Boyd's double leads Brick at Shore meet
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Brick Memorial's Melany Weissinger, shown here competing against Brick Township's Jackie Daniels, was one of several local competitors who performed well at Saturday's Shore Conference Championships as she took sixth place in the 3,200-meter race.

NEPTUNE - For most of the outdoor season, DeAnne Hahn has commanded the spotlight for Brick Township's girls track and field team with record-setting performances in the shot put and discus, with Ryisha Boyd contributing a high level but less heralded effort.

On Saturday, it was time for Boyd to get the big attention in the Shore Conference championships as the junior won two gold medals in the 400 meters and long jump and finished fourth in another - the 200. Hahn, a national caliber shot puter in her junior year, defended her title with ease but Kristen Batts of Marlboro, who is headed to the University of Maryland this fall, dethroned Hahn in the discus by a convincing dozen feet.

Their efforts accounted for 40 of Brick Township's 45 points as it finished in fourth place out of 40 teams, its highest finish in memory. Marlboro was third with 54 points and Jackson had 58 while Southern dominated with 95.

Also contributing were Lisa Stuto's fifth-place finish in the shot put and Alyssa Brown's sixth-place finish in the javelin.

Brick Memorial's Melany Weissinger clocked a sixth place 11:29.21, faster than her 11:37 time for third place in the Ocean County championships. Weissinger actually was in fifth place and passed up by another runner down the stretch. Kristin Perrine, suffering shin splints, sat out the 800 after finishing third in the county meet the previous weekend.

As intense as the Shore Conference meet was, the best is ahead in Hillsborough this weekend for the NJSIAA Central Jersey sectionals. The shot put, with two national elite throwers in Hahn and Taryn O'Connor of Hillsborough throwing on her home field, and the discus, where Batts and Hahn will wage a rematch, make this look like a mini-MOC (Meet of Champions) in those events.

"The best throwers in the state will be in that state sectional," said Brick Township coach Bill Brunner, an outstanding teacher of the discus and shot put.

Boyd ran to a school record 56.35 in her favorite event - the 400 meters, nearly a full second better than her 57.25 second-place time in the Ocean County championships. It surpassed her 56.7 school record time set last season.

"It was so unexpected. I never thought I'd knock a second off my time (in a week)," said Boyd. "There were a lot of girls out there who had run faster times than me. But with 150 yards to go, my coach (assistant coach Kristi McCullough, who coaches the runners), said to take it all out."

Boyd finished well ahead of runner-up Chelsea Cox of Southern's 57.57 time in the seeded heat.

"It was fantastic. I watched the last part of the 400 and she was 10 yards ahead of everybody and I thought she was in the wrong heat," said head coach Bill Brunner.

The long jump was the other extreme. Defending champion Boyd had jumped 17-feet, 4-inches on her fourth attempt but sat out the last two jumps on the advice of Brunner and boys coach Jim Calabro, who is an expert on long jump technique, when Boyd said she "tweaked" her hamstring. Instead, she had to watch Matawan's Donna Alexander on her final jump finish just a half-inch shy of Boyd's victorious measure. It was short of her 18-6 measure that won the Shore Conference last year.

"I really felt nervous because that girl had surpassed everyone in the Shore but she was doing the triple jump before that and jumping only 16s so I thought I'd take advantage of that," said Boyd.

Boyd also clocked a 26.06 in the 200 for fourth place but Brunner said there is "an outside chance" Boyd would skip that event the rest of the season to concentrate on her two top events. She said her hamstring would be fine by the weekend and sat out the end of the long jump "as a precaution."

"Her race is the 400 and I'm not so sure in college she'll be running the 400 and 800 instead of the 200," said Brunner. "In the long jump, she did just enough to win. Mechanically, she's still a little off coming off the board but Jim (Calabro) feels in a couple of weeks, she'll be beyond where she was last year."

"The last time I did 18-feet was last year and I'm not doing good with that at all but I'm seeing results in the 400," said Boyd, who was sixth in the long jump in the MOC last year.

Hahn, meanwhile, threw the shot put 45-8, well ahead of Shannon Watt's runner-up 40-8 measure for Jackson. Stuto threw 39-6 3/4 for fifth.

"Stuto's getting better and better. I'm looking for her to throw 40 feet, which should place her fifth," said Brunner.

Hahn's 140-6 throw in the discus was behind Batts' 152-4 measure, which came on her first throw.

"Psychologically, Batts is favored in the discus in the sectionals but DeAnne has the edge in the shot put," said Brunner.

"I was very upset about the discus, even though the shot is my event," said Hahn. "She hit a good throw and I didn't. I know she works hard at it and so did I and she deserved it. My best throw has been 146 and this is the lowest I've thrown since then."

But Hahn is not dwelling on the psychological aspects.

"I do not know how much of a mind game it is but I've competed against her (Batts) before and beat her, and this is only the second time I lost to her in discus, once in the summer in a USA track meet¿" said Hahn. "She's a really good athlete and got the better part of me in discus this time. I got the better of her in the shot put."

"DeAnne tried to get the psychological edge but it was reversed when Kristen hit her big throw on her first attempt¿" said Brunner. "DeAnne's back was against the wall and she was fighting it a little bit."

But Hahn said that she has a psychological edge on O'Connor in the shot put, even though O'Connor will be on her own turf. Hahn consistently outdistanced O'Connor head-to-head in meets toward the end of the indoor season.

"I'm in her head and I'm coming out there for the shot put," said Hahn.

"In discus, I mainly want to be in the 150s to end my season."

Hahn got an early taste of Hillsborough on Monday when she and Stuto competed there in the East Coast Relays. Hahn also threw the discus there with Stuto and the javelin relay from Brick Township also was entered. She did not let a nagging toe injury get in her way and Brunner said the two-week injury is "getting better and better."

"In the last two weeks, I was not god in the shot and in my warm-up, I threw in the 40s and made sure I got my mark on my first throw when I hit 39 feet and then went after it after that," said Hahn.

Hahn actually fouled her second throw and then got off her winning one and had her final three throws all in the 43-feet range.

As for the javelin, Brown threw 108-10 and was just a foot out of fifth place.

"She's been our biggest surprise," said Brunner. "She's been the most improved on the team, going from 98 feet when she was throwing with injuries last season to 108 feet and still battling injuries."

But Boyd said the Shore conference meet "gave us added confidence" for the upcoming state meets.

As for Brick Memorial, coach Jessica Jones could not say for sure but is hopeful Perrine will be ready for the state meets and feels Weissinger can continue to compete through the sectionals and groups meet.

"I'm very happy. I did not expect her to drop any more time but I'm very impressed and feel she'll be ready to run for next week," said Jones. "We'll work on her strong finish because a girl just outkicked her at the end to finish ahead of her (in the Shore Conference meet). It was a learning experience."