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BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP - Brett Johnson saved his limping for after he crossed the finish line Friday at the South Jersey Group III Track and Field championships.

The Ocean City High School standout shook off the pain from strained left ankle ligaments and severe shin splints in both legs to repeat as champion in the boys Group III 1,600-meter race at Buena Regional High School. Minutes later, with ice taped to his ankle, two teammates carried him to the snack bar.

"I'm not letting (the injuries) slow me down," Johnson, now a three-time South Jersey champion, said. "Basically, I'm just running whatever kind of race I need to run to win and keep advancing."

Johnson was among four local competitors to defend their titles in Groups II and III. Middle Township junior Kevin Hebron won the boys Group II discus for the second straight year. Cumberland Regional senior Andrew Pierce earned a three-peat in the Group III boys javelin and Lower Cape May Regional junior Gabi Whalen gained her second straight win in the girls Group II shot put.

In addition, Lacey Township senior Andrew Burt won the boys Group III 400-meter dash.

Thirty-eight area athletes finished in the top six of their respective events Friday to earn berths in next week's state group meet at South Plainfield.

The meet continues today at Buena at 10 a.m. Johnson, who is headed to the University of Virginia in the fall, plans to try to repeat in the 800 but may skip the 3,200.

"It will depend on how I feel in the morning," Johnson said. "I'll wake up and run the 800 and then decide if I'm going to run the 3,200. I'm not running it at states no matter what, so I'm not sure about (today)."

Johnson crossed in 4 minutes, 18.51 seconds, followed by teammate Miles Schoedler in 4:21.05. Lacey Township sophomore Anthony Colasurdo qualified for the state meet with a fifth-place finish in 4:33.02.

"I honestly thought third would be the best I could do today if I absolutely ran my heart out," Schoedler said. "I knew from experience that Brett was going to go just as fast as he needed to so he could win without it taking too much of a toll on his body. Once we got to the last lap, I just tried to stick with him for the first 200 (meters) and then try to gut it out to the end."

Like Johnson, Hebron also overcame an injury to get his victory. Hebron, from Middle Township, easily won the discus with a throw of 149 feet, 9 inches - his throw was more than 11 feet farther than that of runner-up George Ebinger of Barnegat - despite a torn rotator cuff in his throwing (right) shoulder.

Hebron, who is also the defending state champ, got off his best throw in his next-to-last attempt, though he was ahead for most of the meet. Ebinger was second at 138, Bridgeton's Les Hall took third at 131-10 and Pleasantville's Dontaye Rivera was fifth at 129-4.

"I'm happy to get the win, but I was hoping for a better throw," Hebron said. "I don't really feel that much pain, but I can't really turn it loose like I want to."

Cumberland's Pierce, who is headed to the University of Delaware on a football scholarship as a running back, uncorked a personal-best and school-record throw of 189 feet, 8 inches to win the javelin by over 14 feet. Lacey's Zack Torrell was third at 168-9 and Ocean City's Jack Stephenson sixth at 163-9. Pierce's throw was the longest in the Group III meet since the state adopted the college-sized javelin in 2003.

"There's a lot of pressure that comes with being on top, but I don't let it bother me," Pierce said. "I try to live up (to the hype) every time I throw. I was hoping to throw farther today, though. I wanted to go over 190."

The Caper Tigers' Whalen was thrilled with her performance in the Group II shot put. Her winning toss of 37-2 was her career-best and broke her own school record of 36-8. Barnegat's Tilah Young was second at 36-3, Bridgeton's Kinu Butler finished third at 34-6 and Buena's Shannon Rock was fifth at 33-8.

Whalen's throw came on her second attempt. It was fueled by anger.

"I was really mad at myself because I fouled on my first attempt," Whalen said. "My foot hit the toe board on my first throw, so I never even let go of the shot. I really wanted to make up for that on my next throw."

Burt, who also placed second in the 400 hurdles, took the 400 dash with a strong performance that enabled him to edge Timber Creek's Damiere Byrd. Burt crossed in 48.73 to beat Byrd by one-hundredth of a second.

E-mail David Weinberg:

DWeinberg@pressofac.com

GROUP II BOYS

100-METER DASH: 1. Daquan Brown, Willingboro, 11.15; 2. Farrington, Camden, 11.17; 3. Scott, West Deptford, 11.28; 4. Fearon, West Deptford, 11.32; 5. Dontae McKinnon, Buena, 11.41; 6. Pitterson, Overbrook, 11.43.

400 HURDLES: 1. Kurt Jones, Manchester Township, 55.0; 2. Ward, Sterling, 55.2; 3. Larry Ramirez, Pleasantville, 55.5; 4. Harriot, Camden, 56.3; 5. Hillman, Camden, 57.0; 6. Gacutan, Woodrow Wilson, 57.2.

1,600: 1. Colin Baker, Haddonfield, 4:22.04; 2. Campbell, Cinnaminson, 4:22.88; 3. Potts, Haddonfield, 4:25.42; 4. Vitez, Haddonfield, 4:25.65; 5. Michael Davenport, Pleasantville, 4:29.27; 6. Brown, Manchester, 4:39.47.

DISCUS: 1. Kevin Hebron, Middle Township, 149-9, 2. Ebinger, Barnegat, 138-0; 3. Hall, Bridgeton, 131-10; 4. Rivera, Overbrook, 129-11; 5. Rivera, Pleasantville, 129-4; 6. Hussey, Willingboro, 126-9.

JAVELIN: 1. Kyle McDevitt, Cinnaminson, 170-0; 2. Javier Garcia, Pleasantville, 166-11; 3. Wallner, Haddonfield, 150-10; 4. Dash, Willingboro, 148-4; 5. Gavranich, Haddonfield, 147-10; 6. Nickens, Manchester, 144-0.

GROUP II GIRLS

100-METER DASH: 1. Assante Johnson, Camden, 12.57; 2. Lewis, Woodrow Wilson, 12.59; 3. Williams, West Deptford, 12.75; 4. Goode, Willingboro, 12.76; 5. Jones, Camden, 12.77; 6. Thomas, Willingboro, 12.79.

400 HURDLES: 1.Victoria Clark, Camden, 1:02.08; 2. Arientyl, Willingboro, 1:03.92; 3. Gainey, Camden, 1:04.29; 4. Dominique Best, Pleasantville, 1:05.72; 5. Rowe, Willingboro, 1:06.29; 6. Roman, Buena, 1:07.82.

1,600: 1. Marielle Hall, Haddonfield, 4:53.88; 2. Spinelli, Haddonfield, 5:09.5; 3. McGlinchey, West Deptford, 5:14.32; 4. Rollins, Cinnaminson, 5:16.03; 5. Sikkema, Haddonfield, 5:22.33; 6. Rowe, Willingboro, 5:24.48.

LONG JUMP: 1. Shanavia Thomas, Willingboro, 18-0; 2. Jones, Camden 17-11; 3. Johnson, Camden, 17-6; 4. Williams, West Deptford, 16-111/4; 5. Niedermayer, Cinnaminson, 16-7; 6. Shabazz, Pleasantville, 16-61/2.

SHOT PUT: 1. Gabi Whalen, Lower Cape May, 37-2; 2. Young, Barnegat, 36-33/4; 3. Butler, Bridgeton, 34-6; 4. Sample, Camden, 33-81/4; 5. Rock, Buena, 33-8; 6. Adebamowo, Manchester Township, 33-61/4.

GROUP III BOYS

100-METER DASH: 1. Damiere Byrd, Timber Creek, 10.92; 2. Brogsdale, Winslow Township, 11.16; 3. McPherson, Delsea Regional, 11.20; 4. Victor Nichols, Cumberland Regional, 11.21; 5. Blair, Timber Creek, 11.23; 6. Spady, Pemberton, 11.28.

1,600: 1. Brett Johnson, Ocean City, 4:18.51; 2. Schoedler, Ocean City, 4:21.05; 3. Forward, Shawnee, 4:23.60; 4. Gorczynski, Highland Regional, 4:25.28; 5. Colasurdo, Lacey Township, 4:33.02; 6. Wolf, Moorestown, 4:34.87.

400 HURDLES: 1. Saliym Starkey, Timber Creek, 54.65; 2. Burt, Lacey Township, 55.60; 3. Durham, Cumberland Regional, 55.91; 4. Medley, Delsea Regional, 56.13; 5. Kinsella, Kingsway, 56.67; 6. Webb, Delsea Regional, 56.81.

GROUP III GIRLS

100-METER DASH: 1. Michelle Brown, Seneca, 12.11; 2. Wilson, Deptford, 12.19; 3. Crofton, Delsea Regional, 12.46; 4. Young, Deptford, 12.88; 5. Smith, Kingsway, 12.94; 6. Dougherty, Clearview, 12.95.

400 HURDLES: 1. Mary Bohi, Seneca, 1:03.47; 2. Elardo, Lacey Township,1:04.01; 3. Jackson, Delsea Regional, 1:06.06; 4. Cassandra Lenkowski, Clearview, 1:06.11; 5. Jensen, Central Regional, 1:06.30; 6. Bradley, Shawnee, 1:06.86.

1,600: 1. Chelsea Ley, Kingsway, 4:59.38; 2. O'Donnell, Delsea Regional, 5:03.77; 3. Rawls, Highland Regional, 5:04.71; 4. Deckert, Delsea Regional, 5:15.24; 5. Horn, Seneca, 5:16.72; 6. Watson, Shawnee, 5:19.64.

SHOT PUT: 1. Lisa Stuto, Brick Township, 41-3; 2. Rose, Delsea Regional, 38-3; 3. Champion, Pemberton, 36-0; 4. Osagie, Seneca, 34-0; 5. Madden, Shawnee, 34-0; 6. Maier, Shawnee, 33-9.

More Coverage

• South Jersey Group IV boys track and field: EHT's Tejay Johnson wins two big races with little time to spare
• South Jersey Group IV girls track and field: Nijgia Snapp snaps her own group record in 400-meter dash
• South Jersey Group IV boys and girls track and field championship results (Day 1)

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