Old Bridge's Florek highlights MOC success
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

On the heels of a highly successful season, the Old Bridge High School boys spring team was looking to make a splash during the Meet of Champions on June 6 in South Plainfield.

The Knights sent seven competitors to the MOC, including seniors Allan Lunkenheimer and Matt Ciambriello, who will go on to compete at Wake Forest and Columbia universities, respectively, as well as junior Brian Florek.

Of the three, Florek was the only one to bring home a medal after winning the javelin with a distance of 202-09, which came on the final throw of the competition.

Florek, who also took the GMC and CJ Group IV titles in the javelin with a best throw of 200.2 prior to his MOC win, has qualified for the Nike Outdoor National Championships June 15-17 in Greensboro, N.C.

Lunkenheimer, the school's male scholar athlete, won the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC), the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV and the overall Group IV titles at 400 meters, where he sported a personal best of 47.8. Against the best 400 runners the state had to offer, Lunkenheimer earned his spot among them with a fifth-place finish in 48.19. Willingboro's Antonio Abney was the surprise winner here in 47.25, as he beat defending champion Charles Cox of Monmouth (47.5) to the line.

North Brunswick sophomore Toddrick Darden, running in the third of four heats, finished an impressive ninth in the 400, with a time of 48.93.

Ciambriello won GMC crowns at both 1,600 and 3,200 meters, and took fourth in the 3,200 and sixth at 1,600 meters at CJ Group IV competition.

At the MOC, he competed in just the 3,200 and finished in 15th place (9:26.10). That race was won by the incomparable Craig Forys of Colts Neck, who topped his own mark from last year in setting a new meet record in 8:52.58. Forys also won the 1,600 in 4:09.59 earlier in the day. South River's Antonio Gomes was the only local competitor in that race, finishing in a time of 4:40.85.

The efforts of Lunkenheimer and Ciambriello helped coach Jack Campbell's Knights win both the GMC championship and the GMC Relays; take second-pace in Central Jersey Group IV behind Trenton Central, and third place in the overall Group IV event.

Mirroring their team's performance, Old Bridge's 4x400 foursome of Sean Davilla, freshman Evan Petrovich, Shawn Phillip and Lunkenheimer won the GMC championship and the GMC Relays, as well as CJ Group IV and overall Group IV. They competed in the MOC hoping to top their best time of 3:18.4.

"The guys have worked and trained very hard to get to this point," Campbell said prior to the meet. "Once you get to the Meet of Champions, anything can happen."

What happened was the Knights picked a great time for their best performance of the year. While Seton Hall Prep (3:3.83) and Willingboro (3:15.31) went 1-2 in the race, the Knights posted their best time of the year (3:17.01) to claim third place in this highly competitive event.

Monroe Township's foursome of Zach Theinert, Mike Barszcz, Billy Phillips and Adam Modzelewski also competed in the relay, finishing in 3:28.65.

Nick Carbone is another Knight to be reckoned with. He finished second in the GMC championships at 800 meters and took third place in the CJ Group IV event.

At the MOC, he posted a strong time of 1:57.85, good for 18th and just off his personal best of 1:57.1.

Carbone will compete for Penn State in the fall.

In addition, the Knights' distance medley team composed of Lunkenheimer (400 meters), James Hauser (800), Carbone (1,200) and Ciambriello (1,600) recently finished fifth at the Penn Relays. Their time of 10-16.7 also qualified them for the Nike Outdoor National Championships. In the winter season, the four had a time of 10:15, the second fastest time in the U.S. during the indoor campaign, Campbell noted.

Among the other local boys to compete in the MOC were South Brunswick's Matt Kirbos, who took 10th in the pole vault with a height of 13-00; William Ricketts, who was 11th in the high jump at 6-02; John Viotto, who took seventh in the discus with a toss of 160-05 and 11th in the shot put with a distance of 52-03; and Sean Lease, who took 25th in the discus with a throw of 122-08.

North Brunswick's Harrison Wright finished 15th in the javelin with a throw of 172-02.

South Brunswick senior Stephanie McIntyre made the best of her final scholastic competition on New Jersey soil by winning the triple jump with a meet record distance of 39-09.

That beat the mark set by West Deptford's Jessica Mills (39-06) back in 2005. McIntyre also took third in the long jump with a distance of 17-06. Haddon Heights senior Jamie Walker won the event (18-02.25), while Columbia's Ashley Newby was second (17-08.75).

McIntyre highlighted a strong team effort from the South Brunswick girls, while neighboring North Brunswick also produced some solid finishes.

Viking senior Indira Morton threw the javelin 32-08, good enough for fourth place. The winning throw came from Hightstown's Tara Muluszewski (134-02). Morton also finished 18th in the long jump with a distance of 16-01.75.

Freshman Sophia Ginez showed she will be a force to be reckoned with over the next few years, with a seventh-place finish in the 1,600 run (won by national champion Danielle Tauro of Southern Regional in 4:49.51). Ginez crossed the line in 5:05.49 and was the only freshman in the top 10.

North Brunswick was well represented by a pair of underclassmen - freshman Tylia Gillon and sophomore Danaw Wise.

Gillon just missed out of reaching the 100-meter finals after running a 12.18 in her heat race. That was the ninth fastest time of the prelims, with the top eight advancing. She later added a 15th-place finish in the 200, crossing the line in 25.59.

Wise, who finished in 13th place in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:04.89, came back to team with Gillon, senior Alexandra Francis and junior Ashley Carlino to finish 10th in the 4x400 relay in a time of 3:56.08. That top was the fastest in their heat.

Monroe junior Nicole Ragucci had a strong meet, as expected, finishing sixth in the 400 (56.66) and coming back to take 14th in the 200 (25.49), just ahead of Gillon.

Sayreville's Lynn Mayer provided a fitting swan song to her stellar career with a third-place finish in the high jump. Mayer, who jumped 5-4 at the Group IV meet, cleared 5-6 at the MOC, behind only Priscilla Frederick of Paul VI and Anna Cook of Florence, who both cleared 5-8.