Pats start fast en route to county track title BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer Dan Mularz was up first. The 400-intermediate hurdles kicks off track and field meets and the Freehold Township hurdler knew what he needed to do at last week's Monmouth County Track and Field Championships. "This race sets the tone for the meet," said Mularz. "With all my teammates cheering me on, I couldn't let them down." Mularz battled an excellent field and the elements (strong cross wind) to claim his first individual county championship (54.81) to provide the Patriots with just the kind of start they needed at Neptune High School. With teammate Bobby Searby in fourth (56.44), those 14 points in the very first final delivered a strong message to the rest of the contenders, that Freehold Township had star power and depth. It was the start of two very big days for the Pats. Led by the meet's Most Outstanding Athletes,Mularz (track) andMarcus Goode (field), the Patriots won their first county championship with 75 points. Runner-up Neptune was second with 57.5 and Christian Brothers Academy, third (49.5). The meet was held over two days, Wednesday and Saturday. "This is one we had to win," saidMularz, who won two individual events, placed in a third and ran on the Pats'winning, recordsetting 4x400 relay team. Goode, who won the long jump in a school record 22-10 and the triple jump (45- 1¼), said the championship was the culmination of the team's work over the last couple of years. "We saw ourselves getting better when we were sophomores and juniors and to have it all come together is great. I'mproud of everyone on the team. "It's really, really gratifying," he added. "A lot of guys posted personal bests." Coach Brian Golub also pointed to the team's steady progress over the last few years. "They've earned everything they're getting," he said. "They work hard every day. Mularz was the Pats' iron man on the track. After winning the 400 hurdles on Thursday, he qualified for Saturday's finals in the 110-meter high hurdles and the 400. He proved he is the county's best hurdler by winning the 110-meter high hurdles by almost half a second (a bigmargin in the event) in 14.64 seconds, as he was the only hurdler under 15 seconds. In the 400, his 50.37 time was good for third place with teammate Searby just ahead of him in second (49.73). After that two-three finish, Golub said he was "able to breathe a little." Those 12 points were more than he expected and all but clinched it. On the track, coup de grace was the relay. Abe Hamami, Searby, Mularz and Ryan Spadola smashed the Freehold District record, winning by five seconds in 3:21.79. Searby was the star of the show, taking the team from seventh to second. When Mularz took the stick for the third leg, he was just 5 meters down. He ran conservatively for the first half of his leg before leaving everyone standing still. When he had the baton to Spadola for the anchor leg, the Pats had a 15-meter lead and Spadola was on cruise control. Still, the Pats managed to lower the old District record of 3:22.4 set in 1985 byMarlboro's quartet of Steve Herring, Craig Weinstein, Jim Orrange and Bob Roche. Orrange was a two-time state champion in the 400 hurdles, and Roche still holds the District record for 800 meters (1:51.6). Goode got his meet off to a great start, breaking his own school record in the long jump by extending it 22-10¼ from 21-9. Goode credited the sprinting he has been doing with making him faster in his run-up. Helping out in the field was Max Lit, who took third in the javelin (159-4). Mark Leininger is rapidly becoming one of the state's best distance runners. The junior was second in the 1,600 run on Thursday behind Red Bank Catholic's Kevin Byrne, 4:23.70-4:24.73. He came back Saturday and captured the 3,200 crown in 9:34.49. Teammate Mike O'Dowd was sixth (9:49.53). Ashton Gooding added a fifth in the triple jump (41-11½) and long jump (20-9½) to the Cougars' point total. Manalapan's Robby Andrews was looking for a 400-800 double, but he false started out of the 400. He came back, however, to win the 800 in the year's fastest time, 1:54.30. He beat a deep 800 field that had eight runners under 2:00. Andrews did get his 400 work in the 4x400 relay.He,Matt Guerron, Chris Pellicano and Derek Sammak were sixth in 3:29.14. The Braves George Catuogno won the boys javelin in a competition that could have been a replay of the Freehold Regional District meet. His 169-1 barely edged Holmdel's Jesse Fleischner (168-7). After them, Lit was third (159-4) and Freehold Borough's Scott Harman, fifth (155-10). Harman, the newly crowned Freehold District pole vault champion matched his season's best 13-6 in finishing second to Matawan's Mike McGuiness (14-3). Next up is the Shore Conference meet Friday and Saturday back atNeptuneHigh School.