Boys track and field: Senior-led Barrington is in its element
Wheeling boys track coach Tom Polak, in addition to coaching his Wildcats team in Friday's Mid-Suburban League championship meet, also had broader supervisory duties for the event.
And that left Polak with a mother nature-induced headache with which to contend: a 25-degree change in temperature that left competitors having to adjust to temperatures in the high 40s with a good chance for rain, as opposed to dry and in the low 70s just 24 hours earlier.
It had everybody bracing for the possibility of a suspended meet, and perhaps a Saturday morning make-up.
"Wake me when it's over," Polak joked as he left the coaches meeting.
Fortunately for Polak and all involved, the meet was finished Friday night as scheduled, with only a light layering of rain as the final events were being held.
By then Barrington had cruised to the team title in a dominant performance, winning seven of the 18 events with 194 points, 81½ better than runner-up Prospect, to earn a third MSL crown in five years and its sixth since 2003.
"I can't say enough about our senior leadership," Barrington coach Todd Kuklinski said. "They are the catalysts for our success as a team, from the hard work they put in every day which sets an example for our younger guys."
Led by a pair of those seniors, the Wildcats' track was primarily where Barrington's championship was earned as the Broncos won six of their individual titles in the running events.
Notre Dame recruit Luis Cossio IV captuted the 400-meter dash in 49.98 and partnered with Michael Dreiling, Ray Niro III, and Alec Andrea to take the 4 x 100 relay. Cossio, Niro and Andrea joined forces with E.J. Darlington for a win in the 4 x 200 relay in 1.29.99.
Vanderbilt-bound Nick Laning earned distance triumphs in both the 1,600 (4:25.27) and the 3,200 (9:36.31).
The final Broncos track victory came via Michael Curran, Kevin Curet, Paddy Furlong and Aaron Sarkar, who finish in 3:31.01 in the 4 x 400 relay.
Brad Warman's first-place effort in the shot put (61-0) capped off the night for Barrington.
Kuklinski felt his squad's ability to successfully adapt to the weather change was due to a mixture of commitment and confidence.
"We've developed a certain mindset not to allow the weather to dictate to us as to how we compete," said Kuklinski, "and this was a result of it."
The East Division-winning Knights (112.5 points) were paced by early wins by Michael Shafis in the high jump (6-5) and by the foursome of Casey Daleiden, Jack Terry, Andrew Reimann and Nate Cozine in the 4 x 800 relay (8:03.45).
For their coach Jay Renaud, it came as a tremendous source of pride to see his squad repeat their divisional triumph of a year ago.
"It's a huge momentum boost for our squad," Renaud said. "For us to come here and do what we did with sophomores and juniors after graduating a ton of seniors last year is a testament to our being mentally tough."
Last year's MSL champion, Hoffman Estates, finished 5 points back of Prospect in third (107.5 points) and earned 4 wins. Two of them came from Illinois-bound Declan Rustay, sprinting to big victories in the 100 (10.61) and 200 (21.68). Purdue-bound senior football standout Jaylan Alexander won the discus with a toss of 159-10.
Anijel Jones got past Wheeling's Lawrence Knish to capture the long jump crown by winning the tiebreaker, with his second jump besting Knish after both had tied at 20 feet, 11 inches.
A pair of wins by Fremd's Jaden Jackson in both the 110 hurdles (14.8 sec.) and the 300 hurdles, in concert with James Leahy fending off teammate Luke Fissinger 14 to 13 feet to capture the pole vault title, helped Fremd to a fourth-place finish with 101 points.
Other winners on the evening were Hersey's Ryan Buch in the 800 (1:59.46), and Schaumburg's Victor Olaitan in the triple jump (44-05).
Next week's sectionals will send the league's teams to four different locations, with Buffalo Grove, Palatine, and Fremd joining the Broncos at Grayslake North on Thursday.
On that same afternoon, St. Charles North will play host to both Hoffman and Schaumburg, while Loyola Academy in Wilmette will see Wheeling and Hersey join Prospect.
On Friday, Rolling Meadows, Elk Grove, Conant make the trek to Glenbard North.
Which leaves the MSL's frontrunners feeling strong heading into the postseason.
"We feel good, we have great team energy," Renaud said.
"Hopefully we can keep this going over the next two weeks and qualify as many people to state as we can," Kuklinski added.
Rolling Meadows (122 points) edged Hersey (110) to capture the MSL frosh-soph title.