Netters:
Three young NJ hurdlers upheld the state's long tradition in these
events quite wll this year, Fred Sharpe and Dwight Ruff placing in the 400H
and Karl Jennings in the HH, And there is good reason to believe that our
present HS graduating class will fare as well when their ttime comes.
First, a note about Sharpe. Someone raised a question some months
ago about how he is still competing six years after his HS career ended,.
The answer is simple. Fred ran out of aligibility at Paulsboro HS as a
senior because his 19th birthday occurred before Sept. 1 of that year Rarher
than go to junior college, he remained at Paulsboro before he began his
peregrinations from Barton CC to Clemson to Auburn.
The question now befor ehim is whether to concentrate on the 400H or
the 800M, where he was an NCAA placer indoors. Or, maybe, even move up to
the 1500---non one here has ever fotgooten his attempted triple at the 1997
state championship, where, desite a tight time schedule, he won the 800 and
IH and placed well in the 1600.
Ruff, of course, has a couple of years left at Floria, where he has
not only starred in the hurdles, but also has been a valuable member of both
the 400R and 1600R.
Jennings had a real breakthrough with his 5th place in the HH in
13.65, If he chooses to come back home after finishing studies at Tennessee,
he will find a flourishing group of young hurdlers to work with, including
his contemporaries, Anwar Moore (former Div. II champ) and Jeff Young of
Southern Illinois, both formewr teammates of Ruff at Camden HS, as well as
"older" hurdlers like Dudley Dorival and Sultan Tucker.
The 2003 graduating class is headed by Jeff Porter of Franklin, who
unfortunately lost the last part of his outdoor season to injury. He is
headed to Ohio State, I believe, while twin Joe (basically a sprinter but
with some hurdle relay experience) will stay home at Rutgers., Even with
Jeff missing, as well as a possible future Div. III champ, Cory Schoonover
of Manchester (who will matriculate at College of New Jersey in the fall),
our state meet produced several sub-14.0 clockins. The best prospects,
however, may both bt juniors, Basil Campbell of Ewing (also our AG IH champ)
and and Aaron (David) Whitehurst of Lawrenceville, who will, unfortunately,
probably pursue a strictly basketball career after prep school.
Ed Grant
