County Meet turns 90

Everything changed in the middle of the 3,200 meters of Friday's Kane County boys track meet.

Having said that, the finish of the race didn't shift -- St. Charles North's Mike Strasser was already in the lead and his teammate Rhett Morici was second -- exactly as they finished.

And nothing really shifted in the way the meet eventually finished. West Aurora powered its way to the title of the 90th running of the best boys track meet in the state that does not have the words "IHSA State Meet" in its title.

But the skies opened midway through the second finals race of the evening and what had been a warm, windy evening that was challenging for track athletes shifted into a calm, somewhat cool night that was perfect for running, jumping and throwing.

And Strasser steamed through it all.

"That was a challenge," Strasser said. "It all went to mental toughness. I had to forget the shape I'm in and say, 'You can run in the elements.' A good runner should not be affected by the elements. They were a challenge, but everyone was running in them."

The meet was halted not because of the rain but when lightning was spotted in the sky. That forced a 30-minute delay, followed by a 10-minute warmup period. By the time the meet resumed, the weather conditions were totally different.

The first track athlete to benefit was Burlington Central's Dan Hagberg, who won the 100-meter high hurdles.

"It was nice that we got that nice break," Hagberg said. "The wind totally left and that's a big factor for the hurdles. For the prelims earlier, we were running straight into it."

Hagberg also won the 300 hurdles and was instrumental in Central's fourth-place finish.

Some of the field events had already started but had not finished before it rained. Among these was the high jump, where West Aurora's Aviance King was the only jumper to clear 6-4.

"I had a lot of competition," King said. "I had to compete and I just wanted it."

King said that while it was more comfortable jumping in the calmer conditions, he felt he performed better in the windy pre-storm elements. He attempted to clear a personal-best 6-6, but narrowly missed.

"On my second attempt, I just touched it," King said.

The Blackhawks were strong throughout their lineup, but scored strong field event points. In addition to King's title, Joel Vincent won both the long jump and the triple jump.

On the track, Blackhawks sprint specialist Josh Zinzer won the 100 meters, finished second in the 200 meters and ran a leg of his team's victorious 800-meter relay. Vincent also ran a leg of that relay.

"I feel pretty good," Zinzer said. "I did what I was hoping to do, finish first or second in my events."

The storm provided a hinge in the throwing events. By the time Geneva's Frank Boenzi threw the shot put 54-8 on his penultimate throw, the wind and rain were both long gone. Boenzi experienced both events and finished third in discus.

"I was excited," Boenzi said. "I PR'ed in discus and it was going pretty well. But I was mad I got third, so I thought, 'I'll go take the shot and show them and take first.'"

Unfortunately, the sun was also gone, though that didn't take anything away from Boenzi's epic throw into the darkness.

"My first few throws, they weren't very nice," Boenzi said. "Warming up for finals, I had a few that went way out there. I just tried to duplicate that."

Boenzi said he was certain his winning throw was a good one.

"The release feels like nothing, and you know those are the best throw," he said.

Meet host Geneva finished second to West Aurora. The Vikings also won the meet-ending 1,600-meter relay when Chris Higgins, Jeff Foster, Jay Graffagna and Drew Hickey raced to victory.

Batavia finished third in the meet and the Bulldogs' individual titlist was Bai Kabba. First Kabba raced to victory in the 400 meters.

"It feels pretty good," Kabba said. "Last year, I lost to (St. Charles East's) Alex Jackson, and he's a great runner. It feels good to have my chance to have some guys chase after me."

Then Kabba edge Zinzer for the 200 meter title. Kabba also participated in his team's title-winning 400-meter relay.

Central finished fourth in the meet. In addition to Hagberg, the Rockets gained a champion when Ryan Phebus surged after being passed in the final 100 meters to claim the 800.

"You're always burning in the last 100 meters in the 800," Phebus said. "Your legs are dying. You've just got to push."

Only one record fell in the meet, but it came in decisive fashion. Kaneland senior Phil Christensen launched the discus 184-11, bettering St. Charles East grad Jamie Wu's long-standing mark by 9 feet.

"It felt pretty good today, although this week I did have some trouble with my form," Christensen said. "I guess it all came together today."

Christensen was strong in warmups and did nothing in competition to allow the other throwers a chance to get close. Christensen won the event by 20 feet.

"I've been doing it pretty consistently, but it felt good to finally bust one out," Christensen said.

The discus ended just before the storm hit. That early portion of the evening was very windy.

"When I first got here, I was worried about it," Christensen said. "But after my first couple of practice throws, it wasn't making that big of a difference."

Kaneland earned a meet champion when Logan Markuson was the only athlete to clear 12-6 to win the pole vault title.

Mary Beth Nolan/mnolan@dailyherald.com

Above: Geneva's Joe Augustine soars in the long jump finals Friday at the Kane County meet at Geneva. Below left: Burlington Central's Dan Hagberg builds a lead as Batavia's Ryan Web pursues in a 110-meter high hurdles. Below right: St. Charles North's Mike Strasser leads the pack in the 3,200.