Gold medal haul for track stars at CJ state sectional Shore Regional girls capture Group I title By tim morris Staff Writer CHRIS KELLY Ocean Township’s Zara Brenya competes in the 100-meter dash at the CJ Group III championships at South Plainfield last weekend. SOUTH PLAINFIELD — Long Branch’s Mike Bland couldn’t help but feel a little lonely. All season long, teammate Tunell Polk has been there to push him. They ran one-two at both the Monmouth County and Shore Conference championships. Polk was there again in the blocks with him Friday for the 100-meter final at the Central Jersey Group II Championships held at South Plainfield High School. But before the race could materialize, the starter’s gun sounded a second time almost simultaneously to the start. That meant bad news for one of the sprinters. He had been called for a false start and would be disqualified. Bland would learn to his regret that the runner fingered for the false start was his teammate. "I felt bad," he recalled. "I went over to the fence to talk to him and told him that he had to go and win the long jump and that I would win. He told me to win the race for him." Bland may have been beside himself knowing that his friend and rival was out of the final. But by the time he settled into the blocks for the restart, he had regained his composure and was all business. "We’re friends, but still competitors," he said. "I did what I had to do." Bland won one for himself and Polk by topping the Group II field with his 11.17. The junior wanted to run quicker, but racing on a wet track in the rain made a fast time difficult. Bland was one of several area athletes who struck gold at the NJSIAA State Sectional Championships that were held on Friday and Saturday. There is very little left to be said about Amanda and Katy Trotter. Their individual accomplishments speak for themselves. But sometimes overlooked on their résumé of championships and meet records is the fact that they are outstanding team players. It’s evident by Red Bank’s relay success (Penn Relays Distance Medley victory last month, for example), but even more important has been their unselfishness. At the state sectionals, the Trotters pulled freshman standout Christina Nelson to a personal best in the 1,600 meters. Amanda and Katy set a pace at the front with Nelson in tow. At the finish line, Amanda got the win in 5:00.55 with Katy getting second in the same time. Nelson hung on as long as she could and got her personal best, 5:06.79, in finishing fourth. On Saturday, Katy Trotter ran for time with her sister and broke the meet record for 800 meters. Katy smashed her own meet record of 2:15.2 from 2001 with a 2:11.32. Amanda was behind in 2:11.37. In the 3,200, Amanda picked up her second win of the meet, posting an 11:06.06 ahead of Katy’s 11:06.27. The three one-two finishes by the Trotters helped the Bucs finish second to Franklin, 103-77 1/2. Red Bank’s boys revealed their own distance running prowess in Group III by going one-two-three in the 1,600. "That was our plan," said Joe Kingsbery, who was the winner in 4:25.04. The race went to plan in everything but the time. Kingsbery was looking to put down a time that would get him into the seeded section of this weekend’s Group III state championships. "That 69-second first quarter threw me off," said Kingsbery. "I was looking to run 2:13 or 2:14 for the first 800. I went through in 2:15. One second makes a big difference." Kingsbery stepped on the accelerator for the final two laps, taking Robbie Dennis and Steve Waite with him. His 2:09 second 800 and 63 last quarter brought him home in 4:25.04. The time was good enough to get Kingsbery what he wanted: into the seeded section of the Group III race. His mark was the fourth-fastest among all of the Group III section races throughout the state. Dennis ran a 4:28.84 in second and Waite a 4:29.33 in third. As to why he was able to run such a negative split, "I had to" was Kingsbery’s reply. Dennis made his comeback from the illnesses and injury that cost him the indoor season complete on Saturday when he won the 3,200 meters in 9:37.26, with Waite second (9:41.22). Dennis was the sectional state champion in cross country in the fall. Kingsbery would add a third place in the 800 (1:59.31) to his 1,600 title. Teammate Michael Siciliano was fourth (2:00.60) as the Bucs’ distance runners scored 54 points helping Red Bank take third place with 70 points behind Ewing (99) and Franklin (76). Shore Regional girls repeat as CJ Group I champions Shore Regional’s girls won their second straight sectional crown out-scoring Metuchen, 141-130, in Group I Junior Julie Ullmeyer led the victory parade, winning the 1,600 (5:22.10) and 3,200 (11:37.80) titles and finishing second in the 800 (2:28.20). Ullmeyer is showing signs of a strong recovery from an Achilles injury that cost her her indoor season. Shore scored big in the distance events with Laura Embrey (5:33.30) and Martine McGrath (5:33.40) third and fourth behind Ullmeyer in the 1,600, and Embrey (11:57.70) and Nicole Ullmeyer, Julie’s younger sister (12:25.30), were fourth and sixth in the 3,200. Laura Hayden (2:29.60) and McGrath (2:29.80) were third and fourth in the 800. The Blue Devils used their strength in the distances (they were the Group I state champions in cross country) to go along with their sprinting and field points to outlast Metuchen. Jill Cummings got the Devils 10 big points in the pole vault (6-6). Sprinter Ashley Dwyer came up big for the Blue Devils, scoring in three events. She was second in the 100 (12.48), fourth in the 200 (26.90) and second in the 400 (1:01.20). Freshman Kristen Pierce provided points in the hurdles with a third in the 100 hurdles (17.10) and second in the 400 intermediates (1:07.30). Laura Lazzati was second in the discus (93-1) as the Devils threw a balanced attack at the Group I competition. The Blue Devil boys also piled up the points, but were second to Metuchen, 148-117. Marc Altenau and Brian Frech were the state sectional winners for Shore. Altenau won the 800 meters in 2:00.70. He was piped at the line in the 1,600 by Bound Brook’s Nate Huddel (4:30.40-4:30.80) and was third in the 3,200 (9:59.20). Frech won the javelin at 126-01. This weekend, Egg Harbor Township will host the NJSIAA Group State Cham­pionships. The top six individual finishers including ties from the state sectional meets all advanced to the Group meet that will be held over Friday and Saturday. With a top six finish this weekend, athletes will punch their tickets to the season-ending Meet of Champions on Wednesday at South Plainfield High School.