Rivalry brings out best in Lake Park’s Spejcher
BLOOMINGTON — Lake Park junior Kevin Spejcher knew his battle with rival Carl Heinz of Oak Park-River Forest was on at the 23rd annual Illinois Prep Top Times boys track meet at the Shirk Center at Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday.
During the early stages of the Class AAA high jump, Spejcher, who took the last week off to rest, was having trouble finding his rhythm. A little pep talk from Heinz as the defending outdoor champion walked by seemed to be all Spejcher needed to get his mind, and his steps right.
“This is a great rivalry that Carl and I have,” Spejcher said. “I knew coming down here that we were going to compete.”
Compete is what the two did as they were the last competitors left in the event. As the event wore on, Spejcher started to get his steps back and the misses turned into makes more rapidly. On his second attempt at 6-feet-10, the Wisconsin-bound Spejcher sailed over the bar to take the lead. Heinz failed on his final two attempts and the indoor state title belonged to Spejcher.
“I started to feel more comfortable and in more rhythm as the event went along,” Spejcher said. “It was a great competition and I knew when I cleared 6-10 that there was a chance I had it.”
The rivalry between Heinz and Spejcher figures to continue all the way to the state meet as does the emerging rivalry between Luke Zygmunt of Grayslake Central and Michael Clevinger of Decatur MacArthur.
Zygmunt and Clevinger hooked up in a classic battle in the Class AA finals of the 1,600-meter run and the two did the same thing again in the finals of the 1,600 Saturday. The fun thing about this rivalry is that neither has come away with the overall race win yet.
At state last spring, Paul Zeman of Belvidere North stole the show with Zygmunt second and Clevinger third. This year, no one would steal the show. Zygmunt took the lead in the race at the midway point and looked to have seized control before Clevinger caught the Butler-bound Zygmunt and narrowly edged him at the line. Zygmunt ran a personal best of 4:17.34 — less than a second shy of Clevinger.
“With the fact I was out most of cross country I am still working my way back,” said Zygmunt who missed most of cross-country with a stress fracture. “This is a good time and this was a good race so I just hope I can stay healthy.”
Zygmunt’s teammate, Illinois-bound senior Will Brewster was the busiest of any runner in Bloomington. Brewster cruised to an impressive win taking the AA 3,200 in 9:19.67, just ahead of Carmel’s K.J. Matuszak (9:25.64). Brewster came back a little while later and helped the Rams 3,200-relay take fifth in 8:14.63. He completed his long day with a 4:21.68 fourth-place finish in the 1,600.
“I knew going in this would be a tough day,” Brewster said. “But I am glad I was able to get through it and now it’s full steam ahead for outdoors.”
Senior Joey Valdivia earned a second-place medal in the shot put for Grayslake Central with a 53-9¾.
Two of the best races of the day came in the AA 800 and the AAA 1,600.
Burlington Central senior Mike Gulik started his day as a key contributor to the Rockets state indoor title winning relay. Matt O’Connor, Clint Kliem, and Joe Gannon teamed with Gulik to run an impressive 8:02.02.
In the open 800, Gulik led most of the race but was caught near the very end by Darren Payton of Cahokia. Payton leaned first at the finish line to win by .01. Gulik ran an indoor-best 1:57.40 to 1:57.39 for Payton.
The AAA 1,600 was a battle among four of the best in the state. Included in that group was Missouri-bound Conant senior Tyler Schneider. Much as he did at the Mid- Suburban League Indoor last week, Schneider moved to the front of the pack early on state powers such as Malachy Schrobilgen of Oak Park and Garrett Lee of Belvidere North.
Halfway through the final lap, Lee went first then Schrobilgen followed. All three hit the line, literally, at the same time with Schrobilgen edging Lee and Schneider by less than a second combined.
“I don’t think you can be disappointed in an effort like that,” Conant coach John Powers said. “You think about it, he still ran 4:14, which was a heck of an effort considering he had to run a race earlier in the meet.”
It may not be a rivalry yet, but it’s the closest thing Cary-Grove senior Josh Freeman has seen to a rival so far this season. Freeman has been well at the top of the shot put this spring as the only thrower near 60-feet. Mark Balmes of Hersey closed the gap substantially Saturday. Freeman captured the event with a toss of 62-3¼. But in his final throw, Balmes pulled closer with a personal-best 57-7¼.
Other top performances Saturday came from Adrian Asani of Dundee-Crown in the long jump. His 22-0 effort gave the Charger senior the indoor title. St. Charles East earned the final title of the meet, taking home the 1,600 relay as Jake Mazanke, Nick Devor, Ben Manibog and Connor Larson ran 3:23.98 to hold off Waubonsie Valley for the win.