Boys track and field: Maine South claims Gummerson Invite title
With the conference meets and postseason just around the corner, area boys track teams started gearing up for the stretch run Friday night at the 16-team Conant Gummerson Classic ABC Invitational.
And despite some pretty significant and unexpected rain throughout the big meet, it was Maine South that easily rose to the top of the field as the Hawks scored 192 points to outdistance runner-up Glenbard West (160 points), and third-place Prospect (112 points).
Maine South had winners across the board in both the track and the field events, starting with a first-place finish from University of Michigan-bound senior Tommy Brady in the 3,200-meter run. Brady took third in the state last year in the 3,200 before placing second in Class 3A cross country last fall.
The Hawks got winning times of 11.25 in the 100-meter dash, and 22.08 in the 200-meter dash from Charlie Smith to help pave the way to the team victory.
"There are three or four kids who can win the 3,200 and (Brady) is one of them. He's the school record-holder in the 2-mile (9:06.13)," said Maine South coach Scott Sustchek. "The distance crew almost swept tonight, and our mile and 2-milers were really strong."
Glenbard West's strong showing was led by senior Will O'Brien's winning time of 1:58.0 in the 800-meter run, and senior teammate Corey Williams' first-place leap of 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump.
The Hilltoppers also got a top-medal performance from senior Tyquan Cox (22-feet even) in the long jump, and teammate Diego Villalobos (44-feet even) in the triple jump. Glenbard West's 4x100 team of Cox, Villalobos, Oscar Berrun, and Jalen Moore also placed first in 43.3 seconds.
"Will O'Brien looked awesome after being out with an injury and we need him so it's good to see him back running well," said Glenbard West coach Jon Schweighardt. "Our 4x100 time was still a half a second from state qualifying, and I think Diego (Villalobos) can make state in the triple jump."
Prospect's team of Logan Mertes, Tom Walter, Asher Warmanen, and Nic Squillacioti brought home first in the 4x800-meter relay in 8:28.73.
"They looked really good, especially Logan. He led us off with a really good time," said Prospect coach Jay Renaud. "We didn't go into this meet trying to win, but we just used this to get seed times for conference and to compete."
Sixth-place Hoffman Estates got a second from junior Darian Waits (15.52) in the 110-meter hurdles, and a second from senior teammate Alan Wagner (51.53) in the 400-meter dash. The Hawks' relay teams added a second in the 4x100, and a third in the 4x200.
"(Waits) has been out since the first indoor meet of the year with a hamstring injury, and tonight he improved on all his marks," said Hoffman Estates coach Vito Anzalone. "Wagner has become our big 400 guy, that was by far his best race tonight, he's been improving every meet, and we're hoping to get him down to state."
Maine South's Brian Brown won the 300-meter hurdles while teammate Joey Kasch won the 1,600-meter run. The Hawks also won the 4x200-meter relay.
Leyden's Shane Allen placed second in the discus with a throw of 139-6. Glenbard West's Stephen Moody placed second at 1,600 meters. Prospect's Erik Snell was the runner-up at 800 meters while teammate John Moellenkamp was third in the 100-meter dash.
The meet is dedicated in honor of former Conant track coach Ron Gummerson, who coached the Cougars' program from 1974 to 2002.
"We added four or five teams last year so what was already a competitive meet is even more competitive now," said Conant coach John Powers. "Obviously coach Gummerson was a very special guy. He came up with the ABC format for this track meet, and he came up with the champion T-shirts for this meet."