Fox Valley boys track and field state notes

CHARLESTON - The Camron Donatlan achievement of winning the high jump at the Class 3A boys track and field state finals after starting the year on the West Aurora underclass team had several area coaches searching for precedents.

The Blackhawks' sophomore cleared every height without missing in one-inch increments between 6 feet, 1 inch and his winning clearance of 6-10.

"I have never seen anything like it," Aurora Central Catholic coach Troy Kerber said. "We need to get our high school basketball players to come out for track."

"It's an amazing feat," South Elgin coach Anthony LaRue said. "You don't know where (Donatlan) can go. He can go 7-5."

"What a great accomplishment," Huntley coach Jim Rolando said. "The high jump is a very technical event."

"I have seen it happen occasionally where someone comes out of nowhere (to win a state championship), but it is very rare," Burlington Central coach Mike Schmidt said. "I figured (the West Aurora coaches) knew they had an athlete. They had to figure where to put him."

Geneva duo shines: Geneva received all-state performances from Justin Taormina and Tyler Dau last weekend at Eastern Illinois University in the 100-meter dash and 1,600 run.

Taormina was a four-event qualifier out of the Metea Valley sectional.

"It wasn't the 100 that I expected (to make finals)," said Taormina, eighth in the race in 10.86 seconds. "I am really glad (my career) ended this way, with an all-state finish."

Dau, a junior, was a much more improbable state medalist after snaring the last of 12 spots in the metric mile in the Friday preliminaries.

"You can take it back ever farther than that," Geneva coach Gale Gross said. "(Dau) barely made it out of sectionals."

But Dau improved his seeding position by six spots in the finals on Saturday to snare sixth place in 4:19.85.

"(Dau) didn't make it (to state) by (the) time (standard)," Gross said. "To finish in the top six is amazing."

Sprinters spark Huntley: Ben Marsh, Dubem Anikamadu and Jeremie Allen teamed with Lucas Bolas in the 400 relay and Eric Mooney in the 800 relay to produce seventh-place finishes for Huntley last weekend.

But the Raiders' sprint relays were unable to better their Friday preliminary times.

"The rolling schedule (accelerated due to weather concerns) doesn't help anybody," Rolando said. "You don't have a chance to recover. On Friday (the relays were) a perfect storm for us. On Saturday we were a little bit off."

But Huntley, the DeKalb sectional champion, has produced a glittering legacy at the last two state meets.

"We have had nine different sprinters get all-state recognition the last two years," Rolando said. "That's pretty awesome."

Storm's Thomas finishes strong: The 400-meter South Elgin sprint-relay quartet of Kyle Mastrangeli, Desmond Lockett, Nico Woods and Jaurice Thomas earned the highest finish - later duplicated by Thomas in the 200 dash - in program history after placing third in the event.

"You could say a lot of things," LaRue said. "If we run the same time (as the Friday-best heat winner), we're state champs."

Thomas, the Storm anchor leg in the sprint relay, had a dramatic close to his career in the open 200.

"He's a freak," LaRue said of Thomas. "He passed six guys down the stretch."

Quick learner: Nick Faltz had an abbreviated season to remember for Aurora Central Catholic.

The senior barely had a month to his final campaign but made the most of it by winning the Class 2A Glenbard South sectional high jump at 6-3.

But Faltz failed to make the Saturday finals at O'Brien Stadium.

"He was only in track for, what, four weeks," Kerber said of Faltz. "He did a great job in the sport. He won conference, he won sectional."

Kaneland's Robertson pleased with fifth: Tanner Robertson eased the considerable Kaneland heartache with his fifth-place finish in the Class 2A 300 intermediate hurdles.

Kaneland defending pole vault state champion Danny Walker and second-seeded Mike Rinella failed to clear the opening height in the event on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Brandon Cruz was the second seed after the preliminaries in the 200 dash, but the senior was disqualified for false starting in the finals.

Robertson augmented the ninth-place finish the Knights' 3,200 relay earned to start the finals behind Matt Richtman, Sean Spaetzel, Will Kuipers and Austin Kintz.

"I defeated everyone's expectations," Robertson said. "I wasn't supposed to come into state and place."