Boys track and field: West Aurora repeats Upstate Eight title

Winning eight of the 18 events, West Aurora’s boys track and field team repeated as Upstate Eight Conference champions Thursday with 157 points.

Glenbard South also repeated its 2025 finish, tallying 135.5 points to come in second.

“The kids were awesome. We scored in a bunch of different events. We scored multiple kids in a bunch of different events. So, it was a good all-around meet for us,” said West Aurora coach Cortney Lamb. “These kids are amazing. It was really fun to watch.”

In addition to finishing first in both the 100 (10.94) and 200 (22.22) meter races, Blackhawks senior Tyler Scroggins ran the second leg of the 4x100, one of two relays West Aurora, the meet’s host, won.

The Blackhawks took top honors in the 4X100 with a time of 42.17 and took first in the 4x400, running the relay in 3:27.14.

The 200 was Scroggins’ favorite sprint.

“I PR'd in the 200 by like .4 so I think that's massive for me,” the senior said. “Because I've never ran that fast before in my life.”

Glenbard South’s Thomas Jochum took first in two of the six events the Raiders won, the 1,600 (4:26.82) and 3,200 (9:34.95).

“At the start, I just needed to take it out pretty slow, sit on the heel of the other guy, and then just wait for a move to make it the easiest I could for me,” the junior said about the 3,200.

Paced by Konrad Zabek’s first place finish in the 300 hurdles (40.73), Bartlett finished third (94).

“I was scared that some other guys were definitely going to hit their peak of the season today and have a good PR and be up there in the race with me,” Jochum said about the 300 hurdles. “But I just did what I could, took it all out on the track, and I ended up having a big lead and kept that going throughout the whole race.”

Fourth place Glenbard East (93) won the 4X200 relay (1:29.39).

Senior Josiah Lindsay’s first place finish in the 400 (51.25) helped South Elgin (53) edge out West Chicago (52.5) for fifth place.

After clearing 6-6, Senior Coreyon Johnson won the high jump for seventh place Elgin (38.5).

West Aurora and Glenbard South split the remaining field events.

The Blackhawks won the discus (Elijah Pacheco 164-9), long jump (Lesroy Tittle 21-3.5) and triple jump (James Baker 45-3) while the Raiders took top honors in the pole vault (Kyle Quaid-Bowman 16-9) and shot put (Henry Riley 56-1.25).

West Aurora’s Nathan Gehrmann crossed the finish line first in the 800 (1:55.95).

Glenbard South sophomore Vincent Gary took home first place in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.27.

The Raiders also finished first in the 4x800 relay (8:19.53).