Hahn leads Brick Twp. girls to top three finish
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

Deanne Hahn continued to add to her legacy at Brick Township when the star shot puter was one of three indoor track and field female athletes from the two Brick township high schools to win gold medals in the Ocean County championships at the new Toms River facility.

Hahn, a transfer from Lakewood, threw the shot put 44 feet, 9 inches, and teammate Lisa Stuto threw it 38-7 for third place as Brick Township finished in third place in the team standings. The Green Dragons finished in fifth place last season.

"I'm very excited to be competitive," said Brick Township coach Bill Brunner. "We have a lot of talent, but we don't have a lot of depth."

Ryisha Boyd of Brick Township repeated as 400 meter champion in 59.7. She won the event last year at the Jersey City Armory in a school record 58.7, beating the previous record set by Sue Bekefi in 1987.

Kristen Perrine of Brick Memorial won the 800 in 2:21.88 and was second in the 1,600 in 5:15.83. Perrine started in the back and then moved up quickly, taking the lead by the end of the second lap.

"I was impressed and excited," said coach Jessica Jones of Perrine.

"Usually she doesn't peak at this time. She's run fairly well. Next week will be a real challenge in the Shore Conference."

That meet takes place at Toms River on Saturday.

Also at the county championships, Amber Hessenkemper of Brick Township was third in the mile in 5:25. Jackie Daniels was fourth in the 3,200 in 11:48.

Although she did not medal, Melany Weissinger ran a 5:38 in the 1,600 and a 12:12 in the 3,200 for Brick Memorial.

Stuto a week earlier threw a personal best 40-7 in the shut put to set a record in the Ocean freshmen-sophomore championships meet. It also was a record for the Red Bank Arena where the meet was held.

Becky Elliott of Brick Township was third in the shut put in 29-4 and Melanie Jacobs was fourth in 28-0.

Prior to this, Hahn and Stuto shared in record-setting efforts in major meets. They combined for a throw of 82-8 at the county relay championships, breaking that meet record by 11 feet that was set in the late 1990s by Erin Foster and Kim Leuttner, also of Brick Township.

In that meet, Brick Township's distance medley won in 13:01, two seconds ahead of Southern. Daniels, Hessenkemper, Boyd and Megan Schenk ran on that relay.

Also, at the Randolph Relays last week, Hahn threw the shot put 44-3, which broke a 26-year-old meet record, and Stuto recorded a 40-1 throw that erased the sophomore class record in that meet that was held for 27 years.

Hahn, who got off the best throw in the nation at that time when she threw 47-2 in the NJSIAA indoor relay track and field championships at the Jersey City Armory in mid-January, has qualified for the nationals that will be held on March 9-10 at the 168th Street Armory.