Broken record(s): Fast times at Deerfield
Running a good time in the 1,600-meter run was supposed to help clarify the rest of the season for Barrington senior Erik Peterson. Unfortunately, it may have made his decision tougher.
In what was billed as a showdown 1,600-meter run at the Lake County Invitational at Deerfield on Friday, the race turned out to be just that. The top seeds in the race all ran fresh and did not disappoint.
Butler-bound Peterson took the lead early and held it throughout the race and into the final lap. As the runners made the second of four turns, Warren senior Martin Martinez popped up to Peterson’s left and M.I.T.-bound Lake Zurich senior Pat Juras was right next to Martinez.
As the runners headed for home, Peterson pulled away and won in a school record 4:12.47 — the second fastest time in the state this spring. Juras also broke his own school record (4:12.69) and was followed by Martinez in a Warren record of 4:15.34.
“When I ran 4:16 a couple of weeks ago I was by myself, and tonight there were a lot of guys to help push the pace,” Peterson said. “The third lap that night killed me. Tonight, I had a guy on my shoulder the whole way which made for a great race.”
As for his decision on whether he will run the 1,600 or 3,200 at the state meet the end of the month?
“Still some time left to decide,” Peterson said. “I have the 2-mile at conference next week then we will see what happens after that.”
The near-perfect weather night at Deerfield added up to a night of some of the best times of the season.
Deerfield won the county title with 82.5, followed closely by Stevenson (74), Lakes (68) and Libertyville (58.5).
Stevenson showed that despite the loss of current Illinois standout Brandon Stryganek, the Patriots have plenty left in their sprint relays. In the 400 relay, the Patriots team of Carl Miller, James Vestuto, Brian Lee and Kihwan Kim popped off its best time of the season, winning a tight race in 43.91, just ahead of Grayslake North (in a school record 43.93).
The 800 relay was much the same battle as the Patriots edged the Knights, again in another season-best, 1:31.32. The Knights team of Brandon Uribe, Alex Rotter, Andrew Soulis and Jake Geary ran a school record 1:31.62.
“We feel like we still have a great team even without Brandon, and we won both races tonight (with Parker Deloye replacing Lee for the 800 relay) and we feel confident,” Vestuto said. “The weather is cooperating with us and the competition is getting better, which makes us a better team.”
Two school-record efforts in the sprints has Grayslake North thinking big as championship season starts next week with the Fox Valley Conference meet.
“It took a little bit of time for the kids to completely buy in to everything, but once they started to see some of the results they have really gotten hungry,” said Grayslake North coach Shawn Murphy. “You can tell now that they are almost overanxious, and when you get into these races you have to hold back a little and still stay focused.”
The improvement for Libertyville junior Matt Dziedzic carried over from last week as he took top honors in the shot put (54-8) and finished second in the discus with a personal best of 154-4. His effort in the discus was second to Grant junior Brand Lombardino, whose best toss of 172-9 took the event.
Grant senior Sean Wells ruled the hurdling events again Friday night as he took the 110 highs for the third straight year in 14.66 and the 300 in 39.45.
Grant also established a school record by taking second in the 3,200 relay in 8:08.9 to Barrington. Dalyn Romig, Justin Sanchez, Peter Audrain and Kyle Hatton made up the record-setting group.
Other event winners included Juddon Carter of Round Lake leaping a personal best 43-0 to win the triple jump, Brian Kadowaki of Carmel clearing 13-3 to win the pole vault, Gabe Cotton of Vernon Hills winning the 200 in 22.33, KJ Matuszak of Carmel winning the 3,200 (9:26.0), Trevor Ray of Lakes taking the 400 (50.62) and the team of Chris Rantis, Jon Ramirez, David Smith and Anthony Baca from Lake Zurich winning the 1,600 relay in 3:27.34.