More stories from the N.J. Meet of Champions
BAYVILLE, N.J. - Jon Taylor is a football player, first and foremost. The Salem High School junior certainly looks the part. At 6-foot and a muscular 211 pounds, he stood apart from many of the lithe and lean athletes at the Meet of Champions for track and field on Wednesday night.
BAYVILLE, N.J. - Jon Taylor is a football player, first and foremost.
The Salem High School junior certainly looks the part. At 6-foot and a muscular 211 pounds, he stood apart from many of the lithe and lean athletes at the Meet of Champions for track and field on Wednesday night.
When the gun sounded for the finals of the 100-meter dash, Taylor separated himself again.
"It's not something I expected," Taylor said after winning the race at Central Regional High School in 10.61 seconds. "Last year, I was running in the 11s (seconds)."
Taylor is a star running back for the Salem football team. He ran for 1,383 yards and 11 touchdowns in leading the Rams to an 8-2 record last season.
Taylor has committed to attend Rutgers University on a football scholarship.
But he's burst into prominence in spring track. Taylor ran the fastest 100 time in the state this season with a 10.55 to win the Group 1 sectional meet May 27 at Egg Harbor Township.
By winning the 100 meters at the Meet of Champions - which brings together the top finishers from last weekend's six state championship events - Taylor earned the unofficial title of the state's fastest schoolboy.
"It's means a lot," Taylor said. "I play football. I'm known for football. But when I go out for a sport, I'm going to give it everything that I have and try to be as good as I can be."
Brovero finishes strong. Delsea senior Jarrod Brovero won the pole vault with jump of 14 feet, 6 inches.
Not bad for an athlete who didn't participate in track and field until his freshman year.
"I was a baseball/lacrosse guy" before high school, Brovero said. "The winter of my freshman year, I would come home after school and not do anything.
"My dad finally said, 'I'm sick of seeing you sitting around the house. Find something to do in the spring.' So I decided to try track and the pole vault."
Brovero said he struggled to conquer the event as a freshman, jumping just nine feet. He improved to 13 feet as a sophomore and was hoping to crack 15 feet this season but settled for 14-6 on a few occasions.
Still, winning the event at the Meet of Champions was a big deal to Brovero.
"It's huge," said Brovero, who plans to continue his career at Rutgers University. "There's so many good pole vaulters in New Jersey. To win this, it's a huge honor."
Mack's special victory. Williamstown junior Bria Mack won the girls' 100 in 11.87seconds.
Mack said the triumph had extra meaning for her because she missed much of the winter season and wasn't even sure of her status for the spring after undergoing surgery in December to remove a cyst from her breast.
"I've learned to endure," Mack said. "Faith and endurance, that's what got me through."
Mack said she was began experiencing pain in her chest in the fall. At first, she thought she was just sore from workouts.
But as the condition persisted, she underwent a battery of tests that eventually discovered the issue: She had a number of non-cancerous cysts in both of her breasts, she said.
Mack underwent surgery to have one of the cysts removed on Dec. 15. She said she has more surgery scheduled for the removal of more cysts on July 29.
In the meantime, she blazed through the spring season, running the fastest time in the state in the 100 with an 11.68 at the South Jersey Group 4 meet, breaking former Eastern and Oregon star English Gardner's nine-year-old meet record.
On Wednesday, she earned the unofficial title as fastest schoolgirl in the state.
"Last year, I lost because of fear," Mack said. "This year, I just wanted to go out and run. I spent so much time in doctors' offices all winter.
"I just wanted to get back out on the track, back out with my teammates. That's what meant the most to me."
@PhilAnastasia