Toms River Tri Notes
*Note: I realize this post might seem a little dated, but some technical difficulties prevented it from being posted to the website. It's been sitting here, ready to post for almost a week now, but I don't want it to go to waste.
The 2007 installment of the Toms River Tri-meet was an exciting one and the 12-inch story in the paper probably didn't do it justice as to how close it was.
In case anyone missed it, the pole vault was the deciding event and really went down to the wire to decide a close meet between both North and East and East and South. It started with 16 vaulters, and whittled down to seven at 9 1/2 feet. Two vaulters from each school cleared the bar at 11 feet, and one from each made it over the 11 1/2-foot bar, with Dan Haefeli (South), Chris Wychoff (East), and Rick Villanova (North) as the last three standing. All three made it over the 12-foot bar, but Villanova was the only athlete to make it over the 12-6 mark.
*Note: I reported in Wednesday's paper that the winning vault was 11-6, which was obviously wrong.
**Another Note: From now on, Rick Villanova will be referred to on this blog as either Rick "The Wildcat" Villanova or "Rick the Villanova Wildcat." The first one sounds like a wrestling alias (Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat comes to mind, and the the second is just a much smoother reference to Villanova University. It's nice to have options.
What stuck out the most to me was how the Villanova Wildcat looked better and better with each jump. He was nursing a pulled-muscle in his shoulder (he wasn't diagnosed, but he said he definitely pulled something), and early on, it appeared to effect a few of his failed jumps. Even at 11-6, the Wildcat barely made it over the bar, but at the next two heights, he looked like a different person. Very impressive performance.
Haefeli actually looked the best early on but just couldn't put it all together on his later jumps. On a good day, he looks like he'll jump 13 feet. Wychoff, meanwhile, was insonsistent, but he managed to clear the bar at 12 feet. He's only a sophomore, and the pole vault takes a while to master, so those inconsistencies are more growing pains than a potential problem.
Doug Weeks was a man among boys in the distance events, while the same can be said for his East teammate Chris Rutherford in the hurdles. David Stone had a good 110 hurdles race, but Rutherford beat him without much of a doubt.
Toms River North get it done this year and they look to be in good shape to compete with Jackson and Southern for the A South crown. They're balanced and like coach Matt Jelley said, they can rely on a lot of different events to come through in the dual meets. East goes deep in the distance events, but seemed top-heavy in a lot of the other events. South dominated the throws and are pretty strong in the field, in general.
That's all for now, stay tuned for the last two previews. B North will be posted soon and we'll wrap it up with B Central.
The 2007 installment of the Toms River Tri-meet was an exciting one and the 12-inch story in the paper probably didn't do it justice as to how close it was.
In case anyone missed it, the pole vault was the deciding event and really went down to the wire to decide a close meet between both North and East and East and South. It started with 16 vaulters, and whittled down to seven at 9 1/2 feet. Two vaulters from each school cleared the bar at 11 feet, and one from each made it over the 11 1/2-foot bar, with Dan Haefeli (South), Chris Wychoff (East), and Rick Villanova (North) as the last three standing. All three made it over the 12-foot bar, but Villanova was the only athlete to make it over the 12-6 mark.
*Note: I reported in Wednesday's paper that the winning vault was 11-6, which was obviously wrong.
**Another Note: From now on, Rick Villanova will be referred to on this blog as either Rick "The Wildcat" Villanova or "Rick the Villanova Wildcat." The first one sounds like a wrestling alias (Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat comes to mind, and the the second is just a much smoother reference to Villanova University. It's nice to have options.
What stuck out the most to me was how the Villanova Wildcat looked better and better with each jump. He was nursing a pulled-muscle in his shoulder (he wasn't diagnosed, but he said he definitely pulled something), and early on, it appeared to effect a few of his failed jumps. Even at 11-6, the Wildcat barely made it over the bar, but at the next two heights, he looked like a different person. Very impressive performance.
Haefeli actually looked the best early on but just couldn't put it all together on his later jumps. On a good day, he looks like he'll jump 13 feet. Wychoff, meanwhile, was insonsistent, but he managed to clear the bar at 12 feet. He's only a sophomore, and the pole vault takes a while to master, so those inconsistencies are more growing pains than a potential problem.
Doug Weeks was a man among boys in the distance events, while the same can be said for his East teammate Chris Rutherford in the hurdles. David Stone had a good 110 hurdles race, but Rutherford beat him without much of a doubt.
Toms River North get it done this year and they look to be in good shape to compete with Jackson and Southern for the A South crown. They're balanced and like coach Matt Jelley said, they can rely on a lot of different events to come through in the dual meets. East goes deep in the distance events, but seemed top-heavy in a lot of the other events. South dominated the throws and are pretty strong in the field, in general.
That's all for now, stay tuned for the last two previews. B North will be posted soon and we'll wrap it up with B Central.
posted by Matt Manley at 1:00 PM
2 Comments:
The correct spelling for the TRE pole vaulter is Wyckoff - just like the road. BTW, Chris has three 1st place finishes so far this season, including his personal best 12'6" in the TRE / Lacey meet on April 10. His other two 1st place finishes came in the Howell Relays on April 8 {tied Manalapan}, and vs TRS at the TR Tri meet.
Thanks for the correction. I was impressed watching him jump and Coach Jelley was quick to compliment him. If you've been reading our track coverage so far, there's been a lot of pole vault talk and what stands out about someone like Wyckoff is his age. Guys like Favoloro and Goldwassar said it takes a year or so to get used to doing it, so Wyckoff's performance as a sophomore, and even Villanova's as a junior suggest some pretty big things for the two Toms River vaulters.
Post a Comment
<< Home