Byrne guides Ridgewood to section title by Paul Schwartz of The Record
TOMS RIVER — Billy Byrne returned for his senior year with the same talent he had flashed through his distance running career, but with a new confidence and determination.
Everybody has noticed. And as a result, his distance double at the North 1 Group 4 sectional Saturday night at the Bennett Center led the Maroons to a 62-43 win over Morristown for their second straight sectional title and record fourth overall.
“His intensity is so much greater than it has been in the past,” said classmate Ryan Vimba, who won the pole vault with a personal best tying jump of 13 feet, 6 inches. “You can really see it on the track — his desire and confidence shine through.”
Kobi Grant saw it too — the senior sprinter, whose impressive win in the 55 meters put the Maroons ahead to stay late in the meet, said Byrne is “more determined and has more drive than I’ve ever seen in him.”
Byrne broke open the 1,600 meters and won by 20 meters in 4:24.89 and then dominated the 3,200 meters from the opening gun en route to an effortless 9:40.64, which has acting indoor head coach Patrick Ryan wondering what his LaSalle-bound star can accomplish over the next several weeks.
“He really started to blossom at the Shore Coaches [cross-county] meet in early October and he just hasn’t stopped,” said Ryan. “I know it sounds crazy but I’m not sure anyone in the state can beat him right now.”
The same can be said for Ridgewood’s girl distance wonder, Olympia Martin, who also scored a 1,600-3,200 double in an indoor personal best of 5:03.26 for the 1,600 and a sectional-record 10:53.32 for the 3,200.
Her effort and great performances by Nicole Lester in the pole vault and Katherine Muccio in the sprints made the girls group 4 race much closer than expected, but Randolph edged Ridgewood, 74-72, each team having won four titles since the meet started in 2008.
“We couldn’t quite get there,” said Ryan. “I knew it was going to be a close meet, but when they were able to break into the 800 with two girls from the unseeded heat, I knew we wouldn’t get there.
The top six athletes or teams in each event qualify for the Group 4 state finals at the Bennett Center on Feb. 18 with the Meet of Champions Feb. 25 for boys and the next day for girls.
Two who should be there are sectional 800 winners Kevin Heredia of Clifton (2:00.23) and Carly Spinnler of Passaic Tech (2:20.15) who repeated their impressive wins at the Passaic County meet five days earlier with nearly identical times on the slower Toms River track.
“I really am training harder and trying to get even better,” said Spinnler, who ran away on the final two laps and seems ready to run very fast on Feb. 18. “I was a little lazy as a freshman because I knew I had three years left, but now as a junior I want to get better.”