Records fall at FVC meet
Six records fell at the Fox Valley Conference boys track and field meet held at Woodstock North Friday, including marks previously held by McHenry County track and field icons Marcus Popenfoose and Evan Jager.
Cary-Grove senior thrower Josh Freeman got things rolling in the shot put competition. His heave of 64 feet, 6¼ inches not only won the event by almost 9 feet, it bettered the record of 61-3 set two seasons ago by former Huntley standout Marcus Popenfoose, who competed Friday for Auburn at the SEC championships in Baton Rouge, La.
“Two years ago I played football and was throwing as a spring sport, but after seeing Marcus compete it really set my fire,” said Freeman, who also won the discus competition with a mark of 170-1. “Seeing Marcus do that two years ago, then coming here and breaking it means a lot. He’s who inspired me to work hard at throwing. To break his records make me feel good knowing all the hard work I put in really paid off.”
Grayslake Central senior Will Brewster won the 3,200-meter run and finished second in the 1,600. Brewster’s two-mile time of 9:17.53 bettered Jager’s 2006 record of 9:20.2.
Jager is currently competing in the steeplechase at the international level and is a strong candidate to make the United States Olympic team headed to London this summer.
“Evan Jaeger is one of the best runners in the nation right now, and he’s probably going to make the Olympics,” Brewster said. “To break that record here, even though he probably wasn’t trying very hard when he set that record, still means a lot. It’s still a special day for me, and it was a personal record so you have to be happy with it.”
The meet had a new format this season. All 14 FVC teams ran one track meet en masse — the preference of most league coaches — and an overall champion was determined. Crystal Lake Central won the overall title with 79 points, enough to edge Cary-Grove (76), Grayslake Central (68) and Huntley (68).
However, the meet was also rescored by divisions, an idea implemented by league principals. Under that format, McHenry (97) was crowned the FVC Valley Division winner ahead of Prairie Ridge (95), Huntley (92.5), Cary-Grove (86.5), Crystal Lake South (77.5), Jacobs (72) and Dundee-Crown (37.5).
In the FVC Fox Division, Crystal Lake Central (136) distanced itself from Grayslake Central (123), Woodstock (103) and Grayslake North (84) to win the title,
However, this night belonged to the record breakers. Jacobs set two new FVC marks. Senior William Henneseey won the 400 in 4:18.55, enough to beat the previous record held by former Dundee-Crown star Anthony Manfrin, now at Illinois.
The Jacobs 3,200-meter relay team of Nick Matysek, Patrick Nerja, Ryan Ross and Hennessey opened the meet with a bang, finishing in 7:54.91. That beat the previous record of 7:55.16 set in 2008 by the Huntley foursome of Justin Cassidy, Casey Popenfoose, Alex Beruscha and Todd Farbiak.
Crystal Lake South’s 400-meter relay team also set a new low time. Juniors Brandon Madoni and Zach Balousek and seniors David Callahan and Zane Boettcher posted a time of 42.82, enough to edge the record of 42.9 set by McHenry in 2005. The same foursome also won the 800-meter relay in a school record time of 1:30.37.
“We’ve been working hard all season, so it’s good to see it all finally come together,” Callahan said.
Boettcher not only anchored two winning relay teams, he crossed the finish line first in the 100-meter dash (11.23) and 200-meter dash (22.79). He won the 200 by holding off a strong bid by Cary-Grove junior Michael Gleeson (22.85).
“Gleeson was really close,” Boettcher said. “He was up my ... he was right there the whole time. He was creeping on me, really close. We came in with high expectations and we met them. And we got two school records and the conference record.”
The sixth and final FVC record of the evening was set by the Cary-Grove 1,600-meter relay team of Max Anderson, Alex Bussan, John Pearl and Rohn (3:20.83). They topped the time of 3:23.14 set by Crystal Lake South in 2009.
“We haven’t run below 3:22 since the Stevenson Relays,” Pearl said. “Until now, we haven’t been able to get back down there. This felt good.”
Other area winners included Jacobs 300-meter intermediate hurdler Dom Blake (39.24), Huntley long jumper C.J. Ayemoba (20-7), Cary-Grove 400 runner Tommy Rohn (49.0), Woodstock 110-meter high hurdler Tyler Parsons (15.40), Prairie Ridge high jumper C.J. Eikum (6-1.03), Crystal Lake Central triple jumper Sean Buczek (44-0) and McHenry pole vaulter Nate Richartz (14-9.03).
Dundee-Crown senior long jumper Ardian Asani, who finished third in the state last season, jumped in preliminaries only due to the case of plantar fasciitis that has plagued him all season. Nevertheless, he finished third with a jump of 21-2.25.
“It was still a good day for us overall,” D-C coach Tom Smith said. “We set season bests in all four relays and Trevor Downing finished fourth in the high jump. We saw some big drops at this meet.”