Julia Petruch of Colts Neck High School competes in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the NJSIAA Group IV state championship track and field meet on June 1 in Old Bridge. Petruch was a versatile performer for the Cougars in 2012 and today she has earned a spot on the All-FRHSD Girls Track and Field Team. ERIC SUCAR staff Versatile multi-event standouts were the highlight of the 2012 girls spring track and field season in the Freehold Regional High School District.

Manalapan’s Mary Grace Monahan showed range from 100 to 800 meters.

Colts Neck’s Julia Petruch excelled in the hurdles on the track and in the long jump and triple jump in the field.

Colts Neck’sAlly Doyle stood out in all three throwing events: discus, javelin and shot put.

Doyle (discus) and Howell’s Kendal Hand (400-meter intermediate hurdles) were the FRHSD’s Central Jersey Group IV state sectional champions in 2012.

Monahan (400), Doyle (discus) and Howell’s Monet Masters (pole vault) won Monmouth County crowns this spring.

The FRHSD was blessed with a stable of sprinters. At the county championships, four of the top six finishers in the 100-meter dash final were from the FRHSD.

When it came to team performance in 2012, Howell won the Shore Conference A North Division title, sharing the crown with Middletown South after the teams finished in a tie in their dual meet.

Today, Hand (400 hurdles), Monahan (400), Petruch (100 hurdles, triple jump) and Doyle (shot put, discus) lead Greater Media Newspapers’ 2012 All-Freehold Regional High School District Girls Track and Field Team.

Joining them are Marlboro’s Kimberly McKinnon (100), Colts Neck’s Juliana Wittmann (200), Freehold Township’s Emily Bracher (800), Freehold Township’s Brianne Roche (1,600/3,200) and Freehold Township’s 4x400-meter relay team of Sarah Morrison, Heather Spadola, Emily Bracher and Natalie Savarino.

The All-FRHSD field event stars are Howell’s Melody Walthers (javelin) and Allison Whalen (high jump), and Freehold Township’s Deanna Johnson (long jump) in addition to Masters and Doyle.

Monahan, who just completed her sophomore year at Manalapan, has remarkable range. She was competitive in the short sprints (100, 200) and in the longer races (400, 800). Monahan even did some long jumping for the Braves.

It was in the 400-meter dash that Monahan excelled the most as she won the county title (57.80) and finished second in the Shore Conference meet. She was third in Central Jersey Group IV and 17th in the Group IV state meet.

Monahan ran her first 800 at the county freshman-sophomore championships and won the race in 2:22.22. She then ran the 800 at the state sectional meet and turned in a time of 2:18.49, finishing third. She has quite a future in front of her.

Hand was the dominant 400-meter hurdler in the FRHSD this spring, advancing all the way to the state Meet of Champions. She opened her season with a win at the Husky Relays. She was second in the county meet and fourth in the conference championships. That led to her big win at the Central Jersey Group IV meet in a personal best time of 1:04.13. She placed ninth in the Group IV meet, but ran fast enough (1:05.02) to qualify as a wild card for the Meet of Champions.

In addition to running the hurdles, Hand ran the 400 and 800 and even found time to run the steeplechase. Hand, who was a key member of Howell’s Central Jersey cross country championship team, is headed to Monmouth University.

The FRHSD was fortunate to have some of the Shore Conference’s most versatile track and field athletes this spring and Petruch was certainly one of them. On the track, Petruch was outstanding in the 100 hurdles, placing third in the county, seventh in the conference and seventh in Central Jersey. Her personal best time was 15.04 set at the Lion Invitational, where she finished fourth. She was second only to Hand in the 400 hurdles.

Petruch triple jumped her way to the Meet of Champions and had a personal best effort of 37-10½, set at the Group IV state meet where she placed seventh. The Cougars’ senior finished third in the county, fourth in the conference and second in Central Jersey Group IV.

Petruch’s personal best in the long jump is 17-0½ and she was fourth in the county and eighth in Central Jersey in that event. Petruch has competed in the heptathlon and scored 3,678 points in the seven-event competition.

Roche enjoyed a breakout season in 2012, emerging as the FRHSD’s best distance runner on the track. The Freehold Township junior began the season with a second place finish at the county championships in the 3,200-meter run.

She followed that up with a fourth place finish in Central Jersey and she ran fast enough at the Group IV meet (11:13.45) to earn a wild card to the state Meet of Champions. Her personal best time was 11:07.59.

Roche was also strong in the 1,600- meter run, with a personal best time of 5:10.47, which she set in finishing fourth at the state sectional meet.

Roche’s Freehold Township teammate, Bracher, who was a freshman, was fifth in the 800-meter run at the county meet and then turned in her personal best time of 2:19.84 at the state sectional meet where she finished fourth. She had enough pure speed to run on the Patriots’ 4x400 relay team.

In a crowded field of sprinters, it was Colts Neck senior Wittmann and Marlboro junior McKinnon who came out on top.

Wittmann excelled in the 100 and 200. She was sixth in the county and fifth in Central Jersey Group IV in the 100 (personal best time of 12.80). In the 200, she finished third in the county and fourth in the state sectional meet. Her personal best was 26.12.

McKinnon was second in the 100-meter dash at the county championships and eighth in Central Jersey. She turned in the year’s fastest 100-meter time, 12.73, in her qualifying heat at the state sectional meet.

There was a case for four 4x400 relay teams to claim the top spot in the FRHSD as Freehold Township, Marlboro, Howell and Colts Neck took turns beating each other and running within a couple seconds of each other overall.

The ever-so-slight edge went to the Patriots’ quartet, which turned in the year’s fastest time, 4:00.12, while finishing second at the Shore Conference Championships.

Masters claimed the biggest victory of her career when she won the Monmouth County pole vault title in a personal best height of 10-6. She vaulted 10-6 throughout the season, placing third in the conference, fourth in the state sectional meet and seventh in Group IV. She placed 15th at the state Meet of Champions.

Masters competed in the long jump for the first time in 2012 and with a leap of 16- 1½ she placed sixth in the county meet. The Howell senior will attend the U.S. Coast Guard Academy where she will continue her pole vault career.

Doyle had a steady season with the discus. She won the Monmouth County title with a personal best throw of 119-5. She was third in Central Jersey Group IV and seventh in the Group IV meet with a throw of 116-11 that earned her a wild card invitation to the state Meet of Champions. The senior is more than a thrower. At the recent Vertical Adventures Heptathlon, she finished third with 3,055 points.

Walthers intruded on Doyle’s monopoly in the throwing events as she emerged as the best FRHSD performer in the javelin. Walthers had the best throw at the Monmouth County Relays, 112-2. The junior was seventh in the county and fifth in Central Jersey.

Whalen, a sophomore, leaped a personal best 5-0 in the high jump this spring. She placed sixth in the county and more impressively, fifth in state sectional meet.

Johnson, a junior, was in Petruch’s shadow in the triple jump where she had a personal best of 37-0 and placed third in Central Jersey Group IV. The junior was a capable long jumper with a personal best of 16-4¼. She was second at the Cougar Relays and 10th in the county and state sectional meet.

Special mention goes to Freehold Township’s 4x800-meter relay team. Off their win at the Rowan University Open, the quartet of Adrian Vitello, Abigail Faith, Heather Spadola and Bracher won a medal at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions by finishing sixth (9:21.30).

Student-athletes who have earned All- FRHSD honorable mention recognition based on their performances in 2012 are Jackie Wold (100, 200), Victoria Zamarra (hurdles) and Arielle Weiner (3,200), of Colts Neck; Marissa Montanero, (high jump), of Freehold; Brittany Smalls (triple jump), and Jamie Hand (1,600), of Howell; Megan Palmer (discus), of Manalapan; and Cassandra Spano (shot put) and I.J. Unachukwu (100), of Marlboro.