Boys track: Montini's West racing toward his future
Montini senior Mitch West sprints toward his goals in track and field framed by football seasons past and future.
At Hinsdale South's Mike Yavorski Hornet Invite on Friday, the four-time all-stater and Navy football commit followed only Bloomington's Cary Lockhart in the 100-meter dash. No shame there.
West also anchored the Broncos' second-place 400 relay, again behind Bloomington, and won the 200 dash in a time of 23.06 seconds.
Earlier this outdoor season West needed a week off, Montini coach Eric Brechtel said, due to effects of a sprained ankle in Week 2 of the 2016 football season. The cornerback also added bulk from Navy football workouts.
"I've got to get ready for summer, end of May, that's when it matters. This meet doesn't matter, it's just another step to get there and I've got to start really going headfirst now into this thing," said West, who joined Johnny Palumbo, Nick Fedanzo and Matt Quaglia on the 400 relay.
"I've got to get on a better diet and I'll carry that through for the month leading up to state," said West, seeking to recapture endurance.
Bloomington, whose coach, John Szabo, started out as an assistant for Yavorski, won the six-team meet with 137 points to Hinsdale South's 125. Benet (83) placed third followed by Montini (67), Glenbard East (59) and Lemont (52).
Hinsdale South got things cracking on the track with a 3,200-meter relay win by Charles Thuruthiyil, Chris Joseph, Jayden Arquines and Brett Haffner, who was sick but "took one for the team," Hornets distance coach Jim Dickerson said.
Surging junior Carmelo Lazzara claimed the 300 hurdles while Hinsdale South senior D.J. Anderson won triple jump. Having gone 46 feet, 2 inches this year with a personal-best of 46-7, his 44-5 brought mixed emotions.
"I mean, 44, I'm not happy, I'm not going to settle for that," said Anderson, who also anchored a winning 1,600 relay. "I can definitely do better. But I took first today so I'm happy, on our senior night."
Benet's Michael Welsh won the 110 hurdles ahead of Lazzara. Redwings sophomore Colin Luwanja handily won the 800 and senior Jeff Girardot won the 3,200 by 19 seconds, breaking 10 minutes for the first time at 9:53.28.
Girardot qualified for the Class 2A 1,600 in 2016.
"It's nice to throw in a longer race just to shake things up a little bit," he said.
Glenbard East got runner-up finishes by Ryan Schulze in long jump, Peter Steiskal in discus and Adam Armstrong in shot put. One of the Rams' dedicated seniors, Justin Corrigan set a personal record in the 1,600.
"I love it when it's cold like this, not much wind," Corrigan said. "It's just a fast meet, I love running against Hinsdale South and Benet, they've got a lot of fast distance guys. It's kind of a good way to keep a good pace."