A mega-thrill for Lisle’s Jakalski
In an annual meet that goes back 20 years, the Lisle boys track team had never won its own Mega Meet.
That is, until Saturday, when the Lions’ 123 points outranked Westmont’s 121 and St. Francis’ 104.
Knowing it was a special day for Lisle coach Ken Jakalski, after the results were announced Westmont coach Rainy Kaplan had her entire team go up to Jakalski and shake his hand.
“She makes these meets fun, and she and her teams have always been a class act,” Jakalski said of Lisle’s closest rival. “I felt like (Dale) Earnhardt Sr. after his first-ever win at Daytona in 1998.”
Lisle had the meet won before the final event, the 1,600-meter relay. That was fortunate, since both Westmont and St. Francis finished ahead of Lisle’s third-place relay.
Jakalski pointed out the work done by his throwers to secure the victory. Terrance Allen, Dan Wroble and Lorenzo Esposito swept the top three places in discus, and Allen and Wroble went 1-2 in shot put with Tyler Schech earning the fourth slot. The four athletes, under the coaching of Don Green, accounted for 48 big points.
Other big point winners for the Lions included Grant Fitzgerald, who won the 400-meter dash and was second in the 200; and usual suspect Anthony Ventrella, who won both long and triple jump events.
Jakalski’s seen and done a lot of things in his 35 years as a head track coach, like being inducted into the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association (ITCCCA) Hall of Fame in 2005.
Saturday’s Mega Meet victory will hold a special place in his heart.
“This will certainly be one of my favorite moments in track!” he said.
The air up there: At the Upstate Eight Conference Indoor Championships in March, Lake Park pole vault coach Doug Jakalski was raving about his flock of vaulters. It bore out Saturday at Wheaton North#146;s Best Four invite.The Lancers swept each of the four levels of pole vault. Sean Lang, Mike Amerlan, Tim Ehrhardt and Derrick Smith each cleared a minimum of 11 feet, 9 inches.That was without defending 3A pole vault champion Zach Ziemek in the event. He competed in high jump, going 6-4 to become one of four Lancers to sweep that event along with Smith, Scott Filip and Lake Park#146;s No. 1 high jumper, two-time state qualifier Kevin Spejcher, who won the top flight at 6-8. Late election result: Never one to blow his own horn, Wheaton North boys track coach Don Helberg waited until late March to tell us he is the new president of the National High School Track Association.Elected on Dec. 18 following the nomination of a friend from Houston whom Helberg met at a national convention of track coaches, Jack Sands, the term runs a minimum of two years. The last national president, however, served eight years.Helberg, a former president of ITCCCA (Glenbard South#146;s Andy Preuss currently holds that position), will be involved in a variety of activities as NHSTA president. Junior Olympics, Paralympics, rule changes, and working with the National Senate of High School Coaches and both USATF and USTFCCA are in the sightlines of Helberg, a sought-after track clinician and speaker.Helberg, also a 2005 ITCCCA Hall of Fame inductee, said the NHSTA #147;wanted someone to take the organization to a new level.#148;#147;I said, I#146;d do it if I can make it better,#148; he said.