Scouting DuPage County boys track
Top teams: Downers Grove North, Downers Grove South, Glenbard North, Glenbard West, Hinsdale Central, Hinsdale South, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Wheaton North, York.
Top athletes: Addison Trail: Rayaan Baig (sr., sprints), Jordyn Carr-Jones (jr., hurdles); Benet: Konrad Bayer (sr., sprints), Frank Scheck (sr., throws); Downers Grove North: Alec Danner (jr., distance), Robbie Prescott (sr., middle distance), Tariun Triplett (jr., sprints); Downers Grove South: Juankeem Finley (jr., sprints), Jack LaLonde (sr., distance), Nick Mitchell (sr., throws); Fenton: Jose Vazquez-Perez (jr., distance); Glenbard East: Pat Mikel (sr., sprints), Josh Schaefer (middle distance); Glenbard North: Devion Hodges (sr., sprints, long jump), Jace James (jr., hurdles, high jump), Paris Miller (jr., hurdles), Greg Newsome (so., sprints, long jump); Glenbard South: Michael King (sr., middle distance), Jonathan Walker (sr., sprints); Glenbard West: Sam Brodner (sr., shot put), Vince Divinere (jr., hurdles), Mohamed Gborie (sr., sprints), Will Gibson (sr., sprints), Eric Neumann (sr., distance); Hinsdale Central: Blake Evertsen (jr., distance), Kareem Muhammad (sr., sprints, triple jump), Jared Neumann (sr., hurdles); Hinsdale South: Dylan Boye (sr., sprints, long jump), Shawn Davis (sr., hurdles, triple jump), Roman Drabchuk (sr., distance), Charlie Nodus (sr., distance); IC Catholic Prep: Jordan Rowell (jr., sprints); Lake Park: Chago Basso (jr., throws), Kyle Brown (sr., pole vault), Ethan Koval (jr., pole vault), Dylan Scheirich (sr., throws), Lisle: Aaron Harris (sr., sprints); Metea Valley: Jordan Cagigal (sr., sprints), Amiri Finner (sr., sprints, jumps), Alonzo Taylor-Jones (jr., sprints); Montini: Mitch West (jr., sprints); Naperville Central: Matthew Meier (sr., long jump, sprints), Peter Villanova (sr., distance, high jump); Naperville North: Aiden Blecke (jr., middle distance), Barry Cate (jr., sprints); Neuqua Valley: Scott Anderson (jr., distance), Tommy Cwiok (sr., throws), Connor Horn (sr., distance), Chris Muoghalu (sr., sprints), Isaiah Robinson (jr., middle distance), Jacob Sampson (sr., sprints); St. Francis: Nick Brouch (jr., distance); Timothy Christian: Andy Margason (sr., hurdles); Waubonsie Valley: Tyler Kirkwood (sr., hurdles, high jump), Haneef Spikener (jr., sprints), Wes York (so., middle distance); Wheaton Academy: Jacob Roblewski (sr., distance), Ty Seager (sr., sprints); West Chicago: Zenen Cardenas (so., sprints); Westmont: Sam Soltwisch (sr., throws); Wheaton North: Chico Jackson (sr., long jump, sprints), Devante Pearson (sr., high jump), Adam Terrini (sr., sprints), Dan Webber (sr., throws); Wheaton Warrenville South: Tommy Ansiel (jr., pole vault), Blaze Barista (sr., jumps), Brandon Bell (sr., sprints); Willowbrook: Marco Martinez (sr., distance), Josan Murphy (sr., sprints, long jump); York: Max Denning (sr., middle distance), Charlie Kern (so., distance), Connor Murphy (sr., hurdles, pole vault), Rob Tomaska (sr., distance).
Outlook: Illinois high school track and field has seen vast change the past 25 years, ranging from class expansion to automated timing to this spring's elimination of sectional preliminary heats.
Yet since 1991 only Wheaton Warrenville South or Wheaton North have won the boys DuPage Valley Conference outdoor title.
This too may change.
Accepting the District 204 schools welcomed five-time sectional champion and three-time Class 3A trophy winner Neuqua Valley, medalist machine Waubonsie Valley and steadily improving Metea Valley.
"I think that makes us one of the toughest conferences in the state," said coach Don Helberg, whose Wheaton North Falcons are four-time defending DVC champs. "If you're looking at event by event you've got state placers in all events, so if you're a conference champion you look pretty good at a state level."
Off a two-year Upstate Eight Conference winning streak indoors and out, Neuqua won the DVC indoor meet by 32 points over Wheaton North, 50 over surging Glenbard North.
Returning what Neuqua coach Mike Kennedy called "a ton of guys" from a 2015 squad that tied for second in Class 3A and finished third in 3A cross country, the Wildcats have few holes on a roster 140 strong. (Numbers are up county wide.)
Depth allows stars like Cornell-bound Connor Horn - fourth in last year's 3A 3,200 meters before winning his sixth individual conference title at the DVC indoor meet - to run open events, leaving relays relatively unaffected. Bolstered by the transfer of junior JaQuere Williams from Waubonsie Valley (it "really, really helps Neuqua," said Warriors coach Kevin Rafferty) the Wildcats could qualify all four relays.
"I think we could actually have the most qualifiers we've ever had," said Kennedy, who took 16 to Charleston last year and 26 in 2009.
Nothing is set in stone. See the West Suburban Conference Silver Division indoor results.
For years the standard-bearer and Class 3A champion as recently as 2014, York placed sixth indoors behind state contender Oak Park. Dukes coach Charlie Kern said it was the program's worst finish ever.
York definitely has pieces including Kern's own son, also Charlie, individual 3A cross country runner-up from a team that tied Neuqua but placed fourth due to one slightly faster Wildcat.
"The goal now is to be the most improved team in the West Suburban Conference," said the elder Kern, who'll contend with balanced Downers North, relays-and-Kareem Muhammad-led Hinsdale Central and a Glenbard West squad that's freaky fast and offers Wisconsin football commit Sam Brodner in shot put.
Elsewhere coach Dean Norman's Hinsdale South team - Charlie Nodus and Roman Drabchuk were 2015 all-state in both cross country and track - looks to fend off defending WSC Gold titlist Downers South; Benet aims to repeat in the East Suburban Catholic Conference; Glenbard South hopes momentum from its Metro Suburban Conference indoor title translates outdoors.
"Dean is going to be a player," Addison Trail coach Bruce Kelsay said of Norman's Hornets, who return Dylan Boye. A surefire 2015 long jump qualifier, Boye's junior season ended with an ACL tear shortly after going 22 feet, 6 inches.
While Lisle and Westmont remain sole DuPage County outposts in the rambling Interstate Eight, Montini and St. Francis move to the Chicago Catholic League.
Like the DVC's Lake Park - which went 1-2 in both pole vault and shot put at the DVC indoor meet and whose third thrower, senior Austin Lynch, would be most teams' No. 1 - Montini looks to develop around its current strengths.
Broncos junior Mitch West placed third in the Class 2A 100 dash in 2015 and just won the CCL indoor 60 and 200, the 60 in record time.
In fact some of the state's top sprinters are DuPage small-schoolers. IC Catholic's Jordan Rowell and Lisle's Aaron Harris battled to top-six spots in last year's Class 1A 100, 200 and 400 dashes.
"Our situation (this year) is we're 2A," said Lisle coach Ken Jakalski. So instead of facing Rowell, Harris may see Wheaton Academy's Ty Seager. His junior year sabotaged by a hamstring pull, the Warriors sprinter will run a select five meets - plus the possible 2A finals.
This will be retiring WW South coach Ken Helberg's last of 28 seasons spanning 14 DVC titles, 12 sectional titles, four state trophies and the 1996 and 1999 Class AA titles.
As in life, sad (or "bittersweet," as Don Helberg said) departures are balanced by new arrivals - Noah Lawrence at Hinsdale Central, Naperville North pole vault record holder Mike Beese at his alma mater, the barefooted Brian Quick at Benet.
"My coaching philosophy is to give kids a good experience, build their self-confidence, build their self-esteem and let them take it from there," Quick said.
To your blocks, gentlemen.
Key dates: April 9: Wheaton North Best 4; April 14: Fremd Throwers Invite; April 15: Naperville North Gus Scott; April 16: Metea Valley Invitational, Downers South Bud Mohns, West Aurora John Bell; April 22: WW South Red Grange, Glenbard South Raider Invite, Downers South Bob Cahoon; April 29: Hinsdale South Mike Yavorski; April 30: Glenbard West Jim Arnold, Waubonsie Valley Red Ribbon; May 6: DuPage County Meet at Lake Park, Hinsdale Central McCarthy Invite; May 7: Lisle Carlin Nalley at Bolingbrook; May 13-14: Conference championships; May 18-20: Sectionals; May 26-28: State finals.