Boys track and field: The life of Riley just got longer
Illinois’ fastest short sprinter this boys indoor track season rediscovered how demanding even a 100-meter dash can be outdoors, Saturday at Wheaton North’s Best 4.
“It’s definitely longer, by a lot,” said Wheaton Warrenville South senior Da’jion Riley, who ran the 55-meter dash in 6.44 seconds indoors in February.
Riley led all 100-meter runners in the four-level meet Saturday, winning at 11.16 seconds to tip Naperville North’s Sam Gehrs.
Riley may have felt more discomfort by the double distance than he did tweaking his right knee in warm-ups.
“When you get to the 50 mark out here you’ve still got 50 more to do, so you’ve got to keep your legs high and drive through,” he said.
Lake Park did that to win the depth-testing meet with 211.33 points, ahead of Naperville North (183.5), WW South (171.33), Wheaton North (142.33), Glenbard West (138.5) and Warren (104).
Whether with A-tier entries like triple jumper Adrian Przestrzelski and pole vaulter Stephen O’Connor or depth long jumpers P.J. Anderson, D.J. Ritter and Jacub Nowicki, the Lancers executed their specialty, field events.
Armand Voloder was the Lancers’ sole A-level winner, in shot put. His second-best throw, of 52 feet, 4 inches, broke a tie with Warren’s Aidan Porreca at 52-9.
Voloder got a clap going in the ring. It got the senior’s mind off technique and into a zone.
“With the clapping, I just listen to the rhythm of the clap. The faster it gets the speedier I get throughout the throw, and it helps me throw farther,” he said.
Porreca, a lefty spinner fourth in Class 3A discus in 2023, felt the measurement of his top shot put mark was short, but shrugged it off.
“You can’t do anything about it, it’s early in the season, there’s plenty of time to keep going,” he said.
The well-spoken Porreca, who also competed in A-level discus but trailed John Tarpeh of Wheaton North — a Falcons winner along with high jumper Stephen DeMoss, at 6-3 — is an interesting story.
Porreca won a 2023 state prep fire fighting skills competition, placed third in a national contest, and will enroll in Western Illinois University’s fire science curriculum that should prepare him straightaway for work as a firefighter and paramedic.
“It was always something in the air for me, like it was one of the options I had,” Porreco said. “But then I took the firefighting class at the (Lake County) Tech Campus, and that’s what sealed the deal for me.”
Warren’s Eddie Lim sealed a 300-meter hurdle win at 40.79 seconds. Blue Devils Aaron Stewart, Chris McBride, Antonio Moore and Alex Asare — a sophomore back from Warren’s fourth-place 3A relay finish in 2023 — won the 800 relay.
Led by Graham Faris, Matt King, Tim Meehan and Anthony Nitti, Glenbard West won every level of both the 800 and 3200. Plus, Charlie Halden surged past WW South’s Josiah Narayanan to win the A-level 1600, at 4:27.85.
The Hilltoppers’ Luke Benson won both long jump and triple jump.
Ranked tenth in Illinois this indoor season in triple jump and a returning state qualifier, on Saturday Benson bounded 44 feet, 8¼ inches. That’s 10 inches past the 3A qualifying mark.
“Right now I'm just focusing on my body posture, not leaning forward — it takes (away) all my energy,” said Benson, who will jump at Tufts University near Boston.
“My goal this season is definitely high 46 (feet), mid-47. I would need some pretty good conditions to do that. Obviously it's kind of cold right now,” he said.
A Naperville North hallmark under coach Chris Arthurs is speed. The Huskies showed it with Ed Mumford taking the 110 hurdles, a 400 relay win, and Andrew Hebron and Justin Pegorsch taking the A/B 400-meter races then joining Robert Levy and Nico Gall to win the 1600 relay.
“Coach Arthurs, he puts us through a lot of workouts,” Hebron said. “Most people hate it, but now we could see it really paid off.”