November 13, 2002

Tale of two champions

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


Ocean City cross country probably had its proudest day in history on Saturday.

John Richardson, a senior with a statewide reputation, and Brittany Sedberry, a freshman who has kind of taken the season by storm, both won South Jersey Group 3 individual championships in the sectional meets at Delsea.

It was Richardson’s second straight South Jersey title, the first Raider boy to win twice. In fact, only Mike Scythes had ever won before. Richardson beat his rival, Mainland junior Greg Hughes, who had beaten him in their only other head-to-head meeting this year, the dual meet between the two schools.

It was Hughes, whose style is to take off as hard as he can and challenge you to catch him, who beat Richardson in a classic race in the South Jersey track meet last spring that was run at such a fast pace and in such intense humidity that Richardson was hospitalized afterward and unable to run anywhere near his best again during the spring season.

All eyes were on the two this fall, along with Robert Edwards of Group 2 Bridgeton, whom Richardson and Hughes should face in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions. When Hughes beat Richardson in September, the Raider star said he would be better at the end of the season when they met again. And he was, winning by six seconds.

Sedberry, who looks like a strong wind might blow her over, is a nevertheless strong competitor and an accomplished athlete who might be embarking on a career that will rank her among the finest runners in OCHS girls history – a very illustrious history. And the fact that she looks at running as a way to keep in shape for swimming might indicate she will turn out to be pretty impressive in the pool, as well. Unless, as some have suggested, she might decide to pass up swimming for indoor track.

Sedberry had a good running career in junior high, though she rarely faced enough competition to indicate how good she really was. She was expected to become a key part of a strong returning lineup for Leo Chase’s girls cross country team.

But she was not expected to lead the way. She was not expected to go undefeated during the dual-meet season. She was certainly not expected to win the South Jersey championship by eight seconds.

Despite all of its success through the years, Ocean City has never swept the South Jersey individual cross country championships. And it was accomplished by two very diverse winners.

One was a defending champion with all eyes on him and all the pressure that comes with that. The other was a 14-year old who was generally unknown to most of the people in the cross country community.

But both John Richardson and Brittany Sedberry earned the title of South Jersey champion.

---------------------------------------------------

Yes, that might have been Gary Degenhardt you saw Sunday afternoon at the mall.

For the first time in nine years, Degenhardt and his staff didn’t have a Sunday meeting to prepare for the next opponent. The Raiders do have a game to prepare for – an NJSIAA consolation at Lacey – but the opponent wasn’t known on Sunday.

Before saying goodbye to the eight-year streak of playoff appearances, lets take a minute to remember it.

In 1994, the first of the eight straight playoff years, Ocean City lost a tough 13-10 decision to Central on a key fumble.

A year later, the Raiders dropped a 21-16 game to Mainland, the second time the Mustangs had beaten them that year. The game, and an official’s decision to eject a Mainland player, would become part of a controversial court case that ended with an unfortunate forfeit in the South Jersey final.

Ocean City was in Group 4 in 1996 and defeated Shawnee, 27-7, in a South Jersey final at The College of New Jersey that was sealed by Kevin Sinclair’s final TD, high-stepping into the end zone as the rains fell. OC had buried Washington Township, 45-0, in the semifinal. This OCHS team was ranked No. 1 in South Jersey and No. 8 in the East by USA Today.

In 1997, Ocean City lost to Mainland, 9-7, in the first round after having beaten the Mustangs during the regular season.

The 1998 team defeated Toms River South, 34-18, in the championship game at Rutgers. They had beaten Lakewood, 26-20, and Delsea, 28-7, in the first two rounds. This team dropped only one game, a 27-26 loss at Millville. It was the first year that eight teams qualified for the playoffs in each group.

1999 was a strange season. The Raiders lost three straight games to start October by a combined total of 11 points but still managed to qualify by thumping Millville, 42-0, on the deadline weekend. They won at Lacey, 40-13, and at Moorestown, 20-14. Then, after losing star two-way player Matt Chila to an injury on Thanksgiving, went up to Rutgers and stunned undefeated Mainland, 21-18, in the South Jersey final.

In 2000, Ocean City went to Mainland after losing to the Mustangs during the regular season and turned in the Raiders’ most dominant win ever in the playoffs. They won the game, 20-0, and allowed Mainland just one first down. A thrilling 35-34 game against Edgewood followed in the semifinals before Ocean City lost a 35-22 decision to Delsea at Rowan University in the final.

Last year, the Raiders beat Lacey, 21-14, before losing a 7-3 heartbreaker to Egg Harbor Township, a team they had beaten, 7-0, during the regular season.

It was a great eight years, the longest string of playoff appearances by any public school in Cape-Atlantic League history. Those seasons were filled with excitement, challenges and, on a few occasions, disappointments. The Raiders were 11-5 in the playoffs during those eight seasons, including 3-1 on college fields.

Now that the eight-year streak is over, it is up to guys like Chugger LaCasse, Antwaine Campo and John Wallace – who were all in the second grade the last time Ocean City failed to qualify for the playoffs – to determine whether the Raiders start another streak in 2003.


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