Geneva wins in its Hinsdale South debut
The first time was the charm for Geneva at the Mike Yavorski boys track invite.
After years of competing at Sycamore on this particular Friday in April, Vikings coach Gale Gross switched to Hinsdale South’s meet in Darien. The results were top-notch, with Geneva winning the seven-team outing with 153.50 points, well ahead of the host Hornets’ 121.
“It was a great team effort,” said Gross, who was then leading a contingent of Vikings to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. “It looks like we got a lot of double places, which is always what we strive for. Maybe not get the first, but have the depth to get two places in as many events as we can.”
He won’t turn down those first-place finishes, such as Jackson Grimes winning both shot put and discus.
The Vikings also won a pair of relays, with Ben Rogers, Tyler Hickey, Taylor Hahn and Russ Acton combining to win the 800-meter relay and Hickey and Acton returning with Justin Davis and Ryan Ahern to claim the meet-ending 1,600 relay.
Ahern looked smooth in both the 110 and 300 hurdles, winning both. Even better news was his training buddy, Tom Frederick, finished second in both.
A state qualifier in both hurdles events last year, late this indoor season Frederick pulled the hamstring muscle of his left, lead leg.
After an abbreviated session last week at Kaneland, Friday was his first time running both races this outdoor season.
“The time away, it killed me a lot, but the last two weeks I’ve been training pretty hard and trying to get back in there,” Frederick said.
Among Geneva’s athletes scoring points were Jacob Bastin in shot put and Kyle McNeil in discus, and Acton and Rogers in the 100-meter dash. Hahn and Jake Stocker placed in the 200, Davis finished third in the 400, and Andee Phorasavong counted in triple jump. Connor Bartel just got nipped at the wire in the 1,600, running it in 4 minutes, 35.7 seconds.
Rogers has found a new athletic release in track and field. A football running back, he said he “pondered” Gross’ suggestion — he’s also the Vikings’ offensive line coach — to come out. Rogers looks like a natural.
“Obviously the weight training is important for football, but the speed was the one thing I wanted to improve on,” Rogers said.
At the Upstate Eight Conference indoor meet, Vikings jumps coach Larry Streeter pulled Rogers aside and asked him to give triple jump a shot. Rogers did, and recalled Streeter saying: “I think we’ve got something to work with here.”
Friday at Hinsdale South, Rogers long jumped 20 feet, 8½ inches on his last attempt to place second. In triple jump again on his last try Rogers flew a personal-best 42-3¼ to earn second place.
“I definitely did not expect to be competing out here in these invitationals right off the bat,” Rogers said. “But I figured, what the heck? I’m going to jump as far as I can and see what happens.”