Hampshire teams up to take sectional

As the Class 3A Huntley boys track and field sectional progressed, things kept lining up for Hampshire.

Mitch Dalby held off Hononegah's Philip Winkelman by .07 in the 800 meters.

The team of Devin Yeats, Jack Rummell, Tyler Fikis and Maddux Chanthaboury, who had the first seed in the 400-meter relay and did not qualify with a third-place finish, came back to win the 800.

Bryce Bannerman grabbed a fifth in the 400, Jason Schmidt snuck in a sixth in the 1,600 and Yeats and Rummell took third and sixth in the 200.

The Whip-Purs needed to finish first or second in the 1,600, and hope that Huntley, running in the slower heat, did not get any points.

Bannerman, Fikis, Dalby and Owen Cuplin came in with a second-place finish to give the Whips the team sectional title with 74 points, 2 ahead of Huntley and 8 more than Belvidere North.

“We knew it was going to be close,” Whips coach Robert Homola said. “We had so many guys come through. We're trying to build something here. We have a great group of seniors, great assistant coaches and I had great support from my wife (Katie).

“The cross country team won (Fox Valley Conference) and a regional title. We got momentum from our distance guys.”

Rummell felt like the 400 group experienced some jitters in taking third but liked the way they rebounded in the 800.

“It was a minor setback,” Rummell said. “We knew we were the hot seed again. I saw Fikis coming and I knew it was going to be a good finish.”

Dalby took part in three wins, the 3,200, 800 and 1,600.

“I started off a little slow (in the 800) and got cut off, but I had confidence in my kick,” Dalby said. “I was a little nervous, but I pulled through at the end. It was just speed.”

Huntley's Evan Gronewold did not let some recent inactivity and illness slow him down in his signature race. Last year's Class 3A 400 meters state runner-up cruised to a two-second victory in 49.65.

At Friday's FVC Meet, Gronewold took second in the 100 but had physical difficulties after a recent bout with COVID-19, Raiders coach Chris Maxedon said. So Gronewold asked out of the 400, then came back and won the 200.

Gronewold was back Wednesday and looked strong as he grabbed a huge early lead and held it for a 49.65.

“That was a little tough,” Gronewold said. “I feel good today. You miss this event for a few meets. You just have to throw down the hammer.

“I always try to attack it, attack it, attack it and then it's whatever I got left.”

Cary-Grove's Zach Petko won the shot put and took second in the discus to earn his way back to state. He missed state by 6 inches in the shot put last year and took sixth in discus.

Petko had three of his best career throws in the shot put finals, all of more than 17 meters (the 58-foot range). He won at 17.76 (58-3¼). His second-place discus throw was 50.28 meters (164-11½).

“(Shot put) was just lining up today,” Petko said. “I didn't throw as well in disc, but my tight rotation in shot, I felt it. I had the confidence today, it was great.

“I was really upset (about shot last year), but now I put four way out there. It's nice to be down there. I'm really happy with the shot put too.”

Huntley's McKale Hood, the FVC high jump champion on Friday, cleared 1.90 meters (6-3) to win the high jump.

“I kind of knew that I could jump, but I didn't expect all of this to come,” Hood said. “I feel really blessed that I did find this, especially at the time I did. It just made my life better.

“I feel like the best way to get better is why, what helps to get over the bar. To understand what does what and how to do it to the best of your ability.”

Huntley also is sending freshman Tommy Nitz (3,200) and Hayden Swim (shot put) to state.

Crystal Lake Central's Jonathan Tegel and Gavin Wang finished 1-2 in the 110 high hurdles. Tegel came back to qualify with second in the 300 intermediate hurdles.

Other area state qualifiers were Prairie Ridge's Will Gelon (first, 3,200), McHenry's Zeke Galvicius (first, pole vault) Crystal Lake South's Nate Van Witzenburg (second, triple jump), Jacobs' Isaac Pepin, Adam Lakeman, Zach Osmanski and Matt Andreano in the 4x800 (second) and McHenry's Hayden Stone (second, high jump).