Barrington’s Scarbrough leaps to title
CHARLESTON — Just one jump remained for Barrington senior AJ Scarbrough.
His spot at the top of the Class 3A triple jump had moved from first to third overall, so his final jump was going to make the difference between a bronze medal and a bright, shiny gold one.
The usually boisterous Scarbrough was reserved and quiet as he began his pre-jump routine. He began his run-up and nailed the launching board with near perfection.
The second phase of the jump was as good as the first, and his final phase into the pit was his best ever.
It was also the best one of the weekend at O’Brien Field on the Eastern Illinois campus.
“I knew it was big,” Scarbrough said afterward. “I just felt the push with every step down the runway. I felt so strong with each phase. I just knew it was big.”
Indeed. His final jump of 49 feet, 4¾ inches was one of the best ever from a Mid-Suburban League athlete, and was the best in the state this year. The jump is also one of the 20 best in the nation this spring.
It gave the Broncos their first-ever state title and set off a wildly emotional celebration for Scarbrough and the Barrington coaching staff.
“I felt like I had a big one in me,” Scarbough said. “I saw the kid from Lake Park put up the 48-footer and I knew I had to reach down deep — and I did.”
Barrington finished highest among all MSL schools placing 20th in the team race. Lake Park captured its third consecutive state title in Class 3A, Cahokia earned the title in Class 2A and Chicago Leo took home top honors in Class 1A.
The Broncos started the afternoon with a seventh-place finish from senior Erik Peterson in the 3,200. The bizarre portion of the race for Peterson came with just over two laps left. As he came near the start/finish line, Peterson was clipped and his left shoe came off. He raced the final two laps with one shoe on and still finished in 9:19.0.
Palatine senior Peter Tomkiewicz moved up from the first heat to place eighth in the event (9:19.84). Hersey sophomore Andrew Philipose finished just under a second out of medal contention, placing tenth in 9:26.40.
Prospect continued its strong tradition of earning a medal in the 3,200 relay as the Knights nearly pulled out the top spot in the race. The foursome of Dan Troutman, Josh Campos, Mike Thill and Ted Ford ran third in the event finishing in a season-best 7:49.11.
Palatine earned its second straight medal in the same event, taking ninth with the team of Andrew Clingerman, Tom Johnson, Christian Zambrano and Kendrick Cornelius. That foursome ran 7:53.46.
Hersey senior Mark Balmes wrapped up his brilliant career with a pair of medals. Balmes took his first throw in the discus and moved up sixth spots to earn sixth place with a 165-10. Earlier in the day, Balmes finished up the shot put portion of his Hersey career with a third-place finish. His best throw was 58-0.5.
“I did what I wanted to do,” Balmes said. “I came down and medaled in both. In the discus I was worried that I might not place, but I came back today and threw my second-best throw of the year.”
Conant senior Ben Bowers closed out his career with a record-setting performance in the high jump. After a disappointing 110 high hurdles race, Bowers gathered up the energy he had left to finish third in the high jump by clearing a school record 6 feet, 10 inches.
“I took what energy I had left and really focused it on the high jump,” said Bowers who will head off to Penn in the fall. “After my warm-up jumps and even yesterday I felt real strong to the bar and I knew I had big jumps in me today.”
Fremd senior and Illinois State-bound Nick Bednarek finished ninth in the pole vault clearing 14-9. Kody Cagwin of Rolling Meadows cleared 15 feet and finished eighth.
Quentin Schaffer of Prospect, Evan Prizy of Schaumburg, Marcus Garcia of Palatine, Taras Didenko and Jereme Atchison of Buffalo Grove and Ryan Burgoon of Barrington all raced in the finals of the 3,200-meter run Saturday.