Glenbard South snow job leaves field behind
The way Glenbard South coach Andy Preuss saw it, "All of a sudden things started snowballing."
That's pretty much how the rest of the field also saw it at Friday night's Class 2A Glenbard South boys track sectional, only from a different vantage point.
They got snowed under.
Glenbard South lapped the field, winning the sectional championship with 168.5 points. Marmion was a distant second at 68, with St. Viator third at 44.
"We did a nice job tonight," Preuss said, in a bit of an understatement.
Sprinter Garret Payne led the way, winning the 100-meter dash, the 400 and running the anchor leg on the winning 400- and 1600-meter relays. He was barely challenged in any of his races.
"Payne is the real deal," Preuss said of the junior.
"I practiced my endurance over the summer," said Payne, who gave coaches from the University of Wisconsin an eyeful. "It wasn't my speed I improved on, it was my endurance, so I was able to finish stronger the last 200 meters."
Raiders weight man Austin Teitsma earned a return trip to next weekend's state meet in Charleston also, winning the shot put and finishing second to Fenton senior Michael Wojcik in the discus.
"I'm just very glad I qualified," Teitsma said. "I'm glad I get another chance next week.
"I think I can do a lot better."
While he wasn't impressed with his own effort, Teitsma was very impressed with Wojcik.
"He's awesome. He's a lot of muscle, a lot of strength. He's got it," the Illinois football recruit said of Wojcik before running over to congratulate teammate David McGrath on winning his heat of the 1,600 and cutting 12 seconds off his season-best time.
St. Viator coach Cordero Warren was even more excited about his team's "magical night" on the track.
"It's the best we've ever done," Warren said. "Justin Johnson, he was incredible."
Johnson placed second in the long jump and 300 hurdles and won the 110 hurdles.
"He just decided to win," Warren said. "That's basically it. Justin has the ability to do so much better than what he's done here."
Johnson will be joined downstate by good friend Pat O'Malley, who qualified in the 100 dash. Both O'Malley and Johnson also qualified with John Balas and Mike Sroka on the winning 800-meter relay team.
"All I can say is wow," Warren said with a smile the size of an avalanche.
It was a successful but painful meet for Marmion's Zach Young. In the 3,200 relay he put his team in position to win with his strong anchor leg, only to fall near the finish line.
"The last 15-20 meters I just hit a wall," the senior said.
Still, he found his feet in time to finish third with a qualifying time.
"I fell apart," he said. "I'm just lucky I got back up and across the line in time. Our guys ran a heck of a first three legs there. That's what qualified us."
Young rebounded to win the 1,600, edging St. Francis senior Sean Montague.
"I was a little nervous, to be honest, going into the mile, but I knew Sean is a great competitor," Young said. "This is like the fourth time we've run together this year, and I knew if I just stuck with him I'd have a chance to qualify for state."
Young was pleased with the Cadets' showing.
"The relays I was a part of, I was really proud of the guys, especially the 4x8," Young said. "Everybody had a personal best in the 4x8 today. They were tremendous, and it was great to see guys like Eddy Grahovec and Bennet Marsh qualify for state and just run out of their minds. It's awesome to see, and it really gets you pumped up for your own races. I was really proud of our team today."