Phil Anastasia: Speed thrills in South Jersey spring sports

Spring is the season of speed.

It's the season of stop watches.

It's the season of radar guns.

How fast can he run?

How hard does she throw?

Don't blink. You might miss it.

South Jersey is home to the state's fastest runner: Egg Harbor Township senior Tejay Johnson, the defending champion in the Meet of Champions 100 meters.

South Jersey also is the home to Eastern senior English Gardner, probably the fastest female in the state.

Those two can fly. But they are not alone.

This track and field season should be marked by dominating distance runners such as Haddonfield's Jon Vitez and Colin Baker, Kingsway's Chelsea Ley, Haddonfield's Marielle Hall, and Highland's Megan Venables, among many others.

There are heavy hitters in baseball such as Cherokee's Eric Barbieri and Shawnee's Eric Sellitto - those guys combined for six home runs in the same game on opening day in 2009 - as well as Bishop Eustace's Greg Brodzinski and Washington Township's Nick Favatella.

There's talent galore on the lacrosse fields, led by that girls' title factory in Moorestown, and on the tennis court, led by Lenape's Nikola Kocovic.

But spring is the season of the speedsters.

Will Seneca junior righthander Kevin Comer hit 90 m.p.h. with his heater?

How sneaky fast will appear the No. 1 off the right hand of Clearview senior Shane Taylor, given his remarkable command of his breaking ball?

Camden Catholic junior Lauren Messina has 550 strikeouts in just two seasons for a reason: Her pitches explode on their brief journey to the plate.

Seniors Nicole Hagerty of Gloucester Catholic and Jen Metzger of Overbrook, and juniors Dominique Ficara of Kingsway and Alissa Schoelkopf of Washington Township are among a large group of softball aces known for their power pitching.

Seneca's Michelle Brown, who is headed to Notre Dame, is a blur in the 200 and 400. Her Villanova-bound teammate, Mary Bohi, flies over the hurdles.

Watch out for Rancocas Valley's Morgan Gordon, who ran 24.31 seconds in the 200 meters last spring, along with Winslow Township sophomore sensation Ste'yce McNeil.

Florence's Keith Griffith is so fast he's on his way to LSU - no place for the slow of foot. Or even the semifast of foot. He might be the best 400-meter runner in the state.

Camden's Syteek Farrington and Washington Township's Devon Carter are some serious hurdlers.

But when it comes to speed, nobody has been able to keep pace with EHT's Johnson or Eastern's Gardner.

Everybody in the state is chasing Johnson. He won the 100 at the Meet of Champions last June in 10.67 and took second in the 200.

Sometimes it seems as if Johnson is chasing Carl Lewis and Dennis Mitchell as well as guys such as Chuck Carter and John Stone and Jamar Ervin. Those legendary sprinters put astounding times on the board for succeeding generations to pursue.

Johnson, who has signed to play football at Rutgers, is trying to move into that territory.

"I am confident Tejay will approach 21.0 [in the 200] and 10.2-10.3 [in the 100] by June or late May," Egg Harbor Township coach George Wilkinson said. "To me, his big upside is the 400, where I feel he is capable of breaking 47."

Gardner was running incredible times as a middle schooler. She's battled some injuries in recent seasons. But if she's healthy - and her blistering time of 7.03 in winning the indoor Meet of Champions in the 55 would seem to indicate she's fit - the Oregon-bound athlete could be poised to run down some legends on the girls' side.

Johnson is chasing Lewis and Mitchell. Gardner is chasing Patti Dunlap and Michelle Glover.

Can they can them?

Can anybody catch Johnson and Gardner?

Spring is the season for speed - pitchers with blazing fastballs, sprinters who burst out of the blocks.

Don't blink. You might miss it.

And this should be one spring you don't want to miss.