Glenbard South fields a winner
Not just track, not just field, Glenbard South's overall effort won the Metro Suburban Conference Boys Track & Field Indoor Invitational.
In their own field house and 160-meter track on Saturday the Raiders won three events - Taylor Sadkowski repeating in shot put, Conner Howard taking triple jump and Gabriel Dodd, Michael Zima, Jeremy Earnst and Nick D'Ambra winning the sprint relay.
That wasn't the story behind Glenbard South's 119 points, nearly twice the 67 scored by both Aurora Central Catholic and Riverside-Brookfield. It was scoring in 15 of 16 events, double-scoring in nine and finishing top-three in all three relays.
Raiders such as Joey Wood and the Plavsic brothers, Stevan and Nikola, got it done.
"Either they dropped a lot of time or their marks or distances are really improved," said Glenbard South coach Ronn Claussen. "That's going to help us down the road."
The fifth-year coach said he "thought we were capable" of a field event bounty. Howard immediately complied by edging Timothy Christian's Xavier Ross to win triple jump, followed by Sadkowski's shot put of 45 feet, 7½ inches, Raider Kris Kresto placing fourth.
"I'm proud of myself that I got back to back," Sadkowski said. "I'm ready to prepare myself for sectionals and the big deal at state."
Helping IC Catholic Prep to a fifth-place finish with 51 points, Northern Illinois football recruit Jordan Rowell started by winning long jump at 21-5¾, took second in the 55 dash, placed third in the 400 and went 1-2 with his Knights quarterback, Luke Ricobene, in the 200.
"I was actually shooting for 22 today, but you've got to shoot high," Rowell said of long jump. "Because if you don't shoot too high you aim too low. That's probably the best thing for me, just shooting for the stars."
Typically, Wheaton Academy did well in middle distance, Nate Bierly finishing fifth in the 800, two spots behind Timothy Christian's Tommy Troxel; Jeffrey Ridged finished fifth in the 1,600. In his first high jump competition, the Warriors' Mikey Alfaro placed fourth.
For 19 of 20 laps in the 3,200, Fenton's Cristian Sanchez ran within a stride of Illiana Christian's Ryan Koontz. With 160 meters left Sanchez bolted to the lead, only to have Koontz win it back in a mano-a-mano, full-on sprint, by .06 seconds.
"I probably should go a little earlier," Sanchez said. "He had that kick on me, and he's got me. If I'd have gone earlier maybe it would have been different."