Four girls from Brick Twp. headed to MOC track meet
Memorial's Brodeur also looking for a state title
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer
Itwas a big two days for Ryisha Boyd, the star long-jumper and sprinter for Brick Township's girls track and field team.

TIM MORRIS Andrew Brodeur (r) of Brick Memorial High School, outleans Old Bridge's Travis Mahoney to win the Group IV 3,200-meter run title in a time of 9:36.30 for his first outdoor group title.

On Tuesday, Boyd signed a national letter of intent for the University of Illinois, where she officially visited in May. Boyd also had officially visited the University of South Florida and the University of North Carolina, but her high school coach, Bill Brunner, said she had connected well with the women's track and field coach at Illinois, whose team won the Big 10 championship two seasons ago.

A day later, on Wednesday, she was at South Plainfield, returning to the NJSIAA Meet of Champions along with five other Brick athletes and competing in the 400 meters, and was expected to qualify in the long jump as a wild card. Her second-place time of :56.4 in the Group IV championships was surpassed only by the :55.1 clocking of a runner from Oakcrest, regarded as one of the best in the country in that event. Boyd came off the second straight sectional title in that event in :57.15.Ayear ago, Boyd won the state sectionals in :55.9.

And she just finished out of a medal and qualifying for the MOC in the long jump, finishing seventh with a leap of 17 feet 5 inches in an event that was postponed by rain on Saturday and moved to Sunday. It was 6 inches below her championship jump in the Group IV, Central Jersey sectionals a week earlier.

"She was not jumping well, and nobody was, and then the storm came and they had to make the trip back to Egg Harbor," said Brunner. "But she should be the Number 1 wild card, which gives her another chance, and she can uncork an 18- foot [jump]."

DeAnne Hahn also will be competing in two events and is a serious threat to double in the shot put and discus, which hasn't happened in more than 20 years. Hahn, who is headed to the University of Minnesota, which gives the Green Dragons two NCAA Division I athletes on the team, appears to be conquering her recent struggles with her technique, winning both events and earning No. 1 seeds in both for the MOC.

Hahn threw the shot put just well enough to win at 44-7, considerably below her best this season of 46-5 at the earlyseason Woodbury Invitational and comfortably ahead of runner-up Shannon Watt of Jackson, who threw 42-10, and third-place finisher Mo Laffan of Toms River North at 42-8. Hahn's teammate Lisa Stuto was fourth at 42-1 to advance to the MOC.

Hahn is a two-time MOC champion in the shot put, where she will be competing for the fourth time. She also was runnerup in the discus the past two years, but her throw of 136-5 far outdistancedWatt's second-place 129-11 and Laffan's 126-9 third place. It was well short of the county record throw of 153-13 in the Ocean County championships earlier last month.

Brunner said Hahn "definitely is out" of her funk in the shot put. "She's not on her A game but is on her A-minus game, and is capable of hitting a big throw at any time," Brunner said.

But Hahn had to overcome fouling on her first preliminary-round throw of each event before nailing the winning throws on her next attempts. She felt that fouling pushed her a little more, since she remembered that discus favorite Kristen Batts of Marlboro missed the MOC a year ago because she fouled on all three preliminary throws. So Hahn said fouling on her first throw "made me really uncomfortable. … It was a little more nerveracking, but I don't fold under pressure."

Stuto did not compete in the discus, but freshman Katie Brunner, daughter of coach Brunner, did, and she uncorked a throw of 112-8 for eighth place that was short of a medal but was expected to qualify her as a wild card. "For a freshman to make the MOC in the discus is unheard of," said her dad.

"I thought we had a great weekend, because everyone entered [in the groups meet] qualified [for the MOC]. That never happens," said Brunner.

Another perennial MOC qualifier - Brick Memorial's Andrew Brodeur - earned his eighth trip, which includes indoor track and field and cross country. He clocked a 9:36.30 and beat Old Bridge's Travis Mahoney on a tuck at the tape by two-hundredths of a second. It was his first group title outdoors. Brick Township pole-vaulter Chris DiGangi qualified with a fifth-place 13-6 measure.

Brodeur, who qualified all four years indoors for the MOC and outdoors last spring and twice in cross country, said he is shooting for a 9:30 to wrap up his high school career before heading to Duke University. His time in the group meet was far better than his 9:40.02 in the sectionals.

"It was a little bit faster this week, which is great for me," said Brodeur. "I want to run the same for each mile, but I want to go out with it strong and get a personal best."

Brunner said he can only hope the MOC is being run better on its scheduling than last year, when Hahn had to hustle back for the discus after competing in the shot put and submitting to steroid testing for all participants afterward. Brunner felt it might have affected Hahn's concentration as she finished in second place.