BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

One-hundredth of a second. The blink of an eye. Scant as it is, that was the difference between being an All-American or an also-ran to Ocean Township's Tiffany Grant.

At last year's outdoor high school national track and field championships, Grant finished seventh in the 400 meters just one-hundredth of a second from sixth place. Only the top six finishers earned All-American recognition.

That one-hundredth of a second weighed heavily on Grant's mind this weekend at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships, where the Spartan will be taking dead aim at earning All-American honors.

"It's my motivation," said Grant. "I want to be an All-American indoors and outdoors this year."

Grant returns to the NYC Armory on the wings of a personal best and Shore Conference record 55.59 at the Eastern States Championships on Feb. 28. She finished second to her state rival Kristen Mahon, of Notre Dame, who turned in a 55.49. Both were more than a second up on the field, a huge margin in sprinting.

"I needed that race," said Grant. "I had been placing well [in meets] but not getting the times I needed. This boosted my confidence.

"I didn't even know that it was a record," she added. "My coach [Dana Lewis-Lee] e-mailed me the next day to tell me."

Grant went to Scullion's Timing Web site to look up the conference record to see that she had topped the time of 55.9 held by Neptune's Stephanie Saleem since 1985. It's not every day that you get to break a 21-year-old mark.

Before the Eastern States, Grant had never run under 56 seconds under cover. Her goal for the winter was to get under her pb of 56.2. She didn't anticipate taking almost a full second off it.

"It's quicker than I thought I'd run," she said.

Grant, who was runner-up to Mahoney at the NJSIAA Indoor Meet of Champions last month, prefers outdoor track and its 400-meter track to the smaller, tighter turned indoor tracks that are anywhere from one-tenth of a mile to 200 meters. The smaller tracks call for a different strategy as well as an adjustment to the track configuration.

"Indoors is more strategic," she pointed out. "You have to go out hard in the first 100 meters and then cut into your lane.

"I like to run the first 200 meters at a steady sprint and then in the last 150 or 200, give it my all," she added.

Grant, though, has adjusted well to running under cover and likes the banked turns at the Armory, which help runners turn in faster times than at the flat 200-meter track at Princeton University.

"I know what I have to do," she said.

The NSIC will be held Friday through Sunday. Grant will run Saturday in the 400 heats looking to qualify for Sunday's final. Last winter, Grant advanced to the final and finished ninth.

Shore Regional's boys 4x400 relay team finished ninth at the Eastern States, turning in a new school record, 3:28.58, in the process. Taylor Kirk, Matt Villane, Michael Oshetsky and Derek Schultz made up the Blue Devils team.

Also at the Eastern States, Monmouth Regional's Charles Cox finished fifth in the 400 meters (49.44). The race produced a new Shore Conference record by its winner, Paul Fay of Central, who posted a 48.66.

Red Bank Regional's Dennie Waite was fifth in the boys one-mile run (4:28.46).

In the girls one-mile run, the Bucs' Christina Nelson finished fifth (5:06.21).