Bears looking to reload with young talent
Old Bridge boys squeak by Vikings for relay title
BY RICHARD JEROME
Staff Writer

Although technically speaking, the Greater Middlesex Conference is no longer running official dual meets for the winter track season, that hasn't stopped East Brunswick High School from creating its own full schedule of competition for the 2006-07 campaign.

If nothing else, of course, it fosters togetherness and team spirit and keeps the athletes sharp for the various invitational meets and championship tournaments

"It may not mean anything according to the GMC, but it's important to us, and we're still doing it on our own," said coach Kevin McEvoy, who leads EBHS into the state relays in Jersey City this weekend. Two weeks from now, his tracksters will be vying in the Greater Middlesex Conference meet, followed a week later by the state championship competition.

Thus far in 2007, East Brunswick has met with mixed success, at least as far as overall wins and losses are concerned. Coming off Tuesday's meet against St. Joseph's of Metuchen and J.P. Stevens of Edison, the Bears have forged a 2-2 record, and while that may not rank among the more elite showings in the team's fine history, McEvoy says he is pleased with his club's attitude and effort.

"This is a team with a lot of middle-place finishers, and we don't have a true stud," said the coach. "Last year we were the county champion and won the GMC relays, and this team is just a little bit short of that. I'm very encouraged by the turnout of freshmen and underclassmen - we have about 20 kids out among that group."

Certainly one of the Bears' strengths as a team is the number of experienced people back in the fold this winter. The anchor of the varsity, of course, is the senior class, which dominates the distance contingent.

Eric Sorkin is the Bears' top two-miler, miler, and though he doesn't run the half-mile, probably the best in that event as well. Of all those, the mile is Sorkin's favorite race to run.

"He's run a 4:22, and we'd like to see him get down closer to four minutes," said McEvoy, who is assisted by Don Mandy, another longtime member of the Bears' coaching ranks

Sorkin's fellow senior Ira Gooberman, on the other hand, concentrates more heavily on the two mile, and his best time so far has been his 10:58 effort in Tuesday's meet. Half-miler Roland Ying ran a 2:10 in that same meet, while Justin Koodish registered a 2:05.

Experience is also a theme in the sprints, where East Brunswick also has a senior-heavy group, including John Iko, Eric Orlando and John Youhanna. All of these athletes can compete in the 55, the 200 and the 400. In the shorter distance, Iko is the team's top sprinter, with a best time of 6.8 seconds.

"He has also run 52.1 seconds in the relay, which is a pretty quick showing," McEvoy points out.

As for the hurdles, East Brunswick features a senior, in Phil Morris, and a junior, Matt Blanar. Their great strength, according to the coach, is the relay hurdles. Another senior pairing is at shot put, where the Bears have Tom Correa and Eric Pedersen, both of whom toss in the low 40-foot range.

And so, even if this particular East Brunswick High School winter track club isn't quite ready to fill a trophy case, McEvoy has no complaints about it.

"It's still an East Brunswick track team," he said, "which means we have a lot of great kids and a lot of good talent

Knights win close one at Middlesex Coaches Relay

The Old Bridge boys indoor track and field team entered the Middlesex County Track Coaches Relay Championships at the Jersey City Armory on Saturday as the favorites to capture the team title.

And while they did indeed emerge as the champions, they had to work awfully hard to do it.

Old Bridge trailed South Brunswick by one point heading into the final event - the 4x400 - and got a clutch win to grab the team title, 57-56, over the Vikings.

The quartet of Sean Davila, Jon Tuazon, Shawn Phillip and Allan Lunkenheimer teamed up to circle the track in 3:31.7, just ahead of South Brunswick's team, which crossed the line in 3:34.6. Tuazon gave the Knights the early lead on the first leg, and his three teammates were able to hold off a late Viking kick to seal the win.

But it was a total team effort that gave the Knights the title, with 11 different athletes contributing points. Tuazon and Davila were also part of the winning 2x400 team, along with Mohamed Mansaray and Evan Petrovich, who beat the field in 1:35.6, as well as the winning sprint medley relay team, which won in 3:45.0. They teamed with Lunkenheimer and James Hauser to win the sprint medley.

Old Bridge also got a win in the 4x800, as Sheriff Showunmi, Nick Carbone, Billy Baker and Hauser teamed to top the field in 8:25.1, while the Knights also secured a key third-place finish in the shot put.

South Brunswick only won one event, the high jump, but took second in a number of events to make the title chase a close one.

The South Brunswick girls ran away with the team title with 60 points, well ahead of second-place J.P. Stevens (40 points).