Forys' swan song: two wins, MOC meet record
Greaves, Mayers also capture gold
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Above, Lakewood's Emmanuel Mayers beats Delsea's Aaron Younger to the line to win the 400-meter hurdles race at the June 6 Meet of Champions in South Plainfield. Below, Jackson senior Amanda Marino competes in the 3,200-meter race in the final race of her scholastic career on New Jersey soil.

Craig Forys said goodbye as only he can - magnificently.The Colts Neck senior, running the final races of his scholastic career in New Jersey, captured his record-tying eighth and ninth NJSIAA Meet of Champions gold medals on June 6 at the Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield.

With a tinge of sadness and pride, Forys said, "It's over" shortly after winning the 3,200 in a meet-record 8:52.58. The record he lowered was his own (8:56.14 last year, and that was running only the 3,200).

"It's been a great run," he said. "I wanted to go out with a bang."

He did just that, becoming just the second runner to win the 1,600-3,200 double at the outdoor MOC, joining Bernards' Jim Nielsen, who did it in 1984. With an indoor sweep of the 16 and 32 last year, Forys is the only runner in state history to win the double both indoors and outdoors.

Forys, like many of the athletes at the MOC, was not ready to go down memory lane just yet, because the National Scholastic Outdoor Championships are on tap this weekend in Greensboro, N.C. But Forys noted that there was one image that he will take away from the meet that will last a lifetime.

"I tried looking over [at the crowd] to get a caption in my head," he said.

While the cheering crowd left an indelible impression on the Cougar, he also left a lasting impression on state track and field fans, who witnessed over the past four years perhaps the finest distance runner in state history. Certainly, he is the most decorated with those nine MOC titles (Bayonne's Glenn DiGiorgio won his nine titles in the shot put and discus).

Winning the double, which had not been achieved in 23 years, was impressive enough, but what made it so much more unforgettable was the way he did it against quality runners. The 4:09.59 in the 1,600 would have won every other race but one in meet history, while his 3,200 is second to none.

First up for the unmatched Cougar was the 1,600. A strong headwind on the backstretch erased any plans for a record attempt in that race, but he did get a break when Union Catholic's Brian Guterl went straight to the front and ran an opening 60 quarter.

Usually, Forys would find himself alone at this point, but was able to tuck in behind Guterl and avoid the wind. He remained behind Guterl as they began to pull away from the field.

Coming off the fourth turn with the wind to his back, Forys struck.

Putting on a decisive move, he left Guterl standing still. Uncoiling the kick that no one in New Jersey has matched for the past three years, Forys would run the final 400 in 58.9.

By the time the 3,200 came around, the wind had died down and night had fallen.

"It was awesome at night running under the lights," he said. "I felt awesome coming into the race. I felt like I was flying."

And he was awesome in it, beating a top-notch field decisively.

"I wanted to bide my time and not be too anxious," he said.

Andrew Hanko of Trinity Christian took the lead at the start, taking the field through the first 1,600 in 4:34. He was running negative splits over the second 400, but it took little toll on Forys.

With 700 meters remaining, Forys again turned it up. As he majestically opened up a decisive gap, there was little anyone else could do but run for second. He closed with a 59.9 this time.

His second 1,600 was an extraordinary 4:18.0, letting everyone in attendance see a special runner competing at his peak.

The breakdown of Forys' nine MOC titles is four outdoors, three indoors and two in cross country.

For the second straight year, he completed the distance triple, winning the cross country title in the fall, 3,200 indoors and 3,200 outdoors.

Higginson , Greaves, Mayers also capture gold

Forys wasn't the only Cougar saying goodbye in a blaze of glory.

Ashley Higginson, who has put together one of the best seasons any girl distance runner in the state has enjoyed, completed her great career by winning her first outdoor MOC. The Cougar won a record-tying three indoor 3,200 titles, but until Wednesday, the outdoor MOC had escaped her grasp. From the start of the 3,200, Higginson held the race firmly in her hand. Displaying just how dominant she has become in the past 12 months, the only question was who was going to finish second and how fast she was going to run.

Last June, she was third in this race, running 10:38.42. That wasn't going to happen this time. She ran solo the entire race, turning in a 10:23.28, a new Shore Conference record.

"I'm happy to get the MOC win," she said. "I was finally able to stick it out to the end and peak at the right time. I ran 20 seconds faster than I did last year. I'm on an upswing."

Higginson ran her first 1,600 in 5:08.9 and came back with a 5:14.4 to lower the old SC record by a runner who was one of her idols, Amanda Trotter of Red Bank Regional, who had run 10:28.11 during her storied career. This wasn't the first time that Higginson has gotten the measure of one of her idols growing up. She has spent the past two years erasing the Freehold District records of Howell's MOC winner, Lindsey Gallo.

Higginson, who like Forys was the indoor national champion at 3,200, is also running this weekend in Greensboro.

Lakewood's Shavon Greaves was the top seed in both the 100 and 200, and hoped to capture the gold in both events.

Unfortunately, Eastern freshman English Gardner made her MOC debut a splash by beating Greaves to the line in the 100 (11.62-11.68). However, Greaves, who was obviously upset following the finish, persevered , coming back later in the day to beat Gardner in the 200, 23.89 to 24.11, and capture a gold medal after all.

Like Greaves, senior Emmanuel Mayers was the top seed in two events - the 400 hurdles and the 110 hurdles. And like Greaves, he managed to capture gold in just one of them, the 400 hurdles.

Mayers was the class of the field for the second straight year in the 400 hurdles, easily winning his heat race and taking control of the final from the very start. Mayers took the lead in the first 150 meters, then held off a late charge from Delsea's Aaron Young at the line to defend his title.

Later in the day, however, Mayers was not as fortunate in the 110 hurdles, finishing third in 14.09, as Hanover Park's Mike Cuppari captured the title in 14.05, just ahead of Trenton Central's Tykeen Fulton (14.06).

Among other local competitors who fared well at the MOC were Jackson's Amanda Marino, who took eighth in the 3,200 (10:48.18), and her teammate Shannon Watt, who was fifth in the discus (118-04) and 13th in the shot put (38-11), while Howell's Jamie Leacock took 10th in the girls 400 intermediate hurdles (1:04.44), and teammate Brittany Napoli, was ninth in the javelin (120-4).