Comfortably, Lakes thrives at Flyin' Hawk
There is a reason Lakes' boys track team steps out of its comfort zone to compete in meets like the Flyin' Hawk Invite hosted by Bartlett at Millennium Field in Streamwood on Saturday.
The better the competition, the greater the reward - at least, that's what the Eagles hope for by season's end, at the Class 3A state meet.
"We make the hour-plus drive to meets like this and to Prospect later in the season to prepare ourselves for the great competition we will see at state," Lakes coach Kurt Rowells said. "The kids rise to the occasion and love the competition."
For the second time in three years, Lakes loved the Millennium confines. The Eagles amassed 108 points to win the team title. Defending meet champion Schaumburg ran fourth (58 points) and Hersey ran fifth (57 points).
"To have guys that are legit and to put them in pressure situations and watch them perform is why we come here," Rowells said. "We had a bunch of those guys step up today."
One of the Eagles' top performers is senior Corey Hertz. While he came into the meet with certain expectations, those changed, when the competition changed.
In the 100-meter dash, the Northern Iowa-bound Hertz felt confident he could win the race. Instead, Illinois State-bound Schaumburg senior Shandall Thomas edged Hertz to win in 10.80, just ahead of Hertz's 10.88.
"I felt confident coming in," Hertz said later. "I didn't know (Shandall) would run, and when he did I knew I had to raise my game."
Hertz ended up raising it to a level no one at this meet had ever seen. In his 200, Hertz exploded out of the turn and blew away the field, winning in a blistering 21.49. His time is the second-fastest outdoors in the state so far this spring, and it broke the school record and meet records.
"I came in wanting to PR in the 200 because it's something I haven't done since my sophomore year," Hertz said. "I was disappointed I didn't win the 100 but then I saw my time (school record) and really focused in on the 200."
Hertz also took the 400-meter dash in 49.46, another outdoors season best.
While Hertz helped run the Eagles to the team title, senior Ryan Mullen did his best to do the same in the throws. Mullen won the shot put and discus and nearly broke the school record in the discus.
On his final preliminary throw, Mullen launched the disc 170 feet, 1 inch. He finished his day with an outdoor season best 53-9 to win that event as well. Senior Steve McVicker finished second with a personal best 51-6.
"You work all week in practice to perform in a big meet like this," said Mullen who will play football at Miami of Ohio in the fall. "The shot put is a very progressive thing for me. I didn't PR until the end of the season so the goal is to get better each time out."
Lakes earned two other individual event wins in the field. Junior Cooper Jazo took the top honors in the pole vault (14-6) and sophomore Cameron Ruiz won long jump (22-4.5).
On the track, the Eagles finished the day by winning the 1,600 relay. The winning foursome of Jack Balliu, Robert Kuhlmann, Brandon Thiel and Nick Garcia ran 3:28.39.
For all the ups and downs that Schaumburg has struggled through so far this season, the Saxons showed signs Saturday of getting their sprint relays in order. The team of Jarman McMillon, Zach Merkendorfer, Bernard Payne and Thomas ran a season-best 1:30.42 to win the 800 relay.
Hersey flexed its collective muscle in the distance events. The Huskies finished 1-2 in the 3,200 and 800-meter runs. David Rodriguez ran through a gusty win to win in 9:39.67 and was followed by teammate Josh Plishke (9:44.16).
In the 800, Kyle Svoboda ran a season-best 2:00.11 to win the event. He finished just a few steps ahead of Kevin Ziegenhorn (2:00.12).
"We had a lot of good things happen today," said Hersey coach Ken Blazek. "We had a guy PR in the shot and another in the jumps, and then to see the guys go 1-2 in the 3,200 and 800 like that made for a really good day."
Streamwood junior Jelyn Hill took the top spot in the high jump (6-2) and South Elgin was best in the 400 meter relay. Dominique Woods, Shawn Griffin, William King, and Jaurice Thomas ran 43.53 for the win.