The hotter he gets, the hotter he gets

Somebody needs to tick off Dundee-crown senior Aaron Reams. The guy is just asking for it. Really.

The Dundee-Crown triple jumper and hurdler says he digs deeper and accomplishes more as an athlete when his blood reaches a boil.

"When I'm angry and just don't think, I seem to jump better," Reams said. "It's kind of like in basketball. When I didn't get a call I would get upset, throw everything out, focus harder on the game and do better."

Reams was a key starter for the Dundee-Crown basketball team that made a memorable run to the Class 4A state semifinals in Peoria in March, but his individual goal of qualifying for the Class 3A boys track and field state meet in Charleston was on the verge of slipping away last Friday.

That's when Reams tapped into his inner Hulk.

Through preliminaries and one attempt in the finals of the triple jump at the Class 3A Hononegah sectional, Reams hadn't achieved the state qualifying standard of 45 feet. One preliminary attempt was recorded at 44-111/4, a measurement any jumper would find irritating.

On his second jump in the finals, Reams soared past 45 feet but the attempt was ruled a scratch. "That upset me again," he said.

Worked into a good froth and cheered on by teammates gathered near the runway, Reams channeled his emotion into his last-chance attempt and leapt 46 feet, qualifying him for the state meet for the first time in his four-year track career.

Not only did that jump win the sectional meet, it broke his own school record. Earlier this season at The Rocket Relays at Burlington Central, Reams broke Matt Cutinello's 2008 record of 45-6 by an inch.

"That felt pretty good because if I didn't jump that, I wouldn't have won or made it to state," Reams said this week. "It just took a lot of weight off me."

Reams will compete in two events in Friday's preliminaries at Eastern Illinois University. He also qualified in the 110-meter high hurdles with a winning time of 15.03, which edged friendly competitor Danny Trevor of Jacobs (15.04).

The hurdles qualification soothed the unpleasant memory of the 2008 sectional, when Reams was disqualified due to a false start. His seed time in the hurdles ranks him No. 19 at the state meet, but his triple jump of 46 feet was eighth best at the sectionals.

Dundee-Crown coach Tom Smith said Reams earned the double-qualification by sticking with track for four years and remaining focused, even after an elongated basketball season that was draining both physically and emotionally.

"I'm impressed because he could have lost his edge," Smith said. "He could have said basketball was great, how could it get any better, I don't have the time, energy or emotion to do this. He came back in, we gave him space to transition but he was ready to go. Oh, man. It didn't take him long to get in the swing of things. I was impressed."

The goal is to perform well enough in Friday's prelims to advance as one of nine jumpers to Saturday's finals, thereby earning a state medal.

If you see Reams in Charleston today, try to get under his skin. He'd really owe you one.

"I told my coaches we're going to have to find a way to get me really angry when I get there so I can jump good again," Reams said. "My assistant coach said he'd find a way."

Other Class 3A area qualifiers: 3,200 runner Phil Fairleigh of Cary-Grove; Danny Trevor of Jacobs (110 hurdles); Emmanuel Gamez of Crystal Lake South (100, 400); Victory Adenkan of CL South (400); Adam Kuforiji of Elgin (400); Steven Rogers of CL South and Alex Beruscha of Huntley (800); Anthony Manfrin of Dundee-Crown (1,600); Cary Grove's Anthony Golowach (200); Marcus Popenfoose from Huntley in the shot put; Popenfoose and Ryan Psenka of Cary-Grove (discus); Bartlett long jumper/triple jumper Dan Karys, whose long jump of 23-4 at sectionals was the best in the state; 3,200-meter relay teams from Dundee-Crown and Jacobs; Huntley's 400, 800 and 1,600-meter relay teams; and the 1,600-meter relay teams from CL South and Jacobs.

Class 2A qualifiers: Burlington Central's 400 and 800-meter relay teams as well as Paco Wleklinski (pole vault), Nick Smith (200) and Tre Llanes (triple jump); Hampshire 300-meter intermediate hurdler Ray Quesada