Boys track and field: Antioch nips Huntley to win sectional crown

ROCKFORD - As is often the case, the winner of the Class 3A Rockford Guilford sectional came down to the night's final event - the 4x400 relay.

Antioch led Huntley by two points heading into the final event, and Antioch claimed the sectional title with a second place finish and established a new team best time in the process. The Sequoias finished with 111 points to edge Huntley (102). DeKalb was third with 62 points, Grant was fourth with 48 points, and Prairie Ridge was fifth with 39 points.

Antioch's Chase Becker won both the discuss (164-11) and took second in the shot put (51-03) to advance to the state meet next weekend in Charleston.

"With discus I just wanted to qualify and see how far we can go and chase that school record," Becker said. "Same with shot, but sadly it didn't go as planned. I really just go week by week. This week I'm really just going to focus on my technique. Keeping my elbow back in the shot and staying back and stretching out in the discus. Discus is something I've been working hard on since my freshman year, so it's a great feeling reflecting back on the journey to this point."

Fellow Sequoia thrower Matt Becker won the shot put (53-06) and took third in discus (158-03) to qualify for both events as well.

"We really feed off of each other (Chase) and help each other," Becker said. "I think the No. 1 thing that got me here was my hard work. I always try to do a little bit more. I knew technically I wasn't probably the best, but I knew if I worked harder and got stronger I knew I would outdo the other people in the conference. I just try to be dedicated to the sport and work as hard as I can. I think the biggest thing to work on is your technique. You can be the strongest kid in school, but if you have poor technique, you're not going to do well. If you focus on your form, you'll always do better than someone who is stronger but has poor technique."

Antioch's Charlie Smith won the 1,600 in 4:18.38. While the fast pace at the start of the race surprised him, it didn't throw him off of his race.

"I was certainly hoping it would happen (fast start)," Smith said. "I definitely don't want to rely solely on a kick at the end. I would like to have the opportunity of getting a better time first, especially knowing that I can get that time. I have a lot of experiences running against different caliber runners, so I think that's benefitted me because I think I can run any kind of race. I definitely have a lot of confidence in my kick and I knew the key was really just to stay patient until the last 400 and stay with him."

Also qualifying for next weekend's state meet for the Sequoias were Zach Grindley (triple jump, long jump, and high jump) and Nico Garcia (pole vault).

"I was really hoping to make it to state with my teammate (Tyler Oslage)," Garcia said. "I would really like to get to 14 feet, but that didn't happen today, and I have one more chance at it next week. The key for me is to work on snapping my hips. As a pole vaulter, the key is being able to snap your hips out so you're not sitting in a bucket, as we say. My biggest thing is that the higher I go on my pole, the less I use it, so that really messes me up in the end."

Huntley junior Antonio Passarelli qualified for the state meet in both the 100 and 200, finishing second in both events.

"It really came down to trusting my ability, stay calm, and run my own race," Passarelli said. "In the relays, it really came down the handoffs. I'm really proud of my teammates who helped our relay teams be successful today. As far as state goes, my biggest goal is medaling. I think it would be amazing to come out as a junior and get as many medals as I can."

Huntley's Ian Geisler also qualified for state in the 1,600 (4:18.54) and also helped send the 4x800 relay team to state as well.

Also qualifying for state for the Red Raiders were Michael Benner (pole vault), Josh Guyer (triple jump), and the 4x200 relay team.

"I'm really excited to be going to state and proud of what I was able to accomplish this year," Benner said. "Coming into this year, it was my goal to get to the state meet because of how sectionals ended last year for me, so it feels really good."

"I was happy I got second so I could go back to state, but I was hoping to qualify in the high jump too," Guyer said. "Going into next week I really just want to work on my form so that I'm using the balls of my feet more."

Grant's Jason Thormo won the 400 in a time of 49.55 to qualify for the state meet next weekend, but felt he left a little bit on the table as he heads into next week's meet at Charleston.

"I was actually hoping to run a little faster today, honestly," Thormo said. "I was really hoping for 47, but I'm still a little hurt, so I guess I'm happy. It (injury) should probably be gone by next week, so hopefully I can run even better next week. I really, really want to get 46 next week. I think I'll have the competition to do it, so that's my goal."

Also heading to state next weekend for the Bulldogs are Bobby Cayet (300 hurdles), Justin Splitt (800), and the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

"Once I saw it wasn't going to be too hot out, I figured it would be a good day to run," Cayet said. "I was hoping to redeem myself after falling in the finals at state last year. I just know I'm as good as those kids. I should be able to stand on that podium. I know exactly what I'm in for next week, so I'm looking forward to it and hoping to redeem myself as best as I can."

"Our strategy was to go out fairly conservative, and I started to fall behind, but then around the 200 I started to catch back up," Splitt said. "I just had to get threw that first lap and then the second lap I was able to catch up. It was definitely one of my goals to come in here and qualify for state. It just felt like all of the hard work paid off."

Jacob's Tommy Subaric qualified for state by winning both the 110 hurdles (14.96) and 300 hurdles (39.57). Subaric credited a lot of his success to the guidance he received from teammates last year.

"Last year I had a great teammate who helped me out a lot, so my goal was just to go out and give it my all and try to get to state," Subaric said. "I'm so proud to be going back to state. In the last 100 of the 300, I noticed I've been giving it a lot of extra effort, so I noticed that if I go out too hard in the first 200, then I have a hard time at the end. So I've been doing a lot of extra 150s to prepare, and I'm sure that's what got me here."

Hampshire's Cameron Reedy qualified in the state meet in the 400, finishing second in a time of 50.32. Knowing he was racing against last year's state champion (Thormo) pushed him to do his best.

"I knew all of the guys in my heat were pretty fast, so I was really just trying to hang on for the last 200," Reedy said. "Once I saw him (Thormo) passing me on the curb, I knew I had to try to stay with him the rest of the race. That last 100 I gave it everything to stay at that pace. It's fun going into the race knowing all eight guys are very talented."