Jacobs heavy favorite again at FVC boys meet
Some things never change.
Once again, Jacobs is the strong favorite to win tonight's Fox Valley Conference boys track and field championship at Huntley High School. Jacobs is the host of the meet, but will use Huntley's facility due to ongoing construction at the Jacobs Athletic Stadium.
The Golden Eagles are looking for their sixth straight FVC championship.
But Jacobs coach Jason Borhart feels the quest for title No. 6 will be anything but a walk in the park.
"There are many strong teams this year," said Borhart, whose team regained its McHenry County throne earlier this season. "We are looking to perform well and be in the running for the championship. D-C, McHenry and Huntley are strong and will be shooting for the win as well. Crystal Lake South could also make a jump into contention if they run well."
The Golden Eagles are led by the likes of Brad Foote (shot and discus), JM Salcedo (sprints), Darius Bowers (sprints and jumps), Tim Constant (400) and Mike Wallace (sprints).
Jacobs also owns the area's top 800 relay time this season and is close to hitting state qualifying time in that event.
"Jacobs is the clear-cut favorite," said veteran Dundee-Crown coach Tom Smith. "They simply can score more points and will take more first places than anyone else. Their speed, relays and throws are the class of the conference. The battle then is a great one for the next tier of teams."
Smith certainly feels his group can be in that elite echelon of the conference.
"We want to give our best and see if we can be the next team," said Smith. "McHenry, Huntley, Crystal Lake South and ourselves could all be right at the same number of points. Like everyone else, we just need guys to step up at the right time."
The Chargers own the area's top 3,200 relay time, while Garret Minaglia has the top high jump mark this season in the area (6-4). Pat Livengood has hit 6-feet in the high jump.
Both Connor Kustief and Anthony Manfrin are under state time in the 1,600 and are also close to the sub-2:00 barrier in the 800. Tyler Jones and Aaron Reams give the Chargers a pair of strong hurdlers. Reams and Matt Cutinello are among the area leaders in the jumps categories.
While Marzejon-Ross was the marquee heavyweight battle in the girls FVC meet last week, the throws divisions for the boys will feature some equally elite talent today.
In the discus, Huntley's Marcus Popenfoose, a state medalist in the event as a freshman last year, has already thrown 179-5 (state qualifying is 155-0). Last year's state champion in Class AA threw 183-4. He'll face competition from Jacobs' Brad Foote (165-1) and Prairie Ridge's Brett Ramirez (160-11).
"The competition helps," said Popenfoose. "It gives you that extra push and that extra adrenaline. When guys are pushing you harder, it helps you do your best."
Popenfoose worked on some technique issues in the off-season.
"I watched film and was picking up on some things I needed to correct like keeping my body in the right position and keeping my feet in the right place in the ring," said the 6-1 ½, 240-pound Popenfoose.
Those same 3 contenders in the discus will also battle it out for the shot put title. Prairie Ridge's David Carbajal is the area leader at 57-9 (state standard is 52-9). Carbajal recently committed to Marquette. Popenfoose has thrown 53-2 ½, while Foote's best mark this year has been 51-11 ½.
"I've had a lot more improvement in the shot than I have had in the discus," said Popenfoose. "I used to use a glide technique and now I'm spinning."
In addition to Popenfoose, Huntley should perform well in the relay events. Huntley owns the area's top 1,600 relay time and is ranked in the top three in the 400, 800 and 3,200 relays.
"Our relays are each seeded pretty well and should be our strength on the track," said Huntley coach Jim Rolando, who also pegs Jacobs as a strong favorite for the team title.
Rolando feels pole vaulter Jon Ofenloch could reach 14-feet with good weather. He's hit 13-6 since the county meet.
Josh Sivila, Casey Popenfoose, Todd Farbiak and Justin Cassidy will also help the Red Raiders on the track.
Crystal Lake South's Matt Zaluckyj recently set a new school record in the 300 hurdles with a 40.5 effort.
Girls
Lucas' last run: St. Edward senior Ashley Lucas is no stranger to state finals competition.
Between cross country and track, Lucas has made 4 state appearances (2 in each sport) and would like to up that number to five at today's Class A Rockford Christian sectional.
Lucas said she will likely run in the 3,200 at Rockford and possibly the 1,600 depending on how she feels after the 2-mile race. She also mentioned the 3,200 relay as a possibility.
"Hopefully my times will be able to come down," said Lucas. "I've got a better chance in the 2-mile. I need to come down 20 seconds in the 2-mile, but I haven't been focusing on the 2-mile too much. I've only run it a couple of times this year. I've run the mile more consistently. It's easier to cut down on the 2-mile, especially if you are running it fresh."
The weather-hampered track season has unleashed havoc on area track athletes and teams, Lucas being no exception.
"I wish my times would have been down more this year," said Lucas. "We haven't been on the track much and a lot of our meets have been cancelled. It's been hard to do pace work. I am happy that I'm injury free."
Having ample big-meet experience is a plus for Lucas.
"The experience will definitely help me," said Lucas, who is deciding between running in college at either Valparaiso University or Lewis University. "It would be nice to end my senior year going to state."
Lucas said the 3,200 relay will be a meet-time decision. Lucas and teammates Nadia Suarez, Megan Venlos and Karoline Kelly are 2 seconds away from the school record (10:58). Lucas is already the St. Edward school record-holder in the 1,600 and 3,200 events.
Hampshire, Elgin Academy and Westminster Christian will also compete at Rockford.
Hampshire has a number of potential state possibilities. The Whip-Purs 3,200 relay team of Autumn Chomenko, Mai Salvador, Jenna Ballard and Tiffany Phu now owns the school record in that event (10:20) and is only 3.5 seconds off the Class A state qualifying standard.
Holly Plichta has excelled in both the 3,200 and 1,600 races. Plichta, who broke the 3,200 school record by 61 seconds this year, is already under Class A state time and is 6 seconds off in the 1,600. She's tied the school record in the 1,600 this year.
Autumn Holze has gone over the state standard in the shot put this year, while Macy Luedtke is close in the discus. Holze leads the area this year in the shot put (36-feet). Ballard is closing in on the state standard in the 300 hurdles.
"Everybody is jelling together," said Hampshire coach Patti Nihells. "These girls have a lot of desire."
On the Class AA side, Burlington Central will head west to the Ottawa Township sectional Saturday.
The Rockets feature 3 individuals who are leading the area in their respective events. Maggie Gannon has run an area-best 2:21 in the 800 this year and is just a half-second off the state qualifying time. Gannon is also 7 seconds off the state standard in the 1,600.
Vanessa Perez leads the area in the 300 hurdles (46.8) and is just 0.1 seconds off the state qualifying standard. Karolynn Bush has the area's top discus throw (107-5) but is just over 10 feet shy of the state mark currently.
Markelle Turk has run 11:43 in the 3,200 and is 12 seconds off the state standard.
"All of the teams there are going to be pretty good," said Central's Rachel Latham who is part of the 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams. "Hopefully we can qualify some people. We're all so motivated to do well in our events and drop our times."
Latham is looking for her second state appearance. She was part of the 3,200 relay team as a sophomore. Latham, Gannon, Caille Thommes and Perez comprise the 1,600 relay team for the Rockets, while Latham, Gannon, Thommes and Katie Puccio make up the 3,200 relay team.
"We've got a lot of great distance girls on the team," said Latham, who plans on continuing her education at Augustana College. "Most of them were on the cross country team that qualified for state. We're all motivated. We've got some possibilities to qualify for state."
In terms of area drama, that will be in abundance at the 22-team Class AA Huntley sectional on Saturday where standout sprinters Coryn Marzejon (Huntley) and Sarah Ross (Jacobs) will continue their season-long battle.
Jacobs and Huntley join Cary-Grove, Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake South on the list of area schools in the sectional.
Ross and Marzejon split victories in the 200 at the McHenry County (Ross) and Fox Valley Conference (Marzejon) meets. Ross also defeated Marzejon in the 100 at the FVC meet.
Marzejon, headed to Michigan State to run track, is under state qualifying time already in the 200 and 400. She finished second in the state in the 400 last year as a junior and eighth in the 200. She was also seventh in the state in the 200 as a sophomore and eighth in the state in the 400 as a freshman.
Ross, who will continue her track career at Western Michigan, is also a pole vault state title contender. She set an FVC meet record recently by clearing 12-feet. At last year's state, meet the winning vault was 12-6 (a senior). The second-place height was 11-6 and only seven competitors cleared 11-feet -- a mark Ross has long ago surpassed.
Crystal Lake South is fresh off winning an FVC title for the second year in a row. Twin sisters Aimee (100 hurdles, long jump) and Kellie (300 hurdles, triple jump) Schuh along with defending Class AA 3,200 state champion Kristina Aubert (3,200, 1,600) each won 2 titles at the FVC meet. Additionally, South won 3 relay crowns.
Veteran Madeline Aufmann leads the way for Cary-Grove. She won the 800 FVC title recently. Prairie Ridge distance runner Danielle Lebreck has run under state qualifying time in the 1,600 this team.
Bartlett, Dundee-Crown, Elgin, Larkin, South Elgin and Streamwood will compete in the Class AA St. Charles North sectional today.
Dundee-Crown's Kelsey Seiler has run under the state standard in the 3,200 this year, while Kateleigh Pilson recently won the FVC shot put title. Larkin's Britney Whitehead continues to close in on state time in the 300 hurdles.
Bartlett owns the area's best times in the 800 and 3,200 relays and has also received strong performances from Megan Kunesh (area-best time in 100 high hurdles), Kim Kowalczyk (400), Sam Salinas (1,600) and DelRa Sutton (100).