Addison Trail's Halberthal punches ticket
It could have been the multicolored sign - H-a-l-b-i-e, it said - held by two female fans at the finish line.
Or the fans themselves, classmates who shrieked whenever the Addison Trail senior appeared or his name was announced at the Class 3A Lake Park boys track sectional.
It was simply some of the area's fastest feet that sent Matt Halberthal downstate in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
"So nice I did it twice," said Halberthal, who won the 100 at 11.04 seconds then sweated out the time announcement on his third-place 200 finish - 24.24, exactly the state standard.
This isn't the standard at Addison Trail, just its second qualifier since 1997 and first sectional champ in Blazers coach Bruce Kelsay's 11 years. Halberthal ran a wind-aided 10.43 time earlier this year but took nothing for granted Friday in Roselle.
"You don't get a ticket handed to you when you arrive," Halberthal said. "You have to earn it."
Some jumped in quickly. Lake Park's Zach Ziemek cleared the 13-foot, 9-inch qualifying standard in pole vault (Wheaton Warrenville South's Lukas Looby also qualified) then hustled over to go 46-91/2 on his second triple jump. WW South's Kevin Piraino soared 46-11/2 to stake his claim.
Piraino added a 200-meter victory, bringing Wheaton North's Ivan Tamba and Halberthal with him, and he also ran lead legs on the Tigers' qualifying 400 and 800 relays.
"It's just been a long day," said Piraino, a three-time triple jump qualifier.
Literally a long, yet satisfying day for York's Jack Driggs and Andrew Smith. They qualified in both the 1,600 and the 3,200.
Distance being an area strength, the 3,200 also sent Benet's Jerry Olp, Glenbard West's Mike Lederhouse, WW South's Matt McAndrews and Lake Park's Luke Nally downstate. The 1,600 offered York's duo plus Lake Park's Steve Krauss and Wheaton North twins James and Jake Waterman. Like Olp, last year the Watermans each qualified in the 3,200. They cut that in half this year.
"We've committed to (the mile) all season," said Jake Waterman, who'll take the long bus ride to Charleston with Falcons individual qualifiers C.J. Jossell (110 hurdles), Rafe Kiely (shot put) and high jumper Tyler Ester.
York qualified all four relays and had the sectional 400-meter champion in Trey Kelly, who brought Glenbard East's Luke Chvatal and Benet's John Kawka with him.
Defending 400 sectional champ Chvatal anchored the Rams' qualifying 1,600 relay as well as a first-place 3,200 relay that broke a 33-year-old program record with a time of 7 minutes, 52.87 seconds.
"He had a big night," Glenbard East coach Jack Brady said of Chvatal, "and I'll tell you what, his big night got four or five other guys a big night, too."
Other qualifiers included 800 winner Ryan Jorgensen and high jump winner Kevin Spejcher of Lake Park, and their teammates Jeremy and Jermaine Kline in both shot put and discus; and Willowbrook's Anthony Jordan in the 300 hurdles, dusting the memory of last year's sectional disappointment.
There were disappointments: Glenbard North's 400 relay was .03 off the standard; Benet's 1,600 relay finished a close third a second straight year; WW South's Dan Hohenstein missed a third straight high jump berth.
Hohenstein still looked happy celebrating other Tigers qualifiers Digba Coker (110 hurdles), Kyle O'Malley (800), Joe Krob (300 hurdles), and long jumpers Charlie Pinedo and Titus Davis.
WW South won the sectional, its 115 points ahead of York's 101 and Lake Park's 99. It all started with the first state qualifier of the day, Davis with a 22-foot, 9-inch long jump on his first try.
"How can I put it in words?" he asked. "It means a lot."