Inside Voorhees Sports

Eastern Talent Shines In Many Sports

Eastern's indoor boys' and girls' track runners provided some of their best performances in pressurized situations. None stood taller than junior Dan Deichert, who followed up an all-South Jersey cross country season in the fall with an even better performance in the winter. Deichert won the 3,200 meters race in the state Meet of Champions, which consists of the top finishers from state Group track meets. After the win, on little rest, he competed in the 1,600 and still finished eighth. "Dan had an incredible winter," indoor track coach John Shea said. "I thought he showed so much just by competing in the 1,600 after winning the 3,200 in the Meet of Champions. He had very little rest and still was competitive."

Eastern also captured the 4 x 400 relay at the Meet of Champions. The all-senior relay consisted of leadoff runner Chris Gillium, followed by Derrick Nickerson, Alex Goyins and Ron Hillian. The foursome then finished second in the Ridgewood Classic in New York. Eastern's time of 3:23.33 was behind champion Glen Mills, PA (3:18.9), the No. 1 relay team in the country. Eastern's Andrew Riviello, Gillium, Ryan Udine and Deichert also captured the distance medley earlier in the winter during the Group 4 state relay championships. Their time of 10:23.22 was the No. 4 time in the country.

Eastern also won the 4 x 200 in the state Group 4 girls' relays. Those runners were Brittany Wright, Alecka Yiantsos, Jennifer Jackson and Jeanelle Wilson. Wright, also a top soccer defender, capped an outstanding winter by winning the 55-meter dash in the state Group 4 championships.

Eastern's boys' came oh so close to winning a Group 4 state title, losing 35-34 to Vineland. The difference was Vineland winning the final event, the 4 x 400 relay by two-one hundredths of a second. They bounced back to win the same event the next week at the Meet of Champions.

Dawson Among Nation's Best Eastern junior Rachel Dawson has long been considered one of South Jersey's best field hockey players. In December, she was selected to the U.S. Under-19 Field Hockey team. Dawson fared extremely well during the team tryouts over the Christmas holidays in Chula Vista, California. "It's great competition and you always like to compete against the best," Dawson said. "It's a great honor to be selected." Among South Jersey's top athletes, she has been a varsity starter for three years in field hockey and has never lost a game. She is also the Vikings' leading scorer in basketball, averaging 12 points per game. Her sister Sarah plays field hockey for the University of Iowa and an older sister Natalie, graduated from Iowa after a stellar field hockey career. The Hawkeyes may or may not be her destination, but one thing is for sure, there will be no shortage of scholarship offers.

Udine Shines Eastern's Joe Udine, a senior righthanded pitcher and first baseman, was selected to participate in the Baseball Factory all-American Weekend in Vero Beach, Florida, the spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Udine wasn't awed by the competition. He pitched four scoreless innings during inter-squad games and allowed just one hit. "I came down in good shape because I had been working out and I felt I was ready," he said. Udine didn't have to worry about impressing college coaches. Earlier in the fall, he made a commitment to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

Evans Joins Bumper Crop The University of Virginia had one of the best football recruiting classes in the nation according to several publications. The Cavs will have local flavor with Eastern safety Lance Evans joining the Atlantic Coast Conference school. "I just liked the way the program was going," said Evans, who is also a 1,000-point career scorer in basketball. This past season, the 6'5", 200-pound Evans had 86 tackles, three interceptions and caused three fumbles from his free safety position. He'll be joined at Virginia by another South Jersey standout, Holy Cross running back Wali Lundy.

Content provided by South Jersey Sports Club.

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Author: Marc Narducci-South Jersey Sports Club