Boys track and field: Glenbard West, Glenbard South find plenty to like at Arnold invite

Benjamin Schoettle placed first in the 110 hurdles, Jordan Ademuyiwa placed second in the 100 sprint, and Glenbard West claimed third place with 75 points while hosting its Jim Arnold Invitational in Glen Ellyn on Saturday.

“It's just nice to be able to come to our track and be able to be the best versions of ourselves on it,” said Ademuyiwa, who ran his season best with a 10.72 in the 100.

Intensity is ramping up at track meets across the state, as the month of May has begun and we have officially entered the championship season.

You can sense the tension before and after every event, as athletes turn up their focus and dial up their absolute peak performance with hopes to qualify for a trip to Charleston for the state meet.

“I think our team’s well prepared to do well at state, as we’ve been preparing for it the whole season,” added Ademuyiwa.

Despite being happy with his result today, Ademuyiwa knows he has even greater potential and is locked in on cutting every last fraction of a second off his times.

“I thought the event went well for me, [but] it could have gone better, in my opinion,” he said.

The same could be said for Schoettle, who seemed focused on pushing for even more performance gains after taking first place in the Hilltoppers’ home meet.

“It was exciting,” said Schoettle, when asked about racing in front of the home crowd. “Good weather and [I] had a decent race.”

Teammate Jamarcus Kelly placed second in the long jump for Glenbard West. He leapt 6.41 meters, tying the distance set by DySean Davis-Porter of Morton on their final jumps.

“I've been really focusing on the types of technique,” said Kelly. “I've been trying to do hang, but I've been trying to do a lot of things.

“I'm trying to focus on one thing right now. I think my landing is pretty strong. I still have more room to improve on, but it's still good — my takeoff, I think that's probably the best thing about my long jump.”

Kelly also competed in the 4x100 relay for the Hilltoppers, where his group set a time of 44.40, good for fifth. Lake Park claimed third in that event with a 43.39.

“Friday, going into meet, I knew it was going to be cold,” said Kelly. “So I had the mindset of just trying my best and getting the job done. I think I did pretty good today.

“I want to PR every meet and I have to PR every meet. It doesn't have to be big. It doesn’t have to be small, but just get in the feeling of getting better every day.”

Along with the Hilltopper standouts, there were several Glenbard South athletes that impressed throughout the meet.

Thomas Jochum set the 37th best time in Illinois while competing in the 800 with a 1:56.60.

He jumped into duty to help work on his kick and earn points for the Raiders, but he said he is primarily focused on longer distance runs like the 1 and 2 mile events.

He is pleased with the spring season the Raiders are putting together.

“Our team has been progressing well,” said Jochum. “We have guys who can be possible state champions in five different events now. So if we just do what we need to at the state meet, we can get a state trophy and that's the goal right now.”

His teammate Elijah Danguilan tied for the third best mark in the high jump with a 1.93 meter leap. He is also among those who are seeking every inch of performance.

“It was a decent result, but I wouldn't say I'm happy with it,” said Danguilan. “I feel like I’ve got more in the tank. I feel like I still can do a lot more.”

Another Raider runner that jumped into an atypical event was Giancarlo Pietrasanta. Normally an 800 competitor, he took first place in the 3,200 with a 9:44.25 during his first time running that race this spring.

“It's kind of a longer distance than usual,” said Pietrasanta. “I wanted to get under 9:30, probably like mid 9:20s … based off how my other events are going and how I've been progressing.”

“I was just fighting that whole way just to hang on for dear life,” he added.

The Raiders finished with 48 team points, good for a fifth place tie with Lake Park. Oak Park-River Forest placed first with 122. Evanston followed in second with 118.