advertisement

West Aurora duo shines in prelims

CHARLESTON - As a "smack-talker," West Aurora's DaVion Cross said teammate Chris Walker comes across a little quiet.

As a triple jumper, however, Walker made a huge noise and Cross followed suit in Class 3A preliminaries of the boys track and field state finals Friday at Eastern Illinois University.

Class 3A runner-up in the event in 2014, Walker soared 48 feet, 9½ inches to enter Saturday's finals with a distance more than two feet farther than any jumper but his teammate. Walker's mark broke Jarrod Tobler's program mark of 48-5 set in 2000.

Cross, who had set a personal record of 46-6 at sectional, surpassed that three times Saturday and ended prelims in second position at an even 48 feet.

"It's amazing," said Cross, a sophomore whose twin brother DaQuan was unable to reach the 3A cutoff of 6 feet, 4 inches in high jump, though Blackhawks thrower Hunter Siler advanced in shot put.

"Me and Chris just go at it every time," DaVion said. "And this is what we do to be the best we can - do a lot of smack-talking and all that, get each other pumped up. And then today we just came out and got it."

As recently as the Kane County Meet Walker was nursing a groin injury. Earlier it had been a hamstring. Friday the only pain came trading barbs with Cross, apparently a motivating practice.

"It's challenging, I'm not going to lie," Walker said of the friendly team rivalry. "If he, say, would jump a 50, I'm going to try to get that 50. It's all about competition. Me and him, we basically compete off each other."

Horizontal jumps held hot action right from the start Friday. In Class 2A preliminaries Cahokia's Jamari Ward surpassed 23 feet on his first long jump, tied an IHSA state record at 24-6¼ on his next try, then set a record at 25-¼. He returned with a triple jump of 50-6 as Cahokia worked to seemingly clinch what would be a state-record fifth straight state title, advancing 17 of its 18 qualifiers.

In 2014 Kaneland's Ben Barnes went 23-5 on his last jump in finals to defeat Ward for the 2A long jump title. Barnes advanced in both long jump (21-8½) and triple jump (45-9¾) but to surpass Ward now requires an effort worthy of (Chris) Hercules. Barnes is more concerned with being the best Ben Barnes.

"(Ward) is a great competitor and as long as I get my best I'm going to be fine because no matter what place, just being able to be down here is a great experience," said the Illinois recruit. "I'm fortunate just to be down here and help my team any way."

Kaneland sophomore Danny Walker, employing vault coach Andy Drendel's instruction, made the cutoff in pole vault, while the Knights' Austin Kintz won his heat of the 1,600-meter run at 4 minutes, 26.05 seconds, an automatic entry into Saturday's finals.

Kintz left plenty for the stretch run. Just off the shoulder of Metamora's Jake Gillum after the gun lap, with about 230 meters left Kintz kicked to win going away.

"Being fresh and all it felt good, it was nice," he said. "But then tomorrow I think it's going to be a different story. It's going to go out fast. But with how much I have left I feel very prepared to succeed and accomplish whatever I need to."

In the 3A 1,600, one of the most competitive fields on O'Brien Stadium's blue oval, Marmion's Brady Bobbitt courageously surged to the lead. He fell back, but his plan was rewarded with a time of 4:15.43 and a slot in Saturday's finals. He's also in the 3,200.

"I was going to just go for the split (times) every 200 (meters) and I started falling off after 1,200, a second or two slow," he said. "I knew they'd be coming, I just kind of stuck with them last 100."

By then, though, his plan had expired: "I only planned for the three laps, I didn't plan the last lap."

Batavia successfully advanced high jumper Jay Hunt and pole vaulter Matt Fabian, to be joined in the vault finals by St. Charles North's Josh Pelock.

"If I didn't make it I'm only a sophomore so it wouldn't be the worst, but I made it so I'm happy," said Hunt, who overcame early nerves to jump clean through 6-4.

The 300-meter hurdles claimed Batavia's Peyton Piron but St. Charles East's Kyle Decker advanced in 38.74 seconds. Motivated after missing out in the 110 hurdles, though Decker is not the largest person he sliced through a breeze that stood runners up as they rounded the fourth turn.

"I felt it, but it's important to just push through it," said Decker, whose teammates Devon Kelly and Joe Komlanc did not advance in the 400.

"I don't think of it as affecting my race, more it's affecting everyone else who's racing. It makes it an even playing field," Decker said.

Despite a pair of season bests Geneva didn't get out of the 400- or 1,600-meter relay prelims. That did not devastate versatile senior Justin Nebel, who ran on each.

"It's been awesome," Nebel said. "Our coaches have really helped to prepare us for getting to state. It's been an awesome experience. I think we all did our best and it showed."

Images: Friday at the boys track State Final Meet

  Left to right, Evanston's Roland Amarteifio, St. Charles East's Kyle Decker and Lake Forest's Gavin Hoch clear the final hurdle in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles during the class 3A preliminaries of the IHSA boys state track meet in Charleston Friday. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Huntley's Keagan Smith, middle, and Marmion Academy's Brady Bobbitt, right, lead the pack in the 1,600-meter run during the class 3A preliminaries of the IHSA boys state track meet in Charleston Friday. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Tyler Dau runs after taking the baton from teammate Geneva's Justin Nebel during the class 3A preliminaries of the IHSA boys state track meet in Charleston Friday. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles East's Jack Rzepecki, left, and Lake Zurich's Justin Shim run beside one another during the 3,200-meter relay during the class 3A preliminaries of the IHSA boys state track meet in Charleston Friday. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.