Plenty of juice for Carmel, Benet in ESCC meet
It was 2009 all over again for Carmel Catholic senior K.J. Matuszak at Thursday’s East Suburban Catholic Conference boys track and field meet around the home oval.
As the Corsair began his kick in the 3,200-meter run, a teammate in the infield yelled, “Squeeze the lemons!”
Matuszak first heard that tarty cry from another teammate when he was a freshman.
“It was before a sectional (in ’09), part of a motivational speech given by a teammate,” recalled Matuszak. “It basically means, ‘Do all you can to get out of what you have at this point of the season.’”
Marist senior Cody Haberkorn squeezed a little harder than Matuszak did, clocking a first-place 9:32.83 to Matuszak’s runner-up time of 9:34.8.
Shortly after the race a spent Haberkorn grabbed his knees beyond the finish line. Matuszak, also exhausted, slumped nearby and rested his right arm on Haberkorn’s back. Both couldn’t wait to breathe normally again.
“We’re opposites,” said Matuszak, who took the lead at the start of the final lap. “He’s been a frontrunner forever, and I like to sit back in races, kick hard. But today I started my kick a little too early.
“Cody,” he added, “ran a great race.”
Marian Catholic (138 points) hustled to the team title behind its meet-record 43.12 in the 400 relay and six other event championships. Benet Academy (117) finished runner-up and Carmel took third (97) on a gorgeous, mild day in Mundelein. Notre Dame placed fourth (59), followed by Marist (48), St. Patrick (37), Nazareth Academy (30), Joliet Catholic (17) and St. Viator (15).
“We got lucky with the weather,” said Corsairs coach Jim Halford.
“Across the board,” he added, “we had a really good meet with some really good performances. Based on the seeds, Marian was the favorite. But I thought we had a shot at winning.”
Benet had a decent shot as well, trailing 116-109 with two events left. Redwings coach Patrick Marshall got first-place efforts from Stephen Hubona (discus, 148-feet-5), Austin Dzik (300 hurdles, 40.16) and his 3200 relay (8:09.23) of Ryan Krouse, Joe Langhenry, Phil Parisi and Bobby Svoboda, who later sped to second in the 800 (2:03.25) behind Marist’s Kyle Hauser (2:01.99).
The 3200 relay wasn’t the fastest quartet Marshall could have deployed Thursday.
All kinds of potential lineups swirl in track coaches’ heads for days, if not weeks, before big meets.
“We wanted to save a (swift 3200 leg) for another race,” Marshall said. “It’s all about managing athletes and maximizing points in 18 events.”
Carmel earned serious points in two relays. The 800 unit of freshman David Biondo and seniors Devon Becker, Jack Schoen and Anthony Paul combined legs for a meet-best 1:33.01, before Schoen joined Christian Horcher, Jordan Yancey and J.P. Blaida to cap the meet with a first-place 3:28.88 in the 1600 relay.
Blaida is a good story. His first chapter as a trackster began in a hallway — as a senior this past winter.
“That’s where we talked about track and his plans for the spring,” said Halford. “He then said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ For a first-year guy he’s done really well for us.”
Pole vaulter Brian Kadowaki (13-3) earned Carmel’s other event championship.
St. Viator’s squad was beset with injuries and illnesses and Lions suffering from allergies. But its 3,200 relay of Elliott Hilgert, Will Beiersdorf, Tyler Sammons and Jason Ziolkowski took runner-up honors with an 8:11.39.
Hilgert is one of only three seniors on the team; Sammons was ill and nursing a sore calf; Ziolkowski is a sophomore; and Beiersdorf is the latest to achieve Eagle Scout status as a trackster under ninth-year coach Rodero Warren, who figured at least four former Lions also reached the highest Boys Scouts honor.
“I went to Will’s (Eagle Scout) installation in March,” said Warren. “That was a moving experience.”
Beiersdorf’s Eagle Scout project involved the expansion of concrete around the base of a flagpole at St. Joseph Nursing Home in Palatine.
“There wasn’t enough room for people in wheelchairs during ceremonies on Flag Day, the Fourth of July and Veterans Day,” said Beiersdorf. “So we built an area to accommodate them.”
Other winners at the ESCC meet were Marian’s Randall Wells (100 dash, 11.1); Marian’s Dominic Pascale (200 dash, 22.77); Joliet Catholic’s Josh Falk (400, 50.25); Marist’s Hauser (1600, 4:26.54); Marian’s David Sowell (110 hurdles, 15.77); Marian’s Matthew Simmons (long jump, 21-8¼; and high jump, triple jump, 42-6¼ ); Nazareth’s Brett Morris (shot put, 45-6); and Marian’s Matthew Martinson (high jump, 5-10).