Boys track: Glenbard West sprinters step up
Glenbard West's boys track speed has always been there. Now it blazes shorter paths.
The Hilltoppers who captivated in the 3,200-meter relay all graduated. Back are a bevy of speedsters cruising at 400 meters on down. Their time is now.
"It feels awesome," Glenbard West senior Mohamed Gborie said shortly after topping Batavia's Jay Hunt in the prime 200-meter heat of Saturday's Glenbard West Haake Invitational, an open, nonscoring meet made sweeter by the presence of former Hilltoppers coach Hank Haake, looking chipper after dual hip replacement surgery.
"It feels awesome because we've been used to this since, like, sophomore year and we've been practicing our relays and we're just ready this year. It feels awesome," said Gborie, who ran the 200 in 22.58 seconds and whose second leg helped bolster a winning 400 relay along with Isaiah Skinner, Will Gibson and anchor Jake Kravas.
Gborie also anchored the 800 relay against Wheaton North's Adam Terrini and came up just shy, no shame against one of the state's top long sprinters.
Then there was Glenbard West's 300 hurdles winner Vince Divinere, Kravas owning the 100 in 10.99 seconds and finally Divinere, Gibson, Brady Heller and Ross Andreasik finishing strong in a victorious 1,600 relay at 3 minutes, 25.9 seconds.
"We have a lot of speed and depth," Gborie said.
Wheaton North showed a lot in the field. Chico Jackson leapt farther with each long jump, winning at 22 feet, 4 inches; pole vaulter David Bradley matched his best of 13-6 in a marathon win over Batavia's Nick Krella.
The Falcons' Marcus Gustaveson won shot put at 53-2 and teammate Dan Webber won discus at 180-5, which stands as Illinois' second-best throw on the Dyestat board.
"I finally hit this point where I really needed to get (his form) so I can transfer all the power to come out of the disc and not pull out my head," said Webber, a 2015 all-stater. "Last year I had my picture in a news clipping - my weight's all forward and I'm pulling my head up. This year I think I finally learned to not do that, so I think that's what really helped me."
Glenbard South's Jonathan Walker held off Batavia's Shea Bastian to win the 800 in 1:59.61. From the other side of District 87, Glenbard East senior Patrick Mikel broke his foe in the last 50 meters to win the 400 at 49.32 seconds.
"You've got to get out fast, you've got to do it well," the Loras College-bound Mikel said. "(Former Rams) Coach (Jack) Brady really helped with that and so did Coach (Dennis) Lueck. Coach Lueck has really helped with my start, which made it a lot easier to get these times than it was before."