Keely Marsh Slated to Compete Well

By Bruce Barattti
Express Times
June 02, 2004

Keely Marsh, a North Hunterdon senior will participate in her final scholastic competition this evening in the 36th annual NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield. Marsh, the 2003 Group 3 state pole champion will be in the same field with sophomore Kristen Hafford of Warren Hills, who took fifth in the Group 3 meet, and Delaware Valley's

Danielle Luthringer, who took fifth in Group 2. Marsh's personal best of 11-0 came in last year's Meet of Champs, so the vaulting facility is to her liking. That performance ranks Marsh tied for fifth all-time in the region. She's a member of Mike Lawryk's Vertical Assault Club in Bethlehem, which transformed her from a 7-6 vaulter to an 11-footer by the end of last year.

Marsh emerged at last year's Skyland Conference Championships, where she won at a height of 10-2. She went on to win both the Central Jersey (North Hunterdon was shifted to North 2 last fall) sectional and Group 3 titles and went on to finish second to Shawnee's Danielle O'Reilly, the favorite in today's competition, at the M of C.

Keely Marsh will be enrolling at Brown in the fall, where she will be part of the Bruins' program.

Crossin steps up for final race

Becky Crossin's farewell track and field tour will consist of four laps, not two as expected.

The North Hunterdon senior will participate in her final scholastic race this evening in the 36th annual NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield, and it'll be over 1,600 meters rather than her specialty, the 800.

She'll be joined at the meet by teammate Keely Marsh, who will be one of three athletes from Hunterdon and Warren counties in the girls pole vault. This duo will be among 20 athletes -- 10 boys and 10 girls -- from the two counties who will be participating in the 5 -hour meet, which brings together the top six medal-winners in each event at the four Group and two Parochial meets from last weekend's NJSIAA Championships.

Field events will begin at 4 p.m., with the running events getting under way at 5.

This won't be the last time Crossin and Marsh will be participating together in a track meet. The two will be enrolling at Brown in the fall, where the two will be part of the Bruins' program.

So why is Crossin electing to be part of an elite 1,600 field instead of the 800 where she's ranked No. 8 all-time in The Express-Times region off her time of 2:13.86 in last year's Meet of Champions race?

"I just wanted to have a chance to break five minutes (in the 1,600)," said Crossin, a polite brunette who seems to wear an ever-present smile. "It's my only event and I don't think I've ever been in a position where I've raced to my full potential."

Crossin, who's seeded fifth, will be in a field led by Ocean City sophomore Brittany Sedberry, who won the Group 3 title in 4:56.17. Sedberry is one of three sub-5-minute runners in the race.

"We're looking at it like this," said Don Roberts, North Hunterdon's coach. "Say Becky runs a good 800 and gets down to what, 2:12? The five-minute barrier is much more appealing to her."

If Crossin get under five minutes, she'll be the 14th runner in region history to do it.

Marsh, the 2003 Group 3 state pole champion, finished fourth last weekend by clearing 10 feet, 6 inches. She'll be in the same field with sophomore Kristen Hafford of Warren Hills, who took fifth in the Group 3 meet, and Delaware Valley's Danielle Luthringer, who took fifth in Group 2.

Marsh's personal best of 11-0 came in last year's Meet of Champs, so the vaulting facility is to her liking.

That performance ranks Marsh tied for fifth all-time in the region. She's a member of Mike Lawryk's Vertical Assault Club in Bethlehem, which transformed her from a 7-6 vaulter to an 11-footer by the end of last year.

Marsh emerged at last year's Skyland Conference Championships, where she won at a height of 10-2. She went on to win both the Central Jersey (North Hunterdon was shifted to North 2 last fall) sectional and Group 3 titles and went on to finish second to Shawnee's Danielle O'Reilly, the favorite in today's competition, at the M of C.

O'Reilly is the top-ranked high school vaulter in the U.S., having cleared 13-3 at the Olympic Conference Championships last month.

"I haven't had quite the finish I had last year," Marsh admitted. "I would like to go 11-6, which would be my PR (personal record). I don't know what it is. I seem to be all right in practice but as soon as I get into competition, the bar kind of freaks me out.

"When I'm up in the air and my hands leave the pole, the first thing I see is the bar. I get overexcited and that's when my mechanics get messed up."