And down the stretch they come . . .
Each year on the first weekend of May, the thoroughbreds head to Louisville and Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.
This year, Prospect and Palatine will host a very different set of thoroughbreds in what is typically the best weekend of track and field in the state of Illinois next to only the state meet weekend.
The 41st annual Knights Wanner Invite will kick off the weekend Friday afternoon at Gattas Stadium in Mount Prospect. Field events will start at 4:30 p.m. with finals on the track slated to begin at 6:45 p.m.
This meet is always an annual showcase of some of the best track and field runners in the state and this year's addition figures to be no different. Joining powers like York, Niles North, Zion-Benton and the host Knights this year are Mid-Suburban League power Barrington and downstate standout Springfield.
The Broncos will bring great sprinting and jumping depth in senior Sam Ojuri and one of the best half-milers in the state in senior Ryan Mangone. Springfield also has one of the top half-milers in the state in Brandon Stewart as well as one of the fastest 3,200 relay teams in the state so far this season.
And then there is York. The Dukes are considered a heavy favorite to win the Class AAA division at the state meet later this month. York has it all and is led by senior distance standouts Steve Sulkin and Jordan Hebert and the sprints tandem of Khara Williams and Jimmy Williams.
Prospect will have a little to say about the scoring in this meet with senior standouts Matt Babicz and Chris Hayek leading the way. Babicz is one of the best throwers in the state with an effort of over 183 feet in the discus already. Hayek should contribute on the Knights' 3,200 relay team in what is typically a feature event at this meet.
On Saturday, Palatine will play host to the oldest continuous relay meet in the state when the 77th running of the Palatine Relays gets started. The races start at 8:45 Saturday morning with the junior high school relay; the afternoon session rolls into action at 12:30.
The 77th edition will feature some of the best in the state again, with headliners like Marcus Popenfoose of Huntley, Jeff Thode of Conant and Alex Roark of Fremd all in action.
All eyes will be on the sky when Popenfoose gets going in the discus. The Huntley senior currently owns one of the five best throws in state history and will be looking to become just the second thrower in state history to surpass 200 feet.
On the track, Thode figures to be the one to watch no matter what race he participates in. The Class AAA state champ in cross country and Iowa signee will race in either the 800 or 1,600 run. If Thode races in the 800, it should make for a great battle with Mangone and Sean Wiggan of Palatine.
The sprinting events will be loaded as always with Bolingbrook and downstate power Belleville East taking on Buffalo Grove, Conant, Fremd and Barrington on the track.
Short run: Three schools in the MSL were blessed with new running surfaces in time for this track season - Barrington, Fremd and Schaumburg. While this would seem to be great news in most cases, for the Vikings and Saxons, the beautiful new tracks aren't all they were measured out to be.
Barrington's track accompanied the beautiful new football stadium and measured out at the required 400-meter distance. Fremd and Schaumburg were not as fortunate.
When the painters came to line the lanes, put in the proper marks and set up the tracks for the first meets of the season, they noticed a rather unusual problem--.the tracks were too short. A regulation track is 400 meters all the way around, but evidently, the tape measure didn't quite extend that far. The track at Fremd is 391 meters in length while the Schaumburg track is shorter yet.
The good news side of this story is that the tracks will be "adjusted" later this spring and will be regulation 400-meter distance in time for next season.
This should also be good news to Palatine, Hoffman Estates and Conant. Each of these schools is slated to get new turf and new tracks in time for next season. Hopefully they will all get the 400-meter version on the first try.
Best yet to come: On Tuesday night, Barrington captured the MSL West division title in dominant fashion. While this year's Barrington team on paper is again another strong group and figures to contend for the MSL title at Conant later this month, the freshman and sophomore team is showing to be equally as dominant.
The frosh/soph team rolled to the divisional title on Tuesday as well. The scary part for foes of the Broncos the next four years is that head coach Todd Kuklinski is calling his young group "the best underclass group he has had at Barrington."
Contributing on the varsity this year as underclassmen for the Broncos are sophomores Alex Kuznicki, Robbie Wagner, Nick Tisani, Kyle Dockery and Chris Cogswell to name a few. Of this group, Wagner, Cogswell and Eric Schneider all appear headed for state meet berths later this spring.