TR North Wins A South

Wednesday's APP will have a little blurb on the tri-meet but for anyone that misses it or is up late tonight, Toms River North beat Jackson and Southern Tuesday to clinch sole possession of a division title. The M's got their usual contributions from A.J. Gilman and Anthony Matos in the sprints and Dave Stone in the jumps, but they also got nice contributions from their field and distance guys.

Rick Villanova jumped 14 feet in the pole vault, which is the best dual meet jump this year. Chris Favoloro of St. John Vianney jumped 14-3 at the Lion Relays on Saturday and those are the best two jumps from the area that I've seen. The Villanova Wildcat was big against East in the vault in the beginning of the year and is getting healthier as well. He could be a factor in the state meets.

Evan Regas threw 48-4 in the shot put, which gave North a big second place. Chase Petrucci of Southern won the event with a 49-6 3/4 toss, but like North coach Matt Jelley said, The M's were just looking to hold their own in the throws and distance events. North also got a nice pick-me-up in the 3200, when Kiel O'Donnell and Joe Kotran finished 1-2 against Southern (Cris Karle and Ryan Fenimore of Jackson finished wat ahead of everyone).

It was kind of disappointing to see Jackson coach Steve Theobald reign in some of his athletes instead of letting them go all out for the division, but it was the right move. He admitted he didn't go hard after the win, and believe me, it wasn't sour grapes or anything like that. He even said he thought North was stronger on paper and elected no to overextend some of his athletes. Plus, Tito Nurendeen, Jackson's fastest sprinter wasn't there today.

Some times to note: Carle and Monroe Kearns ran good races Tuesday to follow up their Penn Relays performance. They each only competed in one event (Kearns gave the 200 a shot, but that was more for kicks), but Carle's 9:24.6 in the 3200 and Kearns' 4:26.7 1600 were two of the more impressive performances; John Gray won the 200 in 22.8 and the 400 in 49.5; Dave Stone jumped 6-4 in the high jump, which is second in the area to John Provaznik of Lacey; Gil Tarantino brok 58 in the 400 hurdles with a 57.9; and North's 4x400 relay ran faster Tuesday (3:26.4) than it did at the Penn Relays (3:27.68), although it's hard to get going at Penn with the crowded track.

Congrats to TR North, the second Shore Conference team to clinch a division title. Red Bank took care of business last week, and Monsignor Donovan and Monmouth have pretty much done the same. Colts Neck and CBA will come down to their May 7 meeting and Rumson and Shore still have to meet in B Central. Stay tuned...