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IL AAA Boys State Championship Recap
In the end, this "track" championship was determined in the field as Roselle Lake Park claimed its first team championship since 1997. A look back at the action in Charleston.
Charleston IL
Michael Newman - Dyestat IL / ESPN Rise
When I walked onto the floor of the O'Brien Stadium at 9 AM, I knew it was going to be a long day. Steam was already coming off of the track. The air was heavy. How would the athletes respond to these adverse conditions. By the middle of the afternoon, temperatures rose into the low 90's...but that did not stop some stellar performances at this year's edition of the AAA Boys state meet.
Early on, York had the early lead from placing in the 4x8 and 4x1 relays and a 1-2 finish in the 3200 Meter Run from Andrew Smith and Jack Driggs. Pre meet team favorite Neuqua Valley got their points as well in the same 3 events, but they had a hill to climb. Then, field event results started to roll in and Lake Park leap frogged the Dukes and captured the team championship using only 3 members of the team. Weight man Jermaine Kline accounted for 17 points in the Shot and Disc; brother Jeremy picked up 14 points in the same events. Zach Ziemek claimed the title in the Pole Vault while placing 2nd in the Triple Jump.
It is the first time in recent history that a state championship team's points have come from field events alone.
Lake Park will definitely be back next year to defend...all 3 of their scorers return.
Here is a look at each event from Saturday's finals:
Long Jump
Shane Molidor of Downers Grove South had the luck of the wind in the prelims hitting a PR of 23' 3 3/4". He made that stick in the finals as he held off a challenge from Oak Park-River Forest's Amir Arif to captured the AAA team championship. The event looks promising in the near future, especially with a 4th place finish from Freshman Matt Harris of Lyons Township. We should see some great things from him in the near future.
Triple Jump
Defending Champion Jonathan Gardner of Whitney Young did not make his defense of his title very easy. In the prelims, he fouled in his first two jumps. He had to stick the third to make it to Saturday. He made a safe jump of 48' 4", which held through the finals. Zach Ziemek of state champion Lake Park finished second, a foot behind Gardner. It was not an easy year of defense for Gardner as he told us after his final jump on Saturday:
"I asked God to have his way and He did just that. I would not be here if it weren't for God. "
"I'm grateful, He didn't have to allow me to win. He just told me to relax; to trust him. But showed me and brought me through."
He came through a tough season filled with injuries that he overcame.
"Training wise, I was afraid to do alot. I knew I had to jump well to get to college. Coming into my senior season, I was only jumping 47 feet which was not good enough, so I could not wholely rely on that. With the injuries, I felt nervous to push hard in practice...and practicing to compete in meets. Often in practice, I was just run don and run through the pit. I never had a serious injury. I had 3 starins and tendenitis and it all came at one time. It hit me like a brick. I did not really know how to handle it."
But things changed when he got to the Chicago Public League Championships. His 49' 9" jump, after being out a month, shocked most of the track fans, including himself.
" I was surprised. I felt good afterwards. I was just on the runway to get points for the team. I was surprised I hit the pit at 49' 9". All I said was Thank You Lord."
He will be a great athlete on the next level. He has not signed with anyone yet, but he is considering Georgia Tech or Texas with plans to study Aerodynamics.
High Jump
It was a smorgasborg of competitors in this event. Only 9 sectional qualifiers were eliminated after the prelims leaving 20 finalists. (Why the IHSA did this, I do not know.) 5 Competitors cleared 6' 9"...but only James Davenport of Waubonsie Valley was the only jumper to clear 6' 10" to fulfill a dream of winning a state championship.
Pole Vault
Troubled with hip flexor problems the entire spring, Junior Zach Ziemek of Lake Park was one of 3 vaulters to clear 15'. But he was declared the winner on fewer misses. Chase Pavelonis of East Moline United and Corey Szamlewski of McHenry finished right behind. It was these 10 points that put Lake Park over the top to a team championship.
Shot Put
The form chart said that it would be a close battle with Jermaine and Jeremy Kline of Lake Park and Marcus Popenfoose of Huntley leading the way. In the prelims on Friday, Jermaine was only 5 inches ahead of Popenfoose heading into the finals. Jeremy was in 3rd, only 2 inches ahead of Geneva's Frank Boenzi. There were no changes for the top 2 as neither weightman could improve on their put. On the 3rd and final put of the competition, Boenzi went 2 feet ahead of Jy. Kline. Kline responded by going nearly 6 inches ahead of Boenzi. That established the pattern for Lake Park for the rest of the day...they were not going to be denied.
Discus
Marcus Popenfoose of Huntley was one of the top discus throwers in the nation. Last year, he was denied when Dan Block came from behind to nip him. This was not going to happen this year. Popenfoose's throw of 189' 3 gave him a 14' lead over Jermaine Kline of Lake Park. Kline was only able to improve 4 feet and none of the other throwers were able to catch him...the state championship was Popenfoose's.
4 x 800 Meter Relay
Coming into the Prelims, there was no clear cut favorite in this event. True, New Trier had the fastest team time going into it, but the gap was so close. The preliminary heats did nothing to change the mystery of this. Lyons Township emerged with the fastest prelim time, but all 12 teams were within 5 seconds of each other. This set up a doozy of a final.
During the first leg, 3 teams took command early. Moline's Michael Castel and Lake Zurich's Francisco Soto jumped to the lead and maintained it for the first 600 meters. With 200 to go, Glenbard East's Brad Magnetta took off and gave his team a lead at the first exchange.
The second leg was more of the same thing. East's Jim Peters kept the lead that was given to him. During the second leg, Prospect and Wheaton-Warrenville South moved into position. One of the pre - race favorites, York, was lagging back in 7th place. Still a close race, but Glenbard East handed off in the lead.
Sophomore Mike Fahey of East kept trading off the lead with Alex Brend of Lake Zurich. The pace had slowed down, which let Prospect and Wheaton-Warrenville South back in the race. York's Nick Gornick also surged with 300 meters to go to get the Dukes back in the race. The final exchange had Lake Zurich in a slight lead over Glenbard East, but 5 other schools were within reach. This was anyone's race.
The lead kept trading off during the final 800 meters. Prospect's Kellan Stroebel challenged for the lead and then took it briefly. Wheaton Warrenville South's Kyle O'Malley challenged and then took the lead. Glenbard East's Luke Chvatal was in on the challenge as well. Matt Schacht of York ran a great first 400 meters and put the Dukes back in contention. Coming down the home straight, any of these 4 teams could win...but Chavatal and his 49 second 400 speed took over as he roared to the finish line with a championship for Glenbard East.
Brad Magnetta - "My strategy was just to stay with the pack and go with 200 meters to go and pound it."
Jim Peters - "We felt that if we could maintain the lead and just get it to Fahey, we would be ok."
Mike Fahey - "I just wanted to stay with that blue kid (Lake Zurich) until the last 200 meters."
Luke Chvatal - "My coach has been telling me all season that I can outkick anybody. I just stayed with them...I wanted to wait as long as possible...at 150 to go I just give it all out. We stayed low keyed after indoors (Glenbard East won the IPTT Classic.) We did not run the 4 of us together until sectionals.
4 x 100 Meter Relay
Defending state champ Belleville West came into the finals with the fastest prelim time...and they wanted to repeat. 4 teams were together for the first 2 exchanges....at the final exchange, Niles West's Levelle Jordan roared down the track with the baton to give Niles West a convincing two tenths of a second victory over the defending state champs.
3200 Meter Run
By the start of this race, it became hot with the temperatures creeping close to 90 degrees. Who would take the pace out. At the gun, it was Martin Grady of Fenwick who wanted controll of the race. He went out in 2:11 for the first 800 and seperated himself from the rest of the field. Aaron Beattie of Neuqua Valley, Malachy Schrolibgen of Oak Park, Garrett Sweatt of Edwardsville, and the York duo of Andrew Smith and Jack Driggs lagged back. By the 1600, Grady went through in 4:33, the rest of the pack in 4:37.
With 2 laps to go, Grady had extended his lead to 5 seconds. Was anyone going to catch him? Beattie started the charge and Smith and Driggs followed. At the bell Grady still had a 5 second lead and it looked like he would hold on...or would he? Driggs and Smith took off in tandem like a rocket bound to catch the leader. At 200 meters to go, the duo passed Grady...and that is all she wrote. Smith and Driggs covered the last 400 in an amazing 59 seconds to go 1-2.
Andrew Smith - "I wanted to run just like cross country...and that was to go out in a tactical way. I knew everyone was going to go out fast. The key to winning all these races was control. Control over yourself. We know how to do it and we did it. At 400 meters to go, we knew we were going to catch him. At 200 meters, we talked...we are very good at talking during the race. We knew we had to finish strong...we had to finish 1-2. Go through the line, we did not know who was going to come up on us."
110 Meter Hurdles
During the season, defending champ Erick Gavin of Marian Catholic kind of flew under the radar...just waiting for the opportunity to shine at the state meet. He ran 14.47 in the prelims, holding back a little bit with some tightness in his legs. Plainfield South's Brandon Winters and Lockport's Matt Benes had battled in sectionals and again in the prelims with Benes entering with the fastest time. All 3 of the hurdlers got good starts. With 3 hurdles to go, Winters and Gavin seperated themselves from the rest. On the 10th hurdle, Gavin gained a slight edge over Winters and won by 4 hundreths of a second.
100 Meter Dash
Colin Hepburn of Glenbrook South was the defending champ. There was a crop of new sprinters that were going to give Hepburn a challenge including Brandon Stryganek of Stevenson, Darius Smith of Chicago Vocational, and Santiago Ochoa of Niles West. In the prelims, Hepburn stumbled out of the blocks but was still able to come out of it with the fastest prelim time. In the final, no stumbling...Hepburn got out to a good start. By 50 meters, he made his usual surge and caught the tape ahead of Smith.
800 Meter Run
It looked to be an interesting final. Daniel Mazar of Edwardsville, recovered from a stress fracture in his left leg, looked strong in Friday's prelims coming up with the fastest times. The seasonal list leader looked to go after the state championship. At the start, East Moline United's Andrew Martinez took the early lead with Mazar close in tow. Mazar moved at 300 meters and went by the 400 at 55 seconds. Back in the pack was Dominique Manley of Collinsville, who was caught in a box. At 300 meters to go, Manley broke loose and went after Mazar. At 150 meters to go, he went by Mazar and he knew he had it. Manley came across the finish line a second ahead of Nathan Prom of Dundee-Crown, Pat Wylie of Deerfield, and Joey McAsey of Minooka. A dream that he had since 7th grade of winning a state championship was finally achieved.
4 x 200 Meter Relay
Again, it would be a battle between defending champ Belleville West and 4 x 1 champ Niles West. This race patterned itself after the 4 x 1...Belleville West and Niles West came through the first two exchanges even. Niles West came on strong down the stretch to nip the game Southern Illinois school by a tenth of a second.
400 Meter Dash
Eric Oliver of Homewood-Flossmoor was the defending winner in this event and came into the final as the overwhelming favorite. He ran the finals just like he has done all season. He went out strong the first 200 meters...in fact he made up the stagger on everyone outside of him. The race was his as he stormed across the finish line almost a second ahead of then second place Aryan Avant of Neuqua Valley and Devonier Casey of Niles North. After the race, Avant was disqualified after curve judges determined that he had violated the lane lines.
300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles
This was to be a wide open final. In the prelims, Gary Ford of Thornridge had the best time by 3 tenths of a second over Jonathan Jackson of Lane Tech. The final was not even close to being wide open. Coming off the final turn, it was a two hurler race with Jackson and Ryan Newtoff of Lincoln-Way Central. On the last hurdle, they were still even. At the line, Jackson made a lunge at the finish line and tumbled on the blue track. Both athletes received the same time of 37.58. Jackson had nipped Newtoff by 7 ten thousandths of a second. Jackson became the second athlete from the Chicago Public League to win an individual championship during this meet.
1600 Meter Run
It was over 90 degrees at this point. Coming back from a 3200 double, would Andrew Smith of York and Jack Driggs were coming back on a double in this field. Early in the race, Maine South's David Eckhart led the pack through a 62 second quarter with Nico Composto of Loyola Academy, Alec Bollman of Palatine, and Angelos Karkalis of Rolling Meadows following right behind. The pace slowed down over the next 600 meters with Composto taking command of the race. Bollman was just sitting there, waiting for his moment.
When the bell rang, that was Bollman's moment. The 1:52 800 runner made a surge that no one could respond to. Former Palatine Coach Fred Miller commented after the race, " He's been running for the team all season. This weekend was all for him." Driggs and Smith made the same kind of move that they did in the 3200, but Bollman had built up a lead. Down the home stretch, it was Bollman's race with Composto holding off a game Driggs. Bollman covered the last 400 in 57.8 seconds.
200 Meter Dash
Tremaine Gordon of Evanston made it a clean sweep for the Central Suburban South in the sprints winning the 200. Gordon held off a charge from Timothy Faust of Thornton and Brandon Stryganek of Stevenson to claim a title that had avaided him over the last two years.
4 x 400 Meter Relay
Neuqua Valley came into this event on a mission. This was their race and they wanted to claim the 2010 title as theirs. Early on in the race, Plainfield South had other ideas. They took an early lead on Neuqua on the second leg...it came down to three teams with Downers Grove North entering the battle. At the final exchange, Sheldon Magee of Plainfield South held an early lead on Aryan Avant. Coming around the turn, Avant took the lead and would not relinquish it. At the line, the jubulant Senior celebrated with his teammates as they knew that the race was theirs. Plainfield South sported an all underclassman squad and will be tough next year.
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