Proviso West Invitational recap
As head coach Jon Trapani of host Proviso West High quickly found out when hosting a major invitational: always have a back up plan. The third year coach did have one. Just after the first 55m prelims, the Fully Automated Timing (FAT) system malfunctioned. Trapani summoned the back up timers to help in getting the meet on track. The 55H prelims had to be re-ran. The delay cost the meet approximately 45 minutes in lost time. Fortunately, the meet action itself was not lacking in terms of overall value.
Some of the top action occurred in the field. Senior Russell Petty of Naperville Central dominated the field event action with victories in the high jump, triple jump, and long jump. But it was his high jump performance that was the most impressive. Petty secured victory fairly easily as the runner up finisher 6-4. Petty eclipsed the 6-8 mark but decided to go for 6-10 and set a new personal best and state best. He had three solid attempts and the final attempt was almost true but his body got too much of the bar coming down. “I was working on a new approach once I got up to 6-10”, stated Petty afterwards.
Neuqua Valley won the last race of the day- the 4x4 relay in a state best 3:28.5. The Wildcats used a blistering 50.7 tote from third leg Aryan Avant to gain the lead. It was smooth sailing afterwards and a four-second victory
The outcomes of the key match-ups were received with mixed reviews. The shot put, 4x800m, 3200m, and one mile run are profiled.
Shot Put-
It was obvious to the large gathering of fans over at the cramped throwing circle that Lake Parks Dan Block was going to win the shot put competition very easily. But would he get the meet record? With the excitement… and tension building how would Block do? His first throw was a huge heave into the left sidewall. Was it nerves that caused this? His second throw was the same outcome: a moon shot into the left sidewall. Finally, on Block’s third attempt, he putted a legal 61-0.5 for the record. The remaining four launches were met with the same results: FOULS! Afterwards, Block explained that he was having trouble finding his release point. But he cautioned that he was ok and will be fine. As far as his remaining seasonal goals: “ I would like to get ’70-70’. That’s 70 feet in the shot and 70 meters in the discus.”
4x800relay-
This meet has always prided itself on producing solid marks in the 4x8 relay. But on this occasion the hype did not live up to actual results. It was supposed to be a barn burner with York vs. Lyons. Instead, it was Neuqua Valley getting the best of everyone. The Wildcats assumed the lead from the very first lap and never trailed. York on the other hand only ran two of four regulars if Steve Sulkin is counted as one of the regular legs. David Way and Patrick Morgan did not participate.
1) Neuqua Valley 8:11.0- 2:00.2, 2:02.4, 2:02.9, 2:04.9
2) York- 8:16.5- 2:01.2, 2:02.4, 2:02.9, 2:06.7
3200m-
The match up between Danny Pawola (Neuqua Valley) and Jordan Hebert (York) did not disappoint many of the fans that were in attendance to watch. As soon as the race got underway Pawola and Hebert positioned themselves in this heavyweight match. Pawola took it to Jordan and the rest of the solid field that included Downers Grove North’s Ben Silver, York’s Jack Driggs, and Neuqua's Brian Morenus. Morenus replaced the no-show Aaron Beattie. Morenus rewarded himself with a big personal best. But the show belong to Pawola, this was his first race since earning Footlocker All-American honors back during the first week of December. Pawola threw in opening splits of 66, 2:16, and 3:27. The first 1600 was in a very brisk 4:38. Pawola dropped Hebert just before the 2000m and enjoyed the remaining portion of the race running solo.
Danny Pawola 9:15- 66, 2:16, 3:27, 4:38
Jordan Hebert 9:27- 66, 2:17, 3:28, 4:40
The Mile-
The last big match-up of the day was well worth the wait. The opening stage of the race looked as though the field were in a 10k. The pedestrian pace went through the 880y in 2:20. Steve Sulkin suddenly took it upon himself to “jail break” from the pack. Peter Callahan of North Shore Country Day followed suit. It wasn’t until about 220y left when Callahan took off and opened an incredible gap on Sulkin. Callahan stated afterwards that he had a plan to follow along with who ever was in the lead, and then without warning take over and run his race. It apparently worked to perfection.
Peter Callahan 4:24.8- [2:20/2:04]
Steve Sulkin 4:26.1- [2:20/2:06] |
