Neuqua Valley turns it up
The state meet for track and field won't be held until the end of May, some seven weeks from now. But that didn't stop the Neuqua Valley boys track team from making a very loud and profound statement at the second annual Schaumburg Saxon Invite on Saturday.
The Wildcats captured four relay wins, breaking meet records in all four races, and took titles in two other events in helping Neuqua roll to the team title with 142 points. Waubonsie Valley was a distant second with 84 followed by defending Class 3A champion York with 67.
"I am definitely thrilled by the effort the guys put forth today," said Neuqua coach Michael Kennedy. "I would say that today, the kids outperformed all of my expectations."
Superior depth was the one consistent thing that carried the Wildcats on a sun-splashed day at Gary Scholz Stadium. It started right away with the 3,200-relay team and didn't stop until the team of Aryan Avant, Cale Brown, Steve Carron and Parker Howard shattered the meet record with a dominant performance in winning the 1,600-meter relay (3:21.47).
"I think today provided us with an opportunity to see what a lot of other guys could do in many places," Kennedy said. "This allows us to see where we can use guys and how they may step up and contribute for us."
The 3,200-relay team of Josh Ferguson, Jordan Lagomarcino, Carlton Folster and Aaron Beattie started the day right, winning in 8:08.27. Beattie, who just signed with Washington on Friday, brought the Wildcats from third all the way into first for the win.
Then it was time for the Wildcats to display their dominant and deep sprinting corps. Carron, Avant, Jake Bender and Adegrenga Okubadejo blazed to a win in the 400 relay while Brown, Bender, Jamere Morrison and Thaddeus Johnson rolled to an easy victory in the 800 relay (1:29.62). The individual wins for Neuqua included a 1-2 finish from Avant and Carron in the 400 and a victory in the pole vault from Alec Gleason (13-0).
The runner-up Warriors from Waubonsie Valley had a couple of records go their way to start the outdoor season. Senior James Davenport continued his hot start to the season by capturing the high jump in a new personal record of 6-9. Fellow senior Rickie Walls captured the meet record be leaping 47-0 to win the triple jump and yet another Warrior senior Andrew Szott easily handled the field in the shot winning with a put of 56-9. Szott also captured the discus with a best mark of 145-8.
The host Saxons got the season started right with outstanding performances from seniors Pat Lesiewicz and Dionte Hackler. Lesiewicz ran an impressive 9:37.3 in a second-place finish in the 3,200 run. Lesiewicz was edged out at the finish by York senior Matt Schacht. Schacht, who normally stars as an 800 runner, ran a best time of 9:36.96.
"I haven't run a 2-mile in a while so I kind of forgot what it was like," Schacht said. "I was real happy with this time as this likely will be the last 2-mile I run."
Hackler was just as good for the Saxons as he captured a third-place finish in the 400 in a personal best 50.32 and helped anchored the Saxons relay team of Jake Fritzler, Ryan King and Wyatt Kondras to a very good early season time of 3:29.09.
York completed the distance sweep when junior Jack Driggs captured the 1,600 in a season-best 4:20.15.
At Conant: Winning championships in the North Suburban Prairie Division is one thing, but in order for Lakes to make its mark as a big time track and field power, the Eagles need to start winning weekend invites. The 28th annual Conant Relays provided that opportunity on Saturday, and Lakes took full advantage.
The Eagles captured six relay event wins and amassed 137 points to outdistance the host Cougars for the meet title. Grayslake Central was third (115) followed by Dundee-Crown (83.5), Elgin (73.5) and Mundelein (57).
The field events are a strong suit for the Eagles and junior John Pfeiffer helped lead the way to start the afternoon in the shot and discus. Pfeiffer tossed the shot 51-5.5 to help the Eagles relay team win the event with a team-best effort of 181-6. Pfeiffer along with teammate Bill Brinser led the discus relay to a win with a combined mark of 496-10.
The Eagles also earned relay wins in the frosh/soph distance medley, the frosh/soph sprint medley, the 440 low hurdles shuttle relay and the 1,600-relay for freshmen. The Eagles set a pair of meet records.
The host Cougars earned relay events wins in the 1,600 relay for sophomores, the 800 frosh/soph relay and the 440 high hurdle shuttle relay. Grayslake Central looked strong in the sprints as the Rams won the 400 relay in a very fast 43.9. The same fast group led by Jordan Bustos, Matt Mohrfeld and Ryan Seiffert also captured the 1,600-relay for Grayslake.
Mundelein earned relay wins in the 4-mile relay, the distance medley relay and the pole vault relay. Elgin looked strong in the sprints by taking the frosh/soph 400 relay and the varsity sprint medley relay while Dundee-Crown led by senior Pat Livengood took honors in the high jump relay.
At Prospect: The host Knights took full advantage of the beautiful weather to capture the title at the 18th annual Prospect Relays. The Knights amassed 158 points to 134 for second place Niles North.
"I am real pleased with the efforts from the kids today," said Prospect coach Mike Kamedula. "We had a lot of very good performances for this early in the year."
Prospect won seven events, highlighted by the Knights' record-setting 3,200-relay win (8:13.5).
Barrington looked strong in the jumps again and took honors in the long jump. Led by Alex Kuznicki the Broncos won with a combined mark of 59-7. Barrington placed third with 96 points.
Led by senior Mike Conneely, Maine West earned wins in the shot put and discus relays. Conneely had the best shot put throw of the day at 52-5.5.