Boys track: Stefan-Hanson rivalry takes center stage at Lake Zurich
The friendship between Barrington senior John Stefan and Fremd senior Ethan Hanson has made for a great rivalry.
With each throw in the shot put, the Notre Dame-bound Stefan and the Missouri-bound Hanson seem to be playing a game that looks more like a battle of "can you top this?" than an actual shot put event.
Friday night at the Lake Zurich Bears Invite, the friendly rivals battled in an epic midseason competition. Hanson started first with a put of 59-2 only to be topped on a second-to-last throw from Stefan that went just 1 inch further.
After the competition that Stefan won with a best toss of 59-3, he decided that upping the ante for bigger meets ahead might be in the offing.
"I think he would look good in a Notre Dame hat," Stefan said.
To which Hanson replied, "I think he would look better wearing a Missouri cap instead."
Stefan also took home the win in the discus as well with a toss of 158-7.5 to help the Broncos capture the team title for the second consecutive year. Barrington amassed 232.5 points to 143 for the host Bears. Surging Mundelein took third with 132 points.
"We are getting there," Barrington coach Todd Kuklinski said of his team. "We can keep going in this direction, we can be a very dangerous team at the end of the year."
Barrington also earned an 800-meter relay win with the team of Alex Andrea, Ray Niro, Peter Jackowski and Louis Cossio running through the wind and cold in 1:31.32. Jackowski won the long jump from the Broncos (20-10.25) and junior Nick Laning won the 3,200 in 9:28.25.
The host Bears flexed their muscles in the distance events as Lake Zurich took home titles in the 3,200 relay, the 800 and 1,600 runs.
Jake Gelinas, Bryan Griffith, Kyle Fitzgerald, and Kyle Griffith ran a season best 8:04.40 to win the 3,200-relay. Harvard-bound senior Matt Pereira won the 800 (1:59.06) and junior Pat Burns captured the 1,600 (4:26.06).
Senior Jake Stevens captured the pole vault for Lake Zurich by clearing 14-1.
Mundelein junior Bobby Nuzzo has distinguished himself on the track as one of the elite sprinters in Lake County thus far this season. Friday night, he did so again with impressive performances in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
Nuzzo was tops in both races, winning the 100 in 10.98 and following that with a quick 22.20 to win the 200. His speed isn't the only thing that makes Nuzzo recognizable, as the long flowing blond hair he sports makes him hard to miss.
"I just let it grow," Nuzzo said. "I also really like the super-hero Thor, and I wanted to be a super-hero."
The Nuzzo heroics were complemented nicely by senior teammate Shane Kosmach, who won the triple jump by leaping 41-0. Mundelein was equally impressive in the 400 and 800 relays with a second place finish in both and season best times to boot.
Hoffman Estates ran to a sixth-place finish Friday night, but for the Hawks, all roads lead toward running on Saturday at the state meet.
The Hawks' 400 relay team of Dylan Kruezer, Danny Bahanan, Declan Rustay and Nigel Jones battled the cold and windy conditions to win in 42.87. The same foursome closed out the meet with a solid performance in taking the 1,600 relay in 3:26.27.
"For us it's working toward getting to race on Saturday at state and get the hardware," Hoffman Estates coach Tyrone Jones said.
Somewhere out in Fox Lake, it stands to reason there's a factory that continues to build great 400-meter runners for the Grant Bulldogs. The latest edition is sophomore Jason Thormo. Though he didn't run for Grant as a freshman, Thormo dropped over half-second from his personal best to win the event in 49.35.
Grant, which finished fifth in the team race, also earned a second-place finish on misses from Henry Halverson in the high jump (6-3) and an impressive win in the 110 high hurdles from senior Josh Pollark. His time of 14.88 held off the duo of Ben Konopka (15.02) and Jaden Jackson (15.12) of Fremd.
Jackson did bounce back with a nice performance in the 300 hurdles. His time of 39.92 was good enough to outdistance Bobby Cayat of Grant (40.27).