Boys track: At MSC Blue meet it's all about the competition
When it comes to track and field Glenbard South's Conner Howard leaves his ego on the infield.
"I'm a friendly guy, so I don't always see an event as a competition," said the Glenbard South senior horizontal jumper and sprinter. "I see it more as me doing my best."
At the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division boys track meet at Aurora Central Catholic, Howard's best and last long jump was good enough, by a half-inch, to surpass IC Catholic superstar Jordan Rowell. Rowell, who's had some minor leg tightness, didn't push it Friday with greater goals ahead the next two weeks and called it a day after a second-place 100-meter dash of 10.92 seconds.
Regardless, nipping a nine-time all-stater is something, but Howard isn't the boastful type. He credited Raiders teammate Jeremy Earnst with showing him possibilities.
"He popped a (personal-record), so I was like, I might as well, too," said Howard, who leapt 20 feet, 11½ inches. "I felt good, I felt fast, everything just kind of felt right."
Most things went right for Riverside-Brookfield, which repeated as Metro Suburban Blue champ with 182 points to 118 for Glenbard South and 88 for Aurora Central Catholic. Bulldogs sprinter George Cervanka won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and anchored two winning sprint relays, while tireless Mateo Nunez won the 3,200, the 800 and the 1,600.
In that last race Wheaton Academy's Jonah Jones placed third and Fenton's Cristian Sanchez took sixth. In the 3,200 Fenton's Jeremy Lodewyk elbowed his way to third while Wheaton Academy's Ryan Wittstock ran his best this season in a fifth-place finish.
"Our kids are working hard and they're PR'ing, but they're going up against some unbelievable distance talent from R-B and Illiana Christian," said Fenton coach Clint Porter. "There's nothing wrong with our kids' competitive spirit and how hard they work."
One Fenton highlight was the appearance of John Kurtz, who after 48 years relinquished the head track spot though he continues as Bison cross country coach. Porter called him "The King."
"This is my 49th consecutive conference track meet," Kurtz said. "That's a good number."
IC Catholic's Tim McCann put up a good number, a personal-record 123-11 to win discus. His twin brother, Dan, finished eighth in shot put. Knights throws coach Jeff Fredrickson said Tim McCann got height on his throws, and McCann felt the sweet spot.
"It definitely felt lighter coming off, that 123(-footer) did," McCann said. "I basically knew it was a PR at that point."
IC's Kris Askew took second in triple jump while Glenbard South got runner-up finishes by Joey Wood in the 400, Will Werner in pole vault and Taylor Sadkowski in shot put.
In shot put Aurora Central Catholic's Brant Krpan easily surpassed his prior best to win his first conference title, by more than 6 feet at 49-2. He then consoled Sadkowski, as the two seniors have been through the wars since Krpan ditched baseball for track as a junior.
"I was trying to bring him back into it, I don't want to see him get down," Krpan said. "At the end of the day, you're just out there competing. I've always been the kind of guy who doesn't like to see people being down."
Chargers teammates Josh Jerwers and Matt Mendoza convinced the strong Krpan to try track.
"I feel a lot more in place here," said Krpan, who also exceeded his position in discus with a second-place finish of 120-9. "Every day I 'PR' or do well I tell Coach K (Troy Kerber) and he's just overjoyed."
Coach K was overjoyed when the Chargers' McKimmon Englehardt, Jerwers, Jon Mattas and Mendoza won the final race of the night, the 1,600 relay. He was tickled when Englehardt and Caleb Minx went 1-3 in the 110-meter hurdles and 1-2 in the 300 hurdles.
Englehardt counted his fifth and sixth conference hurdles titles spanning indoor and outdoor seasons. Minx, who started in track as a straight sprinter, researches hurdles drills and workouts for them to do together.
"As their sprints coach," said Chargers assistant Adam Miller, "a lot of times I defer to their experience and their ability."