Pfeiffer’s in his element at Bartlett
After fourth-place finishes in the shot put and discus at the state track and field meet last spring, you’d think only a few minor tweaks were needed by Lakes senior John Pfeiffer to move to the top of the podium this spring.
Pfeiffer thought differently.
Instead of staying with the standard kick throwing style in the shot put, Pfeiffer is now transitioning to the spin. This can sometimes be a lengthy transition, but Pfeiffer appears to have it mastered already.
Not even a miserably cold, rainy and even snowy day could slow down the Brown University-bound Pfeiffer. Though he finished second and third in the two events at the Flyin’ Hawks Invite at Streamwood’s Millennium Field Saturday, his two throws were best efforts for this season and has Pfeiffer primed for a repeat trip to state.
In the discus event, Pfeiffer tossed the wet and muddy disc 153-9, finishing behind Anthony Babicz (157-6) of Prospect and Igor Liokumovich of Deerfield (160-7).
The shot put, where Pfeiffer has made the switch from gliding to spinning, saw another season best throw of 53-4, just behind Liokumovich.
“This is all about now clearing that mental hurdle of getting used to spinning,” Pfieffer said. “I’m still getting used to (spinning), but I feel like I am getting closer to getting into a good rhythm.”
Prospect was in the best rhythm of all the teams Saturday, amassing 98 points in winning its first team title at this event. Deerfield, the host Bartlett Hawks, Lakes and Loyola made up the top five finishing teams.
The Knights captured this meet title in the same fashion they have won many other meets in the past — with their excellent sprinting depth. But with that came a small scare as well.
In the finals of the 200-meter dash, senior Nick Batcha was cruising to the win in 22.69. As he crossed the finish line, Batcha grabbed his right calf and crumbled to the ground. While it only turned out to be a cramp, it was enough to put a small scare into Batcha.
“I started feeling (my leg) as I came out of the turn and just kept pushing it,” Batcha said. “I think in the future when that happens, I would be better off stopping.”
The 200 was just one of three wins for Batcha. Earlier, he held off teammate Vito Anzalone and South Elgin senior Brad Birchfield to win the 100 in 11.13. Batcha also captured the long jump with a best effort of 21-3.5. Bartlett senior Tynan Johnson battled the elements and got his last jump in to finish second (21-2.5).
Prospect’s other wins came in the 1,600-meter run, where Kellen Strobel edged Tom Beddome of Loyola at the line in 4:31.58 and in the 400 relay. Anzalone, Andre Barnes, Ryan Ward and Mike Eggert won in 44.99.
South Elgin sophomore Jeff Broger captured the 400 run just as the winds and rains picked back up at Millennium Field. His time of 50.48 was a season best, but Broger was not done there.
“I really wanted to go faster, but I am happy I was able to win the race,” Broger said. “It’s cold and the wind was rough, so I am happy with the race.”
He teamed up with Birchfield, Zach Gross and Greg Griffin to win the 800-meter relay in 1:33.51.
Mundelein started the afternoon with an impressive effort in winning the 3,200-meter relay. Robbie Munnings, Adam Fell, Martin Mena and Gian Carlo Vassalo finished in 8:19.71.
Vassalo also ran an impressive 800 but couldn’t catch Hersey senior Nate Knautz. He took the lead early in the race and never looked back winning in a season-best 1:59.37.
Bartlett earned a pair of wins, including one that required dodging the snow flakes. The Hawks won the final race of the day, the 1,600-meter relay in 3:35.39. Nasir Almasri, Charles Mosley, Jordan Barile and Zach Karys survived the mini-blizzard for the win.
The other win came from Femi Oyewole in the high jump. A state finals qualifier a year ago, Oyewole cleared 6-4 to win the event.
Sheppard Little of Schaumburg captured the 110 high hurdles in 15.35 for the Saxons’ lone individual champion.