Jacobs, BC both hurting
One of the main story lines for tonight's and Friday's local boys track conference meets isn't who will be there, but who won't.
Jacobs and Burlington Central, two of the areas most successful boys track teams in recent years, may be without key performers.
Jacobs, which has won the last six Fox Valley Conference titles, may be without the trio of Mike Wallace, Danny Trevor and Jake Lawson - all of whom are injured - at Friday's FVC meet at Crystal Lake Central.
"I'm not sure if Mike Wallace, Danny Trevor or Jake Lawson will participate or if we will wait until sectionals to run them," said Jacobs coach Jason Borhart. "With those guys out we can't compete for a team championship."
Borhart said Wallace would be the top seed in the 100, 200 and the second seed in the 400, while Trevor would be the top seed in the 110 hurdles and one of the favorites in the 300 hurdles. Lawson would be a top 3 seed in the pole vault and would be a contender in the high jump. Their absences, Borhart said, could result in the loss of 50-60 team points.
With Jacobs hurting, McHenry becomes the favorite to win the FVC title.
"McHenry is the clear favorite," said Borhart.
Borhart feels his team's best chances are in the four relay events with a group that includes Mike Kneip, TJ Brooks, Jai Bradford, Elliott Turnbaugh, Jason Ofodile, Joey Cieniewicz, Kevin Arndt, Keith Schumacher and Danny Carey.
Dundee-Crown will look to do damage on the track in all of the relays and in the 3,200 (Paul Smith, Jon Keable), 1,600 (Anthony Manfrin and Mike Wiechmann) and 800 (Nathan Prom and Jon Magnant). Aaron Reams and Keldrin Franz give the Chargers a 1-2 punch in the triple jump, while Pat Livengood is strong in the high jump. D-C coach Tom Smith praised Matt Hellyer, Ian Salvatini, Justin Walden and Franz for their recent work in the relays.
"We feel we have the guys to be in the battle in the top part of the conference," said Smith. "The FVC might be as good right now as it's been. The conference has the potential to make a great showing."
Throws star Marcus Popenfoose leads Huntley, which will also count on its 400 and 800 relay teams, as well as Alex Beruscha (800 and 1,600), Asama Itseumah (jumps) and Evan Ofenloch (pole vault).
"I think we can be in the pack competing for third place," said Huntley coach Jim Rolando, who mentioned McHenry and Jacobs as the favorites. "After (McHenry and Jacobs) there are about 5 teams who will likely be 25-30 points behind them. Any one of those five teams could finish in any order. It all depends on how the guys respond to the big-meet atmosphere."
Cary-Grove's Phil Fairleigh will be a title contender in the 3,200 (seed time of 9:05.13). He'll also run the 1,600. The Cary-Grove 3,200 relay team of Kai Rikardsen, Eddy Gibbons, Ryan Gustafson and Dan Jaquier (8:16.10) won the McHenry County meet. Ryan Psenka will also be a contender in the discus for the Trojans.
Emmanuel Gamez and Steven Rogers pace Crystal Lake South. Gamez recently set a new school record in the 400 (49.06). Coach Dave Puma would like to see Gamez break 49 seconds in the 400 and 11 seconds in the 100 at conference (he's run 11.0 numerous times).
Gamez also anchored the team's mile relay (with Rogers, Victor Adenakan and Kenny King) that recently ran 3:23.25 (under the state qualifying standard of 3:24.0).
Rogers also recently set the school record in the 800 (1:56.52).
Big Northern Conference: Another team slowed by athlete unavailability is Burlington Central, which has been without Tom Gast and Kyle Kita (neither has run the last 2 weeks due to injury and sickness), as well as a number of other competitors for various reasons.
"If we were healthy we would have a shot to win five in a row, but it's going to be very tough will all of our problems," said Central coach Mike Schmidt.
Schmidt lists Oregon, his team, Winnebago and Richmond-Burton as top-tier contenders for today's meet at Stillman Valley.
The Rockets are led by pole vaulters Paco Wleklinski and Joe Manzie, Nick Smith (100 and 200), Tre Llanes in the triple jump, T.J. Pasia in the long jump. Central's sprint relays (with Smith and Pasia running for sure) could also contend.
Matt Drendel (10:34 in the 3,200) and Ray Quesada (42.48 in 300 hurdles) lead the way for Hampshire, which is also strong in the 1,600 relay (3:35.8).
Upstate Eight Conference: South Elgin will host the UEC meet today at Millennium Field at Streamwood. Local entries Bartlett, Elgin, Larkin and Streamwood will also be part of the field. Jumping standout Dan Karys leads Bartlett. Karys is fresh off a double win in the long jump and the triple jump at the DuPage County meet.
The Hawks also have plenty of other possibilities including sophomore Brian Polubinski (shot put), Josh Hasenberg (high jump), Chris Baumann (triple jump, 100), Gianna Pietanza (discus), Ben Jalove (110 hurdles, high jump), Josafat Gonzalez (set school record in 800 recently), Mike Romack (300 hurdles) and Jasen Massey (200). Bartlett should also be in top-tier contention in the 800 and 1,600 relays.
Larkin's success has come at the frosh-soph level (the Royals have not scored a varsity point in the last 3 meets). Younger Royal standouts include Francisco Gonzales (2:05 in the 800), Dan Runzel (2:14 in the 800) and Cyrus French (51.8 in the 400).
Brad Birchfield (11.0) and Kelvin Ware (11.12) lead the sprint corps for South Elgin.
Other meets: Westminster Christian will compete in the Private School League meet at Chicago Christian Friday. Freshman Josh Beachler has run 11.44 (FAT) in the 100 (Class 1A state-qualifying time is 11:24 FAT). St. Edward will be at the Suburban Catholic Conference meet at Marmion. Elgin Academy already ran in the Independent School League meet and took sixth. Jon Elsenbroek won the shot put (36-8) and was second in the discus (95-10), while Nick Skawinski was fifth in the 110 hurdles (23.5).