Boys track and field: Robinson, McGinnis help Neuqua Valley edge York to win 91st DuPage County meet
The 91st DuPage County boys track championship had a number of storylines that annually makes the historic event such a memorable night.
On the team side, Neuqua Valley rode several strong performances to first place with 93 points to edge out York (87). Willowbrook snared third place with 65 points.
Neuqua Valley junior Daniel Robinson was one of the stars of the event, winning the 100-meter dash (10.82 seconds) and the 200 (22.18), overcoming a slight left hamstring injury suffered earlier in the long jump.
“I did do well in the long jump and shut it down after the first jump because I felt something in my hamstring,” Robinson said. “I wanted to take it easy to get ready for the 100 and 200. I just focused on my races and know what I had to do and stuck to my race.”
Robinson said he gained valuable insight into the mental approach in track by dealing with his injury but managing to win the two marquee events. To his surprise, Robinson set a personal record in both races.
“I just knew that I know my body and what I’m capable of doing and just tested the waters on the curve and felt like I could push it more,” Robinson said. “I’m just proud of my team and everything we did to secure the victory.”
Neuqua Valley senior hurdler Cooper McGinnis, who finished seventh in state last year in the 110 hurdles, scored 20 points for his team by sweeping the 110 (14.35) and 300 hurdles (38.37).
“I had a pretty good race in the 110, but can go faster because I hit hurdle eight,” McGinnis said. “I think I can do better at state this season.”
Naperville Central, which finished in fourth place with 64 points, received a big effort from senior Patrick Clune, a state track qualifier last season, in the 1,600. Clune set a personal best time by winning the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 12.94 seconds – beating his PR by seven seconds.
“I felt I did pretty well and had a nice PR,” said Clune, also a cross country state qualifier. “I learned last year at state track that doing state back-to-back days is hard, so I’ve been preparing for that mentally and physically is the biggest thing. Tonight was good to build my confidence for state, just being able to run a time like that and I have to keep working and improving.”
York coach Charlie Kern was happy with his team’s effort, including freshman Patrick Hill, who placed fourth in a personal-record time of 4:18.27 in the 1,600.
“Patrick’s time made him the fastest in York history,” Kern said. “He just passed up Don Sage who had the meet record here and was a state champion and NCAA champion. Patrick did better than him. You don’t see that too often.”
The Dukes did a solid job in dominating the relays, winning the 4x100 (42.42), 4x200 (1:30.23), 4x400 (3:25.76) and the 4x800 (7:57.53) relays. York junior Justin Cello, a first-year track athlete after playing baseball his first two seasons, ran the opening leg in the 4x200 and the anchor leg in the 4x100.
“The anchor in the 4x100 relay is a lot more fun than starting and fun to chase people down but starting is a lot different because you have to set the tone,” Cello said. “I’m happy with the 4x100 relay tonight. The team had some great warm-ups and our chemistry was strong today. I’ve really had a super fun time running track this year.”