Boys track and field: Benet's bidding for 4th straight ESCC title
Benet is aiming for a fourth straight East Suburban Catholic Conference title having won three in a row before last year's lost season. The meet will be held June 2 at Marist.
Senior Niklas Anderson has a chance to break the school records in the 1,600 and 3,200. The current records date back to 1976. He will run in college at Purdue.
Junior hurdler Jason Huang has run a best of 15.92 in the 110 hurdles with a good shot at winning the 110 and 300 hurdles at conference, according to coach Brian Quick.
Junior John Challenger jumped 5-11 in the high jump Tuesday. Challenger, a basketball player, has only been high jumping the past few weeks, and Quick said he also has a great chance of winning the conference title.
Wheaton North update:
Coach Nate Roe has over 100 athletes out despite the unique overlapping sports this year. The Falcons won their home invitational, the Best Four, this past weekend.
"It was great to see the guys respond to strong competition and we are building momentum heading into the championship portion of the season," Roe said. "The DuPage County meet will be our next big test."
Junior Ryan Schreiner has the seventh fastest 800 in the state, and has turned in strong 400 performances.
"Many of his races have been solo efforts, so we expect him to get better as the season moves on," Roe said.
The trio of seniors Jimmy Vercoe, Dan Lam and Sam Cascella has been solid in the 400 and 800 relays, as well as the sprints. Vercoe will run at Augustana next year, and Cascella hopes to run at Marquette.
Roe said junior Danny Lang has come on strong in the 110 hurdles.
"He played football, so he got a late start, but already has one of the top times in our conference and sectional complex," Roe said.
Senior Aiden Olsen also played football and is doing well in the shot and discus. His first two meets have resulted in personal bests, including 51 feet at the Best Four. Senior Ethan Trammel has made an impact in the discus already throwing in the 140s.
Senior Will Roth has been steady in the distance races without many chances to be in competitive races.
"He's had to push the pace in many of his efforts," Roe said. "We're waiting for him to get in the right race and see big time drops."
Montini update:
Junior Tommy May is running well in the 400 and 800 with times of 52.46 and 2:00.67 in his first season out for track and field.
Senior Nick Fisch, who will run cross country and track at Illinois Wesleyan, will return soon from an injury, said coach Eric Brechtel.
"My team is really young and inexperienced right now," Brechtel said.
"I have a bunch of sophomores who did not get the chance to compete in more than one meet their freshman year so they are definitely green. I think a lot of teams are going through similar things. It's fun to watch them learn and grow."