Elite high jumpers Stefanski, Hodges square off
State-class high jumpers Pete Stefanski of Marmion and Oshay Hodges of St. Charles North have faced each other before. They will again at the sectional and, most likely, state levels.
Saturday at Metea Valley the two seniors, each 2011 state runners-up, gave an aboveground level preview of what track and field fans can expect in another month.
Stefanski beat Hodges by the slimmest of margins, missing one jump through attempts at 6 feet, 7 inches while Hodges dropped the bar twice. Both cleared the 6-7 height and executed good if unsuccessful attempts at 6-9.
“It’s always good to have competition,” said Stefanski, last year’s Class 2A runner-up. Marmion moves to 3A this year, and will compete at the St. Charles North sectional.
“I competed with him at (Illinois) Prep Top Times (Indoor Classic) — which I did terrible — and I competed with him last year,” said Hodges, the 2011 Class 3A runner-up who was within an inch of his 6-8 personal best.
“He got so much better, which is good because they’re in my sectional now so I like jumping against good jumpers. It’ll be a good show for everybody and it motivates me to do better.”
Stefanski, the Class 2A runner-up last outdoor season, propelled his body over the bar each of his three attempts at 6-9 but each time his heels clipped the bar.
“Me and my coach have just got to work on my leg kick a lot,” he said. “That’s what’s really holding me down from the higher heights, I think. Other than that, I have the height ... I’m already up to the heights I finished at last year, so I can’t ask for much more.”
A specialist, Stefanski was done for the day. By the time Hodges had also tried to clear 6-9 he had already won long jump with a personal-best distance of 21 feet, 4 inches, and moved on to clinch his winning triple-jump mark of 44-6½. Later he anchored the North Stars’ second-place 1,600-meter relay, nearly reeling in Plainfield North’s Evan Flagg down the straightaway.
Metea Valley’s assistant coach recording triple jump measurements joked to Hodges that his coach, Don Spencer, might want to take him out to dinner for all the points he scored Saturday.
“I’m going to hold him to that, I’m going to ask him if he’ll take me out to dinner,” Hodges joked right back. “He’s a nice guy and all, but I don’t think he’s that nice.”
Ben Cole’s horizontal jumping was nice. In a meet that also featured powerful Neuqua Valley and Wheaton Warrenville South, Marmion’s 2011 triple jump state qualifier fit in nicely with a personal-best long jump of 20-3 and a sixth-place triple jump of 41-2.
“Not exactly my PR, but I’m still happy with it,” Cole said.
Cole has gained distance by lifting weights, speed work, and using training techniques of new Cadets jumps coach Charles Brown. Starting Monday, Brown will have Cole running the 400 to build speed further.
“I think it’ll help me because any more speed you can get on the runway will help you get farther into the pit,” Cole said.
St. Charles North’s relays have cut speed routinely. The 800 relay of Jack Feeney, Zach Kirby, Connor Larson and Josh Phelan reduced their school record to 1 minute, 30.78 seconds on Saturday, a second straight week for a record.
Larson sees great potential for more.
“Last year our four-by-two team was actually three sophomores and a freshman,” he said. “We got second in conference to Batavia by less than a second, it was very close. So this year we’re really excited and next year should be even better because we’re still really young.”
Wheaton Warrenville South won the meet with 123 points followed by Plainfield East (89), Metea Valley (81), Plainfield North (80), St. Charles North (79), Neuqua Valley (66), Marmion (35) and Hoffman Estates (5).
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In the three-level, 12-team meet Kaneland’s 221 points placed second to Metamora’s 236.50.
Lifting the Knights were their work in the sprint relays. Brandon Bishop, Brandon Cottier, Dylan Nauert and Sean Carter won the 400 relay in 44.30 seconds. Dylan Pennington replaced Nauert in the 800 relay, but with similar results, winning at 1:32.60.
Nauert, a sophomore, won the A-level 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.51 seconds.