Bright finishes for Brey; Grayslake C. takes team title
Somehow after running 3 miles, and doing so fast enough to qualify for the boys track and field state meet, St. Viator senior Nick Brey still had enough energy to jump in the air and chest-bump his teammates.
"For some reason, after any race I have the energy somewhere to do that," the Marquette-bound Brey said. "It started at conference last week with one of our sophomores, but I just wanted to keep it up."
Brey came up with a pair of second-place finishes at the Class 2A Grayslake Central sectional Friday night, but both were under the state cut and qualified Brey for a pair of events at state for the first time.
His 4:28.96 in the 1,600 broke the school record set by Tim Phillips in 1979. Brey's 9:33.07 clocking was not quite a school mark, but was plenty good for a state-qualifying berth.
"After the 2-mile I was kind of done," Brey said. "Usually right after the 2-mile, my legs feel heavy. Today I recovered and felt real good before the mile."
Brey and the Lions finished a good night with a state-qualifying effort in the 1,600 relay as Brian Peters, Ryan Henry, Zach Gyuricza and Jacob Bonanotte ran 3:31.14 to win the event.
The host Rams were the best of the best in the team race, winning their third sectional title in four years by scoring 115 points to outlast second-place Vernon Hills (88) and third-place Johnsburg (62).
Grayslake Central qualified 3 relays and 6 individuals to state. The 800 relay is the defending state champion in Class 2A and will return to state as Malcolm Reed, Dmitri Dawson, Cam Schwartz and Kris Jones finished in 1:32.43.
The 3,200 and 400 relay teams also qualified with the same foursome as the 800 relay for the Rams. In the field events, senior Demarcus Quick, in his first season competing in track, qualified by winning the long jump (20-3.75) and the triple jump (44-1.5).
"In my last meet I took first in both, and to do it again today was just amazing," Quick said.
Junior Spencer Hirt also earned a pair of qualifying spots for the Rams. Hirt won the discus (149-11.5) and took second to Antioch's Tim Christian in the shot put (47-9.5). Christin earned his first state berth by winning the event with a throw of 48-6.
Other individual qualifiers for the Rams included freshman Jack Aho in the 3,200, sophomore Connor Gosell in the high jump, and senior Jaccob Wiggins in the 110 high hurdles.
Vernon Hills junior Richard Clark is also new to the track scene this season, but after his performance Friday night, he is likely no longer a secret.
Clark anchored the Cougars 400 relay team that included Juan Martinez, Ilya Federovich, and James Hommer to a state-qualifying run, placing second in 44.18. Clark then set his sights on his two individual sprint events.
In the 100 dash, he came back from fifth place at the 50-meter mark to finish second in 11.01 and earn his first individual state spot. Then, to cap off a nearly perfect night for Clark, he showed yet another burst of speed to win the 200 in 22.61.
"To qualify in the 400 relay was just surreal, and for me to do it in my first year of track was just amazing," Clark said. "I always feel like I finish better than I start, so in the 100 I knew I had to kick it in at the end."
Joining Clark downstate will be a host of Cougars - especially in the distance events. Standout seniors Kyle Whitney and Ben Mohrdieck did their thing in helping a host of Cougars qualify. Mohrdieck anchored the Cougars' 3,200-relay team of Tyler Smith, Shane Williamson, and Eric Doerhoefer to a state-qualifying and school record time of 8:06.15.
Mohrdieck later captured the 1,600 in 4:25.68. Whitney used a stunning burst of speed at the end of the 3,200 to win in 9:32.12. His teammate Nick Webber also qualified, in 9:43.59.
Hampshire senior Will Hempel knew he had just one more race to earn a spot downstate and he didn't want it to be his last. In the 300 intermediate hurdles, Hempel put on one last burst of speed over the final two hurdles to earn a state qualifying spot in 40.53.
"I knew I had to push it there in the end because the other runners I could feel them closing on me," Hempel said. "I am always concentrating on one hurdle at a time."
Carmel earned multiple qualifiers starting with David Biondo winning the pole vault with a best effort of 14-0. The Corsairs 3,200 relay team of Dillon Novak, Anthony Gattuso, Patrick Pastika, and Collin Psenka ran 8:13.54 to earn their state spot.
Other qualifiers included Noah Agnew of Vernon Hills in the high jump, Tyler Theel of Wauconda in the 400 and the Antioch 1,600 relay team of AJ Marsiglio, Andre Rivera, Gabe Lopes, and Bogdan Anghel.