No slowing Batavia

Track and field is as neighborly as high school sports get.

Yet there was Batavia assistant coach Chris Wheaton demanding that Kenny Herrmann put the hurt on the rest of the 800-meter field Saturday at the Jim Arnold Invite at Glenbard West.

Now, Wheaton's no demon. He was simply imploring Herrmann to follow through on the Bulldogs' training emphasis.

Hurt them, Herrmann did.

The senior battled brutal winds buffeting the backstretch to take the 800 in front of St. Charles East's Tyler Dettro.

Herrmann entered this 28th annual invite in Glen Ellyn hoping to run the 800 in around 1 minute, 58 seconds, just under his seed time.

Gusts up to 25 mph threw that goal out the window. It became a matter of place -- and guts. He held the lead from start to finish.

"We've been doing a lot with being strong this year, so the earlier I can go the more I can hurt other people," Herrmann said.

"If I can go early I can hold onto it using that strength that we've been working on all season. When I went they didn't go with me because they thought I would die, but I was able to hold onto it because of that strength."

Batavia was strong throughout, taking fourth at this quality 15-team meet. Oak Park and Wheaton North went first and second, Batavia squeezed out of third by Evanston's 2-second edge on the Bulldogs in the 1,600 relay, the day's last event. St. Charles East placed 10th.

Usual suspect Bai Kabba won his premiere event, the 400 dash, and placed fifth in the 100. The junior also joined second-place 400 and 1,600 relays.

Fellow Batavia juniors Ryan Webb and Erich Zeddies enjoyed eventful days.

Webb survived the 110-meter hurdle prelims then did the same in the finals. The two runners with the fastest preliminary times crashed in mid-race and did not finish. Webb hurdled unscathed to third place.

"That's why you run the race," he said.

"Out of the corner of my right eye I just see people go down. I just figured, take advantage of it and keep going."

Zeddies finished fourth in long jump and second in triple jump, with a strong 43 feet, 3½ inches.

Zeddies could have won long jump had he not scratched, by an inch, on an attempt measured at 21-10.

"It's good to know I have the capability of hopefully doing that," he said. "It's just a matter of being able to do it, and having it count."

St. Charles East's aforementioned Tyler Dettro made it count in the 800, the top finish for the Saints.

Wes Allen -- lacking his sprint partner Keenen Sellers, resting a touchy foot -- ran sixth in the 200 dash. Allen and fellow junior teammate Luke Ploszek were a respective fifth and sixth in the 400.

"With the 400," Allen said, "you really had to play the wind, figure out when to go, when to hold back a little bit. But with the 200, you've just got to go."

Saints coach Ben Provencher praised Dettro, the two sprinters and point-earners such as Dave Arends, Pat Matthews and John Deutsch.

"We just had a few too many places where we were lacking today to really make an impact as a team," Provencher said. "But as far as what we put into the meet today, I think the kids did a great job."