Sizzling through the rain
Forys blazes to fifth-fastest 1,600-meter relay split
04/29/2007
After a cold, rain-filled day at the 113th Penn Relays at Franklin Field on Friday, Craig Forys knew just how to heat things up.

Forys ran the 1,600 meter leg of Colts Neck's distance medley relay in 4:04.4, the fifth-fastest 1,600-meter relay split ever at the Penn Relays, and nearly pulled off an improbable comeback in the team's 10:09.11, second-place performance.

Forys took the baton in ninth place, approximately 100 meters behind first-place Shenendehowa (N.Y.). By the time he hit his final lap, Forys was battling for first place. He finished .6 seconds behind first-place Coatesville's (Pa.) Kyle Dawson.

"I got more and more pumped up as we got closer to the race," Forys said. "I was excited to come here with my brother (Matt) running and my future college team (Michigan) being here. I had to be patient and make sure I didn't burn myself out trying to catch everybody."

Brenden Krewer ran an unofficial 3:07.0 split in the 1,200, and Evan Stivala clocked in at 56.8 in the 400. Kevin O'Dowd ran the 800 in an unofficial 2:00.9.

"They all ran awesome races," Forys said. "Brenden Krewer got us off and we all just took it from there."

Alan Webb of South Lakes (Va.) holds the 1,600 relay split meet record with a time of 3:59.9, set in 2000.

Jackson's 4x800 team of Anthony Meleo, Ryan Fenimore, Kris Carle, and Monroe Kearns overcame the damp whether to run the event in 8:00.64, good enough to win its heat and advance to today's Championship of America heat at 3 p.m. Kearns took the baton in second place behind Forest Park (Va.), but quickly erased the deficit and won by 2.7 seconds. Kearns fought off a charge from Daniel Edmund of Eleanor Roosevelt (Md.) in the first 200 meters and took control in the last 400.

"He (Adam Swingle of Forest Park) didn't get out fast," Kearns said. "I was pretty confident I could beat him, so I tried to run my race."

The Jaguars relay team endured an hour-and-a-half lightning delay, which halted the meet one heat before Jackson was called to the starting line. CBA and Southern were on the starting line at the start of the delay.

The Colts missed the cut for the final heat by 1.21 seconds, finishing with a time of 8:02.90. One of their top distance runners, Kyle Havard, missed the race with an injury described by coach Karl Torchia as a "slight pull," forcing Christian Yuskevich into the race.

"It probably cost us 4 to 5 seconds," Torchia said.

"We did our best," said Charlie Rooney, who ran the last leg. "It was a tough situation, but we're all about team at CBA. We don't ask one guy to carry the load, we all do our part."

Just before the race, CBA decided to move its two fastest runners, Mike Slater and Brendon Pierson, from the last two legs to the first two.

"With the rain and wet conditions, we felt like we couldn't catch up and we needed to get out to a fast start and try to hold it rather than chase," Torchia said.

CBA finished sixth in its heat and 16th overall in the preliminary heat.

Southern placed 13th in its 4x800 heat and 60th overall with a time of 8:25.07.

Monsignor Donovan finished 25th out of 240 schools in the small schools 4x100 with a time of 43.79. The Griffins' team of Chris Medina, Anthony Cappello, Nick Chiarella, and Eric Bruno also finished first in their heat.

Ocean's Dan Hitman headed the Shore Conference field effort with an eighth-place finish in the javelin. Hitman, seeded 13th before for the event, threw 180 feet and made it to the final round.

Jack Gilburn of Manalapan finished 13th with a throw of 173-11.

Vinnie Elardo finished ninth in the preliminary shot put round, one spot shy of a spot in the final round. The Lacey senior threw 54-6, just 4.25 inches short of the last finals spot.

Toms River South throwers Kyle Goodman (54-3.25) and Patrick Park (51-9.25) finished 10th and 16th, respectively.

Only one area girl, Kristen Batts of Marlboro, competed today. Batts finished fourth in the discus with a top throw of 136-2, and finished first among New Jersey athletes in the competition.

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