Glenbard South sprints deal opponents twice the Payne

Glenbard South sprinter Andrew Payne had a big night Friday, and so did his little brother with the long legs.

Andrew Payne took first in thrilling races of the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the eighth annual Raider Invitational and also helped the host Raiders place second in the 400 relay. But after his big effort on the track, the Glenbard South senior seemed just as proud of his teammates, including Garret Payne, his sophomore brother.

"We had a very good day all the way around. The wind was frustrating to deal with, but we worked around it," said the older Payne, whose team took third in the meet with 107 points, just one behind meet runner-up Rolling Meadows. "And Garret, he's 6-1 and has such long strides. When he gets going-"

Plainfield North got a close look at Garret's quick strides in the night's final event as the Raiders sophomore anchored his team's victory in the 1,600 relay. With Ty Gregorash, Ben Miller and Luke Zanoni running the first three legs of the tight relay, Garret Payne took the baton with Plainfield North in hot pursuit. But the younger Payne pulled away on the final curve and powered his team to a 3:27.97 to 3:29.24 victory.

"I could hear him breathing at the end, and I could see his shadow," he said of the Plainfield North anchor. "But it was a great finish for us. We have a great sprinting group this year, and we're looking pretty strong."

Garret won the open 400 in 50.74 to hold off Glenbard East's Luke Chvatal. Andrew, meanwhile, won the 100 in 10.80 and the 200 in 21.90. Plainfield North's Robert Gilmore was a photo-finish second in the 100 in 10.81, while Gilmore's teammate Dominique Ware was a close second in the 200.

Plainfield North did capture the team title with a score of 121, but the Raiders might have been even closer to the top spot if not for an unfortunate drop of the baton in the 800 relay.

"I thought it was a real good night," Raiders coach Andy Preuss said. "We're a lot further along than I thought we'd be. Up and down the line we did well, and the Payne brothers had an awesome night tonight."

Glenbard East finished fourth in the team standings at 89 and Jason Eberle had a strong night in the hurdles and the high jump. Eberle took first in the high jump at 5-11, won the 110 high hurdles and added a sixth-place finish in the 300 low hurdles.

"I've been stuck at 5-10, so I guess I finally got out of my slump," said Eberle, a state qualifier who cleared 6-2 last spring. "And my 110 highs was a PR by half a second so I'm pretty excited about that too."

In the long jump Glenbard East's Chris Corral was first at 21-3 with Glenbard South's Jim Truong second at 21-0. Corral added a second in the triple jump which was won by Rolling Meadows' Colin Walker. Rolling Meadows thrower Eric Louis-Charles won the shot and took second in the discus to Mustangs teammate Jared Diaz.