Morrison helps 'Cats close fast
Neuqua Valley runner Jamere Morrison got his first taste of the 1,600-meter relay, and now he's hungry for some more.
The Wildcats cross country runner has focused mostly on the 200 this spring, but at Saturday's Waubonsie Valley Red Ribbon boys track invite Morrison was inserted into the team's 1,600 relay squad and helped the Wildcats close the meet with a record-time of 3:21.10.
Morrison joined Cale Brown, Brian Griffith and Aryan Avant as Neuqua beat runner-up Belleville West by 31/2 seconds, with third-place St. Charles North finishing in 3:28.80.
"I'm actually excited. I'm part of the team now and we got the (meet) record," said Morrison, who closed the gap some on front-running Belleville West in the third leg and set the stage for Avant's blazing anchor leg that gave the Wildcats the title. "I ran cross country earlier and the coaches had asked me about the 400. I've always loved the 200, but I like being on this (relay)."
Morrison did also get his 200 meters in when he joined Desmond Nolan, Thaddeus Johnson and Jacob Wood to take first in the 800 relay with a 1:30.50 time that bested second-place Normal West's 1:32.10.
The 1,600-relay triumph powered Neuqua past host Waubonsie Valley for second place in the team standings. Belleville West ran away with the team trophy with 111 points followed by Neuqua (77.5), Waubonsie (74) and Wheaton Warrenville South (69.5). St. Charles North, paced by a 1-2 finish in the 1,600, took seventh out of 12 teams in the competitive field.
Avant, who was second in a great 400 race to Waubonsie's Emmett Lorenz, was not going to be nipped at the end of the 1,600 relay.
"I was real surprised we ran so well," Avant said. "Jamere stepped it up. I had also run the 4x800 so I was slightly tired, but it was a great finish."
The host Warriors were without a pair of key sprinters on Saturday, and some others may have been a tad tired from the previous night's prom, yet the hosts had a strong showing. Michael Lorenz set a meet record while winning the 800. Andrew Szott took first in the shot put and Ricky Walls took first in the triple jump and third in the long jump.
"We had a lot of things going against us," Warriors coach Kevin Rafferty said. "We had prom last night, we're missing a couple sprinters and we had kids out early this morning setting things up. To take third with the types of teams here was pretty good."
In the open 1,600 St. Charles North Stars teammates Max Clink and Todd Vankerkhoff pushed each other throughout and in the end Clink surged to first in 4:27.50 with his teammate a close second in 4:27.90. The North Stars also picked up second-place points from Steven Miller in the 800.
"Before the race we were like, let's work together," said Clink, who helped his team to third in the 1,600 relay shortly after his winning 1,600. "I'm ecstatic with us going 1-2."
Vankerkhoff, who PR-ed in the race, said the pair of runners were excited to learn that seven runners entered in the event had posted sub-4:30 times this spring. "It was real exciting. That's the kind of race you're waiting for. It was a blast."
West Chicago's Matt Kubik and Neuqua's Sam Wildeman tied for the pole vault crown at 13-9. Wheaton Warrenville South was second in the 3,200 relay and also picked up seconds from Dan Hohenstein in high jump, Chris Cortopassi in the discus and Charlie Pinedo in the 100.