Kaneland, Burlington go 1-2 at sectional
ROCHELLE — Kaneland threw Nathaniel Kucera into the 400-meter dash in the hopes of adding some team points to its total.
He wound up running a state-qualifying time (50.65).
Sophomore Nate Dyer was looking to advance to next weekend’s IHSA state meet at Eastern Illinois University in the discus. He threw a 155-foot, 9-inch throw to finish third at the Class 2A Rochelle boy’s track sectional.
Then he followed up the discus with a personal best throw of 50-feet, 11-inches in the shot put to advance in both. The little things all added up for the Knights, who took their fourth-straight sectional championship with 115 points.
Burlington Central (84) beat out Dixon (83) to take second.
“I was there, but I just needed a little more,” said Dyer, who had a personal best of 50-feet, 7-inches entering the meet. “I needed to stayed focused and relax. The discus has always been my thing. In the shot put, I’ve kind of shot up there this year.”
Kaneland’s success was also evident during the sprints and relays. Senior Sean Carter (22.67) edged out junior Brandon Cottier (23.14) in the 200-meter dash. Dylan Nauert (40.18) took first in the 300 hurdles, going under the state qualifying time of 40.44.
Kaneland’s 400 relay team (43.30) beat out Central (43.88) and won a heavily contested 800 relay with a 1:29.80. Boylan (1:31.35) beat Central by a nose (1:31.36), but the Rockets still qualified for the state meet.
The Knights also qualified in the 3,200 relay (fifth place, 8:05.20) and Brandon Cottier took second in the 100 (11.03).
“Dyer had a nice night,” Kaneland coach Eric Baron said. “Nathaniel Kucera he ran the second leg of the 3,200 relay and ran a 1:59. He had the fastest split of the 1,600 relay with a 50.6.”
BC’s Parker DeMoss won the 100 (10.95) and the Rockets’ Clint Kliem (1:57.87) edged out teammate Mike Gulilk (1:58.36) in the 800. The duo trailed Galena’s Adam Lange for the entire race, but both surpassed him during the final 300 meters.
“We were in third and fourth until the last 300,” Kliem said. “Gulilk started kicking from behind and I had to go with him. It was an all out sprint in that final 100.”
The was the third time this season that Kliem had beaten Gulilk in a similar fashion, but the seniors will get another chance to go at it during the state meet.
“It was exactly what we wanted,” Gulilk said of the race strategy. “We wanted to kick it that last 300. That last 100, it was anyone’s game.”
The Rockets qualified all 4 of their relay teams for the first time since 2007 and had their highest team finish since moving from Class A to Class 2A.
With Kliem and Gulilk leading the way, the Rockets won the 3,200 relay (8:01.44) and 1,600 relay (3:21.70) and took second in the 400 (43.88).
“In the 800, the guys went out slow,” Rockets’ coach Mike Schmidt said. “Distance coach John Pollack yelled at them to get going. They’ve been doing it together all season.”
Kaneland’s Kory Harner and Central’s Kyle Ingraham tied for second in the pole vault at 13-3.