Wheaton run threatened
Wheaton North has the track. West Aurora brings the field.
Mix well and you've got the crux of the boys DuPage Valley Conference track and field meet today at Wheaton Warrenville South.
On March 14, indoors at Glenbard East, West Aurora used a 54-0 advantage over Wheaton North in the field events to earn its first DVC boys track title.
If the Blackhawks can build that type of margin at WW South, they may depose the two-time defending champion host Tigers and take the title out of Wheaton for the first time since 1990.
"I think after the field events, we'll kind of know how we sit," said Wheaton North coach Don Helberg said. "I think we'll be behind -- I'm pretty sure we'll be behind -- after the field events. It's just how far behind."
The Falcons have the speed to catch up. Ken Collier, Mike Trumpy, Jason Marocchi, Graham Farnsworth, Chase Kadlec and Collin Christensen make Wheaton North very solid from the 100 dash to the 3,200. Others like Ivan Tamba, Justin Soderlund and Mitch Moore are capable of doubling up in events.
Plus, all four Falcons relays won last week at the DuPage County meet, getting key input from Jon Frano when sprinter Dayton Henriksen hurt himself in long jump.
"If we have a big lead after the field events, that's going to make the meet a little tougher for them and a little tougher for us," said West Aurora coach Courtney Lamb, who offers the jumping trio of Joel Vincent, Colton Winston and Aviance King and three more weight men, Juan Perez, Kevin Costin and Dan Newhouse.
"But they can double score in pretty much every event from the 100 to the 2-mile," Lamb said.
Naperville North, which took third indoors, looks to be the top dark-horse candidate. The Huskies are particularly strong in the throws and distance with athletes such as Sean Denard, Tommy Quevillon and Kyle Gibson.
Naperville Central, Glenbard East, Glenbard North and West Chicago all bring individuals who can steal away valuable points.
WW South has the cachet and tradition. Wheaton North's 2005 title interrupted WW South's string of them from 1995-2004.
"Somehow," Lamb said, "(Tigers coach Ken Helberg) can get his guys to go above and beyond."
Wheaton North won from 1991-94, leaving Naperville Central's three-time champs from 1988-90 the last non-Wheaton titlists.
One of the top events at this year's DVC meet should be the 200 dash.
It offers the prospect of Wheaton North's Collier and Ivan Tamba, Naperville Central's Riley O'Toole, WW South's Phil Traynor and Kevin Credille and West Aurora's Josh Zinzer. All have 22-second possibilities.
"I do think from top to bottom the conference is very well-balanced and there's a lot of great athletes. It's always an exciting meet," said Ken Helberg, who tabbed Wheaton North and West Aurora as the favorites.
"Crazy things have happened," said his brother Don. "I think they're going to have to stub their toe and we're going to have to have a good meet to pull it out."
Rock in a hard place: No spin. No glide.
Benet senior Max Rock just stomps up to the top of the shot put ring, cups the 12-pound orb between jaw and right shoulder, and powers the thing out there.
Having two knees that don't quite work right, Rock knows his athletic limitations.
Rock's right knee still houses a scruffy anterior cruciate ligament he tore in eighth-grade basketball.
He blew out the medial cruciate ligament in his left knee as a sophomore throwing the shot put. He laid to rest the "spin" technique, in which the shot emerges from an untwisting whirl of arms and legs.
"This year I was going to do the glide" -- a balanced pose using a more straightforward delivery with less torque -- "but I felt a twinge," Rock said.
"I just didn't want to jeopardize the whole season, and I was throwing farther with the standing throw anyway, so I figured I'd just stick with standing throw."
Rock topped out a little over 46 feet as a junior. Last week he placed sixth at the Carlin Nalley Invite's Class AA division at 48 feet, 10½ inches.
On April 18 at Lake Zurich, where Lake Park's Dan Block put the shot an Illinois-best 63-5, Rock sent the weight just over 51 feet.
Proving that the best results are a marriage of form and effort, Rock's 51-footer felt deceiving.
"I put a lot into it," he said, "but it didn't feel like it was that far."
Across the board: Hinsdale Central's girls have run the fastest times in the area in all four relays -- and they field a number of potential open-race state qualifiers to boot.
This bodes well for the Red Devils as they enter the weekend's sectionals, theirs at Downers Grove North.
"No disrespect to the other teams, but our expectation is to qualify in every event," said Hinsdale Central coach Pat Richards, who must deal with good squads in Downers Grove North, Downers Grove South and Lyons Twp.
"Our strengths far outweigh our weaknesses," said the 19-year coach, throwing effusive praise toward assistant coaches Mark McCabe, Patrice Wilson, Alan Housner and Janelle Marconi -- daughter of former Chicago Bear Joe Marconi.
Hinsdale Central graduated two sprinters and one distance runner from last year's relays, which placed in each of the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 events last year in the state finals.
He returned much more.
Lauren Roush runs on three of the four relays, joined by Amanda Freyn and Chelsea Celistan on the 400 and 800 relays.
The 3,200 relay is bolstered by 2007 individual state qualifiers Emily Cleary and Elaine Kuckertz.
Mallory Morse, a 200-meter qualifier in 2007, ran on Hinsdale Central's conference-winning 800 relay. Elsewhere, distance runners Grace Hucek and Lauren Zumbach hope to return downstate.
Richards is confident about qualifying in "a lot of events," and the girls bring into the sectional their own confidence based on past results and trust in their training.
If it works out today, it'll be time, as Richards said, to "bring out the driver."
"Obviously, our emphasis is to score as many points as we can in the relays at the state meet and see if we can sneak some kids in there in some individual events," he said.