Kevin McEvoy is entering his 35th—and final—year at East Brunswick High School.
Considering the talent on the East Brunswick High winter track team, Coach McEvoy should be going out on top.
"It's a personal time to go," McEvoy said. "My wife's been reitred two years. It's time to go into the next phase of my life."
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Before the time comes, McEvoy has the opportunity to work with the kind of talent on one team most coaches never have.
Starting off, of course, is Sam Mattis, a senior that will be going to the University of Pennsylvania next year.
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"Yeah, we have this kid that can throw the shot sixty feet," McEvoy laughed.
Seriously, Mattis can throw the shot 60 feet. He is the defending Group IV champ in the winter in the shot. Mattis was the state champ in the discus last spring. Actually, Mattis was one of the top discus throwers in the entire country.
"Kind of hard to do the discus in the winter," McEvoy noted.
Also returning are Donnie Urschel (senior) and Tommy Marciante (senior) both are returning members on East Brunswick's state championship mile relay team.
Urschel was fourth in the 55 in the state sectionals last winter. He is also an outstanding runner in the 200 and 400.
Marciante will also run in the 400.
Gabe Wood (junior) and Ty Robbins (freshman) are the new members of the mile relay. Ty is replacing his brother, Leonard, on the mile relay.
"That's pretty wild that he's replacing his brother," McEvoy noted.
Alex Malveaux, a senior, is a hurdler and co-captain on the team. Urschel is the other captain.
"I'm looking for him to place in the state in the hurdles," McEvoy said.
John Landis and Shane MacNiven are a pair of seniors that should excel in the sprints.
"They both have looked really impressive," McEvoy said.
This past week, East Brunswick opened the season with wins against Spotswood and JP Stevens. On most weekends, the team will also take part in large meets on the weekends.
McEvoy is planning to make his final season a fun one.
"Sam Mattis came up to me at one of the meets and asked if we could have a fat guy relay," McEvoy noted. "I told him we don't have any fat guys. He then asked if we could have a relay for the shot putters. So, we had a relay for the shot putters."
Of course, most of the fun for East Brunswick will come from the fact it has a very good team.
"We're going to wind up running a lot of fast times and everyone is going to know about it," McEvoy said. "These kids have worked hard and have earned the right to be respected. This season will then feed right into the spring."
In the spring, East Brunswick will probably be even better. That guy named Mattis will get to throw the discus.
