Depth takes Lakes to Grant title

The difference between a good track program and a dominant track program is simply quality depth.

Lakes has it up and down the lineup, and that depth was on display Thursday at the Grant Bulldog Invitational in Fox Lake.

The Eagles, who will face the host Bulldogs for the North Suburban Prairie division title at Wauconda on Monday afternoon, totaled up 195 points edging second-place Grant (156).

“We had a lot of kids step in and step up in different roles today,” said Lakes coach Kurt Rowells. “We put guys in different events and they stepped up and did the job today. Just one more step towards our ultimate goal of getting downstate as a team.”

Lakes got things rolling early by shattering the school record in the 400-meter relay. Seniors Caleb Arnwine, Shaun Beutlich, and Ahman Reffat joined sophomore Cory Hertz for a blistering 43.6 winning effort.

The relay win was one of three for the Eagles. Lakes also took top honors in the 800 relay (1:31.4), and the 1,600 relay (3:33.7).

Individually, one of the standout performances came from senior Mark Gerrits. He took the top spot in the 400 dash in a personal best of 51.8. Fellow senior Ty Sumers hit 50 feet for the first time this outdoor season with a second-place finish in the shot put as well for the Eagles.

Senior Rodolphe Boyer showed his dominance in the hurdles as he swept the 300’s and 110 high hurdles. The 110 race with Grant junior Jonathan Wells was tight until the very last hurdle; Wells clipped the final hurdle and Boyer leaned ahead to take the race in a season best 14.9. Wells crossed in 15.0.

Boyer cruised in the 300 hurdles, winning easily in 41.5.

Other individual winners for the Eagles included Beutlich taking the 200 (22.8) and Hertz the 100 (11.0). Senior Ryan Prais cruised in the 800 winning in 2:04 and the 1600 (4:36.1), junior Jimmy Burchard in the 3,200 (10:07.4), and Arnwine in the triple jump (42-4).

The host Bulldogs scored the bulk of their points in the field events. Arkansas State-bound senior Brandon Lombardino took top honors in the shot put (58-2.5) and the discus (182-3). Other individual winners included Jake Bychowski in the long jump (19-5.75) and Wells in an area best 6-8 to win the high jump. The Bulldogs team of Dalyn Romig, Trent Peters-Clarke, Peter Audrain and Kyle Hatton took the top spot in the 3,200 relay (8:14.0).

Mundelein senior Kenny Pechtl won the pole vault, clearing 10-6.