Grayslake Central's progress worth shouting about

There was a moment recently when both the Grayslake Central boys track team and coaches got a little crazy. You can't blame them, really. They haven't had many moments of wild celebration and craziness when in comes to track and field, but that's all changing at Grayslake Central.

Check this out.

At a recent indoor meet at Wisconsin-Parkside, senior Will Brewster had just completed the 1,600-meter run. His time of 4:14.92 was, at the time, the best in the state. Just moments earlier, Luke Zygmunt also busted off a then-best-in- Illinois time of 1:56.49 in the 800. It set off a wild celebration.

“We were running around yelling and laughing and hugging each other,” said assistant coach Jimmy Centella. “It was a great moment where we got to share a great effort with the kids.”

Great moments are coming more frequently for the Rams after a period of time when they were few and far between. It started in earnest last season, but the movement actually got its beginning nine years ago when current coach Brent Pitt came over from Antioch.

The program had just one coach for both boys and girls and just 16 members on the track team.

“There was a real down attitude around the school about the program,” Pitt said. “Kids weren't interested, and the faculty and staff didn't have an interest either.”

To get the athletes that roam the halls of the school, Pitt needed to take off his coaching shoes and put on his recruiting hat.

“(Coach) Pitt is a great recruiter,” Centella said. “He got kids to buy into what he was doing. At first it didn't work, but over time it gained steam.”

Initial success was slow, with just one state qualifier in Pitt's first season and no state medals until Elias Washington earned one as a member of Grayslake High School in 2006. The battle for supremacy in the Fox Valley Conference wasn't much better for the Rams either.

“We had a qualifier or two here and there, and we would have only a few point-scorers at the conference meet,” Pitt said.

Then in 2009, the current group of seniors came in as freshmen. Seniors like Luke Zygmunt, Will Brewster and Joey Valdivia became the first haul of Pitt's recruiting efforts and the results were almost immediate.

“I remember back then being a good individual on a decent team,” said Brewster who has verbally committed to Illinois next fall. “Now, it's so much better, doing well on a really good team.”

Brewster qualified for state as a freshman and was part of one of the biggest groups the Rams had sent to state, with four qualifiers, since Pitt arrived five years earlier. Brewster earned the Rams' first distance medal and Kendall Smith and Jeremy Bethke also made the finals.

“You could really see the start of this program growing,” Pitt said. “It gave us a place to grow from and the kids continued to buy into what we were doing.”

The success carried over into 2010, when the Rams had the biggest group to the state meet in school history. Combine that with a fourth-place finish at the conference meet, the best ever to that point, and the program began to earn its wings as one of the best in the area.

“We have really preached family, and this program is growing into a family,” Pitt said. “Every day when we break down after practice we yell ‘family' because that is what is going on here.”

This easily could have been just a one- or two-year flash in the pan. The Rams couldn't follow up a monstrous performance at the sectional with one more, could they? Well, yes, they could — and then some.

“The word that comes to mind when I think of this program now is consistency,” Zygmunt said. “We have guys week in and week out performing at high levels and coaches that are constantly challenging us.”

The 2011 season turned into the best season for boys track and field at Grayslake Central. The Rams captured the school's first sectional championship in either boys or girls track. The goal list almost included a conference title, but the Rams fell just 1 point short in their aim at a league crown.

At state, the crew was again the largest ever. Butler-bound Zygmunt was one of the many highlights at the meet, as his 1,600-meter runner-up finish was the best ever by a Grayslake athlete at state — boys or girls. In total, Grayslake came away with four medals at the meet and finished tied for 19th overall.

“There is no longer just that one or two guys that make up this team,” Zygmunt said. “Back when I was a freshman, you saw seniors that were running 4:40 or so in the mile. Now we have so many more guys that can do that.”

The team's goals for 2012 are simple — conference title, sectional title, state ... trophy?

“When we as coaches got together before the season we outlined our goals before we addressed the team,” Pitt said. “It was amazing because when we read off the goals to the kids, it was right in line with what they want to accomplish.”

Clearly there is a buzz surrounding the program at Grayslake Central. A program that was once 16 total athletes now has well over 100 participants. There is depth at all positions, and the family atmosphere will surely produce many more wild celebrations.

“I am excited because when I drive home I see the kids running,” Pitt said. “I get excited because I know where this is going.”