Strong performances for D-C, Elgin at Peterson Prep
When Nathan Prom saw what his teammates achieved, his injury no longer hurt so much.
Dundee-Crown's Nate Kirchhoff, Jon Clark, Mike Wiechmann and Ryan Smith won the pace-setting 3,200-meter relay at Kaneland's 41st annual Peterson Prep Invitational, each dropping their individual "split" times to finish at 8 minutes, 11.65 seconds.
"When I heard about their time in the race that really got me fired up today," Prom said.
The senior could have used heat - or ice, whatever it is - to soothe a sore groin. By the time his slot in the 800-meter run opened, that strain was an afterthought.
"I was going to sit the first lap, see how I felt," Prom said. "And I felt good, so I just went and tried to run a good time."
Done. Prom ran a meet-record time of 1:55.03, then came back to win the mile by more than 3 seconds, at 4:30.37.
"I think the Adrenalin just kicked in and I felt fine, so I just went with that," Prom said of the 800. "I was in third at the 400 (mark) and then with 300 to go I kind of just took off. It worked out pretty well."
Chargers coach Tom Smith agreed.
"He's got great range, from the 400 to the (3,200) right now, he's running all quality," Smith said of his two-time state cross country qualifier. "So, to win both the 800 and the mile here in a quick turnaround, he had a great day - and then to step back on and run a leg in the (1,600 relay), he had as good a day as I've seen in awhile."
Wiechmann took third in that 1,600, while junior Max Kittle placed sixth in both the 110 and 300 hurdles. The Chargers sprint group kicked in with a third-place 800 relay.
Pat Livengood, who on Monday set a school high jump record of 6 feet, 6 inches, finished third in that event to help Dundee-Crown to a solid fourth-place finish in the 16-team meet. Kaneland repeated as champion, followed by Geneva and West Aurora.
Elgin had its own champion - 400-meter master Adam Kuforiji. As others took off like they were on fire, Kuforiji remained calm in the middle of the pack. His foes tired and the state qualifier chugged home, arms pumping high, to win in 49.96 seconds.
His endurance base down, the smiling senior now looks to build speed.
"I'm just starting to go more in the sprint side, so the distance between me and other people, hopefully that'll increase more and more as I sprint that last 100," Kuforiji said.
"A good surprise" for Elgin, as Maroons coach Kevin Cleveland said, was freshman Jeffrey Broger. He joined Eduardo Perez, Derek Moorman and Rodrigo Flores in a second-place 800 relay, then Broger and Kuforiji went 2-3 in the 200.
That didn't surprise Broger: "I work hard in practice, so I expected to be in the finals."
Boys trackAt Rockford Christian: St. Edward senior and state qualifier Shane Finnane earned second place Saturday afternoon in the shot put with a throw of 45 feet to lead St. Edward at the Rockford Christian Invite. Elgin Academy's Connor Flexman paced the Hilltoppers with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 31 feet, 9 inches.Girls trackAt Rockford Christian: Megan Venlos of St. Edward set a new meet record in the 3,200-meter run as she crossed the finish line in 12:24, which was 8 seconds better than the previous meet record, to earn first place. Venlos then placed second in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 5:50.Courtney LaFerle contributed to this reportTrue15462000Elgin's Cristian Martinez and Fabian Salazar hit their stride in the 3,200-meter run Saturday at Kaneland.Laura Stoecker | Staff PhotographerTrue