Waubonsie Valley ready for ‘Meet with a Message’
Waubonsie Valley boys track coach Kevin Rafferty doesn’t lightly take the title of this Saturday’s Red Ribbon Classic boys track meet.
Otherwise known as “The Meet with a Message,” the ribbons awarded at the meet are red to symbolize “saying no” — making wise choices around drinking and driving.
Waubonsie Valley has reason to offer this cautionary message. The Warriors’ Red Ribbon Classic, originally sponsored by Wendy’s, debuted in the spring of 1998 after a pair of fatal accidents due to drunken driving.
In February 1997 Waubonsie assistant football coach Jeff Still was killed in one incident; in October of that year Waubonsie Valley students Alli Matzdorf, Jenni Anderson and Jennifer Roberts were killed in another. Former Warriors boys track coach Steve Luke sought to honor their memory with the Red Ribbon Classic.
Like Luke before him, Rafferty also equates this message to the honor code students sign before participating in sports.
“This is a positive decision you can make in your life, commit to following the honor code,” Rafferty said. “Make a positive impact on your community rather than just sort of try to get by.”
Luke is now at Danville, one of the 14 teams that will compete Saturday at the Red Ribbon, which starts with field events at 10 a.m., finals at 11. The meet will be held at Metea Valley this year due to work on the Waubonsie bleachers.
Neuqua Valley, Metea Valley, Wheaton Warrenville South, West Chicago, St. Charles North and Rafferty’s Warriors are among an elite field — including Belleville West, Plainfield North and Thornwood — at this “Meet with a Message.”
By the railway:
For the first time in 20 years, when it hosted a girls invitational, West Chicago will be hosting a track invite.
Wildcats boys coach Paul McLeland is welcoming St. Francis, Glenbard North and IMSA this Thursday to the West Chicago Post-PSAE Invitational.
(Yes, that’s what he called it; PSAE stands for the Prairie State Achievement Examination, given April 24-25 this year.)
“I hope next year to have 6-8 teams and just build it up,” McLeland said.
Noah’s arc:
Wheaton Academy coach Bill Bickhart and assistant Chris Felinski don’t bring a large number of athletes to big-school invites because, face it, they don’t have large numbers.
Saturday they took sprinters David Leffler, Justin Sargeant, Nick Lee and Matt Ruff, middle-distance runners Baxter Wennlund and Noah Van Dyke, the 3,200 relay team of Widi Moestopo, Andrew Duncan, Kent McDonell and Ben Spoelhof, and throwers Nathan Lopez and David Yu.
Ruff and Van Dyke each ran in the fast heats of their open events — Ruff in the 400 and Van Dyke in both the 800 and 1,600.
While Ruff placed 10th in the 400, Van Dyke was headed for a third-place finish in the 800 were it not for a disqualification for running out of his lane.
Entering the event with a seed time of 2 minutes, 2.00 seconds, Van Dyke ran a fully-automated time of 1 minute, 59.06 seconds according to meet officials who told Felinski the bad news about the “DQ.” Felinski’s stopwatch recorded a time of 2:00.06.
“That was rough because I got my (personal record),” said Van Dyke, who later finished 11th in the 1,600 at 4:44.57. “I got a couple bumps from the start, so they just completely took me out (of his lane). I was trying to get back in, they wouldn’t let me. I’ve just got to live with that.”
It should be easy. Van Dyke’s FAT time, had it counted, would have bested the Warriors’ program record of 1:59.9 set by Hunter Long in 2005. And Van Dyke is only a freshman.
“As a freshman it’s going to be hard to compete with seniors, so I’m just really proud of my time,” Van Dyke said. “That’s all that really matters. I’ve got really nothing to lose since I’m a freshman.
“I would say it’s a confidence booster, but I look at these meets as just like training for my further years when I’m a senior and a junior.”
Not too bad:
Though retiring Glenbard South boys track coach Andy Preuss hosted his last Raider Invite on Friday, he didn’t feel too much emotion. Holding the Metro Suburban Conference meet at Glenbard South in May takes some of the sting out of it.
That and being busy.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s the last one, just because you’re in the same routine,” he said. “Everybody says you don’t notice it until, like, next year, when you’re not doing it.”
Preuss’ feelings will undoubtedly be toward the surface in the state finals in Charleston, where for one last time as a head coach he’ll stand at the grandstand railing closest to the finish line.
“The state meet will probably be a little more difficult,” he said. “Like the state cross country meet was. That was kind of rough.”