RESULTS

Emerging is probably the best way to describe the Elmhurst (York) Dukes so far this season.  After finishing 5th in an invitational last week, Coach Stan Reddel and his staff knew they had some work to do.  Instead of competing in a mid-week meet, most of the Duke Calvary stayed back at school for an intense workout.  The result?  York scored 151 points- a convincing win over Glen Ellyn (Glenbard South) 98 and Mt. Prospect (Prospect) 77.  Hoffman Estates racked up 76.75 pts and St. Charles East rounded out the top 5 scoring teams with a modest 57 pts.

The basic storyline for a defending state champion usually is “how will they respond?”  Consider last week in a 12-team invite at Proviso West, the Dukes only tallied 11.5 sprint and field pts.  But this time they rolled 46 big ones against virtually the same level of competition.  The Dukes are not out of the woods yet, but for this weekend anyway home cooking was the perfect recipe to get untracked. 

Glenbard South, a 2A school, is starting to show signs of being a possible contender to do some big things during the post-season.  The Raiders produced several winners on Saturday, but the most telling story was the 4x400m relay.  GBS anchor Garret Payne thrilled the crowd with a chilling end to the meet (read 4x4 details below).

Key event summary log-

Field events: TJ- Davonte McWaine (York) 41-8.75.  The Dukester made it two years in a row for a York winner; PV- Pat Meyers (Prospect) and Aaron Sanchez (St. Charles North) had to settle for a tie at 12-9 when matters could not be settled at 13-1; HJ- Ben Bowers (Conant) led four jumpers over 6-0 with record winning 6-6.

4x800m relay-
York 8:07.0 [2:00.0, 2:05.2, 2:03.3, 1:59.4]
St. Charles East 8:11.0 [(1) 2:00.0]
Prospect 8:12.0
Analysis: impressive was it that the Dukes unveiled virtually a completely different lineup from a week ago.  But of course, having one of the state’s top middle-distance programs is a big plus.  As for the race itself, Khusphall Sangha drew the leadoff assignment for York.  He wasn’t shy in getting out well through the opening 400m.  St. Charles and Prospect joined in on the fun as the first exchange closed in.  York and St. Charles East very locked even (2:00) with Prospect a tic or two back.  Things quickly began to tighten up on the second leg- the pace seemingly coming to a crawl.  York’s Ron Hedman pushed hard to gain separation in the late going but could only muster a 2:05.2, but St. Charles nor Prospect could take advantage of a golden opportunity to lead.  Needless to say, this was going to go down to the wire.  The action resumed to respectability with the penultimate legs.  Nick Gornick of York had the most important job as a conduit.  Get the stick to Jack Driggs!  Gornick held his ground for Driggs.  Driggs didn’t panic when he got the baton and the race was still anyone’s to win.  St. Charles East anchor Tim Johnson was there locked tight on Driggs's heals.  It was now a two-man battle as Prospect fell back and appeared content to hold on to 3rd place.  It was less than two laps remaining that a collective partisan crowd realized what was about to come as the final bell rung.  Driggs launched into a tremendous kick and separated from Johnson.  It was over.

3200m-
Andrew Smith (York) 9:24.7 [68.3, 2:21.9, 3:34.4, 4:46.1, 5:57.1, 7:10.6, 8:21.6, 9:24.7]
Bob Guthrie (Naperville North) 9:27.9 [3:34.5, 4:46.1, 5:57.1, 7:10.5, 8:22.0, 9:27.9]
Kyle Gonzalez (Hoffman Estates) 9:37.8
Analysis: Smith indicated the previous week a desire to the “2-mile” and run it well.  It was right away that Smith’s words rung true as he took the lead.  In tow, were notables Guthrie, Chano Bernardo (Palatine: 4th- 9:39.8), Chris Spudic (Prospect: 8th- 10:19.7), and Gonzalez.  A steady diet of low 70-second circuits after the first 400m was turned out like clockwork for the quintet in the early going.  The first mile breached Spudic (4:46.9).  He lasted another lap or two before succumbing to the quickened pace.  Bernardo and Gonzalez stayed intact until 2400m.  It was all Smith and Guthrie with 800m to go.  Guthrie actually took a brief lead at the 2600m mark, but it was short lived.  Smith began his final surge with less than 400m remaining.  The biggest gap since the opening lap was created.  Guthrie’s ability to cover Smith’s surge failed.  Smith final outburst to the finish line made the verdict appear much easier than it was.  It wasn’t so said a sweat filled Smith.  “It was a little hard out there… but I’m ok.”

800m-
Khusphall Sangha (York) 2:01.0 [59.6/61.4]
Marlen Hamilton (Hoffman Estates) 2:01.1
Analysis: it was basically a two-man race once the dust settled.  Hamilton, the usually head band wearing lad didn’t waste much effort getting out front.  He opened a little conservatively in 28.xx and then 59.3 at the halfway post.  Sangha played it smart since he was doubling back from the 4x8r and shadowed him.  Hamilton stayed true at 600m (1:30.7-1:30.9) but Sangha didn’t seem fazed.  As the two duel the final 200m nothing was decided.  Finally, with the finish line in sight, Sangha reached inside with a little more gusto and nipped Hamilton for the narrow victory. “I wasn’t ready to take the lead yet,” offered Sangha shortly afterwards.  Hamilton countered with a different outcome: “my legs gave up on me at the end.”  Maybe round two will be scheduled somewhere in the future.

400m-
Garret Payne (Glenbard South) 50.6- the slick running junior set a field house record and won by nearly two seconds.

1600m-
Jack Driggs (York) 4:22.3 [65.1, 2:14.0, 3:23.4, 4:22.3]
Alec Bollman (Palatine) 4:22.8
Ken Halloran (Prospect) 4:29.1
Analysis: quality, quality, quality for all entered here.  Driggs wasted very little time as he took over the chores of leading the circuits.  In matter of seconds Bollman joined in.  This was the Palatine senior first real competition of the season, and he didn’t disappoint.  As the race pass the halfway point, it was clear that it was more of a tactical affair- and these two sluggers have deadly kicks.  Bollman took the lead at 1200m in still a modest at best pace, but Driggs didn’t seem concerned.  On the backstretch Driggs moved back out in front for the bell lap.  It was here that Driggs opened up on Bollman as did his teammate Adam Smith did on Bob Guthrie in the 3200m several hours prior.  Driggs launched a kick that Bollman could not cover and the rest is history.

200m-
Austin Williams (Glenbard South) 23.3
Conner Hennessey (York) 23.5
Analysis: Williams (left) and Hennessey waged a good battle that ultimately upended Jeff Stolzenburg of St. Charles East, who was leading prior to the final heat.  At the on set of the championship heat, Williams was actually trailing in the early going but turned on the jets just in time to win his first major individual title.

4x400m relay-
Glenbard South 3:34.1 [55.4, 53.9, 55.0, 49.8]
York 3:34.4
Analysis: Hoffman Estates took the first exchange on the strength of Marlen Hamilton’s 53.6 carry.  However, the Hawks lead was short lived as York got the crowd live with a takeover.  The Dukes continue to lead and even showed signs they might not want to come back to the pack.  But as a lot of people know the 4x4 is the most exciting race in track and it often comes down to the anchor legs.  True indeed.  York anchor Davonte McWaine ran the open 400m earlier with so-so results.  But he won the triple jump and that may have been the spark because he ran tough… but Glenbard South’s Garret Payne was coming.  He was charging hard and just nipped McWaine at the finish and just like that the meet was over.