Boys track and field: Huntley wins FVC Meet for first time since 2019
Huntley senior McKale Hood launched through the air, landed in the long jump pit sand and released a huge groan, realizing he had fouled on the best jump of his life.
The jump was measured and would have been near 7.2 meters (23 feet, 7 inches). Still, Hood was pleased his jump before that was 6.75 (22-1¾), also a personal-best effort.
"I had a pretty insane day," said Hood, who later won the high jump. "I jumped really well. I'm excited that I have that (7.2) in me. I was a little frustrated that I scratched, but not too much. I know I can get it another day."
Hood and the other jumpers helped get the Red Raiders off to a strong start that propelled them to the team title at the Fox Valley Conference Boys Track and Field Meet Friday night at Red Raider Stadium.
Huntley finished with 109 points for its first team championship since 2019. Jacobs and Hampshire tied for second at 87 and two-time defending champion Burlington Central was fourth at 75.
Burlington Central's Nolan Milas won the 100, 200 and 400 meters and took second with the Rockets' 4x100 relay team.
Red Raiders coach Chris Maxedon credited Hood and Jayden Bell in the long jump, along with Zach Rysavy and Abe Christian in the triple jump for their work early in the meet.
The meet started outside at 4:30 p.m., but the long and triple jumps and pole vault were moved inside when rain arrived around 5.
"Even before the rain came, our jumpers set the tone early," Maxedon said. "Rysavy and Abe Christian in the triple jump were the first guys to compete and both PR'd for the season on their first jumps. That set us up. Guys were watching that.
"Then McKale and Jayden both PR'd in long jump. Jayden hasn't been with us basically the entire outdoor season with volleyball. This is his first outdoor meet and he took second."
Hood's two titles and Tommy Nitz's 1,600 win were the Raiders' only firsts, but their depth with solid finishes came through. Talon Sargent's third in the 400 and second in the 200 late in the meet helped to seal the deal.
Although temperatures were agreeable, the meet was run in rain for most of the night.
"All of our kids did not let the weather affect them," Maxedon said. "That was one of the things we talked about, understanding there could be bad weather for everybody, but we have to deal with that and fight through it and perform the best we can.
"Because it's a conference championship meet, it isn't necessarily that you're running your personal best, but finishing in a correct place."
Milas was a key contributor to Burlington Central's last two FVC championships. He will run at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Oshkosh next year.
"I'm really happy and really proud. There's a lot of good teams here, I was just trying to do my part and do as well as I could for the team to score points," Milas said. "I have no regrets after finishing the night off.
"I just focused on it race-to-race. I was worried about that 400, it was the first time I'd ran it in about four weeks. It was definitely scary, but focused on one at a time and did the best I could."
Crystal Lake South's Carter Alvarado won the 110 high and 300 intermediate hurdles, although he missed competing against his friendly rival Jonathan Tegel of Crystal Lake Central. Tegel was resting a slight injury in hopes he can be at his best for Wednesday's Class 3A DeKalb Sectional.
Alvarado's 39.94 to win the 300 hurdles was a Gators' school record.
"Honestly, it stunk not having Tegel there. It's so fun to race against him and have him pull me along. It's so fun to do that," Alvarado said. "The 300s was a little rough form, but the speed was there. I didn't let the conditions affect me. I wanted to show that it was my meet, time to win.
"I love these rain meets. This is what we practice in, this is what we train for. It's so fun, under the lights with the rain. If you run a good time in crummy conditions, it's like, 'All right, he can run.' "
Jacobs' Matt Andreano led off the Golden Eagles' victorious 4x800 relay team with Isaac Pepin, Max Sudrzynski and Adam Lakeman. Andreano came back to win the 800 and Aidan DeMuth took the 3,200 for the Eagles.
McHenry pole vaulter Zeke Galvicius cleared 4.60 meters (15-1) to set the only meet record. Galvicius now has the McHenry County and FVC Meet records.
Hampshire's Vince Scott (triple jump) and 4x400 relay team of Owen Cuplin, Bryce Bannerman, Carlos Gerez Acuna and Joel Jones won titles.
Burlington Central's Nick Nuno won the shot put and Cary-Grove's Reece Ihenacho won the discus.
Dundee-Crown's 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams repeated as FVC champions. Henry Kennedy and Kali Freeman ran on those teams last year. Carson Shonukan and Terrion Spencer teamed with Kennedy and Freeman in the 4x100, while Eze Nwachuku and Christian Roder ran with them in the 4x200.
"It was good, but it can also be better," Freeman said. "We ran fine, but we can keep practicing and run faster times in sectionals than we did today. We've been consistently 42.5s (in the 4x100). We didn't have a great start, but I feel like we can practice this week and it will come through."