Palatine's Brown very much in the running
CHARLESTON - Sitting in the stands at O'Brien Field was not where Palatine senior Graham Brown wanted to be.
So when the Arkansas-bound Brown got the chance to race in the 1,600-meter prelims in the Class 3A boys track and field state meet prelims on Friday, it didn't matter that it was hot or humid. Brown was just happy to get his chance, and did he ever take advantage of it.
"Last year when I was sick and couldn't run - I hated having to sit and watch," Brown said.
Racing in the third heat in temperatures that climbed over 100 on the track, Brown hung with the front pack, ran his race and qualified for the finals with a 5-second drop off his personal best. Brown ran 4:14.38, qualifying him sixth for Saturday's finals.
"This means everything," Brown said. "To get to race in a place where I had a very humbling defeat makes everything so worth it."
Along with Brown, Illinois-Bound Conant senior Zach Dale also qualified for the finals in the event, running 4:16.62.
The afternoon session was very bittersweet for Barrington and especially senior Scotty Miller.
It started better than he could have imagined, as Miller anchored the Broncos' 400 relay team of Griffin Claes, Terrance McGovern and Brendan Melynchuk to the win in a school-record 41.87. Miller provided the anchor leg, an out-of-sight 9.96, unofficially.
With the threat of bad weather looming, the usual 15-minute break after the 400-meter relay, was pulled, meaning Miller had to race in the 100-meter dash just 10 minutes after his relay.
While the race started well, it didn't end well for Miller. With 50 meters to go, Miller felt his right hamstring pull. He held up some, but still finished the race in 10.61 and earned a finals berth. It would turn out to be the last race of the day for Miller.
"I felt it get real tight real fast and I knew I had to slow down or I would pull it worse," Miller said. "We will rest up, ice it and see what happens tomorrow."
The day wasn't all bad for the Broncos as the 3,200-relay team of Konrad Eiring, Tyler Anderson, Andrew Gensburg, and James Pirie ran 7:46.29 to easily qualify for the finals.
"That's one down for us - on to tomorrow," Eiring said.
One of the closest rivals to the Broncos in that relay is Prospect, and the Knights did what they usually do in this event at state - qualify for the finals.
Mike Anderson, Greg Suarez, Luke Filipic, and Matt Cozine ran 7:50.63 to comfortably move into the finals in seventh position.
The top rival to the Broncos in the sprint events has been Schaumburg, and the Saxons put together a solid afternoon, earning two individual and one relay qualifier for the finals.
Illinois State-bound senior Shandall Thomas looked as good as he has all season in winning his heat of the 100 in 10.54 and his heat of the 200 in 21.81. He also anchored the Saxons' 400 relay to a finals spot in 42.20 and will be joined by Danny Galovich, Jarman McMillon and Jack Wagner again Saturday.
"I am still in the mindset from two years ago, when I thought sophomore year make it, junior year place, senior year take it all," Thomas said. "It wasn't right to see (Scotty) not race in the 200. He's my rival but my friend too and that's not right not to see him there."
Palatine senior Jake La Rocca made it look easy as he moved into the finals of the pole vault after clearing the necessary 14-3.
Elk Grove senior and Illinois-Chicago-bound Paul Ifianayi finished second in his heat of the 300 hurdles, running 39.27. He is seeded eighth into the finals. This is his first hurdles final as he placed seventh in the 400 two years ago.
Other athletes competing in the prelims on Saturday included Dan Garcia and Rob Fekete of Palatine, Casey Wood of Fremd, David Rodriguez, Cole Monckton, Jared Polfuss and Kyle Svoboda of Hersey, Tyler Urban and Evan Brown of Wheeling, Scott Jonske of Barrington, Sammy Ramini of Schaumburg, Brendan McKinney of Buffalo Grove and Peter Ifianayi of Elk Grove.