Consistency key in Geneva's title

The 300-meter intermediate hurdles told the story for Geneva on Saturday afternoon at the Vikings' Mike VanDeveer Invitational.

Runner-up McHenry had some notable field-event performances and defending champion Niles North had an equally impressive stable of sprinters, but it was Tom Frederick and Ryan Ahearn who related a more telling imprint.

Frederick, who earlier won the 110 high variety in 15 seconds flat, placed second in the grueling event; Ahern, his junior teammate, was next in line, and the Vikings' ability to double score made all the difference.

With consistency across the board, Geneva won the eight-team invitational with 112 points. McHenry had five more points than Niles North to finish second; West Chicago made serious inroads in placing a very competitive fourth, with St. Charles North, Dundee-Crown, Burlington Central and Larkin completing the field.

"Double scoring helped out a lot," Geneva coach Gale Gross said. "The field events - we were pretty consistent. We don't necessarily preach winning (individually) but doing the best you can. That's what we did."

Kevin Sparks was unquestionably the most electric of the Vikings' runners on the sun-splashed but windy afternoon. The senior opened up an early cushion against two top contenders from Niles North in turning back the field in the 3,200-meter run in 9 minutes, 43.42 seconds.

"I just wanted to run even (mile) splits," Sparks said. "(The two) Niles North (runners) took it out to a quick pace. I have to be more pleased with the second mile."

But St. Charles North senior Kyle Zankowski posed an insurmountable obstacle to Sparks' quest for the double at 1,600 meters. In the race of the day, Zankowski led a ravenous pack of five at the gun lap by a collective few steps. The North Stars' miler employed his lanky frame with impeccable resolve over the final quarter-mile, winning over Sparks, West Chicago junior Gunnar Sterne and Dundee-Crown senior Michael Wiechmann by a combined 1.41 seconds. Sparks' bid for the distance double fell short by five hundredths.

"My thought was, 'Don't be the last guy to start kicking,'" Zankowski said after claiming the title in 4:31.49. "I didn't have a plan going in. It's been a different monster this year. I was pretty much sidelined (with knee tendinitis) all season last year."

"It was great to see (Zankowski) win a big race," St. Charles North coach Kevin Harrington said.

Christian Ilunga, a foreign exchange student from Germany, and Jeff Stolzenburg paced the North Stars' sprinters with solid efforts at 100 meters.

"We haven't challenged in the short sprints in a long time," Harrington said.

In the end, though, it was the Vikings' Frank Boenzi who tipped the scales in favor of Geneva. The Vikings' lone returning state qualifier and Northern Illinois football recruit was a solitary figure with wins by almost six feet (56 feet, 4 inches) in the shot put and 11 feet (155-1) in the discus.

"Decent," Boenzi said. "Just decent. Coming off a (personal-best) 59-foot throw (in the shot on Thursday at Fremd), it's hard to match that. You're not going to match that every week."

Dundee-Crown senior Nathan Prom is on a mission. The Chargers' half-miler missed qualifying for state last season by one-tenth, but Prom is hovering around the at-large time this year after clocking a 1:57.54 in the 800 on Saturday.