Scouting the boys state track meet
By Jeff Newton
Daily Herald Correspondent
After a grueling spring that featured snow, wind, sleet, hail and rain — sometimes all at once — the best of the area will head to Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field in Charleston for the state track and field championships Friday and Saturday. The Class 2A session starts at 9 a.m. Friday and the 3A session begins at noon in the field and 12:55 p.m. on the track. Three-class finals start at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Here is a look at area hopefuls:
3,200 relay — This event usually brings home a medal or two for the Mid-Suburban League and this year figures to be no different. Barrington comes in with the fastest time in the area after Erik Peterson, Eric Schneider, Pat Mangan and Karl Eiring broke the school record with a 7:49.94. Prospect has brought home a medal in this event seven of the last eight years and won it in 2004. Schaumburg, Conant, Palatine, Hersey and Lake Zurich will all race in the 3A prelims on Friday.
400 relay — Illinois-bound Stevenson senior Brandon Stryganek will look to get a relay into the finals after qualifying in this event last year. Carl Miller, John Fajardo and James Vestuto will race with Stryganek. Fremd tied its school record in this event at sectionals and will look to get to the finals. Grant makes its first appearance at state in this event. Jahard Nelson and Grayslake Central look to rebound and make the 2A finals.
800 relay — A medal in this relay last year for Prospect was the first in school history for this event. Ohio State-bound senior Nick Batcha leads the team of Andre Barnes, Vito Anzalone and Ryan Ward in the hope of getting one step higher on the medal stand. Fremd broke a school record and looks to make the finals. Stryganek and Stevenson also will race and Grayslake Central and Lakes will compete in Class 2A. Central is seeded third.
1,600 relay — It wasn’t a surprise when Lake Zurich qualified in this event last week with the seventh-fastest time of the qualifiers. What is scary is team of Alex Brend, Jacob Brinlee, Mike Rantis and Chris Rantis could go faster. Carmel looks to take down its school record by getting under 3:22. Palatine, Barrington and Stevenson are also there. Prospect could be the dark horse as the Knights look to drop below 3:20. Grayslake Central and Lakes will race for a medal in 2A.
3,200 — Victor Delatorre and Ryan Moncrieff of Lake Zurich showed off their sparkling distance talents Friday that led to a second-place finish in the state cross country meet last fall. Kevin Wood of Stevenson is a good contender for the school’s first distance medal in six years. Greg Netols of Prospect, Ruben Frey and Tony Gregorio of Palatine, Evan Prizy of Schaumburg and Ryan O’Donnell of Hersey will also compete. Grayslake Central junior Luke Zygmunt has emerged as a real threat in 2A to earn the top spot. Teammate Will Brewster won a medal as a freshman and is back after an injury cost him all of 2010. Matt Kendzior is the first Grayslake North competitor at state in three years.
1,600 — The mile doesn’t have the usual large numbers from the MSL, but the quality is still there. Peterson has a chance to race right with the state’s best as does Pat Juras of Lake Zurich. Nate Knautz of Hersey will also compete. Zygmunt is here in 2A and has been among the fastest in this class. Ryan Prais of Lakes makes his second straight appearance at state.
800 — Brend is the top seed from the sectionals and one of a host of favorites in what could be the best race of the Saturday finals session. Brend aims to become the first runner on the boys side to win an 800 title – something that has been done on the girls side in this event in 2000. Matt Message of Warren will race in 3A for the first time. Prais and teammate Blake Fransen look to earn the Eagles’ first medals on the track.
400 — No runner at Round Lake has ever won a medal on the track and the only came in the high jump where Jeremiah Edwards took seventh in 2003. Antonio Farley has a chance to change all that for the Panthers on Friday. He is seeded 11th overall. Junior Ryan Gundersen is Rolling Meadows’ lone qualifier in his first year of track. Carmel’s AJ Gawin races at state for the first time as does Adnan Meskic of Vernon Hills in 2A.
200 — This is one of the events that Stryganek and Batcha have been thinking about since last year. Stryganek finished fifth a year ago and Batcha didn’t qualify. Look for both in the middle of the track in a finals showdown Saturday. Nelson has been among the fastest in the state for Grayslake Central as he tries for a finals berth. Gabe Cotton races at state for the first time for Vernon Hills.
100 — Buffalo Grove senior Ryan Darcy has been only healthy enough to race a few times outdoors this spring. Yet here he is in the state prelims again. Darcy battled with Stryganek last week. Now he gets Stryganek and Batcha, too. Leo Minne of Grant will race here for the first time. Nelson is a strong contender for a Saturday spot in 2A. Senior Brandon Dorsey of Wauconda is back at state after medaling in the 1,600 relay as a sophomore.
300 intermediate hurdles — If the rest of the state hasn’t heard of Grant junior Sean Wells, they are about to find out on Friday. Wells is seeded eighth in the event and tries to bring back a medal on the track to the school for the first time since Eric Horvath finished eighth in the event in 2005. Ben Bowers of Conant is a returning medalist and Skay Nusenu of Elk Grove is the Grenadiers only qualifier. Dorsey is the fourth overall seed in 2A.
110 high hurdles — New competition in Class 3A doesn’t bother St. Viator senior Justin Johnson. After finishing sixth in 2A a year ago, Johnson has his sights set on the top prize in the bigger class. Bowers is back as is Wells. Ward runs in his first individual event as does Davey Mellado of Fremd and Darius Pearson of Grayslake Central in 2A.
High jump — Four times in four tries for Libertyville senior Jeremy Birck. Birck cleared 6-7 comfortably at the sectional last week and is focused on his third potential medal. Bowers also was over 6-7 last week and joins newcomers Kevin Newman of Buffalo Grove, Isaac Jean-Paul of Warren and Austin Francis of Hersey downstate. Parker Blain is downstate for the first time in 2A for Lakes.
Long jump — Prospect is waiting for Batcha to pop a big long jump and it could come Friday. His best so far this year came last week at 22-3 and he looks to earn a medal in this event for the second year in a row. Jean-Paul and teammate Kyle Ward of Warren finished 1-2 at the sectional last week. Mike Beckman of Lakes jumps in 2A.
Triple jump — When junior AJ Scarbrough of Barrington gets a good jump in early, the results usually are over 45 feet. Scarbrough is seeded fourth. Nick Lange of Round Lake is a sectional and conference champion and looks to add a medal to that impressive list. Bryant Jennings of Grayslake Central just missed a medal last year, finishing 11th.
Pole vault — Palatine and Fremd will renew its rivalry on the track in a special dual meet next season. Before they do, Palatine senior Nick LaRocca and Fremd senior Nick Bednarek may settle things in Charleston. LaRocca has gone over 14 feet on more than one occasion. Bednarek did so last week for the first time.
Shot put — One of the oldest records on the state meet books could fall this weekend in the shot put and Ohio State-bound Fremd senior Brian Bobek hopes he is the one to take it down. Bobek has consistently been over 60 feet and is seeded fourth in the prelims. Anthony Babicz of Prospect, Matt Gilbert of Libertyville, Mark Tabaka of Lake Zurich, Kyle Lombardino of Grant and Mark Balmes of Hersey will all compete at state with Babicz, Gilbert and Tabaka throwing for the first time. Lakes senior John Pfeiffer is seeded second in the shot and disc in 2A after finishing fourth in both last year. Joel Valdivia of Grayslake Central is seeded sixth.
Discus — Kyle Lombardino has his sights set on big numbers this weekend for Grant as does his brother Brandon. Lombardino has a best throw over 173 feet and should be in contention on Saturday. Babicz and Jason Olson of Hersey also will compete in a fantastic field. Pfeiffer will look to catch Springfield Lanphier senior Kevin Farley and earn a state title for the Eagles. Pfeiffer’s teammate Darius Tuminello will throw downstate for the first time as will Grayslake North senior Dave Anderson.