Inspired Claes, Barrington deliver at Lake Zurich
Barrington senior Griffin Claes was all too happy to be running at the Seventh Annual Lake Zurich boys track invite Friday night.
While most were doing all they could to stay warm and avoid the rain drops, Claes was just happy to be there, savoring the opportunity.
Less than a week ago, Claes' life changed, seemingly forever. The home he and his family were renting in Barrington was completely destroyed by fire. It displaced Claes and his family, robbing them of virtually all their possessions.
Not quite all of them, though.
Thursday afternoon, Claes was allowed back into what was left of his home to gather anything he could salvage. He found one thing that likely will stick out - his red and black Barrington track singlet, and a few leftover medals.
"When I found my uniform it was full of ashes and had a few burn marks on it," Claes said. "It smelled like smoke and everything and it just gave me so much inspiration. I told my coach I was going to wear it."
Claes proudly wore the jersey as he ran Friday night for the first time since the tragedy. As the third leg on the Broncos' 400-meter relay, Claes, who is still suffering from smoke inhalation, busted out of the turn, handing the baton to senior Scotty Miller to close the relay win in a meet-record 42.72.
"It's really amazing how (Griffin) has put everything into perspective," said Barrington coach Todd Kuklinski. "Rather than just sit in some hotel and have all of what happened on his mind, he wanted to be here racing with his teammates."
Terrance McGovern and Brendan Melynchuk also competed on the Broncos relay. That effort combined with multiple event wins from senior Konrad Eiring lifted Barrington to the team title with 252 points.
"It's really hard to describe how overwhelming the show of support from everyone has been," Claes said. "From my coaches to my teammates - everyone has given us so much and tried to help us out. It's really incredible."
Eiring completed a tough double by taking the 800 in 1:58.06 and the 1,600 in 4:29.99.
Miller narrowly missed the meet record as he won the 100 in 10.84, while Matt Haller captured the high jump at 5-8. Barrington started the meet by winning the 3,200 relay comfortably in 8:12.99.
Right on the heels of the Broncos was North Suburban Conference power Lakes. Led by seniors Cory Hertz and Ryan Mullen, the Eagles finished second with 217 total points.
Mullen was strong again in the throws, breaking the school record in the discus twice. His final disc throw of 184-9.5 is the third-best in the state so far this spring and places him among the top 20 throws in the nation. Mullen also captured the shot put with a personal-best toss of 55-4.
"I saw the wind when I got here tonight so I knew I could go out and get it tonight," Mullen said.
The Eagles fared very well in the field as Cooper Jazo and Hayden Falls finished 1-2 in the vault, and Cameron Ruiz took the top spot in the long jump at 22-0.5.
On the track, the Northern Iowa-bound Hertz led the Eagles to a pair of wins. He edged out Miller to win the 200 in 21.55, then came back 15 minutes later and anchored the Eagles' 1,600-relay to a victory in 3:27.77.
The host Bears put together one of their best performances of the season so far, and the distance events again were a bright spot for Lake Zurich. Sophomore Brian Griffith held off Kansas signee Bryce Richards of Mundelein to win the 3,200 in a personal best 9:27.05.
Other individual winners included a sweep in the hurdles from Wheeling senior Steven Montesinos. Montesinos and Tyler Urban finished 1-2 in the 110 high hurdles while Montesinos held off Julian Johnson of Carmel to win the 300 hurdles in 42.13.