Scouting Fox Valley area boys track sectionals
Class 3A Huntley sectional
When: Today
Where: Huntley High School
Outlook: All of the area Fox Valley Conference schools are in this field. Dundee-Crown is fresh off a second-place finish in the FVC. "An awesome team effort," said D-C coach Tom Smith, who noted his team was seeded sixth heading in. Nathan Prom won the 800 at conference and has been under the state-qualifying standard most of the season (he's run in the 1:55s on 4 occasions this year). Fellow senior Pat Livengood won the long jump and was in the top five at conference in the other two jumps. He's gone as high as 6-6 this year (school record). Smith is also high on the 3,200 relay team of Nate Kirchhoff, Jon Clark, Ryan Smith and Mike Wiechmann (second at FVC and 1 second away from state time). Max Kittle could make noise in the hurdles. "We always want to be at our best this time of the year," said Smith. "I am very proud of the progress of this year's team. Our seniors have really stepped up big and now other guys have followed their lead. They have been a great group to work with." Perennial power Jacobs had a pair of conference champions in Danny Trevor in the high hurdles (14.3 manual time; school record) and David Grady in the triple jump (44-9; school record). Trevor has also set a school record in the 300 hurdles (39.66). Grady has also gone 20-8 in the long jump and has gone 14.86 (FAT) in the high hurdles. Joey Cieniewicz (400 and 800) and William Hennessy (800) will also be in the mix for Jason Borhart's Golden Eagles. "We should get some guys through and we have a shot at some others, but our biggest strengths are in the hurdles, the jumps and the 800," said Borhart. Host Huntley is led by senior throws powerhouse Marcus Popenfoose (FVC titles and records in the shot and disc). Chase Hellinger, James Davis, Jeremy Hansen and Tor Larkin comprise a strong 400 relay team. Coach Jim Rolando also feels is 800 relay team could be seeded in the top 4 of what should be an extremely competitive sectional. "It really will depend on where teams decide to load races and if they are looking for points toward the team title as well," said Rolando, who also noted sprinters Davis and Larkin could be in the individual mix. "If we run our best, I think we can help decide who will take home the plaque at the end of the night by stirring up the points a little bit. I don't know if we have the overall top talent or depth to be in the team mix, but we are going to hopefully have a role in deciding who wins." On a side note, Huntley's frosh-soph team won the F-S conference title earlier this week-the first track conference title of any kind in the history of the boys program. Cary-Grove had conference champions in junior high-jumper extraordinaire Anthony Golowach (conference and school-record 6-9) and senior veteran long distance runner Phil Fairleigh (4:19.90; 1,600 league champion; school record). Eddy Gibbons also ran 1:57.66 in the 800 at conference. Cary-Grove coach Layne Holter has high hopes for the 1,600 relay team of Joe Ryan, Ryan Borys, Golowach and Max Anderson (3:28.70 at conference). "I think our performances are improving at the right time of the year and our guys are healthy and feeling confident," said Holter. Crystal Lake South's 3,200 conference-champion relay team ran 8:01.52 via the efforts of John Ryan, Jason Liuzzi, David Lundine and Matt Biederwolf (who also went 1:56.52 in the 800). South coach Dave Puma thinks his 1,600 relay team (3:25.53) of Alex Allmandinger, Biederwolf, Liuzzi and Kenny King has a shot as well. "This is the most excited I've been about our program since the beginning of the season," said Puma. "Having the kids step up (at conference) in these events gives us a lot of hope and confidence for the sectional meet."
Class 3A Streamwood sectional
When: Today
Where: Millennium Field, Streamwood High School
Outlook: All five U-46 teams will be part of the contingent here. Bartlett is led by conference 110 high-hurdle champion Ben Jalove. Brian Polubinski (shot), Brendan Bauers (shot), Kevin Bauers (disc) and Tynan Johnson also finished in the top 5 in their individual events at conference for the Hawks, who also had their 400 (fourth), 800 (third) and 1,600 relays (third) place in the top 5. "Heading into sectionals, we are on a confidence high right now," said Bartlett coach Eric Kramer. "The athletes that will be competing at the sectional meet are focused and confident to get a personal record in their event. Focus and confidence are two aspects you want your athletes to have to lead to their successes. As coaches we are looking forward to seeing how many athletes will get a personal record and if they will be competing at the state meet." Sophomores Eugenio Passarelli (discus; school and personal records at conference) and Juan Alcantara (PR in pole vault at conference) have been excelling for South Elgin. The Storm's 1,600 relay team of Alcantara, Sean Duncan, Nick LaMore and Matt Swanson broke the school record at conference (3:44). Francisco Gonzalez, a 4:40 miler, will run in the sectional. Greg Griffin and Nick Natalizio are also key cogs for the Storm. "We can go nowhere but up," said South Elgin coach Anthony LaRue. "I feel we can do really well in the events we compete in. We are heading upward and having a great time doing it." Elgin's Adam Kuforiji will be a contender in the 400 and also has a shot in the 200. Maroons coach Kevin Cleveland also feels his 400 and 800 relay teams will be competitive. Larkin's Cyrus French has gone 50.40 in the 400 this year. Streamwood's Steve Sandoval won the UEC 300 hurdles title (40.75), while Blake Holder took third in the 100 (11.42) and fifth in the 200 (23.69). "I think the team is going to do very well in terms of coming out and performing the best they have all season," said Streamwood coach Weert Goldenstein. "We're poised both physically and mentally to go after it this Friday."
Class 2A Sterling sectional
When: Today
Where: Sterling High School
Outlook: Burlington Central and Hampshire head way out west for this sectional. Central's Cam Ostrowski won a conference title in the high jump (6-5), as did Tre Llanes in the triple jump, Clint Kliem in the 3,200 and Mike Kellenberger in the 300 hurdles. Mitch Plum could be in the mix in the 400, as could Justin Ott in the shot put. Central coach Mike Schmidt feels his 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams will also be in the hunt at Sterling. "We have battled many injuries and sicknesses (especially our sprint relays)," said Schmidt. "Some guys like Trey are coming back. The guys are showing lots of heart. They ran well at conference." Llanes is the new triple jump school-record holder (45-6). Hampshire's Robert Murphy figures to be in the mix in the 400. He is also part of the Whip-Purs' 3,200 and 1,600 relay teams along with Tanner Holman, Jared Butler and Matt Heinrich. "The guys have worked hard all year," said Hampshire coach Steve Bruhn. "They are setting their best times going into the meet. I am confident they will continue to finish the season with personal-best performances." The Hampshire 3,200 relay team set a school record (8:36.5) at the Big Northern Conference meet.
Class 1A Genoa-Kingston sectional
When: Today
Where: Genoa-Kingston High School. Genoa
Outlook: This sectional features locals St. Edward, Westminster Christian and Elgin Academy. St. Edward's Shane Finnane went Downstate last year in the shot put and should be in contention once again. Senior Chris Brumfield has cleared 6-2 in the high jump. "He'll have to jump 6-3 to qualify," said St. Edward coach Sean Collins. "He might have a shot. This is only has second year. He was sixth in the sectional last year and it was his first real meet, which kind of shows the ability he has." Nick Kerger, a state qualifier in the 400 relay as a sophomore, has gone 10.9 (hand time) in the 100. Junior Mark Olenek (800) is coming off being ill, but could be contributor for the Green Wave. Collins is impressed with his 400 relay team (around 45.0 this year) of Danny Jaimes, Kerger, Olenek and either David Smith or Alex Arciuch. Elgin Academy junior shot-putter Jon Elsenbroek won the Independent School League shot put title (40-3) and was second in the discus. "Jon stands best situated to place," said Elgin Academy coach David Vogt. "His best throw is a few feet behind state standards. We're hoping for him to have a good day. He's thrown consistently better as the year has progressed. He's only a junior and hopefully can gain some experience this year and then come back and perform better next year." Westminster Christian won conference championships in the 800 and 3,200 relays. The 800 team of Steven Hoeflich, Travis Battle, Ishmael Yemoh and Ryan Beachler have run state-qualifying time this year, while Yemoh is one of the contenders for the 100 sectional title. That 800 group also had run state-qualifying time in the 400 relay, while the 3,200 relay of Hoeflich, Josh Beachler, Chris Richardson and Nate Suire ran 8:42 at conference. "We're looking really, really good," said Westminster coach Larry Cochran. "We're looking to see some big things happen." Ian Dutcher threw the shot 41-11 at conference.