W. Aurora primed for big year
A year ago the Tri-Cities area sent nearly 30 athletes to Charleston for the boys state track and field meet, which at the time seemed to be a tough mark to beat.
Just a year removed, that number could end up being equaled or even exceeded.
West Aurora is one of the teams that could contribute a large number of athletes to the campus at Eastern Illinois University in May for the state meet this year. The Blackhawks sent five individuals and three sprint relay teams to the state meet a year ago, and nearly all of those athletes returned this year with a year of state experience under their belts.
Blackhawks coach Cortney Lamb said the experience his team gained last year predominantly as underclassmen should pay dividends in the larger meets.
"We have a good group of core athletes returning who gained experience last year from some of the bigger meets," Lamb said. "It makes our job as coaches a lot easier when you have athletes who go out and lay it on the line every meet."
Senior Joel Vincent qualified for the state meet in both the long jump and triple jump last year, and he's currently ranked in the top 20 in the state by the Illinois Prep Top Times (IPTT).
"He is a returning state-qualifier and outdoor (DVC) conference champ in the long jump," Lamb said of Vincent. "He's a great competitor and has already hit 22-3 during the indoor season."
Senior Colton Winston qualified for the state meet a year ago in the triple jump, which provides the Blackhawks with two strong scoring threats in the field events. Lamb explained that Winston has his sights on returning to Charleston, and that he and Vincent benefit from each other's competitiveness.
"He's (Winston) really improved this year," Lamb said. "He's hoping to return to the state meet again this year and this time come home with a medal. He and Joel (Vincent) really push each other and help each other out."
Junior Josh Zinzer has spent most of the indoor season recovering from an injury that occurred during the wrestling season, but Lamb expects his top sprinter back to full strength by the time the outdoor season begins.
"The 200 is his strongest race," Lamb said. "But he's one of those guys who you can put anywhere and he'll do a great job for you."
Senior Juan Perez went to the state meet last year in the shot put, but also suffered an injury during the wrestling season. Lamb has been cautious not to push him during the indoor season, but he does expect him back by mid-April.
"He's still recovering from a shoulder injury and he was just cleared to return last week, so we haven't really pushed him yet," Lamb said. "We do expect him to be at full strength for the outdoor season."
The Blackhawks qualified their 400, 800 and 1,600 relay teams for state last year, which Lamb said has become a sense of pride for this team.
"We've been very fortunate to have a great group of runners over the past few years," Lamb said. "It has almost turned into a pride thing for the kids because they want to keep that tradition of quality relay teams going."
Juniors Kevin Costin (throws) and Phil Lingren (distance) and senior Tony Knight (400) will add depth for the Blackhawks.
After finishing third in the DuPage Valley Conference outdoor meet in 2007, the Blackhawks recently captured the DVC indoor title and are hoping to continue that momentum into the outdoor season.
"I try not to set specific goals for the kids because I want them to set their own goals, but we do talk about improving each year," Lamb said. "Our expectations are definitely very high coming into this year."
Another team that was young a year ago and appears to be very much improved is Batavia. Like the Blackhawks, the Bulldogs sent three relay teams to state a year ago.
Junior sprinter J.R. Kabba also earned valuable experience at state last year. Running indoors has been difficult for Kabba because of his asthma, but he's looking forward to the outdoor season to show how much the experience from last year has paid off.
"Indoor has always been pretty hard on me and I've never really run well indoors," Kabba said. "I'm just waiting for outdoor season and looking forward to running the 400."
"Last year was such a battle (in the 400) between (St. Charles East's) Alex Jackson and the Mathies brothers," Kabba said. "I learned a lot from all of those runners. Alex Jackson is a very smooth runner. I never saw him look tense while he ran, and from Ben Mathies I learned that you have to fight hard and just keep fighting."
The Bulldogs, who won the Western Sun Conference indoor title, can field a squad of quality athletes in nearly every event, but coach Dennis Piron believes the depth of his team is what provides their greatest strength.
"Our strengths will be in hurdles and some of the individuals in the distance events," Piron said. "We also have a lot of depth in the field events. If we don't win an event, we're still placing second, third, fourth, so there are a lot of kids competing and scoring, which I think bodes well for our outdoor season."
Geneva also sent several relay teams down a year ago, and have junior Andrew Nelson and senior Joe Augustine back in the fold.
Augustine nearly qualified for the state meet a year ago in the long and triple jumps, and might be using his close call as motivation heading into this season as demonstrated by his recent performance at the Western Sun Conference meet. Not only did Augustine place first in the long jump, triple jump and 400 meter dash, but he closed out the meet anchoring the 1,600 relay with a come-from-behind victory.
While Augustine admits the lack of a training facility might hinder their practices, he said he's really not focusing on anything more than his opponent and his teammates this season.
"We don't have an indoor facility, but our coaches have a great plan for training us," Augustine said. "Last year (barely missing the state meet) doesn't really come to my mind, I'm just trying to do whatever I can to put our team in first place."
Andrew Nelson made it downstate last year as a sophomore in the 1,600 and he's looking to improve with a solid outdoor season.
"Last year (at state) was a big learning experience for me and a lot of my teammates," Nelson said. "I think we have a really good 3,200 relay team this year and we have a little higher expectations coming into this year."
Marmion has won the Suburban Catholic Conference the past two years, and although former distance standout David Grange has graduated, the Cadets might field their strongest teams in the past few years.
Senior Josh Stein spent many practices and meets learning from Grange and competing with him, and now those roles have reversed somewhat for Stein. Junior T.J. Hefferman has been pushing Stein in practice and has become a solid 1,600 runner as a result.
Stein, who recently accepted a cross country and track scholarship to Loyola University, will once again focus mainly on the 3,200.
Coach Dan Thorpe said Stein is focused on returning to Charleston.
"Josh is hoping to get back to the state meet and hopefully help bring more of his team with him this year," Thorpe said.
Bryson Hope (hurdles) and Peter Tate (throws) should also help score points for the Cadets, which gives them better overall team balance than they've had in some time.
"We have a nice team that will cover all events, which is what you need to win conference," Thorpe said. "Our expectations are high heading into this year and our goal is to get more people to state. We've upgraded the competition on our schedule and increased the intensity of our workouts, so we're hoping that it all pays off."
Senior Keenan Sellers is the lone Saint returning for St. Charles East who made it to the state meet last year, and he feels that the experience helped prepare him.
"I learned a lot last year about preparing myself and the whole mental aspect of it," Sellers said. "My goal this year is just to keep working hard and try to return back to the state meet and hopefully earn a medal."
David Arends was listed in the indoor IPTT for the 600 meter run, which is not run during the outdoor season, but he'll help the Saints in either the 200 or 400.
St. Charles North also has several athletes listed in the indoor IPTT, as well as the 3,200 relay team, which is currently ranked ninth in the state. Junior Andrew Carlson has set a new personal record in the high jump and recently won the Upstate Eight Conference high jump title. Carlson has his sights set on the 6-5 state-qualifying high jump standard.
"I learned a lot from my experience last year and I'm just trying to get better," Carlson said. "I'd like to get to 6-5, so that's what I'm shooting for this outdoor season."
Senior Chris DeSilva is ranked in the 1,600 by the IPTT and placed second in the UEC to Neuqua Valley's Chris Derrick last week.
Kaneland coach Eric Baron said this year's team is much younger than those he's had in the past, but what they lack in experience, they don't lack in effort.
"We're a very young team this year," Baron said. "We're very balanced, but we're also very young. But at the same time, these kids work hard every day in practice, so we're really excited about where the program is headed."
One senior leader the Knights are hoping to get contributions from is Phil Christensen, who qualified for the state meet in the shot put. Christensen is hoping his hard work during the off season and a slight change in his technique will help him get closer to his goals this year.
"I'm hoping to balance it out a little more this year," Christensen said. "I'd really like to qualify in both the shot and the discus. I went to a lot of camps during the off season, and I also changed over from the glide to the spin (in the shot put technique), so I'm hoping that makes a difference for me this year."
Aurora Central Catholic was moved into Class AA this year, which could prove to be a difficult challenge for the small school. However, although the competition might be more difficult at this level, that's not going to reduce the effort by the team at all.
"We're going into uncharted waters this year," coach Troy Kerber said. "We were moved up to Class AA by the IHSA because we're 10 students over the cut-off line. I think it's unfair to the kids because we've been placed into one of the toughest sectionals in the state, but at the same time, we're going to go out there and compete. We've never laid down for anybody; the kids never have and the kids never will."
Senior sprinters Steven Bohr and Nick Puscas made it to the Class A state meet a year ago, and are working hard to improve their times. Junior Anthony Kelly also went to Charleston last year in the high jump and he's already cleared 6-3 during the indoor season.
Junior Max Gilbert won the 1,600 at the Seneca sectional and will be looking to shave about 10 seconds off his time to get close to the Class AA qualifying standard of 4:24.5.
Ed Lee/elee@dailyherald.com
Juan Perez made it to state for West Aurora in the shot last year, but was injured during the wrestling season and hopes to be back in mid-April.
Ed Lee/elee@dailyherald.com
Josh Zinzer, pictured here running the 55-meter dash at the DuPage Valley Conference indoor meet two weeks ago, is part of a West Aurora team that should be one of the best in the state.