Boys track: Rowell to the rescue at Nalley invite
Legend has it Captain America has no true super powers but his physical abilities are way up there.
Sounds like Jordan Rowell, one of his biggest fans.
The IC Catholic Prep junior showed his allegiance with red, white and blue winged athletic socks and a shield backpack at Lisle's 49th Carlin Nalley Track and Field Invitational, hosted Saturday by Bolingbrook.
Rowell displayed his skills by winning the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes and long jump in the dual-level meet's Class 1A level, heading the Knights' second-place finish at the Nalley, their best. Oregon won 1A for the first time since its eight-year skein ended in 2011; Bolingbrook captured Class 2A/3A.
"Not much I can do but get better," Rowell said after running respective sprint times of 11.08, 22.34 and 51.73 seconds.
"I feel like it was a good day, the wind's blowing still, I've still got a lot of time to improve before sectionals and state, hopefully. It was actually a pretty successful day now that I think about it," said the six-time all-stater.
Considering the 75 points Rowell didn't score it was huge for IC. Many pitched in, such as 1A high jump winner Will Lyles, hurdlers Luke Ricobene and brother Jack. Luke Ricobene, Lazerick Eatman, Luke Callas and Aaron Taylor won the Class 1A 800 relay in 1 minute, 33.77 seconds, which would have trailed only Bolingbrook in 2A/3A.
While Timothy Christian sophomore sprinter/jumper Xavier Ross paced the Trojans' effort, Westmont placed third in Class 1A. As with IC, the Sentinels got points from many sources, including hurdler Kyle Casper, sprinters Demetrios Latsonas and Paul Gordon, sprinter-jumper Marquis Thomas and thrower Sam Soltwisch, who won shot put and took second in discus.
"Right now I think I have a pretty good chance of getting into the (Class 1A) finals in the middle to the top flight with what I've thrown today," Soltwisch said, based on progression from Saturday's 149-foot, 9-inch discus.
Benet placed fifth in Class 2A/3A, delivering on traditional Redwings strengths in hurdles with Michael Welsh and twins Will and Matt Lang, at 400 meters with Konrad Bayer, and at 1,600 with Jeff Girardot.
Bumped up to 2A/3A, Lisle all-state senior Aaron Harris mainly rested following his three-sprint win at Thursday's Interstate Eight Conference meet; Cameron Stitt cleared 6 feet in high jump for third.
Wheaton Academy earned some prime finishes in 2A/3A. Jacob Robleski easily dusted the field to win the 3,200. On the other end of the spectrum, Ty Seager finished second in the 100 dash and third in the 200.
Having missed most of last spring with a bad hamstring, the Northwestern soccer recruit welcomes these times.
"I'm just trying to take advantage of every moment," Seager said. "I try not to take it for granted."
Many teams competed despite post- or pre-prom concerns. Jacobs was among them in the 2A/3A level. Yet Kevin Christian's squad had enough to finish third behind Bolingbrook and Oswego East.
Early Golden Eagles successes were the second-place 400 relay of Steven Bellefontaine, Aiden Ludlum, Jon Jameson and Patrick Shannon; and Garrett Brenizer in third in the 3,200 run.
Jacobs' distance strength continued with Kyle Ross in the 800, second at 2:00.04. Later, Jameson finished fourth in the 200. But what really tickled Christian's fancy was the continued ascent of freshman milers Cam Reedy and Zach Albrecht, both well under the former freshman 1,600 record of 4:38.
Reedy finished in seventh at 4:39.32 while the 5-foot-7, 125-pound Albrecht bided his time against the field, and the wind, then sprinted past Illiana Christian's Nick Wondaal to win in 4:28.95.
"I wanted to be on the leaders because the wind was tough today, and I just tried to finish it with like 500 left," Albrecht said.
"It means a lot. I wasn't expecting the result."
St. Viator's Jacob Bonanotte may not have known what to expect in the open 800. As a junior he'd split sub-2:00 times in relays, but he entered the Nalley meet with a seed time of 2:03.66.
Running fresh, Bonanotte fairly blew that away at 1:57.93, some two seconds ahead of Jacobs' Kyle Ross in second place.
"This year I think something is just off mentally, and I needed something to bring me back to it, and I think today did it," Bonanotte said.
"I have a couple teammates," he said - noting Miles McDonnell in particular - "they run with me in practice, they push me and if I can't do it for myself I do it for them."
Palatine was another with prom contingencies, and statistically the Pirates' highlights were the fourth- and fifth-place 2A/3A high jump finishes of Elliott Hardwick and Cordell Griffin each at 5 feet, 10 inches.
In the Nalley household, however, the highlight will be the group photo of official and former Lisle coach Carlin Nalley, his son and Palatine coach John Nalley and Carlin's grandson, Palatine hurdler Thomas Nalley.