Neuqua Valley wins easily at Downers South
One couldn’t blame the boys track teams in Friday’s 23rd annual Bob Cohoon Invitational at Downers Grove South if they rushed for a warm beverage or a warm bus after competing in windy conditions that could easily be described as Siberian.
Neuqua Valley, however, got warm basking in the glow of a victory in a 17-team invite with a number of quality squads competing.
The Wildcats finished with 119.75 points with Oak Park-River Forest a somewhat distant second at 80 with Minooka in third at 71.5.
Neuqua coach Mike Kennedy said the weather conditions made it such that significant time drops weren’t likely to happen but that strong performances were within grasp of his athletes.
“What I asked the guys to do tonight was compete, and they did that over and over,” he said.
The evening’s running card began with the 400-meter relay and Neuqua’s first win of the meet. The team of James Sampson, Jacob Bender, Dennis Thurow and anchor Eric Metoyer just edged South Elgin.
Metoyer said the wind made relay teams adjust their techniques.
“You had to mark with different steps. I gave Dennis (on the exchange) an extra step because I had the wind to my back,” Metoyer said.
With the conference meets three weeks away followed by sectionals, the relay win took on more significance.
“It’s a good stepping stone for sectionals,” Bender said.
Bender went on to win the 400 and take second in the 200. Metoyer followed right behind him in the 200 with a third-place 22.50.
In the 400 Bender made a successful push at the end for the victory.
“I made the race a little different so I had something at the end and it worked,” he said.
Neuqua’s Andres Martinez finished fifth in the 800 at 2:02.99 with teammate Kevin Skrip right behind in sixth at 2:03.12. However, Martinez also made an impressive push that helped him win his heat.
“I should have made my move faster. I hung in there and the last 200 just gave it my all. The back stretch on the last lap was rough (because of the wind). I picked up my knees and did what I had to do. I just wanted to get points for the team,” Martinez said.
Neuqua also got a victory in the field events. Senior Andrew Peterson won the pole vault with a height of 13 feet, 6 inches. Adam Peterson tied for seventh.
Other field event results for Neuqua included Timothy Heinz in the high jump; Noah Heupel and Emery Barnes in the long jump; Bradley Mikulecky and Austin Parks in the triple jump and Carlos Varela-Hernandez in the discus.
The Wildcats were also strong in the distance events. Mark Derrick was second in the 3,200 with Taylor Soltys in third. In the 1,600 Derrick ran to third with Drew Smith taking fourth.
Neuqua got points on three more relay — the 800, the 1,600 and the 3,200.
Another close race involved an area team. Glenbard North 300 hurdle athlete Dionte Fisher battled neck and neck until the end of that event final with Bloomington’s Bryant Lewis with Lewis just edging Fisher 40.63 to 40.69.
“I expected a nice competition. I was pretty comfortable, but I knew the wind would play a part,” Fisher said.