Cary-Grove wins first sectional title
ROCKTON — Cary-Grove’s boys track team went the extra mile.
The Trojans rode their stellar 1,600-meter relay team — not to mention Josh Freeman’s throwing — to what is believed to be the first sectional track championship in school history.
The Trojans racked up 61 points, 3 more than Grant and Belvidere North, which tied for second at the Class 3A Hononegah sectional in Rockton Thursday night.
Although missing the meet record by .3 seconds, the 1,600 relay team of Max Anderson, Alex Bussan, John Pearl and Tommy Rohn easily beat second-place Prairie Ridge and went 3 seconds under the state qualifying standard with a time of 3:20.41.
“I’m hungry for the record,” said Rohn. “I take a look at the clock and it’s a little bit after 2:20 and I was thinking, ‘I’m going to have to kick it in if I’m going to get this.’ I got the baton and I just ran as fast as I could.”
Rohn and teammate Michael Gleeson finished 1-2 in the individual 400 meters.
“Me and him have been in a duel all season,” Rohn said. “We’ve really pushed each other hard in practice. In the meets especially, I’m always trying to beat him, because he’s a junior. I want to make sure that I got him a little bit. But he’s a heck of an athlete.”
Freeman, as expected, won the shot put with a throw of 60 feet, 11¾ inches and took second in the discus.
Grant led the team standings going into the last event and held on for second, thanks to Sean Wells, who won both hurdle races, Jonathan Wells, who won the high jump, and Brandon Lombardino, whose 180-11 discus heave was 10 feet better than anyone else.
In the 300, Sean Wells narrowly edged Jacobs’ Dom Blake, who leaned forward at the end so far that he tumbled to the track, but came up .04 seconds short.
“On the second-to-last hurdle on the curve I jumped too high and it threw my timing off,” Blake said. “I tried to come back on the straightaway. I thought I had him right there.”
Blake still qualified for state, where he will be joined by teammate William Hennessy and the Golden Eagles’ 3,200-meter relay team.
Hennessy finished third in the 1,600 meters but ran under the state qualifying time. The relay quartet of Hennessy, Nick Matysek, Ryan Ross and Pat Nerja continued their strong season, edging Belvidere North with a time of 7:51.76.
Huntley will also be represented in Charleston. Pole vaulter Ryan Sheehan cleared the state qualifying height of 13- 9 and the mile relay squad, despite finishing third behind Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge, made state time.
Zane Boettcher will represent Crystal Lake South in Charleston after finishing second in the 200 meters at 22.71. He also anchored the Gators’ winning 400-meter relay team, running after Brandon Madoni, Zach Balousek and David Callahan.
Besides the mile relay squad, Prairie Ridge will send high jumper C. J. Eikum to state. He finished second behind Grant’s Jonathan Wells.