Boys track and field: Warren's Wiley shines at NSC meet
Traveling long distance at a quick pace was more than routine for Warren junior Luke Wiley at the North Suburban Conference boys track and field meet on Thursday night.
Wiley set a personal best in the 1,600 meters and ran a conference record 4:16.89 in taking first place. He also won the 3,200 meters in 10:00.57.
"It was a little bit off the school record," Wiley said. "After the 2-mile, it's kind of exciting. We just wanted to give our best shot to win the conference. I think we did our jobs. With it getting so warm so fast, it's definitely an adjustment. I just tried not to worry about it so much and everyone has to race in the same conditions. You just work with what you have."
Griffin Pasha added a second-place finish in the 1,600 for the Blue Devils in a time of 4:20.85.
From that event, Warren took over the top spot in a 5-team battle in the final events to win the meet with 111 points. Stevenson was second with 93, Lake Zurich third (92), Libertyville fourth (84), Lake Forest fifth (83), Zion-Benton sixth (54) and Mundelein seventh (40) at Lake Zurich High School.
The Blue Devils ended in a share of the conference with Stevenson as each team had 29 points in the conference standings.
"We had a meeting earlier in the week of what was needed to get it done," Warren coach Josh Williams said. "We didn't start well in the field events We didn't score many points in those events that we thought would be better. I had talked to some kids that run the mile and they needed to go one-two. Once we saw the scores, we knew that we had a chance to win. Let's get it done."
Warren was worried about the heat a bit and had run at the Lake County meet a couple of weekends ago at Deerfield, when it was near 90 degrees on that day.
"I think it effects more of the distance kids than our sprinters," Williams said. "Just make sure those kids are hydrated the day before and not the day of. Just get into the tent and out of the sun as much as you can. If you run multiple events, just take in some water or Gatorade. You have to take care of your body when you run at a high level when its hot."
Stevenson won the conference the two previous years before COVID and won all the regular season meets coming into Thursday's meet. But, the Patriots still earned honors and shared with Warren.
"It means that our kids came out and competed," Stevenson coach Andrew Farrissey said. "We ran pretty much what we wanted to run. Our kids competed hard. They did a really good job in a tough year. Anything you enter, you would like to win, but Warren has a great team. They've got really good athletes and balance on the track. There's no shame in losing to them, because (Warren) was pretty good. Getting a piece of it - something is better than nothing."
Warren won the 4 X 400 relay with a 3:33.74 with Dan Patronick, Aaron Ayobani, Ryan Moats and Max Zeisler.
The Blue Devils also placed first in the 4 X 200 (1:31.12) with Jailen Duffie, Jalen Turner, Cassius Callahan and Joel Williams.
Libertyville earned honors in the 4 X 800 (8:06.34) with Liam Tucker, Peyton Erdal, Ali Faiz and Andrew Brooks.
The Wildcats' Marc Micholetti finished in the top spot in the 400 meters (50.69).
"I've been chucking a lot of water out here," said Micholetti, who will run at the University of Chicago next year. "You definitely have to hydrate to compete. It's an idea whether to put yourself in a good position before you race."
Lake Zurich's Nicholas Soto won the 300 meter hurdles (42.27) and the 110 meter hurdles (16.42); Warren's Duffie placed first in the 200 meters (22.67); Pasha also was first in the 800 meters (1:55.55); Donte Smith of Zion-Benton won the 100 meters (11.04); the Bears' Charles Dicanio placed first in the discus 44.50m while Jaydon Taboada won the pole vault at 3.25m.
Stevenson's Mark Hellwig was the top high jumper at 1.85m, Lake Forest's Wyatt Horvat won the long jump at 6.64m and Libertyville's David Freeman earned top honors in the shot put 13.74m.