Geneva, Kaneland share County title
Kaneland boys track and field coach Eric Baron made a magnanimous gesture to his counterpart at Geneva, Gale Gross, after their squads tied for top honors at the Kane County Meet Friday night at West Aurora.
After Gross informed him the Vikings won twice as many events as the Knights, 4-2, the Kaneland coach handed Gross the championship plaque.
But the teams are still technically co-champions after Kaneland tied Geneva by finishing one place higher in the 1,600-meter relay.
Four-time defending champion West Aurora (65 points) was 9 points behind the Geneva and Kaneland totals to finish in third, followed by St. Charles North and Batavia.
"Overall, it was just a great team effort," Gross said. "It's only the second time we have ever won (the team title)."
Peter Archibald and Ben Rogers were the glue to the Vikings' success.
The former broke the 37-year-old record in the open 800 by overcoming St. Charles East senior Jake Mazanke in the final 100 meters to win in one minute, 52.76 seconds.
The senior had earlier run a 1:53 split to propel the Vikings' 3,200 relay to victory.
"(The 800) was definitely an insanely difficult race, mentally and physically," Archibald said. "(The county and school record) was the one thing I was looking for a long time."
Mazanke would have some consolation when he anchored the Saints' 1,600 relay to their lone title.
Rogers was one of only two double winners after emerging victorious in the long and triple jumps.
"This is pretty new to me," said Rogers, who has only been in organized track for less than two years. "I am taking (the sport) very seriously. I feel like I can help the team."
Kaneland emerged into contention when Nate Dyer and Shane Jorgensen unexpectedly swept the shot put.
Another fellow sophomore, Dylan Nauert, later claimed the Knights' lone running title with a victory in the 300 hurdles.
"Running against (Class) 3A schools is something I love doing," Nauert said.
For host West Aurora, Lijah Spears' nearly 6-foot progression over his personal best in the discus, almost 155 feet, provided its sole win.
"It was the first time I've ever thrown in the 150s, so it was pretty exciting," Spears said.
Fourth-place St. Charles North (56 points) had Declean Duggan to thank for its lone triumph in the 3,200 run.
The North Stars' senior shadowed West Aurora senior Omar Gomez for most of the race before asserting himself over the final 250 meters.
"The idea is to go out with the leaders and see how I feel," Duggan said.
Batavia scored a sizable chunk of its 50 points when Brandon Clabough and Bennett Hartmann swept the pole vault.
Marmion (37 points) had arguably the best individual athlete as Pete Stefanski, reigning state runner-up in the high jump, defeated St. Charles North's Oshay Hodges on criteria to win at 6-feet-7.
"I'm really pleased at where I am right now," Stefanski said. "I'm definitely getting smoother over the bar."
Aurora Central Catholic sprinter Joseph Fese dusted the field in 11.16 seconds to claim the title of fastest boy in the county at 100 meters.
Fese would have had a second title had it not been for South Elgin junior Jeff Broger.
After earlier claiming the title at 400 meters in 49.67 seconds, Broger nosed out Fese at the wire to win by five one-hundredths at 200 meters.
Broger thus became the only multiple individual winner on the track.
"That was a personal record (in the open 400)," Broger said. "The St. Charles (North) dude (Zach Kirby) was coming up on me. That pushed me to go that much harder."
The Storm finished in seventh with 40 points.
Burlington Central was one position higher behind the brilliant work of Clint Kleim.
After a brilliant effort in anchoring the Rockets' 3,200 relay to runner-up status, Kleim exploded in the open 1,600, forging a new county and school record with a time of 4:18.76.
"This was one of only two more shots at breaking the record," Kleim said. "I tend to be a little more conservative in my (800) splits. I knew I could get it."
Elgin sprinter-hurdler Devante King was the Maroons' go-to athlete.
King, collaborating with Terrell Campbell, Dennis Moore and Derek Moorman, anchored the Maroons' 800 relay to an easy triumph after earlier winning the 110 high hurdles in a time of 15.34.
"I have been moving up slowly through the year," the senior said. "I have had a lot of good competition this year as well. Learning to get that extra stride in the middle (between hurdles was the key)."
The Streamwood sprint-relays welcomed back Blake Holder.
The Sabres scored all 10 of their points when Holder, returning from a three-week absence due to a left hamstring injury, blitzed past the Maroons' anchor in the 400 relay.
"We got the baton basically tied for first," said Holder, who teamed with Art Beese, Sean Patterson and Austin Mugnai. "I wasn't going to let the baton slip out of my hand. I hope to be back at the sectional to run my open events (the 100 and 200 dashes)."
Cyrus French had the lone medal performance for Larkin in the open 400, while RJ Schmidt held the same distinction for Dundee-Crown in the high hurdles.