Sports
Bellin, Krajunus, Fleischner Win Golds At Shore Conf. Meet
By Jim Hintelmann
NEPTUNE - Although Saturday's Boys and Girls Shore Conference Track and Field Championships were dominated by Ocean County teams along with Freehold Township and Neptune, there were still some top performances by area athletes as Rumson Missy Bellin, Raritan's John Krajunus and Holmdel's Jesse Flieschner earned gold medals.
Strong winds and the absences of some top distance runners and teams for various reasons resulted in times that were less than in last week's county meets, especially in the 800, 1.600 and 3,200.
Among the missing teams were Red Bank Catholic, Red Bank and Manalapan along with the top distance runners from Colts Neck, Christian Brothers Academy and several Ocean County schools.
Jackson Memorial took the boys title from Monmouth County champion Freehold Township, 59-58. Rumson was the best of the local schools, but the Bulldogs finished in a three-way tie for 12th with 13 points.
Rumson led area teams in the girls meet by placing sixth with 29 points as Southern easily captured the team title with 76 points.
The meet was originally scheduled to be a two-day affair Friday and Saturday, but rain postponed the Friday events, and the whole meet was run Saturday.
Bellin continued to make her decision to try the 400 intermediates hurdles for the first time this year a smart one as she easily won the event with a time of 1:01.91. "Today I really wanted to work and concentrate on the 400 intermediates and see if I could get my times down before the states," said Bellin, who skipped one of her top events, the 400. "That was my best personal time. My previous best was 62.3 and I'm happy that I went out for the 400 hurdles."
Bellin also anchored Rumson's 4 x 400 meter relay team to a third place finish behind Southern and Jackson Memorial, but the strong winds and the fact that the meet was a one-day event probably accounted for Rumson's relatively slow time of 4:02.15. They ran 3:55 in this event at the Penn Relays last month, "A few of our girls (in the relay) were in several different races today," said Rumson girls track coach Joann Johnson, "but I'm still proud of them. If they had the original format we would have done better. We were tired, but everyone in that relay was tired also.
"The (NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II) sectionals will be held two days and that will make it easier for us," Johnson noted.
Krajunus winning the high jump (6-4) was a surprise after he finished fourth in the county meet. He cleared 6-4 on his first attempt at that height and that was all he needed. Rumson's Alex Smith and CBA's Josh Bartlett tied for second with 6-2.
"That was my personal best," said Krajunus, who also competes in the 400 and long jump. "I placed fifth in the meet last year. I pulled a quad a little while ago, but my legs felt good today. After my first jump,. I waited for everyone else to finish up. I tried for 6-6, but I hit the bar with my calf. I should be good for next week."
Fleischner clinched first place in the javelin on his fifth throw of the day, which went 173 feet. He threw 174-7 on his final throw, which was his best ever.
"There was no pressure on that last throw," said Fleischner, who will looking to throw 180 feet this year. "I'll be attending Dickinson (Pa.) this fall and will compete in track."
The CJ Group II-III meet will be held Friday and Saturday at Monmouth Regional while the CJ I-IV meet is scheduled for Hillsborough.
Smith accounted for 11 of Rumson's 13 team points by finishing fourth in the triple jump in addition to tying for second in the high jump.
