Elgin's relay teams keep working hard

Elgin's boys track team suffered a recent blow when James Duncan went down due to injury.

"It slowed our relays down," said Elgin coach Adam Freed.

But Freed has been impressed with the slack that has been picked up in other areas in recent times.

Adam Kuforiji and Chase Riddle have been standouts in the 400. Kuforiji took second at the recent Kaneland invitational (49.9), while Riddle clocked in at 51.6.

"Those are a couple of 400 runners that have really stepped up," said Freed.

Elgin's 1,600 relay team of Riddle, Sam Cruse, Sean Nachampassak and Kuforiji finished sixth at Kaneland and ran a 4-second personal record.

"That team has really been helped by the hard work and practicing of Sam Cruse," said Freed. "We've been looking for the third and fourth guys and Sam has really stepped up and done a fantastic job. He's times have dropped by 2 seconds. We're looking for that 4-by-4 to take off."

Freshman Will Wood has also risen to the occasion.

"We moved Will to varsity when James went down and he's been outstanding," said Freed. "He's running 23.7 in the 200 for a freshman. He just turned 15. We've got some freshmen and sophomores doing a nice job at the varsity level."

Dundee-Crown update: The Chargers came out of a recent stretch of 4 meets in 7 days in good shape.

"I thought we really fought hard," said D-C coach Tom Smith. "I'm pleased with the guys' effort, working through all these meets. We made a good showing at the Rocket Relays (at Burlington Central) for mixing events up and we made a very solid showing at the Peterson Prep (Kaneland)."

Smith lauded his middle and long distance groups, along with the jumps and hurdles crew.

Connor Kustief, Anthony Manfrin, Paul Smith, Nathan Prom, Jon Magnant and Dan Magnant give D-C massive depth in the distance races.

"We are running some very solid times from the 800 through the 3,200," said Smith. "We just need to keep making progress. The way this group ran at Kaneland is very encouraging and something we can bbuild from."

Aaron Reams (hurdles, triple jump) has also been a big plus for D-C, along with sprint and sprint relay cogs Ian Salvatini and Garret Minalgia. Matt Cutinello gives the Chargers a strong presence in the long jump and helps with relays.

"Our relays are taking shape, but we know we have to improve in each of the relays," said Smith.

Hampshire update: The Whip-Purs set a new school record in the 400 at the Rocket Relays at Burlington Central. The team of Trace Teboda, Quinn Walker, Junior Makinde and Ryan Smialek ran 44.09.

"Our relay teams are coming along nicely," said Hampshire coach Steve Bruhn, who noted Walker is already under state qualifying time and also praised the efforts of Matt Drendel in the 1,600 and 3,200 races.

Jacobs update: Jacobs coach Jason Borhart hopes to use his team's recent McHenry County victory as a springboard to the future.

"We were able to accomplish one of our goals last week by winning the county title," said Borhart. "The boys competed well (Jacobs set 3 county records). Now we are setting our sights on performing well against some tough teams as we head off to some high-powered meets the next couple of weekends."

South Elgin update: The Storm fared well at the recent Burlington Central Rocket Relays. DeAnton Failla won the 200, while freshman Brad Birchfield finished third in the 100 (11.46). Josh Guth was also solid in the 400 with a personal-best time of 53.56.

"We're getting there," said South Elgin coach Dale Schabert. "We are competing. We're in some things that we weren't in before. We've got some younger kids that are doing a good job."

Burlington Central update: Central won its own Rocket Relays, edging Dundee-Crown by 10 points. The Rockets also tied for fourth at the recent Kaneland invitational (21-team field).

"We've got a lot of depth," said Central coach Mike Schmidt. "Our field events are better up and down the line. We're scoring points. And we've still got a couple of studs with (Ryan) Phebus and (Dan) Hagberg that can score big points in the big meets. Our relays are also coming together."

Central turned in 3 Top 5 finishes in relay events at Kaneland (400, 800 and 1,600).

Schmidt noted a trio of performers have stepped things up lately. That group includes jumper T.J. Pasia.

"He's real solid," said Schmidt. "He's over 20 in the long jump and is triple-jumping 40 feet. He's helping us out in the jumps, which is a place we haven't been real strong in the past. He's a nice kid to have."

Mitch Plumb has also been a factor in a variety of events.

"Mitch is in our relays and he ran a 52.4 in the open quarter at the Rocket Relays," said Schmidt. "He's a sophomore who has done a nice job."

Senior Tim Colby adds further to Central's depth.

"Tim gives us a nice 1-2 punch in the hurdles," said Schmidt. "He placed fifth in the highs at Kaneland and was sixth in the lows. He's been doing real well. In these meets we're going 1 and 3 and 1 and 4 in the hurdles, which gives us some nice points."

Speaking of hurdles, the Cornell-bound Hagberg suffered a rare loss in a week-day meet to a hurdler from North Boone.

"The kid came out of nowhere and passed him the last 2 hurdles," said Schmidt. "Dan ran 15.4, which is slow for him and that kid ran 15.3. It was a good wake-up call. Our conference is as good as any around in the hurdles. (Quinn) Walker from Hampshire is good. Dan ran 14.1 against him and Quinn had 14.6. This North Boone kid is good and Harvard has a real good hurdler. There are 4 guys there that are very good."

Central will compete in next Friday's Kane County meet at Geneva.

Prairie Ridge update: The Wolves continue to excel in the throwing events. Prairie Ridge throwers earned the team 24 points in 1 day alone at the recent McHenry County Meet.

Brett Ramirez shattered the school record in the disc at the county meet (160-11), while David Carbajal threw a 14-foot personal record in the disc and also won the shot put title. Ramirez took second in the disc and finished ahead of 2007 state medalist Marcus Popenfoose (Huntley).

Billy TenBusch continues to work back into form from a cross country injury. He was third in the 3,200 at county, which was his first big-meet race of the season.

Cary-Grove update: The Trojans tied for fourth at the McHenry County Meet, a place coach Layne Holter was pleased with.

"I thought that was good," said Holter. "We lack a lot of the depth we had last year. I'm happy where we're sitting right now."

The Trojans have been bolstered recently by the likes of Zach Zimay (sprints), Jonas Mack (5th in the county in the long jump with a 2-foot PR) and Phil Fairleigh.

Fairleigh had around 30 minutes to recover from the 3,200 relay before running the open 3,200 at county. He ended up running a personal record in the 3,200.

"That's a pretty tough double," said Holter. "I was real happy with that. We had a lot of different people step up at county. We had lots of PRs."

Westminster Christian update: Westminster coach Larry Cochran has a young roster that continues to make advancements this season.

"We are still tweaking and fine-tuning a lot since we have a varsity full of mostly freshmen and newcomers to track," said Cochran. "We will be fine this year. I see slight improvements on a daily basis with these guys."

Huntley update: Huntley ended up scoring 32 points in relay events at the McHenry County Meet. The Red Raiders won the 3,200 and 1,600 relays and took second in the 400. Huntley also won 3,200 and 1,600 county titles in 2007.

"I was pretty happy with the overall effort and finish," said Huntley coach Jim Rolando.

Of note at the county meet, state medalist Marcus Popenfoose threw personal bests in both the shot and the disc. Justin Cassidy ran 2:00 and 2:04 in the 800 and then ran a strong leg of the 1,600 relay.

Earlier this week, Brock Larkin cleared 13-0 to break the school record in the pole vault only to be outdone by Jon Ofenloch's 13-6 effort at the same meet. Popenfoose added to his school record in the discus (165-9). The 1,600 team of Josh Sivila, Cassidy, Casey Popenfoose and Todd Farbiak set a school record at the county meet. Sivila's 400 time at county was also a new school record.

"Last year at this time we were talking about having the best weekend ever for Huntley boys track," said Rolando. "There is no big talk about how happy we re this year. There is a lot more focus from this team. We know that it has been a good season up to this point, but we also know we still have a long way to go to reach any of our goals and potentials for the year."