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Ege powers Burlington Central to Geneva title

Lucas Ege has not lost in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at a boys track and field meet since the Class 2A state finals two years ago.

"Honestly, no," Ege said when asked if he can recall the feeling of not winning the event.

But the Stanford-bound Burlington Central star was even more excited about his performance in the 110 highs Saturday afternoon after leading the Rockets to the Mike VanDeveer Invitational title at Geneva.

Dan Hagberg was a hurdling legend at Central seven years ago, but Ege broke his meet record with a time of 14.56 seconds.

"To break Hagberg's record is insane," Ege said. "I know the guy. He was super good."

The Rockets overpowered the field as Ege swept the two hurdles events while anchoring two returning all-state relays to victories.

Burlington Central would ultimately win all four relays in turning back host Geneva 117-105 to defend its championship.

St. Charles North was third; Dundee-Crown was fourth behind three-event champion Kiwi Seals and twin sprint champion Milik Dunner.

Larkin rounded out the 10-team field in last place.

But Ege, the defending state champion in the intermediate hurdles, was not happy with his specialty event.

"It felt like a bad race," said Ege, who nevertheless dominated the field to win in 39.01.

Jason Berango and Ege were the Rockets' go-to runners in the 400-relay; Kyle Neubauer energized the Rockets' final win at 1,600 with his steamrolling second leg.

"He's the one who got us the big lead," Ege said of his fellow senior.

Tim Goehrke and Eric Johnson were the Rockets' final runners on the championship 800 and 1,600 relays.

Burlington Central coach Mike Schmidt says the importance of Ege to the team is not only witnessed on race day.

"He's the kind of kid who everybody stops to watch," Schmidt said. "He gets after it in practice. That's where were going to miss Lucas the most. He has been outstanding by example."

Nick Harvey was runner-up for Burlington Central in the 1,600 run.

Seals and Dunner were unstoppable forces for the Chargers.

Seals swept the three jumps, capturing the high jump in 6-1, the long jump in shade under 21 feet and the triple jump in slightly more than 44 feet.

Dunner, meanwhile, did his talking on the track, rolling to impressive 100 and 200 dash wins in 10.95 and 22.18 seconds.

"All I have been preparing for is state," Dunner said. "I didn't get there last year. I want to get there this year. That was the first time I have run the 200 all year. I did a pretty good job today."

Chris Suda was the only athlete to better two minutes in the 800 run as the St. Charles North senior joined teammate Josh Pelock as event champions.

Pelock turned back Burlington Central pole vaulter Jarred Trupp to win with a 14-10 effort.

Zeke Buck won the 400 dash for Geneva to complement the 3,200 victory Mitchael Deamantopulos authored in the 3,200 for the Vikings.

"It was a pretty good race," Deamantopulos said. "On the backstretch the wind was pretty bad. I'm pretty happy with how I did. I know I can runner a better time. The guy from St. Charles North (Max Markowicz) was pretty much with me the whole race."

"I'm very proud of our kids," Geneva coach Gail Gross said. "I am very happy to be within 12 points of Burlington Central. Our performances were really solid."

Gross expects star sprinter Justin Taormina to return this week. The senior is recuperating from having his appendix removed three weeks ago.

  Dundee-Crown's Kiwi Seals in the triple jump final at the 24th annual Mike VanDeveer Track and Field Invitational at Geneva High School Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  West Chicago's John Kulikowski in the triple jump at the 24th annual Mike VanDeveer Track and Field Invitational at Geneva High School Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Burlington Central's Jason Berango in the 100 meter dash semi at the 24th annual Mike VanDeveer Track and Field Invitational at Geneva High School Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Burlington-Central's Dionte Smith in the triple jump at the 24th annual Mike VanDeveer Track and Field Invitational at Geneva High School Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Dundee-Crown's Milik Dunner, center, in the 100 meter dash semis at the 24th annual Mike VanDeveer Track and Field Invitational at Geneva High School Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Justin Nebel in the triple jump final at the 24th annual Mike VanDeveer Track and Field Invitational at Geneva High School Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Burlington-Central's Eric Johnson takes the baton from Nick Harvey in the 4 x 800 meter relay at the 24th annual Mike VanDeveer Track and Field Invitational at Geneva High School Saturday. Johnson would lead the team to a first place win in the event. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Jake Tracey takes off with the baton in the 4 x 800 meter relay at the 24th annual Mike VanDeveer Track and Field Invitational at Geneva High School Saturday. Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
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