Boys track and field: Barrington brings home title at Patriot Relays
It is still early in the 2025 boys track season, but the 53rd Stevenson Patriot Relays Thursday night was a sign of good things to come for area teams.
In the end, Barrington took home the championship of the 11-team meet by a score of 70-60 over runner-up Grayslake Central. The host Patriots and Lakes (59 points) tied for third while Grant (51 points) placed fifth.
The Broncos started strong as their 4x100 team of Keegan Degoma, Lucas Marin, David Marian, and Lamar Osterhues won the race in 42.68 seconds.
Then Barrington's 4x800 team of Joe Bregenzer, William Schneider, Masaharu Nagaoka, and Mark McGinn posted a winning time of 8:20.65. Bregenzer (4:26.12) also won the 1,600.
"After the meet started late due to the rain, we came out and won the first three events and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the meet,“ said Barrington coach Todd Kuklinski, whose team is ranked eighth in Class 3A. "I'm very happy with the performance. Joe (Bregenzer) is a leader, he's a state champion (in 3,200), and he's one of our captains for a reason."
Stevenson's squad of Ricardo Parker, Thomas Simmons, Arnav Nair, and Robert Hendler won the 4x110 shuttle hurdles in 1:10.16. Simmons won the 300-meter hurdles in 41.52 seconds. The 4,000-meter distance medley relay was won by Antioch's team of A.J. Ripper, Ademide Adegboyega, Brady Kobb, and Carson Lanners in 11:11.86.
Grayslake Central's 4x200 team of Rashad Smith, Everett Ciokajilo, Johnathan Lapidus, and Ken-Ye Pendleton took first in 1:29.41. Lapidus, Smith, Ryan Schroer, and Alex Mueller also won the 4x400. Christian Jaimes (1.93 meters) took first place in the high jump for the Rams.
"We're a young squad, and we lost a lot of guys to graduation that are competing at the next level now," said Grayslake Central coach Brent Pitt, whose team placed third in Class 3A last year with a school enrollment of just over 1,300. "Our relays did well tonight, and this year is a season full of high expectations."
Stevenson's Alexander Moser (school record 7.05 meters) was the long jump champion while teammate Andrei Konstantinidis (6.79 meters) took second. Lakes' Patrik Dortch (13.89 meters) won the triple jump. Maine East's Roman Wolanin (16.02 meters) won the shot put while Barrington's Nathan Fisher (46.76 meters) won the discus.
"Our long jumper's are going to be tough not to go 1-2 in every meet, and Moser set the school record tonight," said Stevenson coach Scott Sommers. "Our hurdlers were a strong point today; obviously Simmons is a leader in those events."
Lakes lost three-time state pole vault champion Paul Migas (University of Tennessee) to graduation, but the team still has high hopes.
"The team is really coming together, and we train hard 100%," said Lakes coach Jacob Buddell. "They're just having fun. He (Dortch) went to state in the triple jump two years ago and he's looking great."