Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 60

CS D20 Asbuiy Park PressSaturday, July 2i; ft -r 1 1 A ft a Sullivan Award winners Keith Elias (left) of Lacey and Kim Yankowski of Point Boro completed their athletic careers on memorable notes. Elias, Yankowski Sullivan winners Gassic starting to heat up By STEVE POPPER Press Staff Writer NEPTUNE The temperature is expected to be in the 90s today. Barring a thunderstorm, it will be a good beach day for most recent high school graduates. But not for all of them. For about 90 members of the Gass of '90, they will spend today running, sweating and bleeding on the practice field as they begin to prepare for the Asbury Park Press-sponsored All-Shore Football Classic XIII Friday, 7 p.m., at Ocean Township High School.

The teams will brave the elements and the bruises as they begin practices this morning, working out muscles that haven't been used since last December. "I've been looking forward to playing in this game," said William Cobbs, the former Freehold linebacker who will be joining the Monmouth All-Stars. "I guess I can handle the heat I run all the time and I try to do it in the heat. We have a hill by my house and I run it all the time." What makes 90 recent high school graduates agree to sweat out two-a-day practices in the July sun for a football game eight monthes after their high school careers are concluded and just weeks before many will begin college careers? "It seems kind of illogical if you think about it, but it's the thrill of the competition," said Lacey running back Keith Elias, who will be playing for the Ocean All-Stars. "You've got to love playing this game.

I think we all just love being football players. "It's a great honor to be playing with such great athletes. All of the players are so good and the competition is so great that it's exciting to be able to play in a game like this. This kind of competition is what makes it fun." The Monmouth squad will be coached by former Middletown South head coach John Andl. Brick Memorial's Jim Calabro will be the head coach for Ocean.

Monmouth will practice at Middletown South High School. Practice sessions today and tomorrow will run from 8 a.m. to 1 1 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Monday through Wednesday, practices will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Thursday's practice will be p.m. Ocean practices today at Brick Memorial High School from 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m. Tomorrow, it'll be 1 1 a.m.-l p.m. and 3-5 p.m.

Monday through Thursday practices will run from p.m. Proceeds from the game will benefit the United Way of Ocean and Monmouth counties. Tickets priced at $5 are available at Press bureaus in Toms River, Shrewsbury and Freehold, and at the Asbury Park Press' main office on Route 66 in Neptune. AatwfyF 2-1 victory over Wall that gave the Panthers their first Shore Conference championship. "I'll miss some things (about high school) but I'm looking forward to going (to college)," said Yankowski, who received a soccer scholarship to North Carolina State.

In that vein, Yankowski and Panther teammate Charisse Hopkins, also heading for N.C. State, endure strenuous evening workouts as prescribed by the Wolfpack soccer program. They begin with an under-seven minute mile, then reel off 50 situps and pushups followed by three 440-yard runs, each under 80 seconds. Then come 15 40-yard sprints, a two-mile run under 14 minutes, and general soccer drills. "In July you're supposed do it three or four times a week," she said.

"By the time you get down there they expect you to be able to do it all every day. We usually go around 5:30 or six, after dinner and before we go out. It's always terrible running weather but we still do it then." Yankowski said she wasn't in tiptop shape in soccer season. "I was in better shape during field hockey," she said. "Not until the end of soccer did I start to work real hard on my conditioning but I was in good enough shape I guess." With virtually every high school achievement reached, Yankowski is now setting her sights on national and international goals.

"Next I'd like to play for a national champion in college," she said. "And someday, maybe, possibly, for the United States in the Olympics." Women's soccer is being added to the Olympic agenda in 1 992. wkPnw Elias, who also played in the defensive backfield, helped the Lions to their second straight South Jersey Group III title, rushing for a Shore Conference best 1,946 yards and 29 touchdowns. He also became the first player to win back-to-back Shore scoring titles. "It was kind of weird last year," he said.

"It was like it all went according to plan. We didn't expect to win the states, but it was our plan. "I had my doubts before the year started that I could have a big year individually. I didn't think about the numbers. I was pleasantly surprised when I did well." Elias had the pressure of following up a junior year in which he finished with a Shore-leading 23 touchdowns, second best in the state.

He rushed for 1,240 yards on 1S8 carries, good for 7.8-yards per carry, second best in the Shore Conference. Elias also took his skills onto the track for the spring track season and he captured the Ocean County Championship in the 100-meter dash with a time of 1 1.25 seconds. He now heads for the Ivy League where he has set new goals for his career at Princeton. "I have a weird goal," he said. "I want to try to play both ways.

I haven't told the coaches there yet. When I get into practices I'll see about it "I'll miss the community here at Lacey. I think there were some things the team did here. We didn't have a great tradition and we started to put one down. I think I did everything there that a high school athlete dreams about." Lacey back's latest award icing on cake By STEVE POPPER Press Stan Writer EVER SINCE his football career ended last December, the honors have steadily rolled in for Lacey running back Keith Elias.

He was named to the Ail-American team by Superprep Magazine. He was selected as the player of the year in New Jersey by USA Today and the Touchdown Club of Atlanta. jj, With Elias just a month away from beginning his collegiate career at Princeton University, adds one more award to his stable. He has been named as this year's male recipient of the Jim Sullivan Award. The award, named for the late Asbury Park Press sports writer Jim Sullivan, is bestowed annually on the outstanding male and female senior athletes as selected by the Press.

"This one is the icing on the cake," Elias said. "It's special because the Press covers the whole Shore. There are such phenomenal athletes at the j. Shore. To be named the best is a great honor." "The thing that made Keith an outstanding high school athlete was not necessarily unusual gifts like great size or speed," said Lacey football coach Lou Vircillo.

"What made him great was great determination and great heart" Panther star's career filled with records By TONY GRAHAM Press Staff Writer THE CONTEST for the female recipient of the 1990 Jim Sullivan Award was really no contest "I'm very surprised," said Point Pleasant Boro High School graduate Kim Yankowski. She shouldn't have been. Yankowski, the Shore's all-time scoring leader in girls soccer was also a field hockey standout. "I've received awards in Ocean County but to be picked from the entire Shore is the greatest honor," she said. The award is bestowed annually on the outstanding male and female senior athletes as selected by the Press.

A four-year, first-team Asbury Park Press All-Shore selection in soccer, Yankowski set Shore records for most career points (375), goals (154) and assists (67), and rang up single-season marks of 61 goals and 34 assists this past spring. The Panthers went 69-3-2 in her four varsity seasons, including Shore Conference titles last year (20-0-0) and in 1987 (16-0-2), and went unbeaten in divisional play all four years. Yankowski earned All-Shore first-team honors in field hockey as a junior and senior and last fall collected 1 5 goals and 1 9 assists, including scoring both goals in her team's.