Track and field: Barrington boys, Prospect girls win MSL indoor titles
It’s the work that no one sees. That’s what drives Hersey’s Logan Farrell.
The senior showed what hard work can accomplish Saturday at the MSL indoor conference track and field meet at North Central College in Naperville.
Farrell had ACL surgery on his left knee on July 31 last year after injuring it in a 7-on-7 football game last summer. He just began throwing the shot put again on Valentine’s Day.
On Saturday, Farrell had an indoor career-best at 58 foot, 7.25 inches. That was more than four feet better than Barrington’s Owen Fors, who finished second.
“It has been a long journey,” said Farrell, who will play football next fall at Illinois.
“And a lot of hard work in the dark that people don’t see.”
Barrington won the boys meet with a score of 124 to finish ahead of Prospect’s 115.5. The Broncos needed the 1-2 finish by Hayden Dahlin and Vince Choukas to clinch the title.
“It was super sick for us to be first and second there,” said Dahlin, who had a career-best 15-foot vault. “I have wanted to hit that height for a long time.”
In the best race of the day, Barrington’s David Marian edged Rolling Meadows’ Gunnar Woetzel by .003 seconds to win the 200.
“I didn’t even know I got him,” Marian said. “I couldn’t tell who won.”
The Broncos also got wins from Lamar Osterhues, who ran a 6.55 in the 55-meter dash, Adam Lyon in the 400-meter in 50.98, and Ryan Fahey the high jump (5-10), with teammate Connor Harris second.
“The kids came out and they performed,” Barrington coach Todd Kuklinski said. “And they performed when it mattered.”
Hersey’s Mateus Salomao won the 800 in 1:57.39, Fremd’s Rory Gaan the 1,600 in 4:18.87, Palatine’s Brady Faulkner the 3,200 in 9:10.50 and Prospect’s Nathan Cichy the 55-meter hurdles in 7.76.
Buffalo Grove’s Tara Kilchitskyi won the long jump (21-5 1/4) and Fremd’s Oluwadamilare Hassan the triple jump (44-8).
Prospect won the 4x200 relay (1:32.17) and 4x400 relay (3:31.87) while Fremd won the 4x800 relay (8:10.37).
Girls meet: Prospect won the meet for the third consecutive time. The Knights scored a 158.5 to finish far ahead of Hersey’s 73.5 and Schaumburg’s 70.
“We have a lot of depth,” Prospect coach Peter Wintermute said. “It is the MSL. We know when we come to this meet, we have to have our best foot forward. This is a meet we definitely gear up for.”
Anna Niebrugge won the 200 in 24.92, while her sister Nikki, who was third in the 200, won the long jump (17-8 1/4).
Mary Laba the 800-meter in 2:17.69, and Meg Peterson the 1,600 in 5:01.95. The Knights also won all three relays, the 4x200 (1:46.30), the 4x400 (4:03.22) and the 4x800 (9:34.11).
“It was my last race and I put everything into it,” Anna Niebrugge said. “I was able to kick strong at the end.”
Hoffman Estates’ Daisha Brunson won the 55-meter dash (7.11) and the 55-meter hurdles (8.08). Hazel Nadal won the 400 (59.15), Fremd’s Natalia Haupa the shot put (35-7 3/4), Schaumburg’s Kaylee Meyer the high jump (5-8), teammate Annika Jessie the triple jump (35-.5) and Rolling Meadows Nora DeMaria the pole vault (11-4 1/4).
Hersey’s Madeline Bialko won the 3,200 in a time of 10:46.63. It was 20 seconds better than Barrington’s Scout Storms.
“I wanted to get out fast and push that second mile,” Bialko said. “We work really hard all week and I run with my teammates, who definitely push me to do my best.”