Brodeur places third in MOC 3,200-meter race

For Brick Memorial distance runner Andrew Brodeur, finishing third in theMeet of Champions indoor 3,200 meters was nearly as rewarding as winning it.

ERIC SUCAR staff Brick Township senior Ryisha Boyd competes in the 400-meter dash during the 43rd NJSIAA Indoor Track Meet of Champions at the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River on Feb. 23. "I pretty much knew the first two runners were out of reach for me with the two best times in the nation indoors. I knew I wasn't going to get that. I knew that was not very realistic."

Wise thinking for a young man taking his talents to academically acclaimed Duke University this fall. So he made the most of the situation and finished in third place in a school-record 9:21. Brian Leung of West Windsor-Plainsboro South nearly lapped Brodeur at the end with an 8:59 time and finished two seconds ahead of Dave Smith of Gill St. Bernard's in an exciting cat-and-mouse showdown for the gold.

But Brodeur surpassed his previous best time in the Group IV championships a weekend earlier when he had a 9:26.52 for his second gold medal in the MOC. It

was the fourth best time in group meets that

day.

"I felt pretty sure I had third

place. On the

last lap, I

started moving away because I didn't want a guy

right on me at the end like last week. I didn't hear anybody breathing [near me]," Brodeur said with a laugh.

Brodeur said he was going to e-mail the information to the Duke coaches, as he has done in the past.

"I'll tell them I finished third. Then I'll tell them the first two guys ahead of me have had national times, so I'm sure they won't think that's too bad," said Brodeur.

Brodeur, making his seventh trip to the MOC, including outdoors and cross country, was in seventh place at the start of the 3,200, moved up to fifth early on and dropped back one spot. Then in the seventh of 12 laps, he surged two spots to fourth.

Brodeur stayed there until the last 800 meters, when he moved up to third and looked secure there in the final lap.

"He ran a smart, even-paced race," said Brick Memorial boys indoor track and field coach Al Cuthbert. "He didn't get out too fast, which he could've gotten into with the two guys in front of him, but that could've cost him everything. He finished strong, but at the finish line, he was spent."

As for outdoors, Brodeur is looking to return to the MOC there, where he was third in the 1,600 last spring. He didn't run it indoors because of a mild hamstring pull he suffered a few weeks ago, but he may run both events in the spring. Although the healing hamstring did not hurt him on Saturday, he said he was happy that he was able to put together a successful season despite the injury.

"I don't know. The mile is shorter and the two-mile is a tactical race," said Brodeur.

"He was very successful indoors. One slight injury slowed him up, but he ended up fairly close to his season goals," said Cuthbert.

As for the girls running in the MOC, Kristin Perrine of Brick Memorial qualified for the 800 as a wild card and the 1,600 but only ran in one race, clocking a 5:15.1 for 14th place. She ran a 5:12.51 in the groups meet. Coach Jessica Jones said she decided after the 1,600 that that it was best for Perrine not to run the 800. Perrine ran the 800 outdoors in the MOC last spring.

"We just thought it would be best to pull her out of that one," said Jones.

"I had no problem with that. This wasn't my best race. It hasn't been that great a season, with injuries I've had," said Perrine, who is looking at Rider, Monmouth and St. Joseph's to begin her college career in the fall.

Ryisha Boyd of Brick Township ran a :58.19 in the 400 for 12th place and shared Perrine's lament. "It wasn't my best effort," said Boyd, who had a personal best :57.88 for 10th place in the Group IV championships the previous weekend for third place in her group.

This time she was fourth in her heat, and said she was boxed in after starting in Lane 1. "You have to work extra hard to get around people," she said.

"She was definitely boxed in," said Jim Calabro, the Brick Township boys coach, who also helps with the girls runners and works closely with Boyd outdoors in the long jump, where she rates as one of the best in the Shore. "In the 400 meters there's a lot of strategy, and she did not have a chance to get out of her lane. It's really disappointing, because based on her time in the groups meet, she should have been placed somewhere between lanes two and five.All things considered, she ran really well."

Boyd was wearing a South Florida shirt, where she officially visited recently. She has narrowed her choices to there and the University of North Carolina, which is trying to put together an academic-athletic scholarship package for Boyd, who is ranked No. 16 in her senior class.

Boyd, who also runs the 200 outdoors, said she will try to run the 400 intermediate hurdles for the first time. "I've been practicing it throughout the winter season, and it takes a lot out of you," said Boyd.

She also has been practicing the long jump indoors and Calabro said he is "looking for some really big things outdoors" from Boyd. She comes here to the bubble once or twice a week. In her sophomore year, she had a great approach and last year, she lost that a little. But not this year - she's been phenomenal. She's gotten taller and stronger and works hard in the weight room."

In fact, Calabro said Boyd may run the 800 early in the outdoor season to help strengthen her. But for now, he said he "couldn't be happier" with the indoor season Boyd put together. "She's one of the most coachable kids I've had," Calabro said.

Amber Hessenkemper of Brick Township ran a 2:21.72 for 11th place in the 800.

"I think she ran a great race," said Calabro. "Every week, she has been dropping her time a bit. Now she's running phenomenally."

"I've been lowering my times and not feeling as tired as I did," said Hessenkemper, who was approached by the Rowan track coach after the race. She's also looked at Rhode Island, Chestnut Hill College, the University of Delaware and Delaware Valley.

In a tone of understatement, Calabro said, "When you look at what all of our kids did from the township, it was not a bad day."