Does success in track carry to football?

The school of thought is that a school’s success in one sport translates over to success in others.

That will be put to the test at Batavia, which enjoyed one of its best football seasons in history under first-year head coach and former longtime defensive coordinator Dennis Piron, who is also Batavia’s veteran head boys track coach.

Piron sees the connection to be true.

“Typically, most of the time, at least at our school, we’ve had a nice correlation between the two sports, where if one was good so was the other,” he said.

Last season the Bulldogs’ boys track team placed first on both the varsity and sophomore levels at the Upstate Eight Conference River Division outdoor track championships. Geneva finished second on both levels. Not surprisingly, Batavia and Geneva went 1-2 in the varsity ranks on the football field last fall.

Some athletes are just baseball players, just basketball players or just wrestlers or swimmers, even just track or cross country athletes. But there is often a positive association between football in the fall and track in the spring.

That’s why Piron has football players such as Marquise Jenkins, Jon Gray, Michael Moffatt, Evan Zeddies and Noel Gaspari running track. Linebacker Bennett Hartman and kicker Brandon Clabough reprise their roles as the track team’s top pole vaulters.

All-stater Cole Gardner may be throwing shot put as he has in the past, but more likely will rest up or train for his collegiate football career at Eastern Michigan.

“I would say if you watch our track meets this year you’ll see a number of our skill guys doing sprints and hurdles, and you’ll see a number of the linemen doing the throws,” Piron said. “It’s a very, very inexpensive speed and strength training program.”

The success-breeds-success affect could be seen at Class 3A state football champion Aurora Christian — if there were more football players going out for track.

Dr. Jeff Schutt, the Eagles track coach who is certified in strength and conditioning training, named several boys on this year’s track team, but only a couple football players were among them: Nate Jensen and Jonah Walker.

“I think that’s a mistake,” Schutt said.

“There should be a good crossover between track and football,” he said. “The great programs that are consistent year after year, they try to have all their athletes do football and do track.”

In the case of Walker, a football lineman who is a thrower in track, the combination of nimble footwork and muscular force can only help on the gridiron, Schutt believes.

“Throwing events make athletes much more explosive,” said the doctor of chiropractic, who cited the example provided even by speedsters like Plano’s Northwestern-bound running back Joseph Jones, a three-time track all-stater (and all-conference basketball player) and the defending 1A 110-meter hurdles champion.

Many football players, in coach-sanctioned behavior, finish their fall season and if not playing a winter sport strictly head into the weight room. Schutt said all Aurora Christian track athletes do a minimum of an hour of weightlifting a day as part of practice.

Piron, who ran track and played football, thinks there’s a better way than the weights-only approach.

“We just don’t see that,” he said.

“Our camp at our school is you need to be an athlete, and our athletes are fast and powerful, and there’s no better sport than track (to develop that combination) ... We just feel there’s such a great parallel, first of all, just being able to compete, not just going through the motions. But also training for track and training for football, they just go together.”

Piron mentioned both Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South as examples of schools who share athletes between quality football and track programs.

Former WW South football coach John Thorne also coached the varsity boys track team, and current Tigers football coach Ron Muhitch is the boys throws coach. Muhitch noted only a few days ago that all-state Northwestern-bound back Dan Vitale will be jumping and sprinting for the Tigers. Current Northwestern back Mike Trumpy was a great hurdler at Wheaton North and ran on two all-state relays.

Schutt would like such a parallel with his Eagles, because he knows what can happen when one sport has great success.

“When you win a state title in one sport,” he said, “now you kind of know what it takes to win, and just having that confidence helps you out in all the other sports.”

The most affirming yet simultaneously annoying chant in basketball

“I believe that we will win!”

Repeat ad nauseam.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

Mascot vs. Mascot

(Second round)

West Aurora Blackhawk

(First round: received bye)

Nickname due to early Blackhawk Street locale

Chief Black Hawk (1767-1838) born in present-day Rock Island

Sauk leader and warriors

Fought with the British in War of 1812

Wrote an autobiography

Geneva Viking

(First round for: Batavia Bulldog)

Scourge of the North Sea

Horned helmet only a myth

Expert sailor

Four centuries of conquerors

Inspired musical genre “Viking Metal”

Outcome: Though Sauk and Fox American Indians did not have the warlike reputation of the Comanche or Sioux, in hand-to-hand combat the impressively coifed Sauk shared a skill in hand-held weapons with the Vikings. Once exposed to British and French forces, however, the American Indians were introduced to firearms. Firearms beat the Vikings’ bow and arrow.

Winner: West Aurora Blackhawk