lacrosse with the help of the parents, who spearheaded the funding for it,” said Bill Bruno, the district director of athletics for both schools. “It was very good and positive on both sides of town.

“And we’re very excited about the volleyball programs,” said Bruno. “When you can have 130 students involved in both sports like that, it’s always a good thing.”

Indeed, the growth in numbers in the athletic program is one of the things that pleased Bruno the most for this calendar year.

“We’re very pleased that the number of student-athletes grew over the last four years on both sides of town. That’s always positive,” said Bruno.

“Positive” is a word Bruno often repeats when he talks abbot the program, and this year it went beyond the immediate goal of winning championships to other side issues that are important in keeping an athletic program running smoothly.

Bruno said “the numbers are very low” of student-athletes suspended for violation of the school’s substance abuse random drug- and alcohol-testing policy. He also commended the NJSIAA for instituting a steroid testing policy for athletes who advance into state championships, but Bruno said he sees it “filtering around” to earlier rounds of state tournament competition “once more money comes into the state because it’s an expensive test.”

Another concern that Bruno stresses is sportsmanship and speaks proudly of teams that have been recognized for it by the officials. So it’s no wonder that Bruno, who also is president of the Shore Conference, found it embarrassing when Brick Memorial’s hockey team was barred from state tournament play by the NJSIAA for the three-disqualification rule when three players were ejected for fighting — in the same game. Coach Chip Bruce took the four-hour sportsmanship course mandated by the state for instances when that happens.

“We spoke to the coach and players the next day,” said Bruno. “I laid it out to them. If you wear a jersey for either school in this township, there is an expectation that there will be no incident. When that happens, word gets around fast, and the coaches took it upon themselves to hold team meetings and remind the athletes that it’s not just hockey, but all athletic teams must show sportsmanship.”

The Brick Memorial hockey team is off to a terrific 5-0 start.

“This was a year to be aware that it’s not just championships but we’re proud of other things. We’re proud of our teams’ sportsmanship,” said Bruno.

And he said the school also is proud of the number of athletes who have gone on to compete in the college level. Bruno said that Don Blair, the girls cross country coach at Brick Township, who also assists Bruno in directing the athletic program at that school, is organizing a tally board that will display the athletes who are participating in collegiate sports and what they are doing as role models for the high school students.

As for the ongoing question of whether Warren Wolf will return for a 50th season as high school football coach at Brick Township, Bruno said, “Heck yeah. We talked a week ago, and the only concern that we would have is health because he’ll be 80 years old at the start of next season, but Coach Wolf knows how to take care of himself.”

Wolf collapsed from heat exhaustion during a game early in the season, was hospitalized and back on the sidelines for the following game. He went on to coach the team to three straight victories at the end of the season, including a 24-17 Thanksgiving game triumph over Brick Memorial, and got his 250th career victory.

With all of the winter coaches in place and no change at this point in spring sports for both schools, Bruno’s biggest concern is appointing a new boys tennis coach at Brick Memorial and keeping things running smoothly as usual.