BG wins battle for East title

Tuesday's Mid-Suburban League East boys' track meet was close all the way through.

Buffalo Grove and Prospect were at the forefront, battling each other for first place. The Bison won the meet with 164 points in what coach Jamie Klotz called "a team effort across the board."

The Knights finished second with 146.5 points.

"Prospect gave us every bit a run for our money tonight," Klotz said. "Every time we did something right, they did something right too."

Senior sprinter Steve Miller had a great all around night for Buffalo Grove. Miller took home first place in both the 100 and 200-meter sprints. He was also a part of Buffalo Grove's 4x100 relay team, which finished first, and the 4x200 relay team, which finished second.

With preliminary heats, Miller ran six total races, something he hadn't done before.

"This meet took like five hours, but it feels like nothing for me," Miller said. "It feels like I'm running everything. It's flying by."

Miller said it was a bit of a mental game trying not to burn out in the preliminary heats of the 100 and 200.

"He was a workhorse today," Klotz said of Miller. "He handled that workload and was able to roll us to victory a lot of times."

Klotz also commended sprinter James Blackmon for his efforts. Blackmon ran the same races Miller did.

"It's a cold night," Klotz said. "It's not easy for a sprinter to be ready. It takes a lot of paying attention to the details, and I think our guys did a great job of that today."

Senior Matt Newman turned in a nice day for Buffalo Grove in the field events, winning the high jump with a jump of 6-4, and finishing third in the triple jump.

"It was good to get the win and score some points," Newman said of his high jump. "This meet I was focused more on just getting done and getting over to triple (jump) and trying to score."

Prospect got some great performances from distance runner Chris Haydek, who won both the 3,200 and 1,600 races, and hurdlers Marcin Kwiek and Mike Prezpolewski.

Kwiek won both the 110 and 300 hurdles races and Prezpolewski took second in each.

"Me and Prez are just trying to get points," Kwiek said. "We're just trying to pull our weight."

Haydek won the 3,200 by eight seconds, and afterward said he doesn't feel it's his best distance.

"I'm not really much of a 2-miler," Haydek said. "I'm more of a half-miler, but I definitely went tactical in the first two laps. I went out really slow and I just felt good."

Despite Prospect's best efforts, Buffalo Grove was able to walk away as MSL East champs.

"I'm just excited. It's been a long time since we were on top of the East," Klotz said. "It's one of our goals and we've accomplished it now. And we just want to keep moving."

Rolling Meadows' Mick Viken turned in an impressive day at pole vault, clearing 16-5 under windy conditions. Wheeling's 4x200 relay team used a strong final leg from Weston Ross to take the race with a time of 1:34. Matt Splon, Jarrett Austin and Mike Zimmer were the other members of that relay team.