Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 38

PAGE C7 ASBURY PARK PRESS FRIDAY, JULY 18. 1997 SCHOLASTIC ED CHAMPS cTCT-nms cms in r.x r.r,:n dtarann 3 )OurrPoo TRACK Jp kS 3200 campion Ji cinansmiaa Sr7 fJfJ GUAR Shea has made positive impact on hometown BeyUrch has put Pinelands on track map bounds. In 26 games in his '97 baseball season, he batted .494 with 50 RBI and a .675 on-base percentage. He stole 15 bases in 15 attempts. "I'm just happy I can be in such a class with him," Shea said of Peltz.

"A lot of good people came through here. It's just hard to notice them because we're so small." Stark said, "Sometimes the people here have a small, overblown view of what they are. Then they get out and can't handle it. By TERRY LIPSHETZ STAFF WRITER IT SEEMED like nothing could stop Amy Beykirch in her quest for cross country gold last fall in the Meet of Champions one of the few titles she had yet to win. And after winning the Ocean County, Shore Conference and South Jersey Group II meets, she was well on her way to fulfilling that dream.

he Jim Sullivan Award is presented annually to the top male and female athletes in the Shore Conference. Members of the Asbury Park Press scholastic sports staff vote on the award recipients. He said only six Titan football players have 'played four years of college ball. "I told Billy that it would be better to go out and break that record than any scoring record," Stark said. But the people But something got in her way the flu.

Although she turned in a silver-medal performance in Group II, Bey-kirch's condition worsened the next week, which led to a time one minute slower than her normal Sullivan, who died in 1983, was a longtime sports writer for the Asbury Park Press. His columns, "Sully's Sports," "Sports Angles" and "Then and Now," appeared in the sports pages of the Asbury Park Press from the 1940s into the 70s. The Press used the following information in selecting the award winners. Number of sports played and diversity of those sports; achievement in sports played (All-Shore honors, school and team awards); leadership qualities; citizenship qualities, and academic achievement. By DEBBIE WALDEYER STAFF WRITER BILLY SHEA'S story is about Keansburg.

Ask anyone. Most anyone in town will tell you, in one way or another, how the one-square-mile town has been both affected by, and affects, this rising star. How he may be the best three-sport athlete ever to walk the halls of Keansburg High School. How he has brought recognition and admiration to the sports programs. How he's helped others in the blue-collar town.

And now, how important it is for him to find as much success outside of Keansburg as he has inside. For these reasons and more, Shea is the recipient of this year's Jim Sullivan Award as the top male athlete in the Shore Conference. "I don't think anybody who's gone through Keansburg for three sports in four years has been more of an impact player than Billy," said Jon Schultheis, the Titans' fullback coach and a Keansburg graduate. Not even Pete Peltz? Peltz, a 1974 graduate, is a Keansburg legend. He played three sports for two years, but dropped football after his sophomore year, concentrating on basketball and baseball, in which he played varsity for four years.

Baseball coach Bob Waldron gives Peltz the edge in basketball because he was a "pure shooter, while Billy got all his "points underneath," but credits Shea as the better football and baseball player. Schultheis says Shea "stands alone." Basketball coach Tom Stark says Peltz was better in basketball and baseball, "but if you look at the three sports, Billy was the best overall." In football, Shea had 381 carries for 2,900 yards (7.6 yards per carry) with 37 touchdowns, and 30 catches for 529 yards (17.6 yards per catch) with five touchdowns. In basketball, Shea finished with 1,377 points and 654 re- Paul Santisieri, Beykirch's coach, knows how hard she has worked over the past four years. "She's very consistent, that's for sure," Santisieri said. "She had (a disappointing) end of the cross country season, but she came back from being sick, and came back and trained like gangbusters, and was focused." Boys track coach Bill Bruno, who was one of Beykirch's teachers, said, "She's had a special year for sure.

I think the best thing is, she's kept everything in perspective, never let anything get in her head and kept things in the framework of her teams." She has won 12 straight school MVP awards, and at graduation received the Outstanding Athletic Achievement Award engraved with "Example for the Green and the Gold of the Future." Pinelands athletics director Thomas Procopio says Beykirch's accomplishments will continue to have an impact on girls sports at the school. "The biggest thing I can say about Amy is, I don't think in my 22 years of education I ever met a person in her caliber or class," Procopio said. "She almost single-handedly put Pinelands cross country on the map." Santisieri agrees. "(She) not only had an impact individually, but an impact on the program overall," he said. "We went from six girls her freshman year to having 33 siped up for this coming season.

That's a testament to her being a team player and a team person." Beykirch also got the job done academically, ranking fourth in a class of 195. "That was just hard work and determination, and I guess that paid off," she said. "There are kids who want to be like Amy," Procopio said. "Kids coming from across the street (from the middle school) want to be like Amy Beykirch." who really know Shea aren't worried. "I've heard about kids not playing after leaving here," said Frank Ruggeri, Shea's stepfather.

"But Billy's not that kind of kid. He thrives on pressure." In four years at Keansburg, Shea has had more than his share of winning at the highest level two Central Jersey Group I football titles ('94, '96), a CJ Group I basketball title ('95) and a CJ Group I baseball title ('97). It's made for quite a few awards. "The (Board of Education) clerk may be the only person glad to see Billy go," Schultheis said. pace and 27th place at the Meet of Champions.

Beykirch didn't stay down long. At the beginning of the indoor season, she was back on track. She won the 3,200 at the Meet of Champions, a feat she would repeat in the outdoor Meet of Champions in June. Beykirch, a graduate of Pinelands Regional High School, has been named this year's Jim Sullivan Award winner as the top female athlete in the Shore Conference. "This is an honor because there are so many great athletes in the Shore Conference just in track alone," she said.

"I'm very surprised." PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS lIWSII Classics "'4 iV fc 1 OCEAN COUNTY Offense QB Jeff Pierce (Brick Memorial) FB Dohan (Brick) TB Dunn (Brick) FL Chris Diaz (Toms River East) WR Rich Ruggerio (Jackson) TE Jubak (Brick Memorial) OL Konrad Dean (Jackson) OL Bland (Central) OL Bill Malasf (Manchester) OL Wescott (Toms River South) rinimmuulm Of all the Classic finishes, it's hard to top Ocean's 22-21 victory over Monmouth in Classic XIII for both drama and originality. Not only did Ocean win on a 28-yard field goal on the final play of the game, but the hero, Brick kicker Kurt Weiboldt, devoured a hamburger seconds before delivering the winning boot. "Everybody still laughs about that," said Weiboldt, a volunteer assistant coach at Point Pleasant Boro and a salesman for a lumber company. As Ocean County, coached by Brick Memorial's Jim Calabro, marched into field goal range, Weiboldt admitted he wasn't paying attention. "We were starving," said Weiboldt.

"We didn't eat before the game. There was a kid from Toms River North and his dad gave him a hamburger. Then he had to go into the game. He said, 'Hold onto this. I gotta go "All of a sudden I heard my name OL.

Jared Burke (Lacey) MONMOUTH COUNTY Offense QB Mike Cerminaro (Howell) FB Nkwuo (Freehold Township) TB Dennis Hubbard (Neptune) FL Dave O'Neill (Howell) Mike Quigley (Manalapan) SE Storch (Manasquan) Sinkhorn (Manasquan) 0L David Brown (Monmouth) 0L John Tierney (Mater Dei) JoePilon (Wall) 0L Cerbone (Middletown North) 0L lacouzzi (Keansburg) PK Tim Fawcett (Shore) Defense DE Jon Luick (Wall) DE Shea (Keansburg) Jim Graham (Keansburg) Mike Smith (Manasquan) NG Maurice Jones (Asbury Park) LB J.R. Gurrieri (Howell) LB Nick Knapp (Keansburg) CB Curry (Red Bank) CB Neal (Neptune) Frank Bennett (Middletown South) Glenn Bland (Manalapan) Tony Racioppi (Red Bank) From page CI Tom Tarver threw for 1,312 yards and seven TDs. Four of the scores went to tight end Steve Carr. The two would strike again in Classic on July 31, 1987, at Toms River East. "I remember the last drive like it was yesterday," Tarver said last night of the 22-20 Ocean victory in the final seconds.

"I remember the look in everybody's eyes. I threw it as hard as I could to Steve in the corner. Steve stopped, turned to the sideline, and the ball was there." Tarver, the starting quarterback at Rutgers in 1990 and 1991, has been an assistant coach at Lakewood High School the last few seasons. He said he plans to attend graduate school at Georgian Court College this fall. Connelly (Brick Memorial) PK Filt photo Freehold's Joe "The Jet" Henderson set the Classic rushing record of 161 yards in 1986.

Defense Ken Wallace (Central) DE. DE Jeff Karcz (Lacey) Whi: 7:30 p.m. kickoft. Wlw Brick High School, Chambers Bridge i Road. Tickets: $7 at the gate.

Children under 6 free. Schedule Monmouth County player introduc- Hons 7:15 p.m. Ocean County player introductions 7:25 p.m. Direction From the north, take the Garden State Parkway south to exit 91. Bear right after paying the toll.

Go through five traffic lights; school is on the right. From the south, take the Parkway north to exit 90. School is immediately on the right. From the west, take Route 9 to Route 88 east. Turn right on Chambers Bridge Road.

Go past two traffic lights; school is on the right. Hadio: WOBM, 1 160 AM. Television Comcast Cable: 7 p.m. tomorrow, noon and 8 m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m.

Monday. Adelphia Cable: 8 p.m. Thursday. R. Anderson (Southern) Bill Woodburn (Toms River East) NG Mike Overton (Lakewood) LB Larry Pignatelli (Brick) LB Baranyay (Central) CB Yorke (Lacey) CB Aaron Edwards (Jackson) Ellis (Lakewood) Maloney (Lacey) Darryl Nick (Lacey;) called.

(Calabro) said, 'Get rid of that So I ate it." And one more thing. "After the game the kid from Toms River North asked, 'Where's my Tony Graham is an Asbury Park Press staff writer. Staff report The Kid.