Tri-Cities seniors look to shine one last time
They'll laugh, they'll cry.
Hopefully they'll laugh more, but emotions will swirl around the Kaneland boys track team the next two weeks.
The Knights aim to follow their Class 2A Sterling sectional title with a state trophy this weekend before assembling one last time at a June 3 awards ceremony.
"This is getting more and more difficult for me," Knights coach Eric Baron said. "It's going to be hard to say goodbye to some of these guys."
He'll graduate 21 seniors. Several of them promise to impact how Class 2A shakes out in Charleston this Friday and Saturday.
Kaneland placed 13th in last year's state competition without everything working out right. Before winning the 300-meter hurdles, Logan Markuson false started in the 110 hurdles finals. Hurdles partner Taylor Andrews sprained an ankle at sectionals which hindered him downstate. Neither Kaneland's 1,600 or 3,200 relays reached Saturday's finals.
This year the Knights qualified all four relays, Markuson and Andrews in both hurdles events and Markuson in pole vault after placing seventh in 2009.
Also, Nick Sinon is 2A's second-seeded high jumper, coming off his third-place finish in 2009. There's the surprising Matt Spitzzeri in triple jump, Tommy Whittaker in the 100 and 800-meter runners Derek Bus and Edgar Valle who certainly have all-state capabilities.
Depending on how things turn out - as Markuson knows, in Charleston the highs are celestial and the lows are crushing - Baron thinks the Knights could either have a similar finish as last year or join the likes of defending 2A champ Hillcrest, Cahokia and Oak Forest in contending for a trophy finish.
"It's going to be an interesting meet, it really is," Baron said. "A lot of teams could take points away from each other, so it really depends on who's going to have the best day. It's going to be very close."
Baron will then have to bid his seniors adieu. Fortunately for his psyche, those 400 and 800 relays are loaded with underclassmen - Andrew Essex, Brandon Cottier, Taylor Andrews, Curtis Secrest and Whittaker.
"It bodes well for our future after we lose that great class of seniors," Baron said.
In 3A, Geneva's Frank Boenzi is seeded third in shot put and looking for his third straight all-state finish in that event. He's hoping for better than sixth place, which he's gotten each of the last two years. Boenzi also sits 12th in discus.
Batavia's Rob Mohr is seeded second in the 300 hurdles and sixth in the 110s. West Aurora's Leon Spears is seeded third in the 200 dash while the Blackhawks' 800 relay, with Spears running anchor, is fourth.
"They've really got a chance to do something, too, so there's some points," said West Aurora coach Cortney Lamb, who landed a fourth-place 3A finish in 2009. "And then if we can nickel and dime in some other places, who knows where we finish?"