Corral, Glenbard East building confidence

Glenbard East's Chris Corral crossed himself before sprinting down the runway in the triple jump.

"Have some faith, just a little faith. Build some confidence," he said of this practice.

Confidence comes and goes in track and field. Right now Corral has it. A week after setting his personal record in triple jump at 44 feet, 6 inches, the Rams senior set a PR in long jump, 22-01/2 on Friday at Hinsdale South's Mike Yavorski Hornet Invitational.

"I've been at 21-3 for the past couple weeks," he said. "My eyes just lit up when I heard that result."

Corral called his 22-footer a "mental breakthrough." Was it also coincidence that Corral's girlfriend was there watching him those last two big meets?

Second in both horizontal jumps, Corral helped Glenbard East to a second-place finish, the Rams' 117 points following titlist Bloomington's 143.50. Downers Grove South (73) placed third, a big day had by sprinter Tasean Jackson and the winning 3,200 relay of Chris Madison, Anthony Farrinella, Bobby Mueller and Spencer Zidarich.

Glenbard East got wins by Luke Chvatal in the 800 - a crisp 1 minute, 57 seconds - and by Zach O'Malley in discus. Jason Eberle took second in high jump and the 110 hurdles and was fourth in the 300 hurdles.

Hinsdale South, fifth overall, got major meters from Matt DeSalvo - sixth in the 3,200 and the 800, fourth in the 1,600. The Hornets' sole win was by Devin Lee, 44-4 in triple jump despite suffering from tendinitis in both knees.

Like Lee and Corral, Benet's David Gorenz and Elliot Howe took a battering from the triple-jump pit, packed hard by the recent rains.

It was a busy day for Gorenz. He finished fourth in triple jump, fifth in the 110 hurdles, ran a leg of Benet's second-place 1,600 relay and won the 300 hurdles, his main event.

"It was good," the senior said of the long hurdles race. "The first few meets I was stuttering the last hurdle. This time I was all clear, no stutters. It felt smooth, got a good start on it. It all just worked out today."

The Redwings also got a second-place finish from John Cannova with a 47-foot shot put, another second from Paul Clifford in the 800 and third-place finishes by Jerry Olp in the 3,200, John McLaughlin in the 400 and Matt Dickey with a long jump of 20 feet, 103/4 inches.

"I like the meet because it's seven teams, seven lanes," said Hinsdale South coach Dean Norman, summarizing. "It's an efficiently run meet."