Perez has reason to smile at NSC meet

Gerardo Perez flashed "The Smile."

Which is like a shark revealing its teeth.

Had Stevenson star Tyler Bartlow had eyes in the back of his head, he might have known he was in trouble.

"If he's smiling," Lake Zurich coach Chad Beaver said of Perez, "he's got the race."

A smiling Perez crossed the finish line in the 1,600-meter run in a winning 4:22.5, overtaking Bartlow in the final 200 yards.

It was Perez's second win in Thursday's Grant-hosted North Suburban Conference meet in Fox Lake.

"It helps me relax," Perez said of smiling during races, something he started doing unintentionally about a year ago.

"When I first started doing it, everyone would come up to me afterward and say, 'Why are you smiling?' At first, I didn't really realize it."

While Lake Forest (105.5 points) rallied past Zion-Benton (second, 90) to capture the meet, Perez indeed had reason to smile. He set the only conference mark of the night, taking the 3,200 in a school-record 9:20 and broke his own school record in the 1,600. The indefatigable senior capped his night by sprinting the Bears' third leg on the 1,600 relay.

"He said he's got it in him, so I said, 'Let's do it,' " Beaver said.

Perez, an all-state cross country runner, was running the 3,200 for only the third time this season, as he's been competing the 1,600, 800 and 400 leg of the 1,600 relay. He had no idea he was chasing a 28-year-old meet record in the 3,200 until PA announcer Al Janulis mentioned it during the race.

Former Lake Forest runner Ryan Stoll set the meet record of 9:27.8 in 1981.

"I just kind of went out there and ran," Perez said.

Warren's Karsen Green also had reason to smile after using a strong kick to give Warren first place in the 1,600 relay. The senior had dropped back to third on the final lap but overtook Zion-Benton's anchor in the final 15 meters.

Warren's relay - which also included Jake Jerewicz, Chet Michna and John Marlowe - clocked a 3:25.4. Zion-Benton (3:25.5) and North Chicago (3:26.0) were second and third.

Despite the thrilling win, Green wasn't overly impressed.

"I was slow," he said. "Today was the first meet that I ran the 4 by 8 in a long time. Running the 4 by 8 and the 800 - especially today because (the meet) was moving so fast - my legs never really got a chance to recuperate."

Warren, which totaled 71 points to edge Stevenson (67) for third place, began the meet by winning the 3,200 relay race. Eddie Lopez-Villa, Green, Chris Sizemore and Marlowe went 8:11.8.

Lakes' Marcell KirkmanBey won the 110 hurdles in 14.9.

"I felt good in the prelims with the (14.7), but I had a 14.9 in the finals, which I didn't really like because it was kind of ugly," KirkmanBey said. " I hit a lot of hurdles."

Besides Perez's two wins, Lake Zurich also got a victory from the Francisco Soto in the 800 (1:57.8).

Other winners included Warren's Leonard Brady in the 100 (10.9), Wauconda's Garrett Dorsey in the 400 (49.1) and Antioch's Cameron White in the 200 (22.2). White edged Brady (22.4).

Stevenson's Derek Chmielewski captured both the shot put (51-8 1/2) and discus (157-9).

Lake Forest got first-place efforts from Andrew Steinwold in the 300 hurdles (40.4), David Tropp in the high jump (6-6) and Harry Geldermann in the pole vault (13-6).