Reid, Thode help Conant join trophy hunt
CHARLESTON - Conant senior Kyle Reid knew he a big race left in him in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. All season, the Iowa-bound Reid has been among the state's best in the race, and on Friday, he proved in the prelims of the state track and field championships at Eastern Illinois University and O'Brien Field that he was at the head of the pack.
Reid won his heat in a personal best time of 38.1 to earn the top seed for Saturday's finals.
"That was one of the cleanest races I have run," Reid said. "I didn't stutter to the hurdles, I didn't clip a hurdle - it was just a solid race all around."
The 300 hurdles was just a small part of a real good day for Reid and Conant. Reid also cleared the required 14-0 in the pole vault to earn a spot in the finals for the second year in a row.
Sandwiched around the 300 hurdles performance by Reid were two very workmanlike efforts by Conant senior Jeff Thode.
In the 800 run, Thode casually ran the best time in the prelims, winning his heat in 1:54.56. Less than an hour later, Thode cruised in the 1,600, pulling away from the field late to win in an outdoor-best 4:11.80.
"I wanted to get my same lane back to race tomorrow so I am glad I got to do that," said the Iowa-bound Thode.
Now Conant is in position to potentially capture a team trophy in Saturday's finals. The Cougars can score in four events and conceivably could walk out with 35-40 points, which would be more than enough for a trophy.
The only trophy Prospect senior Chris Hayek is looking for is the one awarded to the champion of the 3,200-meter relay. While Hayek wouldn't mind settling for a gold medal in the 1,600 either, the team of Hayek, Pat Ford, Ryan Lynch and Albert Ciolek ran 7:48.47, its fastest time of the season, in the prelims of the 3,200 relay. The Knights will now shoot for their sixth medal in the last seven years in the event.
Hayek also earned a spot in the finals of the 1,600 by running a season-best mark of 4:16.29. Hayek finished just ahead of Palatine senior Alec Bollman in the 1,600 prelims. Bollman ran a great tactical race to place second in his heat with a personal-best of 4:16.83.
"Coach (Chris Quick) has worked so hard to get me ready for this race," Bollman said. "I just wanted to stick with the leaders, then at 1,200 meters go out and see what I can do after that."
Hayek's teammate Matt Babicz completed a successful first day at the state meet. Babicz qualified in the shot put and discus for the finals with best marks of 56-5 in the shot, and 168-10 in the discus.
Joining Babicz in the finals of the discus are Jeff Bobek and Christian Lombard of Fremd. Bobek had a best effort of 162-1 to finish eighth and Lombard was just behind with a mark of 159-6 in ninth.
Buffalo Grove also had a successful day on Friday. Seniors Alan Baxter, Josh Hampton and Matt Newman all earned spots in the state finals, with Baxter and Hampton doing so for the first time.
Hampton qualified in 11th place for the finals of the long jump with a best mark of 21-11.75. Baxter battled through a deep shot put flight to finish in seventh in the prelims with a best mark of 55-11.75.
Newman struggled in the high jump but still cleared the required 6-5 to make the finals.
Rolling Meadows senior Mick Viken needed just two jumps to move into Saturday's finals for the fourth straight year. Viken cleared 14-9 and will remain the top seed in the finals.
Meadows junior Erick Louis-Charles took full advantage of his first trip to state in the shot put. His first and last throws in the prelims were his best as Louis-Charles now sits in fourth place into the finals. His last throw was a new personal best of 56-9.
Barrington senior Ryan Mangone survived the tough double if the 800 and 400-meter runs by qualifying in both for the finals. Mangone finished second in each of his heats to earn the finals spots. His 800 time of 1:55.40 is fourth best out of the prelims while his 49.48 mark in the 400 sets Mangone up in sixth.
Other prelim competitors from the area included Kevin Crowley, Sam Ojuri, Terrance Terry, Jason Taylor, Kurt Stanke, Eric Schneider and Chris Cogswell of Barrington, Tyler Fuchs, Pablo Ramirez, Kevin Reddington and Sean Chaudhari of Conant, Mike Bobowski, Colin Walker, Angelos Karkalis, Kevin Clark and AJ Adams of Rolling Meadows, Jarrett Austin, Westin Ross, Mike Barton and James Kurtz of Wheeling, Sam Zielke, Carmen Maiorano, Garrett Vick and Nate Knautz of Hersey, Pawel Mirek, Trevor Kelley and Martin and Juan Chavez of Maine West, Cory Smith of Hoffman Estates, Dionte Hackler of Schaumburg, Ed Anderson, Dan La Rocca and Chris Norman of Palatine, Alex Roark and Mike Varela of Fremd, Marcin Kwieck of Prospect and Steve Miller, James Blackmon, Sam Alfano, John Angotti and Kevin Mulligan of Buffalo Grove.