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Boys track and field: State meet scouting, Northwest and Lake County

Boys track and field: State meet scouting, Northwest and Lake County

When: Class 2A field prelims at 8 a.m., running at 9 a.m. Friday. Class 3A field prelims noon and running at 12:55 p.m. Friday. Finals in all classes at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Where: Eastern Illinois University's O'Brien Field

The skinny: Vernon Hills has the most total qualifiers of any team in Class 2A. The challenge now is to see if the Cougars can topple five-time defending state champion Cahokia. The Comanches will likely be without their All-American and two-time defending champion, Missouri-bound senior, Jamari Ward. That could provide the opening needed for the Cougars to become the first Lake County school to earn a trophy since North Chicago won the Class AA state title in 1986. Leading the way for Vernon Hills is a talented group of seniors in Williams, Agnew and Krashevsky. All have previous state meet experience. St. Viator senior Denzel Downing aims to win a pair of hurdles medals and is a major contender in both races with a top-five time in both races. Landon Keefover of Antioch also figures to be a key figure in the 110 hurdles.

The race for trophies in Class 3A is wide open. Defending state champion Edwardsville is one of many favorites, but both Grant and Lakes have set themselves up nicely for 3A trophy contention. Cameron Ruiz has a chance to become the area's first four-time medalist since Quiande Moore of Zion Benton in 1999 as he is a high seed in four events. Loyola-bound Octavian Wells of Grant has a chance to carry on the Wells family legacy of excellence as he is a serious contender to win the 400 meters.The last trophy of any kind in the area in the big class was Hoffman Estates in 1997, and the Hawks bring a group capable of doing some downstate damage, led by speedy sophomore Declan Rustay.

Grayslake Central junior Jack Aho will be in the spotlight in the 3,200 and 1,600 as he tries for the difficult and very rare distance double.

Fremd has a thrower in medal contention or the first time in three seasons in Ethan Hanson. The future of throwing in the Mid-Suburban League is very promising as John Stefan, Billy Matzek, Hanson and Brad Warmen all figure to return next spring.

Area qualifiers3,200 relay: Class 2A: Vernon Hills, St. Viator. Class 3A: Palatine, Fremd, Prospect, Hersey.

400 relay: 2A: Vernon Hills. 3A: Warren, Wheeling, Hoffman Estates.

800 relay: 2A: Vernon Hills, Carmel. 3A: Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Lake Zurich.

1,600 relay: 2A: Vernon Hills, St. Viator, Antioch. 3A: Grant, Lakes, Warren, Barrington, Prospect.

3,200 run: 2A: Shane Williamson (Jr., Vernon Hills ). 3A: Jack Aho (Jr., Grayslake Central), Shiv Patel (Sr., Hoffman Estates), Jared Borowsky (Sr., Stevenson).

1,600 run: 2A: Caleb Ju (Sr., Vernon Hills). 3A: Jack Aho (Jr., Grayslake Central), Jared Borowsky (Sr., Stevenson), Karsen LeComte (Sr., Prospect), Brian Leonard (Jr., Palatine), Brian Griffith (Jr., Lake Zurich)

800 run: 2A: Tim Krashevsky (Sr., Vernon Hills), Jacob Bonanotte (Sr., St. Viator). 3A: Robert Kuhlmann (Sr., Lakes), Dylan Panomar (Sr., Grayslake North), Brian Griffith (Jr., Lake Zurich).

400 dash: 2A: Nickolay Kravtsev (Soph., Vernon Hills). 3A: Octavian Wells (Sr., Grant), Cameron Ruiz (Jr., Lakes), Brandon Thiel (Sr., Lakes), Hugo Flores (Jr., Warren), Nick Elms (Sr., Conant), Kevin Sherwood (Jr., Prospect), Louis Cossio (Soph., Barrington).

200 dash: 2A: Joshua Williams (Sr., Vernon Hills), Ryan Thompson (Jr., Carmel). 3A: Declan Rustay (Soph., Hoffman Estates), Jared Polfuss (Sr., Hersey), Ryan McMahon (Sr., Fremd).

100 dash: 2A: Joshua Williams (Sr., Vernon Hills), Ryan Thompson (Jr., Carmel). 3A: Dylan Draka (Sr., Wheeling), Anthony Kies (Jr., Prospect), Octavian Wells (Sr., Grant), Declan Rustay (Soph., Hoffman Estates), Courtland Cornelius (Jr., Palatine), Dante Johnson (Jr., Warren).

300 hurdles: 2A: Denzel Downing (Sr., St. Viator). 3A: Jaden Jackson (Soph., Fremd), John Elischer (Jr., Palatine), Timmy Brundidge (Sr., Grant).

110 high hurdles: 2A: Denzel Downing (Sr., St. Viator), Landon Keefover (Jr., Antioch). 3A: Jaden Jackson (Soph., Fremd), Timmy Brundidge (Sr., Grant), Griffin Gawenda (Jr., Grayslake North), Ben Konopka (Soph., Fremd), Josh Diaz (Sr., Wheeling).

High jump: 2A: Noah Agnew (Sr., Vernon Hills). 3A: Dan Garcia (Sr., Palatine), Brandon Ellis (Soph., Warren), Michael Shafis (Fr., Prospect), Lawrence Knish (Soph., Wheeling), Jelyn Hill (Sr., Hoffman Estates), Henry Halverson (Soph., Grant), Fiyin Alade (Jr., Hoffman Estates).

Long jump: 2A: Jeremy Struzel (Jr) Carmel. 3A: Cameron Ruiz (Jr., Lakes), Jelyn Hill (Sr., Hoffman Estates), Anijel Jones (Jr., Hoffman Estates).

Triple jump: 2A: Jeremy Strutzel (Jr., Carmel), 3A: Fulton Wingba (Sr., Elk Grove), Azeez Alabi (Sr., Elk Grove), Cameron Ruiz (Jr., Lakes), Jared Polfuss (Sr., Hersey), David Goncharov (Sr., Stevenson), Kemar Miller (Sr., Grant), Tyler Schaefer (Sr., Grant).

Shot put: 3A: Ethan Hanson (Jr., Fremd), John Stefan (Jr., Barrington), Billy Matzek (Jr., Prospect), Brad Warmen (Soph., Barrington).

Discus: 3A: Mikey Andrews (Jr., Grayslake Central), John Stefan (Jr., Barrington).

Pole vault: Kacper Jaskowski (Jr., Vernon Hills), Aidan Williamson (Soph., Vernon Hills), Cooper Jazo (Sr., Lakes), Elijah Eugene (Sr., Grayslake Central), Jake Stevens (Jr., Lake Zurich), Hayden Falls (Sr., Lakes), Matt Szczesny (Jr., Lake Zurich), Eric Ellefson (Sr., Conant).

- Jeff Newton

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