Prospect makes the grade with record-setting efforts
If this was just a B-plus performance by the host Knights at the 13th annual Prospect Relays on Saturday, then the rest of the teams in the Mid Suburban League and around the state better be wary of Prospect.
In what was a rare picture-perfect day for track and field at Gattas Stadium, the Knights took full advantage of the conditions by unleashing an all-out assault on the meet and school record books.
Prospect broke four meet records and one school record en route to a winning total of 138 points. Barrington also took a few meet records down as the broncos ran second with 105 points. Niles North (100), Lake Forest (76) and Maine West (52) made up the top five teams.
“We did have a good day but I think with the work outs we have been running and the work the kids put in yesterday and then again this morning, we still feel like we have a long way to go,” said Prospect coach Mike Kamedula. “This is new for us in the sprints because we haven’t had these types of kids before.”
One of those kids that the Knights haven’t seen too often in their program is senior Nick Batcha — who was part of two record-breaking relays and one more event win.
Batcha anchored the 800-relay team that included Andre Barnes. Ryan Award and Vito Anzalone to a meet-record-time of 1:28.6. The 400-relay team was that much better. Batcha joined Anzalone, Barnes and Chris Meersman to shatter the school and meet records in 42.9.
“I think this was about a B-plus day,” Batcha said. “We ran real well today, but we can get better.”
Batcha also joined Barnes and Ted Ford to win the high jump relay with a combined effort of 17-5.
The Knights are more well-known for their distance events — and that group set a pair of records. The traditionally strong 3,200-relay — consisting of Mike Thill, Bob Koertgen, Josh Campos and Alec Wolfe — bested a seven-year-old record with a time of 8:14.2.
Prospect also broke the meet record in the 1,600-medley relay as Matt Randino, Matt Ashton, Robbie Olson and Chris Meersman ran a 3:39.2.
The shot put relay group of Anthony Babicz, Terry Thomas and Payton Eckert produced the Knights’ other win. Babicz led the combined effort with a put of 53-1.
The runner-up Broncos started their day with a bang by taking down a five-year-old mark in the 6,400-relay. Barrington’s distance depth has been impressive early and the team of Kyle Dockery, Erik Peterson, Karl Eiring and Andrew Foley shattered the record by 16 seconds. All the more impressive is that all four Barrington runners went under the 4:40 mark, with Peterson leading the way by posting a 4:23 anchor leg.
Barrington captured wins in three other events, including the triple jump relay. The group of AJ Scarbrough, Alex Kuznicki and Kyle Detrick nearly missed the meet record but won comfortably with a combined mark of 125-8.
“We had a real good day today,” Barrington coach Todd Kuklinski said. “For this early in the season, we had a lot of impressive things happen today. We are disappointed in some things, but all in all it was a real good day for us.”
The 800-medley relay team of Scarbrough, Taylor Calacci, Eric Schneider, and JL Etienne impressed with a winning effort of 1:37.8. The Broncos also captured the 4000 medley relay with a winning mark of 11:12.0.
The best effort from Elk Grove, which finished sixth with 33 points, came in the 300 intermediate hurdles relay; the Grenadiers finished third in the event and were led by Skay Nusenu’s season-best effort of 41.2.
Maine West’s best finish came in the 6,400-relay and 3,200-relay. Bothe teams finished third.