Boys track and field: Prospect runs away with sectional crown
May everyone have a Grandma Linda.
"She makes the best sandwiches," said Hersey sophomore Logan Farrell, who used a double-protein, ham-and-turkey Grandma Linda special to help propel him to state qualification in both discus and shot put Thursday at the Class 3A Deerfield boys track and field sectional.
Farrell needed only two attempts in discus to throw 47.43 meters (155 feet, 7 inches) and reserve his slot in Charleston, knowing as soon as the winning disc left his hand. Shot put took time, second-to-last throw in finals to qualify by 1 inch at 16 meters (52-6).
"It was a hectic turnaround between shot and disc," Farrell said. "I'd just won the disc and I was eating a sandwich, then we were warming up for shot, so I had to scramble to get ready. But after a couple throws I was able to settle down, take a deep breath and do what I was doing."
Qualifying in discus with Prospect's Ben Schenkenfelder and in shot put with Prospect's Chance Rolfe and Hersey's defending all-stater, Will Nolan, Farrell, Nolan and teammate Gus Dammann - both juniors - are a "trilogy" for Huskies throws. Dammann was just off the mark in discus, at 44.34 meters.
"I'm pumped," said Nolan, a 2022 discus qualifier before knee surgery temporarily limited his ability to work the spin technique. "We work our butts off in the off-season and these are the results. We're pumped, yeah."
Prospect won the sectional for the first time since 2019, scoring 96 points to defending champ Glenbrook South's 69, followed by New Trier (60 points), Hersey (55), Evanston (52) and Highland Park (51) in the 16-team sectional.
"That felt good, and we've got a bunch of guys downstate that we feel really good about," said Knights coach Jay Renaud.
Prospect started its assault with its throwers, pole vaulters Owen Guagliardo and Colin Diversey, and Luke Holtmeier with second place in triple jump at a personal record 13.10 meters (42-11¾).
Holtmeier bounced back from a close-but-not-quite third-place finish in long jump.
"I feel like it's just being lifted up by our teammates, being lifted up by the coaches, it's really what makes you bounce back. Quite literally, actually," Holtmeier said.
Prospect and Hersey each qualified its 3200 relays. Prospect added its 400 relay - Navy football recruit Jack Berman ran on that and also qualified in the 100 dash at 10.86 seconds - and its 1600 relay.
Dominik Balenda anchored Prospect's 1600 relay, about an hour after he advanced to Charleston in the open 800 at 49.28 seconds. He placed fourth in 3A in 2022.
"I just stuck with those top guys, and the results came in, fourth place," said the Grand Valley State-bound Balenda. "And I'm like, man, that was a great season. I'm like, now we've got to continue this next year.
"Now my goal is to do the same thing - try to PR at state, get those PRs, and the results."
Hersey's Liam Naughton had an interesting Thursday. The junior was unable to advance in the open 3200, but took off like a firecracker to win the 1600 at 4 minutes, 21.30 seconds. He started strong and got stronger with a relaxed pace over the last 600 meters.
Naughton had an interesting motivation.
"I thought there'd be a little bit more people with me, but still, I imagined a person in front of me," he said. "Go chase him. That's the whole idea. You've got to do whatever you can to keep you going."
In a dynamite 800-meter that had 15 athletes enter with times under 2 minutes, Wheeling senior Sam Patel and junior Jake Ning recorded the seventh- and eighth-fastest times in school history, coach Tom Polak said. The last time the Wildcats qualified two 800 runners was 20 years ago, Polak said.
Feeling ill at the Mid-Suburban Conference meet, Patel's third-place time of 1:56.73 was more than four seconds faster.
"Then here we are," he said.
Right with Ning (1:57.19), both in the open 800 and also with Brandon Soriano and Alex Pavlov in the qualifying 1600 relay.
"Coming in I was 1:58.15, low 1:58s, and having a second PR just feels crazy," Ning said. "This was like the do-or-die moment, and we came through."