SHORE AC ATHLETES PLAY DOMINANT ROLESAT ANNUAL ASSOCIATION CHAMPIONSHIPS

Eighteen Gold medals, thirteen Silvers,  six  Bronzes.That was the tremendous haul by our terrific Shore AC athletes at the annual New Jersey-New York
USATF Association Open and Masters Dual Meet at Ocean Breeze, Staten Island, on Saturday, Feb. 25…
Verrrrrrry well done, one and all.
National  Masters Hall of Famer/Multiple National Record-Breaker Nene Lewis was again sensational
 with three golds in the W60 bracket – putting the shot 10.04 meters, tossing the weight 15.89, and heaving the superweight 11.65..
Dr. Harry Nolan, another National Masters Hall of Famer, ran off with the M75 800 title in 3:05.52, as veteran teammate John Kuhi (a Shore AC Hall of Famer along with Lewis and Nolan)  ran third (5:13.28.)
Dr. Ivan Black starred in both track and field events – collecting two  M70 golds, four silvers and one bronze, busily shuttling between events in his personal sep-tathlon. Doctor B won the high jump (1.25) and shot put (7.66)  and took seconds in the 60-meter hurdles  (13.20),long jump (3.55)and  triple jump (7.78) and a third in the 60 sprint (10.35.),
Diane Essilfie dashed to the W45 60-meter title in 8.68.  Another sprint star was clubmate David Gritz, second in M70 at 9.65.   Bill Indek sped home fifth in the M75 60 in 13.05 and sixth at 200 (53.17.) Runner-up in the M45 was Alexander Buoye (13.43.)
Pat  Toland won the M50 weight (tossing 14.78) and wound up third (at 11.93) in the shot put, an event won by teammate Gerry Donini , the former IC4A SP gold medalist, at 12.82.  Then it was SAC’s Ralph Bischof’s turn in the throws ring and he came through with an M60 superweight win  at 5.19 and a silver in the weight at 7.42. 
Michael Twist, a star of Shore AC’s Millrose Games second-place DMR team, ran off with M25 800 title in 1:59.08.   Runner-up in the men’s Open 800 was Shore AC’s Michael Drews (2:02.73.)
Alan Laws Jr  (who is a World Police Championship gold-medalist) sped off with the M30 400-meter title 51.41.  SAC stalwart Matt Wallack was a close second in the M60 400 at 1:02.79, just 0.24 back of the winner.   Alexander Buoye registered a  13.43 second place in the M45 hurdles.
The one-mile racewalk saw Shore AC’s Ryan Allen (a freshman at Villanova who was the nation’s premier scholastic racewalker  in 2022, taking Men’s Open and over-all honors in a quick 6:47.50, with teammates Rich Luettchau first in M35 (6:56.90), Luis Campos first in M60 (9:08.77) and Tim Chelius first in M65 (10:23.38.)    
The M50 1500 final saw clubmates Chris Rinaldi third (5:18.66) and Michael DiLeva fourth (5:33.74)
In the Open 3000 meters, Shore AC’s Xavier Buoye (12:05.60 was a winner and so teammate Michael Salamone in M60 (11:25.83), with John Delaney third in M50 (12:36.95.)
  Meanwhile, back in the Ocean Breeze throws cage, veteran Shore AC standouts Ira Wolfe and George Kochman were displaying their talents, too.  Wolfe – who held the Montclair State University shot put record for over a half-century and was one of the top performers on Shore AC’s famed 1969 tour of England, Scotland and Wales, finished second in both the M75 weight (6.45) and superweight (2.31) and third in the SP (5.69.)
Kochman, well known as one of the nation’s best track and field writers for many years –his stories for the Staten Island Advance have been must-reading for the borough’s track fans -  as well as well as a famed  coach (Farrell HS and Wagner College) and top national distance runner , turned his attention to the M80 shot put, and came through with a 4.95 silver-medal performance.
No official team scores were announced, but Shore AC surely would have been “right up there.”
Once again, the youngsters (mostly middle-schoolers) of the Merrell  Noden Track Club scored lots of points, too.   The MNTC, organized by Shore AC alumnus – and famed comedian – Joe Bolster – is named for and is a tribute to the late, great Shore AC / Lawrenceville School/Princeton University middle distance star and noted Sports Illustrated sports writer who left us far too early.
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BUT THE OCEAN BREEZE meet was just the start of a busy weekend.
Very next day, Sunday, Feb. 26, five Shore AC stalwarts did a great job of it at the Potomac Valley Open and Masters Championships at Landover, Md.
And it was SAC teammates Tim Chelius and Ralph  Bischof coming through on the gold standard for the second straight day.
Villanova alumnus Chelius won theM65  3000-meter racewalk in 20:01.31 and made his debut as a shot putter with a 6.75 win.
Bischof landed a silver in the M60 shot put at 9.05.
Weight standout Marilyn Coleman added two more firsts for Shore AC with her W45 victories in the W45 weight (12.99) and superweight (8.24) events.
Frequent National Open Championship place winner Kris Kornegay-Gober led theM30 high with a good clearance of 2.10, then placed second in the 60 sprint at 7.43.
Spider Rossiter was a busy teammate, too, netting silvers in the M70 800 (2:43.36) and 1500 (5:34.85) events.
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NEXT ON THE MASTERS SLATE is the USATF Indoor National Masters March 11-12 in Louisville, Ky.
Shore AC teammates entered are Neni Lewis, Rick Lee,  Dr. Harry Nolan, Dr. Ivan Black, Tim Chelius, John Kuhi, Stan Edelson, Carl Huff and Michael Jennetta.
As ever, Go Shore AC Go!  Go Team Go !