Neuqua wants more
Always leave them wanting more.
It's a standard in entertainment and apparently also in track and field.
"It's nice to take care of business. And not everything went right for us," Neuqua Valley coach Mike Kennedy said Thursday after the Wildcats won the Upstate Eight Conference meet at Streamwood's Millennium Field, reclaiming the title after a two-year drought.
Neuqua Valley scored 163 points. Waubonsie Valley's 114 points were good for second place, and Lake Park took third with 85.
Lots did go right. The Wildcats won three of four relays, Aryan Avant and Thaddeus Johnson went 1-2 in the 200 dash, and Avant, Brian Griffith, Danny Pawola and Brian Morenus won the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200, respectively, with Harsha Torke taking second in the latter.
"I owe a lot of my success to my coaches, but especially cross country," said Avant, who like Griffith also anchored a winning relay. "They gave me all the endurance I need to finish the race."
Pawola was a mainstay, but the Penn State-bound senior hadn't improved on his 1,600 time in a month. Thursday he did, at 4:17.53 to edge Waubonsie Valley's Emmett Lorenz.
"A lot of stuff's happened between then and now," Pawola said. "I gained a little weight before then, so I lost that, and I've just been getting really focused recently, really gearing up for the end of the season. I came into this race and I needed to run 4:20. There's no reason not to, and I just went for it from the gun."
An epic Neuqua-Waubonsie battle occurred in pole vault between the Wildcats' Sam Wildeman and the Warriors' Michael Schmelzel. The latter claimed the title at 15 feet, 6 inches to break a 17-year-old school record.
"At the beginning of the year, I was like, I can get that, maybe," Schmelzel said. "And then I haven't really thought about it. It just came today."
Schmelzel had an amazing day, winning both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles as well.
"Coming back from the 300s I was like, I don't even know what I'm going to get (in vault). I wasn't even expecting anything, really," he said.
An inspiring performance came from Bobby Collins, winner of the 100 dash in 11.01 seconds. He'd quit Waubonsie Valley's team as a freshman and got kicked off as a sophomore and junior for disciplinary reasons. His grandmother, Dolores, died the day before last Christmas. Bobby made a stand.
"I promised her I would go through a whole season. No matter how bad it gets, how dark it gets, I'd be there," he said. "It all came true. It's a huge dream."
As usual, Lake Park went 1-2 in shot put and discus. Dan Block won both followed by Jordan Davis in discus, Jeremy Kline in shot.
"We have a pretty good tradition right now," said Lancers throws coach Bob Nihells.