A South Preview

Before I we delve into A South, I'd like to apologize to everyone I missed in Saturday's preview issue. The Shore coaches did a great job of getting their team information to me and I planned to run it all. Of course, there is only so much paper to print the names on, so a significant amount of names were left off, and some of the exclusions had no rhyme or reason. Luckily, there are another two-plus months to sort out the madness.

Moving onto A South, where the two top dogs - Southern and Toms River North - will be reloading in hopes of separating themselves from the pack. Meanwhile, Jackson and Toms River East return a wave of key contributors and will likely catch up to the Rams and Mariners.

We'll start with the M's, and being a Seattle M's fan, it gives me warm and fuzzy feeling to see a team named the Mariners with some competence (even with a starting rotation comprised of four No. 5 starters, I'm still pumped about baseball season). TR North has won at least a share of A South for the past three years, but a fourth could be hard to come by. Still, the APP picked them fourth in A South last year for similar reasons and coach Matt Jelley's club isn't fooling me this time (I'm picking them second).

Unlike these Mariners, Toms River North should recover from heavy losses.

Jackson has the most impressive squad as far as experience goes and second year head coach Stephen Theobald has made his prescence felt in a short period of time. They have the best distance crop in the division with Kris Carle, Monroe Kearns, Austin Santillo, Anthony Meleo, and Ryan Fenimore. Eric Brown, Tracy Joshue, Ahmad Stokes, and Tito Nurundeen (speed demon on the soccer pitch) will hold down the fort in the sprints and, to a certain degree, the jumps. The Jags have style and horsepower to blow by the A South competition this year, although with their stength in the distance events, they will do so slowly and steadily.

Somewhere between losing so many seniors to graduation and sprinter Chris Cox heading North to Monmouth Regional, Southern had to feel as if the walls were falling down around it. The winning tradition carries weight during the dual meet season and can make for productive practice time, but with so many new faces that will have to come up with the same old points, that winning tradition may have to be re-installed over the course of the season. Coach Terry Miller admits that '07 will be a "rebuilding year of sorts," but the Rams still have the strength in numbers to be tough.

East is seems to be the trendy pick by the division coaches. No coach went into detail as to who exactly would win the division, but all of them singled out the TR East Raiders as a team to beat (unlike Oakland's gridiron version). East has its share of flaws, mainly in its depth at the throws and inexperience in the jumps. Kyle Perrone should be a strong No. 1 weight-thrower, and the talent in the jumps is there to offset some of coach Rob Roma's concerns. Paul Cordasco and Tyler Groves are capable sprinters, and Chris Rutherford is ready to break out in the hurdles in his junior season.

Lacey will be an interesting addition to A South after trying to keep its head above water in B South last season. The Lions had a pretty deep roster in B South, but their strength in numbers won't mean as much in a division packed with Group IV schools. Vinnie Elardo and John Provaznik will shine in the throws and jumps, respectively, and hope their teammates will shine along with him.

Toms River South has a weight-master of its own in Patrick Park, and like Elardo, will hope the depth around him comes together. The Indians have a strong junior class and senior Kyle Goodman is coming off a strong winter throwing the discus and shot put. Coach Mark O'Leary appears correct when he says his team will fair better in the big meets than it will in the duals.

Brick and Brick Memorial will battle with Lacey to stay out of the basement. Andrew Broduer has been banged up during the three track seasons, but coach Brian Decker says he's healthy, meaning he will be among the Shore's best distance runners. In his second season, Dragons coach Jim Calabro is still looking to establish a foundation for the Brick program. Basketball standout Mike Gawronski will bring some credibility to the program within the school, and Calabro hopes more top-notch athletes follow.

Potential Group/State Champions: Elardo (Lacey) - discus; Carle (Jackson) 3200; Park (TRS) - shot put; Goodman (TRS) - shot put; A.J. Gillman (TRN) - 100/110 hurdles; Kearns (Jackson) - 800; Meleo (Jackson) - 800; Broduer (Brick Mem.) - 1600; Fenimore (Jackson) - 1600; Provaznik (Lacey) - high jump.

Ocean County always has a lot to offer during the track season, and A South is only half the story. Stay tuned for the B South preview soon to follow.

A Central Preview

If you haven't seen the new Shore Conference division alignment, you might be thinking the same thing I am (assuming you know your Shore Conference track): What happened to A Central?

That's not to say the SJVs, Raritans, Red Banks, RBCs, Manasquans, and Holmdels of the world are teams to scoff at, but none really stick out as a division champion. Red Bank is the new face of the bunch, going 4-2 in a fairly strong B North division in '06, and should fair well in the race this season.

RBC and Holmdel went through rebuilding years of sorts last year and their sucess this season will hinge on athlete development rather than returning stars. Manasquan lost a fair amount of seniors, while RBC and Holmdel (a combined 1-11 last year) bring back a lot of bodies with a lot of room for improvement. Those three teams will make up the bottom half of the division, and RBC looks likes the best of the bottom. Sean Curry and Dan Fitzpatrick will be strong at hurdles, and Shawn Platz and Nick Bond head a nice distance group.

To say Raritan will rocket to the top of the division would not really apply. It's more like they fell asleep in third place last June and woke up this March as the favorite. Raritan will be a strong in the throws with three-sport standout Brian England (All-Shore defensive lineman and starting power forward), the hurdles with Doug Anderson, distance with Jim Curran, and jumps with John Krajunus.

Depth could come into play against St. John Vianney, which can throw a lot of athletes at the Rockets in every event, save maybe the throws. But considering England and co. will likely own A Central's weight division, SJV might be in good shape, even if they do punt the pole, javelin, and the discus. You can read all about Chris Favaloro (pole vault) in tomorrow's preview, and Paul Barolette (sprinter/jumper) returns after a bronze medal in the 100 meter dash at last year's Non-Public A Championships.

Red Bank is the wildcard of the bunch. The other five have a few years of familiarity with each other, but throwing Red Bank in the mix could either give SJV and/or Raritan an extra win or could replace the loss Matawan or Colts Neck would have handed them. The Bucs' Dennie Waite and Mark Degenhart (of RBR soccer fame), will anchor another strong distance group in Red Bank. Coach Corey Radcliffe expects Will Sanborn (guard on the hoops team) to make an impact in the jumps.

Potential Group/State Champions: Barolette (SJV) - 100 m; Favaloro (SJV) pole vault; Dennie Waite (RBR) - 1600 m; Brian England (Raritan) - discus.

A North Preview

Freehold Township boys track coach Brian Golub heard it the first day his Patriots started spring practice. This past winter, Golub, also the boys basketball coach at Freehold Twp., beat the powerhouse Colts three times in three tries on the basketball court and his track athletes want to know the secret to Golub's success.

"They were all coming up to me and telling me 'we're going to beat them in track too,' and I'm just thinking 'hold it right there,''' Golub said.

Of course, the Patriots had the horses to run with CBA on the court, but finding the athletes to do so on the track will prove much more difficult.

A North takes on a different look in '07, with Ocean flying the coup to B North and Colts Neck coming in to crash CBA's party, along with newcomer Middletown South. Distance extraordinaire Craig Forys and company have their best team in the short history of the school and that should be enough to beat the Colts. CBA has the pedigree to hold off the Cougars when they meet on May 7, but they may not have the talent.

After the top two, Freehold Township and Manalapan will vie for third place, and the edge goes to Manalapan on the strength of its returning depth. Mike Goldwassar is an indoor champion in the pole vault, sophomore Robby Andrews was an All-Shore distance runner during cross country season, and Jack Gilburn can do it all.

Middletown South has a lot of new faces, but coach Steve Roberts believes the athleticism will make up for the lack of experience. The Eagles wil need time to let their lineup sort itself out, but they should be well put together by the time they take on Colts Neck on May 17.

The division that had no All-Shore first, second, or third team members last spring picks up the most accomplished athlete in Shore Conference Boys Track in Forys for the coming season. Whether or not the rest of the talented Colts Neck roster can back up their star remains the major question surrounding A North this coming season.

Potential Group/State Champs: Craig Forys (Colts Neck) - 3200; Robby Andrews (Manalapan) - 800/1600; Mike Goldwassar (Manalapan) - pole vault; Brandon Pierson (CBA) - 800.

Overture

Welcome to Man to Man, the unofficial official boys track blog of the APP. I'll be here to serve up what you need to know about the Shore Conference Boys Track scene, and anything else on my mind for that matter.

Before we move ahead to the track scene, I have to go back to the girls swimming beat for a brief moment. My sincere apologies go out to Lauren Mari of MIDDLETOWN NORTH, who appeared on the All-Shore second team as Lauren Mari of Ocean. Lauren is one of the most intelligent, well-spoken people I've dealt with in my brief time at the APP, including the area coaches, and she deserved better. A junior, Mari will be a serious Swimmer of the Year candidate next year if she goes out for the school team again.

I'll dip into other Shore Conference sports from time to time along the way, but there will be a heavy stream of track for the time being. We'll go around the Conference by taking a look at each division, starting with the new and improved A North on Thursday and culminating with B North next Tuesday. A Central will be on Friday, A and B South over the weekend, B Central on Monday, and finally, the aforementioned B North on Tuesday. The Spring APP Rally preview issue comes out this Saturday, March 31 so be sure to check that out.