Boys track: Elements make their mark on Red Ribbon again
Some year the Waubonsie Valley Red Ribbon Classic boys track meet will avoid a microburst destroying the pole vault pit or chilly rain giving everyone that drowned rat look.
Maybe next year.
Shortly after noon Saturday, as the fast heat of the varsity 110-meter hurdles dwindled to only Marmion's Nick Sevenich and Neuqua Valley's Norman Dong and Donovan Turner - who actually looked pretty good - coaches gathered whichever hardy sprinters wanted to run the 100, go with the 800 and 1,600 and call it a day.
"We've had years when sectionals have been like this and the state meet has been like this but you don't really ever want to have this," said Waubonsie coach Kevin Rafferty. "So it's nice to be able to roll it out, get the kids used to it, but at the same time you've got 14 coaches that come here and the idea is everyone's going to do what's best for their kid, nobody's got any hard feelings, and whatever's the positive out of this we're going to take the positive."
For the Warriors' Derric Lee it may have been running 300 meters less than his usual 400.
"The 100 is so short that I feel like it wasn't really a big deal," said Lee, a junior football cornerback with 14 college offers. "If it was a 400 it would have probably been more recognizable, like the rain hitting you in the face."
Before the hard stuff came down Neuqua's Jake McEneaney, Dakota Getty, Josh Mollway and Ryan Kennedy won the 3,200 relay over Marmion's Michael Ronzone, James Milder, Stephen Zimmer and Quinn Gratz.
"More than anything," McEneaney said, "it was about competing."
Continuing to tinker with his sprint relays, Neuqua Valley coach Mike Kennedy inserted Andreas Nelson into the third leg of the Wildcats' 400 relay. Capitalizing, Nelson, Isaiah Robinson, Myles Gascon and Kai Larson won in an unofficial 43.67 seconds.
"He's always been around, but he's finally putting it together," Kennedy said of Nelson.
Wheaton Warrenville South finished the abbreviated meet strong, with the bonus of Tommy Ansiel winning pole vault at 15 feet, 7 inches inside Waubonsie's field house. Despite his right shoelace becoming untied midway through the 1,600, Kyle Thompson led 17 runners from start to finish.
"Today I kind of wanted to take a risk and lead from the beginning. It worked out," Thompson said.
Before that Dylan Kropp made up 10 meters with 200 meters left to pull even then surpass Metea Valley's Charles Schafer to win the 800.
"That's absolutely the hardest I've ever pushed in the last 100 of a race," Kropp said. "I really wanted to get it. I mean, given the conditions and I didn't PR (set a personal record), but honestly that felt like the best race I've ever run."
Hoffman Estates coach Tyrone Jones was among the first to start pulling athletes.
"The risks are there, you can't ignore it," he said. "I'd just hate for something to happen now that would hinder these kids' opportunity the last few weeks. I always preach to the kids we want to get our money in May."
Elements weren't conducive to a state-caliber high jump, but Hawks senior Flynn Alade won the event at 6-5.
"We can't control the elements, we can only control ourselves and our approach. And just for him to come out and perform at that height, I'm very proud of him," Jones said.
In discus Hoffman Estates' Jaylen Alexander defied a crosswind that threatened to push his high deliveries back at him. Instead, this week's practice on his release paid off with throws that were comparative monsters, winning by 15 feet at 148-7.
"All the work that I've put in, day in and day out, it doesn't really matter what conditions it is. I just go out here and I compete. I do the best I can," Alexander said.