2014 highlights

IHSA State

@Eastern Illinois

May 30-31, 2014

By: Bill Stone

Hinsdale Central senior Nkemjika Nwosu often found motivation as a triple jumper through anger.

Try as he might, Nwosu couldn’t be upset during the Class 3A state meet finals for triple jump Saturday, May 31, at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Nwosu was on his way to becoming the Red Devils’ first all-stater in the event by taking fourth with a distance of 45 feet-6 1/2 inches.

Senior Billy Magnesen also earned his first all-state track medal by taking fifth the 3,200-meter run in a lifetime-best 9:12.13 fully automatic time.

”I guess being angry makes me jump a lot further. I couldn’t do it today. I was just too happy that I made finals,” Nwosu said. “I’m happy I’m going to be on the podium (for medal winners). That’s what I’ve been working for all year, the past four years actually.”

The Red Devils brought seven entries to state. In preliminaries Friday, May 30, the 3,200 relay of seniors Kevin Huang and Trent Hyland, sophomore Nathan Hill and senior Jake Hall finished 14th (7:56.25), only two places and .68 from the 12-team finals.

Senior Victor Ciardelli was 17th in the 300 intermediate hurdles (39.90), senior Kyle Stiff was 22nd in the 200 (22.69) and senior TJ Caveney was 21st (9:38.74) out the slower of two heats of the 3,200, which only is competed Saturday. The 800 relay of Nwosu, senior Derek Roberts, junior James Reilly and Stiff was disqualified for a handoff beyond the exchange zone.

”The one thing that was fun (Friday) was it seemed like we had something going throughout the day. It was kind of nice. It was fun just watching the kids and getting excited before the races,” Hinsdale Central head coach Jim Kupres said. ”We’ve just got to get over that hump and get some (more) kids to finals. It was good to get Nkemjika to that final.”

Nwosu, Magnesen, Huang, Stiff and Roberts were the only Red Devils with previous state track experience. They and the other seniors, however, were affected by graduation ceremonies being the evening of Thursday, May 29. They were supposed to be leaving for Charleston that morning.

The seniors remained behind, graduated, and then proceeded to Charleston immediately afterwards.

”We said you were allowed to throw your hats in the air basically, and then you’re supposed to talk over to the buses,” Magnesen said. “That’s pretty much what we did. By 9 o’clock I’d say we were on the road and on our way.”

The Red Devils had two individuals earn top-nine, all-state medals in the same year for the first time since Billy Fayette (3,200) and Zach Withall (1,600) in 2011.

On Nov. 9, Magnesen earned his first all-state medal by taking ninth at the 3A boys cross country state meet and helping the Red Devils capture their first team title in the sport. He built upon that Saturday after taking 27th in the 3,200 (9:26.02) out of the slower heat in his first state track appearance in 2013.

“I ran tough, ran with confidence. I’m pleased with how I ended my career. Clearly (all-state) means a lot to me, especially with all of the disappointment that I had my junior track season. This was a good way to make me forget about that,” Magnesen said.

”I’m pleased how (track) ended but the highlight of my career will always be Nov. 9, winning with all of those guys at state, a moment I’ll never forget. This was really nothing compared to cross country state meet. I think it was unlike nothing I’ve been a part of, finally realizing all of our goals. We were working for that trophy half a year basically. This weekend was a great finish, a great way to go out, all-state, run a PR.”

Nwosu returned to state for the first time since finishing 23rd as a sophomore in 2012 (42-10). Nwosu recalls that just making state was “all that mattered.” However, Nwosu went through a rough junior season in which he didn’t even compete at the outdoor West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet or sectionals.

Nwosu took the first step toward a big senior season when he jumped 46-0 March 7, an indoor school record and Hinsdale Central fieldhouse record.

At the Romeoville Sectional, Nwosu won with the longest triple jump in program history – 46-4 1/2, which broke the outdoor school record of 44-11 by Tom Dundzilla in 1982. It also was the state’s second-best sectional distance.

Now Nwosu is the Red Devils’ first all-stater in the event. Nwosu only was beaten at state by Lake Park senior Marcus Jegede (48-4 3/4), West Aurora sophomore Chris Walker (46-11 1/2) on his last attempt in finals, and Rock Island senior Chris Ehimwenman (46-3). Fifth-place Saint Ignatius senior Chris Hawkins (45-6) was just one-half inch behind Nwosu.

”I’m pretty excited about (making all-state history). I’m actually really happy. I have good coaches. I have people who care about me and because of that I was able to make it over here, downstate, and finals,” Nwosu said.

”You’ve got to be patient. You’ve got to trust your training, trust the system because that’s ultimately what gets you here, apart from natural talent. Your training, people supporting you, day in and day out, grinding, grinding, grinding, so that’s it.”

On Friday, Nwosu’s 44-10 in prelims was the eighth–longest jump among the 12 finals qualifiers but still just two inches from fifth. Unlike most other events at state, those performances carry over to Saturday.

Nwosu began Saturday with a 44-9. He then improved to 45-1 1/4 and then 45-6 1/2 on his last attempt to move into fourth. Walker, who entered Saturday in fifth, then had his 46-11 1/2 three jumpers later to take second and move Nwosu down one place.

Walker and Nwosu had the two longest jumps Saturday, although Jegede passed on his attempts.

”(Saturday) was an average day for me. I’m happy that I was able to at least by top four, top five, be all-state. This is what we train for, all-state,” Nwosu said. “This year, I had to prove a point. I’ve been working so hard for this. I wasn’t just doing it for myself. I was doing it for all of the people, all of my other teammates that didn’t qualify, all of the other people who I’ve been training with. Even the people I’ve been competing with, at like conference.”

Nwosu’s performance also was quite a debut for new jumps coach Kyle Mengarelli. He is in his first season of coaching track after being a standout triple jumper at NCAA Division III Monmouth (Ill.) College and graduating in 2013.

”A lot of (Nwosu’s success) has to do with him. A coach-athlete relationship, I think it’s a partnership. I can’t be a great coach unless I have great athletes. I think certain athletes with great talent won’t necessarily reach their full potential unless they have a great coach,” Mengarelli said.

“He has a great amount of talent, but the thing I was most happy with was he did a great job of listening, being coachable, making adjustments, coming to practice every day, making it a priority, focusing, doing every little thing he could. I think the capability was always in him, but he was able to access that talent with some character development, in terms of attitude and focus and motivation.”

Perhaps most impressive Saturday was Nwosu found a motivation within himself to improve even without the fuel of frustration that accompanied his two 46-foot days.

Indoors, Nwosu said he jumped so well because he had been upset about the way he ran earlier in the 55-meter dash. At sectionals, Nwosu had jumped beyond the state-qualifying standard of 44-10 by one inch, but the mark was then considered a scratch amid controversy. In finals, Nwosu exceeded the standard again on his fifth jump with a 45-9 and then climaxed with his 46-4 1/2.

Before sectionals, Nwosu had battled a series of injuries outdoors and hadn’t jumped further than 43-7 3/4 at the McCarthy Invite May 9. Now he’s hoping to continue jumping at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

”I knew I could always jump better than 43s. I did 43 my sophomore year so there’s no way two years later I peaked,” Nwosu said. “I’m pretty happy. I knew I was going to jump pretty far this year and I did it.”

For the 3,200, Magnesen had run a then lifetime-best 9:15.32 at the Prospect Invite May 2 and 9:17.17 at sectionals and certainly felt that he had a 9:10 in him, maybe even an outside shot at the school record of 9:06.6 by Jon Thanos in 1983.

In order to be at his best for state, Magnesen opted to scratch from the 1,600, the other event in which he qualified. Hot weather both days especially made the decision a good one. Of the nine all-staters in the 3,200, four also competed in the 1,600.

”You could see that (was a factor in the 3,200) and how they responded,” Magnesen said. “They looked a lot more tired. If everyone’s running fresh, the winning time is like 8:55, 10 seconds faster. Those guys are great runners and they deserve to go for multiple all-state spots. I tried to use it to my advantage that I wasn’t running the 1,600.”

The top three finishers – McHenry junior Jessie Reiser (9:03.60), O’Fallon senior Patrick Perrier (9:07.10) and Conant junior Zach Dale (9:07.82) – later earned all-state in the 1,600 with Perrier winning in 4:10.34.

It’s no wonder then that the 3,200 started out slow and strategic. That’s when the fresher Magnesen threw a twist into the race. He grabbed the lead – and boldly – at the start of the fourth lap. He was ahead by two seconds at the 1,600-meter mark in 4:36.

”When the pace went out slow, I wasn’t shocked. (But) three laps in, I didn’t expect to be taking it out on my own and building the lead I had,” Magnesen said. “Basically what I had to do was move away so they couldn’t catch up on the kick. It was a move I had to make to reach my goal time and reach my all-state goal.”

Distance coach Jim Westphal said the strategy was never discussed before the race, but he was only a little surprised. Magnesen tried a similar strategy in the 1,600 at the Silver Meet before finishing second to Downers Grove North senior standout Zack Smith and a slight variation en route to winning the 3,200 at Prospect.

”I was maybe a little caught off guard simply because of the field. You have three or four top two-milers in the state and that had run under 9:00,” Westphal said. “As it turned out, (Magnesen) was able to maintain that pace and looked comfortable doing it. I thought it was a good plan of action by Billy.”

Magnesen continued his sizeable lead during the fifth, sixth and seventh laps with nobody challenging him. The trail pack began to close the gap toward the start of the final lap.

”I had no idea where anyone was. I wasn’t hearing anything. I just had to run my own race. When I went to the front I just had to focus on moving up, keep moving the pace,” Magnesen said.

By the first turn of the final lap, Perrier grabbed the lead, and Reiser and Dale also passed Magnesen over the next 100 meters. Magnesen still held fourth until Yorkville junior Luke Hoffert (9:12.10) caught him from behind right before the finish the line by .03.

”I don’t really have any regrets (doing that strategy). I look at pictures and I’m up by 25 meters. I wish I hadn’t gotten caught by so many guys at the end,” Magnesen said. “I don’t regret it at all. It was the best strategy for an all-state spot and the best way to make the race the quality of a state championship race.

“Had I tried not to surge like that, I’m guessing the pace would have stayed pretty slow until the mile, three laps to go and then everybody would hammer it. That’s not my race. I run a fast pace. I wanted to make sure the state-winning time was a state-winning (caliber) time. That’s how the race ended up going and I think it ended up working to my advantage at the end.”

Magnesen posted the program’s second-best state finish to Thanos, who was fourth in 1983. Magnesen also is believed to own the third-fastest lifetime best for the Red Devils behind Thanos’ record and Billy Fayette, who ran 9:09.97 at the 2011 Prospect Invite en route to taking seventh at state in 9:18.65.

Perhaps the best validation of Magnesen’s strategy is that, according to DyeStat Illinois, the only runners in poor distance conditions to achieve season or lifetime bests Saturday were he and Danville junior Caleb Hummer (9:23.41). Hummer finished seventh overall after being the top finisher in the first section, which is run approximately one hour earlier.

Magnesen’s effort also put him more than seven seconds ahead of the sixth-place Smith (9:19.79), who had beaten him at sectionals (9:16.28 to 9:17.17).

”It suited him, it’s a race he prefers and it worked out. I think it was a good result,” Westphal said. ”The conditions certainly were not ideal for fast times and he made a race of it and made the other guys work hard and not let anybody sit around for a mile, mile and a half and let it be a spring.”

His track career began with promise in his first season of cross country and track as a sophomore. He was fairly successful on the frosh-soph level after playing soccer as a freshman.

His early training was inconsistent because of knee problems, but he never really looked back after a great race at the season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invite for the 2012 cross country season.

“When I started out, I was kind of lazy, didn’t have the passion for the sport. I did definitely accomplish more than I ever thought I could. I’m very fortunate to be in a program where the coaches and teammates were here to push me and I’m certain without them I wouldn’t be in the situation I have been.

”I basically learned that nothing comes quickly. When I started, I thought I’d be good at the start, breeze right through. In running, that’s not going to happen, especially the type of guys we’re running against. Basically the sport taught me how good things will happen to those who wait.”

Competition – or the lack of – played a factor in another disappointing state meet for the 3,200 relay in its fourth straight state appearance.

The Red Devils, competing in the second of three heats, finished fourth but 2.78 seconds behind third-place Crystal Lake South (7:53.47).

Huang led off with a 1:57 split, followed by Hyland (1:56), Hill (2:01) and Hall (1:59). For the final two legs, Hill and Hall ran without any nearby competition.

”I was coming towards the line and I saw 7:53. I tried to get there. We were very worried (we wouldn’t advance),” Hall said. “All I did was focus on (second-place Lyons Township anchor Alex Lima) in front of me and said, ‘Don’t let the gap change.’ That was my only benchmark. Definitely throw us in another heat, probably heat 3, and I think we would have qualified.”

Beforehand, Hinsdale Central distance coaches Jim Westphal and Noah Lawrence had told the relay that, based on data from previous state meets, it needed to run at least 7:55 to advance.

After their race Friday, the Red Devils remained off to the side on the infield to watch the final heat. Five teams advanced out of the heat.

The final overall qualifier was fifth-place St. Charles North (7:55.57), which was .24 behind fourth-place Glenbard West (7:55.33). Sixth-place heat team Batavia (7:56.17) also did not qualify for finals but was .60 behind St. Charles North and only .08 faster than the Red Devils.

”It was definitely really disappointing. All I know if we really all just layed it out there,” Huang said. “I know it’s the state meet. Really I look back towards the season and it’s just been really incredible. The amount of work we put in was incredible. I definitely think it’s been a great season. I was really glad I got to run with these guys. I’m sure the underclassmen will definitely come along next year and take up our mantle.”

The Red Devils’ season-best time was 7:55.55 at the Silver Meet with the same four runners. That time would have advanced Friday by just .02 over St. Charles North for the last spot.

This year’s state alternates were senior Emmett Scully, junior Matt McBrien, freshman Blake Evertsen and Magnesen. Scully, McBrien and Evertsen also were part of the cross country state lineup.

Of the Red Devils’ recent state lineups, only the 2012 team made the finals, taking 11th (7:55.41), 1.95 seconds from a top-nine finish. Huang was the only returnee from last year’s state lineup, which finished 17th (7:57.90) and 1.77 seconds from the finals.

”You look at the last five, six years, that’s about what he average was to make finals (7:55). We didn’t run that so we didn’t make finals. It’s pretty cut and dry,” Westphal said.

“When you get down (to state), you don’t have to do anything significant, but you have to run a little bit quicker. I know it was disappointing for them but when you’re in that situation, you have to execute. But nobody ran poorly. I thought they all ran what they’ve been running.”

Hyland did have state track experience from when he lived in Connecticut as a sophomore. He transferred to Hinsdale Central as a junior and continued focusing on 400s. He added 800s this season and was among the top beneficiaries of a new training method that added more speed work for the middle-distance lineup.

”(This season) was definitely an experience, not one that I’d necessarily want to go through again, especially in the winter running outside, the transition into long distance and everything, but I would say it was worthwhile. I think it paid off,” Hyland said.

”Definitely the state meet in Connecticut is not a big deal at all. At least it wasn’t for (our team). It’s like any other meet, basically like the sectionals meet. You don’t go anywhere special, really. It’s just a track. Not even comparable (to Illinois). I was really looking to run at state finals, but the way things worked out, that just didn’t happen.”

Hall received his first opportunity to compete at a state meet. He was hampered by illness last track season but had a great summer of training that looked to put him at least among the team’s top 12 runner. Just before the official start of pre-season, he was injured and never was able to contribute.

”It was just nice after wanting to run at state for so long – or at least go. Just to be down at state was really gratifying,” Hall said. “We had an amazing season of seniors training together. It’s by far the best collective effort of seniors, second semester, working really hard to get to run well.”

Now Hill will be the only veteran next season – as a junior. He earned the berth at a time trial the Monday before sectionals after competing in the 3,200 relay and the 1,600 at the Silver Meet on the frosh-soph level.

“We’re all such a tightly knit group, especially with the distance squad, that it was just a really good experience. Looking forward, if we’re taking some sophomores or juniors next year (we’ll see) all of the steps we need to take for our 4-by-800. Hopefully I’ll be on that team again,” Hill said.

”Trent and Kevin ran really well. We knew we were right on the bubble with that time. The whole experience is just phenomenal, getting to run against the best teams in the state in prelims is just an amazing experience. I just love going through the whole thing.”

Ciardelli earned his state spot after a lifetime-best 39.84 in the 300 hurdles at sectionals. On Friday, he felt that he had a chance to make the finals, but he would have needed to run at least 38.92 to reach the nine-hurdler state finals.

”It was a great opportunity. I had so much fun running today and just being with all of the guys,” Ciardelli said. “I didn’t run a great race by any means. It was kind of disappointing. I’m like officially done with high school now, done with track and I’m not running (at the University of Arizona). It kind of came right down on me all right when I crossed that finish line because I knew I didn’t make finals. It was just devastating.”

Ciardelli, however, made a pretty amazing comeback from a stress fracture in his hip, which sidelined him for six weeks to start the outdoor season.

With help of new hurdles coach John Marinier, Ciardelli made rapid progress, but he still was working on perfecting his race and steps between hurdles at state. Ciardelli ran a fairly clean race Friday, striking only the sixth of eight hurdles with his ankle heading into the final straightaway.

”Last week, I overstrided up to the second hurdle and my stride pattern was too long. I had to slow it down today and I’ve never tried it before,” Ciardelli said.

“Obviously, I’m playing with stride patterns at the wrong time and it didn’t work out well. I think I slowed down a little too much and I lost a little too much speed at the get go. The time off killed me, the six weeks. I wouldn’t have been changing around my stride pattern now. I would have been fixing up my start and hitting the second hurdle and gathering more speed.”

Stiff and Roberts returned from last year’s 800 relay, which finished 17th at state (1:30.98), only .34 from the nine-team finals. Reilly was among the four state alternates.

This year’s state alternates were seniors Pat Callahan and Sham Muhammad, junior Zac Hedayat and sophomore Matt Hillock. The state finals cut dropped to 1:28.05.

Stiff had the additional benefit of competing in the 200 after winning sectionals in a lifetime-best 22.33. At state, he improved upon being seeded 28th among sectional performances.

”I just kind of came back (for the 200) and tried to run my race as hard as I could. I didn’t match my PR but I still think I didn’t perform that poorly. I felt like I was in the race,” Stiff said. “I was kind of disappointed when I didn’t make finals, but being here itself was something to look highly upon because there are a lot of track athletes in the state and not a lot who make state.”

Stiff also was a newcomer to the program as a junior after transferring from Nazareth Academy with little previous track experience. Stiff hopes to compete in football or track at the University of Nebraska.

”I’ve been pretty fast my whole life and never really had formal training to hone those skills so Hinsdale Central track has meant a lot to me as an athlete and a person. It’s taught me a lot of valuable lessons,” Stiff said. “It’s been amazing to me. It kind of helped me find something I was, I guess, naturally good at because I hadn’t had that much training at that point. I started running track and I started committing to track.”

In the first section of the 3,200, Caveney was hoping to complete his track season in similar fashion to cross country. He had his best race ever at state to earn the final individual all-state spot with Huang right in front of him (24th and 25th).

Caveney had run a lifetime-best 9:26.89 at sectionals, and he wanted to finish hear the front of his heat. Saturday’s conditions didn’t help.

“I was happy with my season already going into this, but I wanted to end on a good note and I just couldn’t make that happen today,” Caveney said.

”It was pretty hot and sunny. I don’t mean to make excuses, but I always kind of do bad in the heat in general, have a hard time of adjusting to it. I made too big a move towards the start of the second lap, just drained all of my energy. The heat really started to hit me (the fifth and sixth laps) because my endurance was just drained at that point and I just had to hang onto other runners.”

Caveney said he was appreciative that he could spend this state trip with so many teammates. Caveney’s father, Andy, competed for the Red Devils at the state meet in the 3,200 relay and didn’t make the finals.

”His one regret was not leaving all he had down here so he said don’t be intimidated by the big stage and don’t have any regrets after the race,” Caveney said. ”It was just a great experience. I know it didn’t go our way for all of us (at state), but still a great ride, a great season.”

Roberts also had a great senior year, but he wasn’t able to show it at state. Roberts was hampered by a hamstring injury at the end of the Silver Meet that recurred at sectionals in the 200 finals after a decent prelim and leg for the 800 relay.

Roberts said he was hopeful he could squeeze at least one more good race out of his hamstring.

”I ran terrible (Friday). I felt bad. I totally ran slower than anyone else running. My hamstring just didn’t have it back-to-back (weeks),” Roberts said.

”It didn’t get healthy, but I was going to run anyway. I didn’t go full speed until the race so I didn’t really know for sure. I knew it hurt. Once I started running, I’m like it just has no push on it and I just kind of trotted along.”

While Roberts said he will miss competing for the Red Devils, he is excited that he will continue running at Miami (Ohio) University. Roberts was disappointed he could not compete near his best at state after being the Red Devils’ top runner in the 200 most of the season.

”I definitely enjoyed the team. I thought we always had a great team atmosphere,” Roberts said. “Last year, I was excited that I made (state). I wasn’t expecting it so much. This year, I knew I had the hamstring issue and once again wasn’t really expecting much. It’s just kind of like, ‘Well, let’s see what happens,’ but my expectations were low and they were correct.”

Injuries also affected Reilly, but some good fortune came as a result. The 400 runner had to turn his focus to 200s and he was able to parlay that into a spot on the 800 relay and state competition.

State was only the third time Reilly competed with the 800 relay this outdoor season. Now he’s the lone non-senior in the state lineup.

”I don’t see it like that because they’ve just been my teammates. I don’t see them as seniors, more like upperclassmen, the same as me,” Reilly said.

”Even though we didn’t do that well, it was just a good experience to run on the track. I’m used to the environment and now I’m not as nervous for next year, maybe. I wasn’t too disappointed, but I wish we could have done better. I think I still want to focus on the 400 more (for 2015). That’s my best event.”

One benefit for the Red Devils was that their state events covered the spectrum of middle-to-long distance, sprints, jumps and hurdles.

The Red Devils’ state entries also qualified with season or lifetime-best performances at sectionals, most of which equaled or exceeded the respective state-qualifying standards, rather than just qualifying automatically with top-two sectionals finishes.

”Sectionals was very exciting, and just looking at the future, it’s one of those things where in cross country we were on and off and this year we were on all season. And it showed at state,” Kupres said.

“I think with track it’s kind of the same thing. You can’t run fast times here and there. You have to be consistent. In cross country this year, we were shooting for a trophy. We weren’t just shooting to go down. We just need to find that with the track guys. We want to kind of build off this, not be happy with (only) making it, taking it to the next level.”

Although his high-school season was officially over, Huang enjoyed some nice track closure Friday night at the annual Under the Lights Meet at Eastern Illinois. The meet allows entries to compete on the state track at O’Brien Stadium, complete with FAT timing.

Huang entered the 1,600 and ran 4:17.68 – a personal best by 11 seconds.

Huang came closer to the actual cutoff time for the 1,600 state finals of 4:17.26.

”Being able to run that 4:17.68 was really gratifying,” Huang said. “Looking back on my senior year of track, running career, I’m definitely really proud first of all being cross country state champs. That was definitely huge. Really I feel like more of this track season was really more of mostly showing the underclassmen.”

The alternates for the 3,200 relay also competed Friday night. Evertsen’s 4:25.88 in his 1,600 set a freshman outdoor school record.

Huang hopes that the mindset and work ethic of this year’s senior class set the tone for the future.

”Usually there are always one or two kids that decide to take their second semester off. All of our seniors really did their best, even on the (junior varsity) level, finished the season strong so I’m really happy about that,” Huang said. “Hopefully this kind of goes back to sending a message to the rest of the program, the underclassmen, and showing them this is the right way to go out. This is how you work hard and this is how you become a state champion pretty much.”

While Magnesen will go down as one of the top distance runners in program history, his contribution may be even greater as a catalyst for the entire senior class commitment to more extensive offseason training.

Hill said that the underclassmen already have discussed summer training. Already a large group is committed to continue the exact workout schedule.

”(Magnesen’s) contributions are significant, without a doubt, not only individually but in terms of buying in, that team dynamic,” Westphal said. “He’ll be missed for sure but I think what’s he done is really set the bar for younger guys – as has Kevin, Emmett and TJ, those guys that have been with us three or four years. His legacy certainly will be held in the highest regard.”

IHSA State Track & Field Qualifiers

2014

4x800 Meter Relay

Kevin Huang

Trent Hyland

Nathan Hill

Jake Hall

3200 Meter Run

Billy Magnesen

TJ Caveny

4x200 Meter Relay

Derek Roberts

James Reilly

Nkemjika Nwosu

Kyle Stiff

300M Intermediate Hurdles

Victor Ciardelli

1600M Run

Billy Magnesen

Triple Jump

Nkemjika Nwosu

IHSA Sectionals

@Lewis University

Hosted by: Romeoville High School

May 23, 2014

By: Bill Stone

Senior Kyle Stiff entered the Class 3A Romeoville Sectional as one of only four returning athletes from the Hinsdale Central boys track team’s 2013 state meet lineup.

By the time the 800-meter relay rolled around, Friday, May 23, at Lewis University, Stiff simply wanted to be among the Red Devils’ rapidly growing crowd of state qualifiers.

“The 4-by-800 (relay) and everybody was kind of doing well, as far as other events qualifying for state and achieving (personal records), so everybody was kind of in a good mood,” Stiff said. “You kind of feed off that energy to succeed and you kind of are more motivated to succeed yourself, to kind of join your teammates in the winner’s circle.”

Stiff not only advanced again with the 800 relay but also won the 200 as part of eight Hinsdale Central entries and 11 athletes whose performances qualified for the state meet Friday and Saturday, May 30-31, at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Entries qualify for state automatically with top-two sectional finishes or by achieving state-qualifying marks at the sectional.

Senior Nkemjika Nwosu’s 46 feet-4 1/2 inches in triple jump – the longest distance in program history – and Stiff’s 200 in a personal-best 22.33 were the Red Devils’ sectional champions.

Senior Billy Magnesen advanced in both the 3,200 with a second-place 9:17.17 and 1,600 with a fourth-place 4:19.99 that beat the 4:22.04 state cut.

Senior Victor Ciardelli (300 intermediate hurdles in 39.84) and the 800 relay of Nwosu, senior Derek Roberts, junior James Reilly and Stiff (1:29.57) both finished second.

The third-place 3,200 relay of seniors Kevin Huang and Trent Hyland, sophomore Nathan Hill and senior Jake Hall (7:56.33) and fourth-place senior TJ Caveney in the 3,200 (9:26.89) advanced by beating the state cuts of 7:58.04 and 9:29.04.

The Red Devils (73 points) finished third to Downers Grove North (103) and Bolingbrook (80.5).

”Overall, I thought the team did much better. They came together really nice,” Hinsdale Central head coach Jim Kupres said. “I know the guys that qualified, they can still run faster. I think a lot of the guys want to make it to finals on Saturday, which they’re very capable of doing.”

Besides Stiff, Roberts (800 relay), Magnesen (3,200) and Huang (3,200 relay) also competed at state last year, and Nwosu qualified for state in triple jump as a sophomore. Caveney has state experience as part of the boys cross country state championship lineup Nov. 9 that was led by Magnesen and Huang.

The only advancing performance that did not exceed or equal the event’s state-qualifying standard was Stiff’s 200 victory. Ciardelli’s 39.84 would have qualified by equaling the state cut, but immediately after his race, all he knew was he edged Lockport junior Ryan Brock (40.17) by .33 for the last automatic state berth.

”Oh my gosh, just to know that all of your hard work has paid off and you’re going to state, it’s an indescribable feeling,” Ciardelli said. “After I crossed the finish line, I knew I made it because I came in second. I was just so happy. I even ran one of the worst races of the season. I hit almost every hurdle and 17-stepped the second hurdle and I still managed to qualify. It’s a great feeling.”

The Red Devils’ success nearly created another problem. The team usually leaves as a group for Charleston on Thursday to practice and train on the track, but this year, Thursday, May 29, also is the night of Hinsdale Central’s graduation ceremony.

Kupres said arrangements are made so that the seniors will stay behind for graduation and then be driven to Charleston immediately afterwards.

There was a fleeting moment where the seniors wondered if they would have to skip the ceremony.

”I think that’s the way it was looking until (Kupres) made that announcement,” Stiff said. “I think that’s better. I know my mom was pretty on me about missing graduation so I think it takes a lot of the stress off. My grandfather’s flying in from out of state. I think it takes a lot of guilt off me because I was feeling pretty guilty about (missing graduation).”

On Friday, only the top-nine finishers advance to Saturday’s finals for track events that use all nine lanes. In other events with Red Devils, there are 12 finalists for the 3,200 relay and 1,600 and triple jump. The 3,200 is only run in two heats Saturday. Only Saturday’s results determine the results for the nine all-staters per event.

Based on sectional performances, Nwosu is seeded No. 2 in triple jump to Bloom senior Malik Jenkins (46-7). Unlike track events, Friday performances in triple jump, long jump, shot put and discus carry over to Saturday’s finals but can be improved.

Magnesen is No. 10 in the 3,200 and No. 20 in the 1,600. The 3,200 relay is No. 14, Ciardelli is tied for No. 26, Caveney is No. 27, Stiff is No. 28 and the 800 relay is No. 33. Nwosu qualified for state in triple jump as a sophomore, but he was injured just before sectionals and ended up 23rd at state (42-10).

Nwosu surpassed his previous best of 46-0, the indoor school record, and broke the outdoor school record of 44-11 by Tom Dundzilla in 1982. First-year Hinsdale Central jumps coach Kyle Mengarelli said Nwosu’s first jump in finals was a scratch but otherwise would have been around 47 feet.

“With the (46-4 1/2) jump that I had, that puts me pretty high seeded in state, but I’m not just going to count on that. I’m going to shoot for 47 so I have my spot solidified,” Nwosu said. “I have confidence in my training. It brought me this far. I’m just going to keep on trusting it.”

In 2013, Magnesen was 27th at state in the 3,200 (9:26.02) in his first state track appearance. He’s coming off taking an all-state ninth at the boys cross country state meet as the Red Devils’ top finisher. Huang (24th) and Caveney (25th) earned the last two individual all-state spots. ”At the state meet, it’s kind of all about place and I want to be up front, pushing the pace and going right with some of the best guys. That’ll push me to a good time, obviously, but I’m not going to be happy with just the time, I think,” Magnesen said.

”I want to be all-state in the 3,200. I want to be top-three in the 3,200. (It’s) a quality field at state. There are going to be a bunch of people under 9:10 and I think I’m ready to go way under 9:10.”

Several Hinsdale Central athletes had their confidence tested Friday, and slightly shaken, but they did what was necessary to advance.

While Magnesen battled Downers North senior Zack Smith (1st, 9:17.17) up front in the 3,200, Caveney trailed Downers North senior Jeremy Craven (3rd, 9:24.81) and appeared to be losing ground during the sixth and seventh laps.

There was no visible clock at the finish line and the track scoreboard wasn’t being used, but distance coach Noah Lawrence yelled out splits. After his sixth and seventh laps were 1:16 and 1:14, respectively, Caveney covered the final 400 in a blistering 1:06 to advance with more than two seconds to spare. He also pulled Shepard senior Josh Maier (5th, 9:27.95) along with him to qualify.

”(Distance coaches Lawrence and Jim Westphal) told me I’d have to kick hard to qualify. I was hurting, but I just gave it all I could and it ended up well,” Caveney said.

“It was great. I’ve just been thinking about this race all week. I really didn’t want to end my season with a bad race. It was a feeling of relief (to qualify). I kind of lost contact, but I knew I had hit a fast first mile (4:36) so I didn’t count myself out at any point.”

After having his best cross country race at state, Caveney hopes to do the same Saturday. At the 2013 Downers Grove North Sectional, Caveney was seventh in the 3,200 in 9:46.70 after a then personal-best 9:39.7 manual time two weeks earlier at the McCarthy Invite.

”That was a frustrating way to end last season and I didn’t want a repeat of that at all,” Caveney said. “Each season I know I can get better with the training. I have an expectation to improve my times each season, whether it be track or cross country. My goal was to qualify for state this season from the beginning. I knew I could do it and I give it my all.”

The 3,200 relay also received a scare but beat the cut by 1.71 seconds. The Red Devils appeared destined to advance on time, if not catch Sandburg (7:47.56) and Downers North (7:51.90), but Hall struggled through a 2:02 anchor leg after a lifetime-best 1:57 at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet May 16.

Again, no visible clock coming down the final straightaway added to the stress. ”Lawrence was like, ‘You’ve got to go.’ I’ve never heard Kevin scream in my life and I heard him yell at me twice during that race. I knew I wasn’t running well, but I was like, ‘It’s worse than I thought,’ ” Hall said.

”Oh jeez, that was terrible. I was so upset afterwards. I still am. I knew I ran so poorly – but five seconds slower than last week is a lot. I just didn’t have it today. It was an all-around bad race. All parts of it were just pretty bad.”

The relay also had several highlights. Most important, the Red Devils get their chance to reach the finals. This is the 3,200 relay’s fourth straight trip to state but none have resulted in all-state honors. The 2012 lineup reached the finals and was 11th (7:55.41), 1.95 seconds from ninth. Huang also led off the 2013 state lineup, which was 17th (7:57.90), only 1.77 seconds from the 12-team finals.

”I know last year, I took a lot upon myself actually because by the time I handed off to Dylan (Palo), we were already a little bit out of it,” Huang said. “Now I know I can run with the best guys in the state in the 4-by-800. I know I can put my teammates in position and let them take the rest from there.”

On Friday, Huang opened in 1:56.2. Hyland (1:57.6) and Hill (1:59.8), both new to the varsity lineup this season, followed with personal-best splits.”I think at this point, it really is about all of us clicking at the same time. It seems like each one of us doesn’t run too well. Once we get all of our cylinders rolling, hopefully next week we can all run our best,” Huang said.

Hill joined the varsity after being part of the 3,200 relay and taking second in the 1,600 on the frosh-soph level at the Silver Meet. Hill was added to the lineup based on results of a time trial May 19.

Friday was only his second varsity appearance with the 3,200 relay and only third overall. He ran his previous best split of 2:00.7 at the McCarthy Invite May 9.

”(Sectionals and varsity) is definitely a change, but I liked it a lot. I love that race,” Hill said. “It was awesome. I love varsity races. It was so competitive and high intensity and I just love being in that situation, responding to that pressure.” Hill was a latecomer to track as a freshman and has shown potential but has often been sidetracked by injuries. His cross country season was spent mostly recovering from severe shin splints but he finished strong as one of the top runners on the frosh-soph level.

After uninterrupted training prior to indoor track, he then was hampered by illness and foot problems but managed to compete at the conference meet. His outdoor season has been mostly a healthy one. ”These last three weeks, four week, end of the season have been really consistent and I ran great races at conference and now here I ran well,” Hill said. “Coach knew is Money May, times are starting to plummet and we’re getting the job done.”

Hyland is new to the 800 this year. He competed at the state track meet as a sophomore in Connecticut and then was a move-in to Hinsdale Central as a junior, competing in the 400 and 1,600 relay. ”Last year, I ran was a 400 guy only and the year before that I was (the 400 and 200). The 800 was never really my thing, but a lot can change in a year, and it did,” Hyland said. “I wouldn’t have guessed it, but I’m glad that I’m here now.”

Hyland certainly has been one of the beneficiaries of this season’s new training program for middle distance that has incorporated more sprinting.

Hyland was pleased with his split Friday, but he and Hill didn’t feel too good afterwards. ”My legs locked up at about 150 (meters left) and I had pull out my arms to keep going. It’s not my first time getting sick after a race, but hopefully my last,” Hyland said. “I think we could potentially be all-state. I think that we have a lot of motivation. I feel like we’ve really bought in. We really want this so bad. And we’re willing to work hard for it.”

Before the final leg, the Red Devils were in contention of beating their season best of 7:55.55 from the Silver Meet and challenging the low 7:50s.

At state, times usually are faster Friday, but in last year’s state finals, Saint Ignatius took the last all-state spot in a ninth-place 7:54.85. ”I’m looking for some redemption at state,” Hall said. “That was really unfortunate that I ran like that (Friday). If everyone’s the same time and I run a 1:57 (at state), we’re 7:51, 7:52, which is all-state usually, or on the bubble. I’m looking for that.”

Ciardelli figured he was in contention to advance in the 300 hurdles. He was the No. 1 seed at 39.42 but it’s been a tough comeback from a stress fracture in his hip, resulting in his not competing in the event outdoors until mid-May. As a junior, Ciardelli was unable to even compete at sectionals because of a pulled muscle.

”That was just me being dumb and not listening to the trainers because I just kept running on it and it got worse,” Ciardelli said. Under new hurdles coach John Marinier, Ciardelli came back gradually. His first outdoor race during a weekday meet with no pressure was a bit discouraging, but Ciardelli slowly regained his form and confidence.

At the Silver Meet, he almost won the event, but he tripped over the final hurdle and ended up second to York’s Jarvis Hill (39.42 to 40.62). Considering the fall, his time further validated he was a state contender.

”It would have given me so much more confidence if I came in first and beat Jarvis so I don’t know if it did help me (Friday). It did motivate me a lot more to see him in the state finals or see him at state and beat him then,” Ciardelli said. ”Honestly, the only time I really had a doubt (about state) was my first race back. (Marinier) wanted me to take it relaxed because it was my first race back and I ran worse than I even thought I should be running. That made me nervous, but since then I’ve really had no doubts. I just need to clean up my hurdling a little bit, got to get it quicker for state.”

Like the Silver Meet, sectionals was a battle down the stretch. Ciardelli had his struggles, but he finished strong.

On Friday, Ciardelli was determined not to hit the final hurdle. He only finished .42 behind Lockport senior Cody Andrus (39.42) for the sectional championship. ”I actually leaped it. I went too high just because I was afraid I was going to hit it and fall again (like the Silver Meet). I still managed to win (second) and that’s all that matters,” Ciardelli said.

“I was going to do anything in that last 70 meters to beat (Brock). I pulled it out at the end. That’s due to my training and my coach (Marinier). The interval training that he has us doing I give him a lot of credit. If it weren’t for him, I don’t think I would be in this situation. I’ve had a different coach every single year and by far he’s the best coach I’ve had for hurdling.”

At last year’s sectional, the 800 relay with Roberts, Stiff and graduated Grady Tomlinson and Gideon Ticho had a slower time of 1:30.70. The Red Devils were second but later officially awarded first when Sandburg was disqualified following the race and an exchange zone violation. At state, the Red Devils ran 1:30.98 and placed 17th, only .34 from the nine-team finals.

On Friday, the 800 relay entered sectionals with the No. 1 seed (1:30.24), more than half a second faster than any other seed time.

”I was just nervous but I felt that we could make it because we had the fastest seed time. That kind of boosts your confidence a little bit,” Roberts said. “I felt confident because we just had a faster relay than we did last year. I felt if we could do it last year, we can definitely do it this year.”

While this was the first time the Red Devils used this exact lineup, history repeated itself. It turned out to be another Sandburg-Hinsdale Central battle.

While the Eagles prevailed (1:29.51) by only .06, the Red Devils’ season-best 1:29.57 held off third-place Hinsdale South (1:30.86) by 1.29 seconds to guarantee advancement.

“When I got the baton (as the anchor), I saw a couple of guys ahead of me on the curve. I knew I had that inside lane so I had to get in front of them and fight my way to the top,” Stiff said. ”I think we were halfway through the homestretch when I passed (Sandburg) by a meter and he kind of slingshotted on me. That’s what track is all about. It’s about fighting. You don’t want to, I guess, win by too much because then you don’t feel like you’ve accomplished anything. It’s kind of the thrill behind cutting it close, fighting it out.”

Finding relay runners to complement Roberts and Stiff took time. Nwosu may be the team’s fastest 200 runner, but he spent most of the spring recovering from injury and trying to find consistency in his jumping.

Reilly was a state alternate for last year’s 800 relay, but the 400 was his primary distance. When shin and ankle injuries affected his training, he returned to action in the relay at the Lincoln-Way West Invite May 2. It was the only time he competed in the relay this season before Friday.

“It’s pretty crazy. I’m kind of used to the atmosphere already (for state). To be on the track, actually (competing) will be great,” Reilly said. ”I ran 200s before, freshman and sophomore year. I’m used to it. It’s so much easier after running 400s. It’s really nice.”

The Red Devils’ work on handoffs paid off. Reilly was especially excited about his handoff to Stiff after they had a rough exchange at Lincoln-Way West. ”On Friday, it went perfect. All of our handoffs were perfect and awesome. We worked a lot on it,” Reilly said. “I thought we had a chance (to qualify), but I still thought I’d have to run my best and everything. We had to work hard for it. Once I handed off to Stiff, I just knew that instant that we made it. Once Stiff took off, he had it in the bag.”

The 800 relay performance set the tone for Nwosu and Stiff for their individual events.

The triple jump preliminaries hadn’t even started and Nwosu was pumped. However, Nwosu faced a challenge when one of his preliminary jumps of 44-11, which would have automatically advanced him to state, was then inexplicably ruled a scratch.

Mengarelli and later Kupres tried to get the ruling overturned, much less explained, to no avail. Nwosu did the only thing he could – he jumped even better.

”We tried to figure out what was going on, but they still wouldn’t budge. That’s what motivated me to go and jump a lot further, to prove that I could qualify. They scratched it, but it doesn’t matter now,” Nwosu said.

”It’s like the day that I went 46-0 indoor. It was because I was angry. I was basically jumping with a purpose. I had something to actually work for, too. I think being angry helped me a lot with the jumps.”

It turned out to be the best sequence ever for Nwosu, who won by nearly a foot over Romeoville senior Curshaun Pruitt (45-5). Nwosu was second to Pruitt with a 44-7, which held second by 6 1/4 inches, but then Nwosu took the lead with a qualifying 45-9 on his fifth jump.

Nwosu didn’t need his final jump, but Mengarelli wanted him to take it, especially after his previous distance – and the scratched potential 47-footer to begin finals.

”I wanted him to have the experience that I can jump my best on the last jump, even after I’ve done five exhausting jumps and the (800 relay). I think it was just a good, overall experience for him to realize that he’s very capable,” Mengarelli said.

”He never had the experience of, ‘Wow, I can do six good jumps in a row.’ By far, it’s his best. This is the best he’s done in terms of six good jumps and showing up on all six. You’re going to scratch some, which I’m fine with, as long as the scratches still look good from a technical standpoint. I thought he looked really strong.”

Although he did not jump Friday, Stiff said he felt the benefits of Mengarelli’s training techniques this season with his running.

Stiff followed with his best 200 ever in the finals. While his winning time was just shy of the 22.24 qualifying standard, Stiff’s 22.33 won by .19 over Romeoville junior D’Lante Dawson (22.52).

”That was a good moment for me. I don’t think I’ve taken, at any big meets, more than fourth in the 200,” Stiff said. “I felt good and I just ran as hard as I could because I knew that could have been my last individual race. I might as well just leave everything out there.”

Roberts wasn’t as fortunate. He entered as the top seed at 22.36 but was struggling physically by the finals and settled for eighth in 23.72.

At the end of the Silver Meet, Roberts strained his right hamstring. He ran well in the 200 prelims Friday (22.62) with the fifth-fastest time just behind Stiff’s 22.56. The injury resurfaced during Roberts’ second leg of the 800 relay.

”After the end of the turn, I tweaked it again. I just pushed through it and finished the race,” Roberts said.

”It felt pretty bad but OK to run so I tried in the 200. In the turn I felt bad but kind of ran well but I hit the straightaway and I just couldn’t pull up my leg fast enough and I just kind of fell behind. It sucked but I’m still going to state in the (800 relay). I’ll just do the same recovery and I should be good for next week.”

Roberts said he spent the week icing his hamstring regularly and taking “a bunch of” Ibuprofen. As the sectional was concluding, he was in the team area with his leg on top of a bag of ice.

”It feels better than I did at the end of last week (at conference) and I was able to run at least one good race this week. I can run one good race, hopefully (at state),” Roberts said.

How many good races will Magnesen have at state? He only has to run the 3,200 once on Saturday, but he’s at least considering not competing in the 1,600 Friday to give himself the best chance possible at his top-three goal.

The outdoor school records are 9:06.6 by Jon Thanos in 1983 for the 3,200 and 4:10.33 by Billy Fayette in 2011 for the 1,600. At the Silver Meet, Magnesen ran a lifetime best 4:16.65 in the 1,600 for second to Smith (4:14.01), third at state last year in 4:14.49.

”In a perfect world, I would love to double and love to run well in both. I’ll just have to decide what’s the most reasonable, given the situation,” Magnesen said.

”I feel like I made the most of my race today. It’s a tough double, obviously, but I’m glad I made it. I qualified for both and the opportunity’s there.” The Red Devils nearly had other entries advance to state. The 1,600 relay with Hyland, sophomore Dan Lillard, Hall and Ciardelli was third (3:26.50), 1.35 seconds behind second-place Sandburg and missing qualifying standard of 3:23.74.

Junior Steven Chun was fourth in pole vault (12-9) after previously clearing 13-6 more than once. Senior Pat Callahan was fourth in the 400 (52.75), 1.66 seconds from second place.

At last year’s sectional, Chun cleared a then career-best 11-3. On Friday, Chun would have had to clear the state-qualifying mark of 13-9 to advance. “He just didn’t have a good day, and he’s worked so hard. Throughout the year, he did a great job,” Kupres said. “(2013 graduate) Nick Piker’s junior year, Nick threw out of bounds (at sectionals in discus) but threw the distance and then Nick came back his senior year with a vengeance and kind of dominated. I told Steven next year isn’t about getting downstate, it’s about getting all-state. I know he can do it.”

Junior Alex Domiano was sixth in the 1,600 (4:29.80). Junior Griffin Gartner continued his strong transition from the 400 to 800 by taking ninth (2:01.46). The 400 relay of seniors Sham Muhammad and Ian Martell, junior Zach Hedayat and senior Keaton Tatooles was 10th (45.36) and senior Emmett Scully (800 in 2:01.96) and junior Josh Mysliwiec (career-best 127-4 in discus) were 11th.

McCarthy Memorial Track & Field Invitational

@Hinsdale Central High School

May 9, 2014

By: Bill Stone

The Hinsdale Central boys track and field team nearly won their 64th annual McCarthy Invitational Friday, May 9, for the first time since 2004.

The Red Devils’ 102 points with four event championship was a close second to Downers Grove North (110 points), which won the McCarthy for the first time since 2005 with five event winners. Oak Park-River Forest (71.5) was third.

In their final home track and field meet, Hinsdale Central seniors TJ Caveney, Victor Ciardelli and Nkemjika Nwosu went out as champions Friday, May 9. All three of them won individual events at the 64th annual McCarthy Invitational as the Red Devils finished second with 102 points.

Caveney’s victory in the 3,200-meter run in a lifetime-best 9:34.77 fully automatic time was especially significant.

”This is actually my first track race win ever,” Caveney said. “My senior year, I figured this was my last opportunity to win a race so I was really happy about that. That was one of my main goals going into it.”

Ciardelli won the 300 intermediate hurdles (41.89) and Nwosu won triple jump (43 feet-7 3/4 inches). The all-senior 3,200 relay of Kevin Huang, Trent Hyland, Emmett Scully and Billy Magnesen also prevailed in 8:04.34.

Taking second were senior Derek Roberts (200 in 22.67), junior Steven Chun (13-6 in pole vault), Magnesen (1,600 in 4:22.13), the 800 relay (Roberts and seniors Kyle Stiff, Sham Muhammad and Keaton Tatooles in 1:32.62) and the 1,600 relay (Hyland, Tatooles, senior Jake Hall, Ciardelli in 3:25.21).

”It was awesome to come out with a victory at my last track home meet. It’s kind of crazy to say that. It’s pretty sad,” Ciardelli said.

This marked the first time that FAT was used at the McCarthy. The Red Devils now prepare for the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Friday, May 16, at York. ”It’s been a while (since we won the McCarthy) so it would have been nice, but overall there were some really good performances,” Hinsdale Central head coach Jim Kupres said. “We had some really nice performances going into conference. The kids have a little bit of confidence going in, which is good, and we’ll go from there.”

Caveney took control of the 3,200 just past the halfway point to win a Devil-dominated race in which freshman Blake Evertsen was third (9:43.18) and junior Matt McBrien finished fourth (9:47.48), but McBrien was an exhibition entry whose finish was not counted in the team scoring. Caveney’s time especially was encouraging considering there was a stiff wind that accompanied nice weather and he was battling a slight cold.

Caveney spent the first half of the race closely behind Evertsen and McBrien and they all crossed the halfway point in 4:48. On the fifth lap, Caveney made a surge so that no one could draft off of him and his 1:11 quarter opened a two-second lead. He followed with a 1:15 sixth lap and increased his lead to four seconds.

”That first mile, I was just holding on to (Evertsen and McBrien). I feel kind of bad about it because if I would have led, they could have had better races themselves, but I was just trying to run a strategic race,” Caveney said. “I feel like if I had someone to run with me towards the end I maybe could have finished harder the last three laps.”

Caveney still comfortably beat his previous best of 9:39.7, which took third at the 2013 McCarthy Invite. He also took a significant step toward the state-qualifying standard of 9:29.04 that he’ll probably have to run at the Romeoville Sectional in order to reach his first state meet for track.

”That time really gives me confidence going into sectionals,” Caveney said. “I know I’m not running the 3,200 at conference, but qualifying for state is really my main goal for the season so I’m excited.” Evertsen wanted to run faster, and Downers North senior Jared Spilky made a strong kick in the final 300 meters to pull out second place.

Evertsen’s time still easily set a freshman outdoor school record, breaking his 9:53.5 manual time from Hinsdale Central’s Sophomore Invite April 30. At that invite, Evertsen was primarily a pacer for sophomore Andrew Irvine, who won the race in an invite-record 9:52.9 with Evertsen second.

Before that race, the freshman outdoor 3,200 school record had been 9:54.4 manual time by Jon Thanos dating back to 1980.”In cross country, I ran 9:42 at a time trial. Definitely going into today, I wanted to beat that,” Evertsen said.

”I definitely learned, took away a lot of stuff from (this race) tactics wise. Obviously, it wasn’t that smart of me to take it out and lead it the first mile in this wind. I think that might have taken a little out of me. I wanted to get out as fast as I could to get down close to 9:30. I messed up sometimes, and I stayed focused a good amount of the time, but there were some instances, especially when TJ passed me, where I couldn’t really respond mentally and physically.”

Ciardelli has been working his way back from a stress fracture in his hip. Friday’s victory by .64 came on the heels of the best of his races since returning, a 40.3 manual time May 6 at home. “This was definitely better than the last few meets that I’ve had,” Ciardelli said. In the past two races, Ciardelli has kept his strides at 23 steps before the first hurdle and 15 for each one afterwards. Since his stride is longer than most, Ciardelli is working to reduce his initial stride pattern to 22.

“I’m not getting enough speed so I’m trying to play catch-up in the last hurdles and that’s where conditioning is coming into play,” Ciardelli said. ”We have to cut it down to 22 so I could accelerate into that first hurdle and that’s why I’m having problems over (the final straightaway) because I’m not really accelerating into that first hurdle.”

Nwosu also took a step forward in triple jump as he returns from injury. With the 43-7 3/4 on the last of his four attempts, Nwosu won by 6 1/4 inches over OPRF’s Kahrion Martin.

”My coach (Kyle Mengarelli) is satisfied, but I’m not,” said Nwosu, who hadn’t triple jumped since the Lyons Township Relays April 25. “I was battling a foot injury, just trying to give it everything I had. This is the meet where I truly came back and felt OK. I just pushed through the pain, but there’s a lot of work to do. My technique is still off. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Throughout the invite, Mengarelli and Nwosu tweaked his approach and jumping phases throughout the invite. A 2012 state qualifier, Nwosu jumped an indoor school-record 46-0 March 7. ”The tiniest things could make the difference from gaining an extra two feet or three feet. It’s just those tiny things that we have to make adjustments in so I could finally jump far,” Nwosu said. “There’s a lot more in store. I’m feeling a lot better. I’m just trying to contribute and help the team.”

The 3,200 relay, coming off a season-best 7:58.15 at the Prospect Invite May 2, ran slower mainly because of little competition. The Red Devils won going away by 10.15 seconds over OPRF.

On the opening leg, Huang was in a tight battle with Downers North senior Zack Smith in a lifetime-best 1:58, but Hyland’s 2:00 second leg soon gave the Red Devils a sizeable advantage. ”We just went out there (in the 3,200 relay), did our best. It wasn’t a great result, but it is what it is,” Magnesen said. “This (invite) was all about preparing ourselves for conference, sectionals and state at this point.”

Later in the 1,600, Magnesen (4:22.13) and Huang (4:26.26) were second and fifth to Downers North junior Ryan Clevenger (4:15.76), who was running his first race. At the state cross country meet Nov. 9, Smith and Clevenger were third and seventh, just ahead of Magnesen’s team-best ninth-place finish for the state team champions.

At the halfway point, Clevenger had a slight lead on Magnesen in 2:09. Clevenger then opened a plus two-second lead during a 1:03 third lap.

”I ran OK. I ran a decent time. It was nothing great,” Magnesen said. “The past two (1,600s in distance medley relays), I’ve felt great for the first 2 1/2 laps and then it’s just kind of fallen off, fallen back so I’ve just got to work on keeping a strong, fast pace for the second half of the race, staying consistent.”

Roberts has become used to finishing second in 200 races, but Friday’s was among his most satisfying. By only .14, Roberts was second Friday to Bloom senior James Harriel (22.53), a 2013 state qualifier in the 400 and anchor of the all-state, fifth-place state 400 relay team. Stiff also was fourth in the finals (22.89). Roberts had the second-fastest prelim time (23.10) and Harriel (22.41).

Roberts lately has been battling a sore knee, yet he still nearly matched his career-best time of 22.36 at Downers Grove South’s Bud Mohns Invite April 19. In that final, he was second to Plainfield Central junior Kahmari Montgomery (21.84), who was 11th in the 200 preliminaries at last year’s state meet. Montgomery is among the top 200 times this outdoor season, according to DyeStat Illinois. ”When you know there’s good competition, all you focus on is beating him. Maybe I’ll get (Harriel) next time – hopefully downstate,” Roberts said. “(My knee is) tender, but it’s definitely doing better. It just kind of hurts a little after I run. But next week we’re going to probably go pretty easy so I can just completely get rid of it.”

The 800 relay won the fast-seeded heat but ended up second overall to Downers North’s season-best 1:31.84 from the slower heat by .78. The 1,600 relay (3:25.21) finished second to Downers Grove South (3:25.15) by just in a classic final-lap battle along with OPRF (3:25.92).

Ciardelli anchored in a season-best 50.8 seconds. He took the lead with about 220 meters left but then was passed in the final 50 meters. ”I passed him a little too early. I should have stayed on his back, but I got really antsy. I thought I could stick with it, but obviously I couldn’t,” Ciardelli said.

In pole vault, Chun equaled his personal best of 13-6 and had good attempts at 13-9, the state-qualifying standard. Chun nearly took first place but lost out on a tiebreaker with Palatine’s Jake LaRocca.

”My first attempt at 13-9 was good. I didn’t penetrate as much so I ended up coming up short on the bar so I hit it on the way down,” Chun said. “I had the height on all of the (13-9) attempts. It was kind of a messy day. The speed, the power, that all felt good but the form wasn’t exactly there today.” Unlike most meets this season, the tailwind wasn’t too much of a hindrance. Chun, however, was competing with a pole designed for clearing 14-6 for the first time.

”The other ones were starting to get too soft for me. I was blowing through them,” Chun said. “With the new poles, a week of practice with them and I’ll be put together for conference pretty well. (Then) 13-9 shouldn’t be a problem. I’m excited. (Then) 14-0 shouldn’t be problem.”

Hall and sophomore Nathan Hill were fourth and sixth in the 800 (1:59.97 and 2:00.78, respectively) after a Hill and Hall were second at third at the Lincoln-Way West Invite May 2 with slower times.

Senior Pat Callahan was fifth in the 400 (53.14) and anchored the sixth-place 400 relay with sophomore Matt Hillock, Muhammad and senior Ian Martell (44.84).

Junior Josh Mysliwiec was sixth in discus with a lifetime-best 125-9 that surpassed his 123-1 at Lincoln-Way west.

Lincoln - Way West's Warrior Invitational

@ Lincoln-Way West High School

May 2, 2014

By: Bill Stone

Freshman Ethan Planson and his Hinsdale Central frosh-soph 3,200-meter relay teammates are patiently waiting for their T-shirts.

Senior Derek Roberts had his T-shirt basically snatched physically – and then mentally.

As usual, event winners at the Lincoln-Way West’s Warrior Invitational Friday, May 2, received special T-shirts commemorating the victory.

The frosh-soph 3,200 relay of sophomore Andrew Irvine and Yuji Cusick, Planson and sophomore Chris Brenk earned the only first-place finish in 8:50.29 fully automatic time. The Red Devils had the race, or T-shirts, in hand early on and won by 17.14 seconds. ”Yeah, we really wanted the shirts,” Planson said. “They’re mailing them to us. They didn’t have them there. I guess they’re giving them to the schools.”

The Red Devils (73 points) finished fourth among the 10 teams. Huntley (137), Lincoln-Way Central (128) and Thornton (127) took the top three spots.

The invite combines the usual varsity events with frosh-soph competition for the 3,200, 800, 400 and 1,600 relays. Top-seven finishers earned team points, and teams were allowed three entries for individual events rather than the usual two.

The Red Devils’ final regular season invite is at home with the annual McCarthy Invitational Friday, May 9.

Roberts was an agonizing second in the 200 (22.71) by just .06 to Huntley’s Connor Boos (22.67).

Sophomore Nathan Hill (2:02.32) and senior Jake Hall (2:04.12) were second and third in the 800 to Huntley’s Keagan Smith (2:00.60).

Junior Alex Domiano (4:33.99) and sophomore Andrew Irvine (4:34.37) were third and fourth in the 1,600 with personal bests. The varsity 3,200 relay (junior Griffin Gartner, seniors Aria Darbandi and Sam MacKenzie, junior Max Maydanchik in 8:25.710 and the varsity 1,600 relay (senior Keaton Tatooles, junior James Reilly, senior Pat Callahan, Roberts in 3:31.73) also finished third, and senior Ian Martell was fourth in pole vault (12 feet).

Planson said he found out about the T-shirts ahead of time from his sophomore relay teammates. ”It was pretty much over when he gave (the baton) to Yuji,” Planson said. “The times didn’t feel fast, but we were pretty fast compared to other teams. I felt like I raced pretty well compared to the competition. I feel like I opened up a gap more when I got the baton and handed off (to Brenk) with more of a distance on the second-place guy.”

In the 200 final, Roberts ended up second following some strange circumstances. Roberts had the fastest preliminary time (22.78), .15 faster than Boos, but Roberts also has been bothered by a sore knee for more than a week. Roberts felt he started great in the 200 final, but the runners were called back to the line after 50 to 70 meters into the race. Roberts said the reason was one of the other competitors had no one to brace his starting blocks and slipped at the start.

Hall held down Roberts’ blocks. Tatooles, waiting for the varsity 1,600 relay, supported the blocks of another 200 finalist.

”I don’t think they should have stopped it,” Roberts said. “It was an easy solution. They should have got someone to hold his (block). I felt a little cheated. ”I felt like I got out really well. I think I passed the guy who (later) beat me (Boos) on the turn, but my knee started killing me. (After the restart) I just didn’t have any power when I started and I just wasn’t able to catch him on the straightaway so I was actually a little disappointed about that.”

After the official race, Roberts said he initially was told he won. Apparently there was confusion between the uniforms of Hinsdale Central and Huntley, whose primary color also is red. ”I’m just moving on from that meet,” Roberts said. “They decided that it’s going to be FAT without hip numbers and they must have mixed up the guys that had red shirts. It was funny. At the beginning of the meet, I looked at (Callahan) and I’m like, ‘They’re going to mess someone up,’ and sure enough they did. It was me.”

The 200 was Roberts’ first event of the night, but he tried to come back as the anchor of the varsity 1,600 relay, roughly 10 minutes after sprinting more than 250 meters, counting both finals. “I kind of died at the end. I just didn’t have anything left,” Roberts said. “That was our first time trying the double to see if I could do it and I said, ‘I probably can’t.’ It was a little rough.”

Even with their top distance runners competing at Prospect’s Wanner Invitational, the Red Devils’ shone in the longer track events.

In the 1,600, Domiano (4:33.99) and Irvine (4:34.37) were third and fourth behind Smith (4:28.87) and Lincoln-Way Central’s Ben Zibricky (4:31.62). Domiano, who beat his previous best by about a second, Irvine and junior Josh Feldman (10th, 4:38.42) also had personal bests. Domiano and Irvine ran as a pair with Domiano, who was competing fresh, slightly ahead. The fifth and sixth-place finishers were within two seconds of them.

”Since it was windy, we decided to go for place but not necessarily for time but we ended up getting good times,” Domiano said. “We were drafting behind two kids for the majority of the race and we went around them to try and catch up with the top two guys so that was pretty good strategy.”

Irvine was coming off winning the 3,200 at the Hinsdale Central Sophomore Invitational April 30 in an invite-record 9:52.9 manual time. Domiano is hoping to continue dropping time in the 1,600 and 3,200 (9:43 personal best). ”I know I can drop both of them well under what I have right now,” Domiano said. “My goal of the season was to get under state qualifying (9:29.04) and I’ve only run one two-mile outdoors so I’m pretty sure I can do that.”

Junior Nick Tandle (10:05.16) and senior Jack Griffin (10:15.14) were sixth and eighth in the 3,200 with Griffin running a personal best.

In the varsity 3,200 relay, Gartner opened in a team-best 2:03.8, followed by Darbandi (2:05.4), MacKenzie (2:07.1) and Maydanchik (2:07.2).

MacKenzie has worked his way back from illness that hampered the end of his indoor season. He worked his way into Friday’s lineup by breaking 2:10 (2:09) in the Red Devils’ junior varsity meet April 24 at Hinsdale South.

”I was just waiting to get it going. Now I’m just trying to keep building that 800. During that race we held our own and got third overall and ran pretty well,” MacKenzie said. ”(My goal) would be to keep dropping the 800 time. For our relay (Friday), it was really windy so the times weren’t where they could be so probably get down to low 2:00s to finish off the season strong.”

Senior Victor Ciardelli (42.77) and sophomore Michael Licata (43.95) were fifth and eighth in 300 intermediate hurdles (42.77). Junior Josh Mysliwiec (personal-best 123-1 in discus) and the varsity 400 relay (junior Zack Hedayat, senior Sham Muhammad, Martell, senior Kyle Stiff in 46.20) were seventh.

Mysliwiec is optimistic he can throw even better at the McCarthy after beating his best marked throw in competition (120-10) from Downers Grove South’s Mohns Invite April 19. At the Lyons Township Relays, April 25, Mysliwiec had a throw of about 135 feet, but it landed out of the sector.

”Their sector was a little weird so I didn’t adjust to it,” Mysliwiec said. “It went out, but it would have been a mark (at Hinsdale Central). The edge of the (LT) sector is in the middle of the ring. You have to adjust.”

Mysliwiec has been adapting to competing varsity after a strong sophomore season of throwing with junior Tristan Nevotne, who is out for the season with a foot injury. Mysliwiec has been battling a sore shoulder, which he felt affected his shot put Friday. Mysliwiec also had to adapt to a wet throwing area at Lincoln-Way West since rain fell during the afternoon and the water settled in the in-ground area. Throwers were given four attempts with no finals.

”The rain was really a hazard so I tried to take precautions. I didn’t have as much power but I still threw 123,” Mysliwiec said. “I’m aiming for 145. (Throws coach Brian Griffin and I) both are aiming for it and we both know that I’m capable of it. I’ve just got to get everything down.”

Mysliwiec has been training on his own over the weekend at Central’s throwing circle. He has a makeshift camera setup so he and Griffin can evaluate his form. Recently, Brian Griffin has helped Mysliwiec to center his sprint as he comes out of the back of his spin and approaches the middle of the ring. ”He fixed something that got me about 10 more feet. It was a big help,” Mysliwiec said.

Ciardelli competed for just the second time after being back for about three weeks after a six-week recovery from a stress fracture in his right hip. His first race in a weekday meet was simply a trial run. Ciardelli also competed only in the 300 hurdles Friday but may add the 110 high hurdles, depending on his progress. ”(Friday) didn’t really show where I’m at. I didn’t really run a good race, my rhythm was off, but I’m getting there, getting back in shape,” Ciardelli said. “I’m feeling a lot better. I’m getting back in shape, but my hips feel great. My hurdling is feeling good.”

Prospect’s Wanner Invitational

@ Prospect High School

May 2, 2014

By: Bill Stone

Already one of the top distance runners in the state, Hinsdale Central senior Billy Magnesen’s lifetime-best performance in the 3,200-meter run at Prospect’s Wanner Invitational Friday, May 2, came with an added bonus.

Boosted by the competition of a star-studded field – Magnesen’s 9:15.32 fully automatic time not only was a personal record by about 10 seconds, but he actually was the top finisher by 4.69 seconds. According to the DyeStat Illinois rankings, it’s the ninth-fastest 3,200 in the state this outdoor season.

”I haven’t won that many (3,200) races, actually,” Magnesen said. “It’s great. Anything you can build off these last few weeks of my entire career at Hinsdale Central, it’s great to have that to kind of jump start the championship phase of the season.”

The Red Devils’ four exhibition entries at the invite enjoyed highlights. Because the team did not compete, their places were not counted in the official results.

The 3,200 relay of seniors Kevin Huang and Trent Hyland and Emmett Scully and junior Matt McBrien also posted the state’s ninth-fastest time with a fifth-place 7:58.15. All four runners had personal-best splits.

In the 1,600, senior TJ Caveney ran a personal-best 4:28.23 for eighth. Freshman Blake Evertsen was 11th in 4:29.88, just shy of the freshman outdoor school record of 4:27.4 manual time by Chuck Thiedel in 1967.

Magnesen qualified for his first state track meet in 2013 in the 3,200 and was 27th in 9:26.02. On Nov. 9, he was a team-best, all-state ninth for the boys cross country state championship lineup.

For Friday, Magnesen’s sights were on 9:10, especially since weather conditions were decent. He received strong competition from York’s Kyle Mattes (9:20.01) while Saint Ignatius sophomore Daniel Bentino, another exhibition entry, was third at 9:31.34. Mattes was 44th at the state cross country meet.

”I think I’ve been in better shape than 9:25 for a long time now. It felt great to cross the line and see a time in the mid-9:00-teens. It’s been a while since I’ve PRed in the 3,200,” Magnesen said.

”I was feeling really confident going into the race. I was feeling good at the beginning. We had a great week of training and I was really ready to go. I put myself in position and just kind of let it roll for as long as I could.”

Magnesen has spent most of the season running the 1,600 and with the 3,200 relay. He ran fairly even splits Friday (4:38.5 and 4:36.5) and took advantage of decent weather, relatively speaking to most meet conditions this spring.

”The rain actually picked up, but the wind kind of went down. It was on the cold side a little bit, but really no complaints,” Magnesen said. “When there’s no wind, you’ve got to make the most of the opportunity because that doesn’t happen that often around here.”

The 3,200 relay, seeking the Red Devils’ fourth straight state berth, broke 8:00 for the first time this season. Huang, the only returnee from last year’s state lineup, led off in a team-best 1:58.53, followed by Hyland (1:58.71), Scully (1:59.40), who broke 2:00 for the first time, and McBrien (2:01.32).

The Red Devils finished just .79 behind fourth-place Prospect (7:57.36) and nearly three seconds ahead of sixth-place Fremd (8:01.01). Lane Tech (7:49.57), LT (7:52.56) and Hersey (7:53.72) took the top three spots with the No. 1, 3 and 5 state-best times. Prospect is No. 8.

”It was finally about time where we all had the right day, right weather and everything finally clicked for us,” Huang said. “Now we have three guys sub-2:00 and now we just need one more now. We were fifth against the very top teams in state. We know that we’re competing for an all-state (top nine) spot at state. Hopefully this is just another step along the way.”

Scully and McBrien got their first taste of state in the fall as part of the Class 3A state championship lineup that also included Magnesen, Huang, Caveney and Evertsen. Hyland, a move-in as a junior, competed at the Connecticut state meet for track in 2012.

Two days earlier, Huang, Hyland and Magnesen competed in a distance medley relay at York that featured most of the state’s top distance programs. Especially because he was disappointed with his 1,200 opening leg of the DMR, Huang was excited to bounce back with a season-best 800 split by one second Friday.

”For me, it was my first PR all season,” Huang said. “It was a huge confidence booster for us. I feel like this training is definitely paying off and we’re expecting some big-time drops to come still.”

DyeStat Illinois Distance Medley Relay Race

@ York High School

April 30, 2014

By: Bill Stone

Hinsdale Central senior Keaton Tatooles has never competed at the state track or cross country meet, but he got a glimpse of what it could be like Wednesday, April 30.

Tatooles was part of the Red Devils’ all-senior lineup with Kevin Huang, Trent Hyland and Billy Magnesen that took part in the first DyeStat Illinois Distance Medley Relay Race at York, which featured 12 of the top distance programs in the state.

”It’s kind of like a taste of what the state meet would be like for the DMR – Neuqua Valley, Lane Tech, New Trier, York, Yorkville. All of the best teams were there,” Tatooles said. “If there was a DMR (at state), that was the DRM state meet right there.”

The Red Devils finished sixth (10:28.40 fully automatic time) in the one-heat, 4,000-meter race that combined legs of 1,200 (Huang), 400 (Tatooles), 800 (Hyland) and 1,600 (Magnesen) meters.

New Trier won in 10:19.10, followed by York (10:23.20), Lane Tech (10:25.10), Yorkville (10:25.40) and Neuqua Valley (10:26.20). The Red Devils were .40 ahead of seventh-place Kaneland (10:28.80).

”A very state-like atmosphere and it’s really cool to see how we stack up against these really good teams,” Hyland said. “Good teams carry themselves a certain way and you can kind of feel that during the race even before just when you’re just warming up, the way the guys were interacting, walking around. It was very hyped up and it was pretty cool.”

Hyland (1:59.4) and Tatooles (51.9) both ran personal-best splits, followed by Magnesen (4:23.5) and Huang (3:13.3).

There’s another big event to come before the postseason begins officially with a return to York for the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet May 17.

On Friday, May 2, Magnesen (3,200) and the 3,200 relay will get another good test when they compete as exhibition entries at Prospect’s Wanner Invitational, which boasts strong competition in the distance events, including York and LT.

”It was just kind of like a fun event, a few days before a big meet, and acted like a mid-week workout almost,” Magnesen said. “We had a lot of fun with it, I think, with great competition there. We didn’t run great times, but it was fun to get out there and compete.”

Tatooles said the Red Devils found out about the event toward the end of the indoor season. He didn’t know he was going to be the DMR’s 400 runner until the Saturday before.

“I was pretty nervous for it because I knew it was going to be a tough race. All of those teams made me run faster because I knew I had to go fast because I’m competing with the best,” Tatooles said. “It was a really cool meet. We were in it the whole time, which I’m happy about, really competitive.”

Magnesen said that the team wanted to be in the title hunt but otherwise didn’t have a specific time goal. When he received the baton, Hyland had taken the Red Devils from ninth to seventh.

Magnesen covered his first 400 in 1:01, bringing to Red Devils into third and slightly ahead of Lane Tech. By the final 400, Magnesen was in seventh but just a couple of strides from fourth. His final overall time was pretty much equal to his personal best for the 1,600.

“We were within eight seconds of the winners. We had a great chance to try and go out there and win the thing if we all ran our best on that day,” Magnesen said.

”I went out way too fast. I was feeling good for 1,000 meters and then I just kind of hit a wall. I put myself in a decent position. That’s what I had to do. If I had to re-do it, I would have paced myself a little bit better.”

Magnesen and Huang competed at the 2013 state track meet in the 3,200 and 3,200 relay, respectively. On Nov. 9, they helped the Red Devils win the program’s first state championship as two of the team’s three, all-state individuals. Magnesen was a team-best ninth and Huang 24th).

Hyland has state track competition in Connecticut in 2012. Hyland transferred to Hinsdale Central as a junior and this season has been converted from being exclusively a 400 runner.

”Not bad (1:59.4). I wanted to run a little faster, though,” Hyland said. “It’s good to see that we’re right in the mix. We’re not trailing far behind by any stretch of the imagination so we’re right there with them.

Huang said he was hoping to break 3:10 for his split, if not reach 3:08. A methodical 1:06 split for the second of third laps turned his leg into more of a race for place. He handed off to Tatooles in ninth.

”Right as we crossed (the finish line) with 400 meters to go, everyone just took off and I really just couldn’t respond. It was kind of disappointing for me, but I’m really happy that Trent, Keaton and Billy saved me and ran awesome,” Huang said.

“I definitely wanted to run better, but it was just kind of a way of measuring ourselves against the very best teams in state. Knowing that we’re within seconds and right with them is definitely a huge confidence booster for us, knowing that we’re obviously one of the best distance teams in the state and we can compete against them.”

LT Relays

@ Lyons High School

April 25, 2014

By: Bill Stone

Hinsdale Central junior Steven Chun’s rapid pole vault progress actually played a part in preventing him from another personal-best height Friday, April 25.

Chun still cleared 13 feet and he combined with senior Ian Martell and junior Erik Knecht for a second-place finish in the pole vault relay at the annual Lyons Township Relays in Western Springs. On April 19, Chun achieved a lifetime-best 13-6 at the Downers Grove South’s Bud Mohns Invitational. The same pole already didn’t have enough weight allowance for Chun’s higher aspirations.

”My pole started getting soft (Friday). I needed a bigger one, but we didn’t have one,” Chun said. “I think clearing 13-0 was a good day because it showed that I’m improving and that I can get on a bigger pole, which means bigger heights.”

The Red Devils (68 points) finished sixth in the invite format that combined results from 20 relays or events in which multiple performances were added into a team total.

Top-six finishers earned team points. The host Lions (129 points) won the invite title for the seventh straight time. Last year’s invite was cancelled because of bad weather.

The frosh-soph 3,200 relay of sophomores Andrew Irvine and Yuji Cusick, freshman Blake Evertsen and sophomore Nathan Hill posted the Red Devils’ lone event victory in 8:27.60 fully automatic time.

Chun, Martell and Knecht combined for 36-6 and second place to St. Charles North’s 38-6. Martell (12-6) and Knecht (11-6) had personal bests. ”Ian’s been going 12-0 consistently,” Chun said. “Erik’s been hitting (11-6) for a while but he finally got it in a meet. It was a pretty good day across the board (for us three). Erik wanted 12-0, but you never get everything.”

At last year’s Downers Grove North Sectional, Chun cleared a then personal-best 11-3 after reaching 11-0 the previous two meets. Now he appears ready to contend for a state berth and challenge the state-qualifying standard of 13-9. ”My 13-6 pole was the same one I used (Friday) and it was soft. That’s great progress, excellent progress,” Chun said.

The frosh-soph 3,200 relay felt like a reunion of sorts for the sophomore-level boys cross country team that won the conference meet. The Red Devils won by 14.7 seconds over second-place LT (8:42.30).

Irvine, Cusick and Hill all were key components in the victory. Evertsen competed most of the season with the varsity and was the top-finishing freshman at the Class 3A state meet (29th), just four places and four seconds from individual all-state honors.

Sophomore Chris Brenk, another member of the cross country state lineup (43rd), made his season debut Friday by winning the non-scored sophomore 1,600 in 4:49.2. Brenk, Cusick, Hill and Evertsen have been battling various illnesses and injuries throughout the track season. ”(Winning our relay) felt great. We all ran well, like we did in cross country,” Cusick said. “If we get Chris (Brenk) back to full health, I think we can be a real threat on the distance side at conference.”

Cusick had his best meet of the season. His 2:08.4 on the second leg of the 3,200 relay was a personal best by three seconds. Irvine (2:07.5), who led off, and Evertsen (2:05.9) also had personal-best splits while anchor Hill (2:05.8) just missed his. Evertsen, Cusick and Hill also combined with sophomore Matt Cherry for third in the frosh-soph 1,600 relay (3:44.78). Eversten’s team-best 57.2 split was a personal best while Cusick’s 57.6 missed his best by .1.

”By far for sure (my best meet this season),” Cusick said. “I was not expecting (us) to run sub-8:30. That was a really big surprise. I hadn’t run the 400 all year basically. Hopefully I can do it again.” Cusick appears to be on the upswing. After an injury-filled indoor season, Cusick returned to action but was disappointed with his effort in a 3,200. Assistant coach Noah Lawrence recommended that Cusick have his iron level tested.

”It turned out that I was pretty iron efficient so I’ve been taking supplements and (running) usually short races, like the 800. I ran the mile a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve been keeping it short,” Cusick said.

The varsity 3,200 relay (seniors Trent Hyland and Billy Magnesen, junior Matt McBrien and senior Kevin Huang in 8:05.17), the 4-by-1,600 relay (seniors TJ Caveney and Jake Hall, junior Alex Domiano and senior Emmett Scully in 18:42.90) also finished third. The Red Devils put together arguably their strongest 3,200 relay lineup, but they finished barely behind Plainfield South (8:04.02), which received a lift from distance standout Dan Lathrop. LT won the race in an impressive 7:58.61. ”LT ran great. Obviously, it was a great opportunity to run against some good teams,” said Huang, the lone returnee from last season’s state-qualifying 3,200 relay. “We know LT is definitely one of the best teams in state right now so it’s nice to see where we are compared to them. We have some great training going and we just have to keep building and building and I bet our times will drop later in the season when it really counts most, at state.”

Huang returned home midday Friday after flying to visit Swarthmore on his final college visit. Huang still is leaning toward attending Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif. ”I knew I wasn’t feeling that great, but thankfully that’s my last college visit. I finally get to just concentrate on running now,” Huang said. Huang still opened in a team-best split of 2:00.2. Magnesen, a 2013 state qualifier in the 3,200, had a personal-best 2:00.6, followed by McBrien (2:03.2) and Hyland (2:01.2).

”I don’t think we really improved or anything or really got worse. We pretty much stayed the same in terms of time and everything,” Huang said.

Sophomore Dan Lillard had the distinction of competing in specific varsity and frosh-soph races.

The varsity 1,600 relay with Hyland, Hall, senior Keaton Tatooles and Lillard (3:30.47) and the frosh-soph 400 relay (sophomores Matt Hillock, Justin Daugherty, Lillard and Cherry in 46.82) and the frosh-soph 800 relay (Hillock, Lillard, sophomore Jared Neumann and Cherry in 1:36.73) all finished fourth. ”(Varsity) was fun,” Lillard said. “I feel like it’s the same (as frosh-soph). There are fast guys at every level.”

Lillard was added to the frosh-soph 400 relay because of illness to sophomore Michael Licata. The varsity sprint lineups went through various changes primarily because senior Derek Roberts and sophomore Kareem Muhammad were out with slight injuries. Lillard, who often competes in long and triple jump, and Hillock, who usually is in high jump, were allowed to focus exclusively on track races Friday.

”It actually helped that I got to do the 4-by-100 and 4-by-200 first to kind of loosen up for the 400 (relay leg). I wasn’t feeling too fresh, but it turned out better than I thought,” Lillard said. ”I think personally I would put priority over sprinting and just do as much jumping as I can between our hard sprinting days, but sometimes you can’t do all of the jumping because you’re sore.”

The triple jump relay (54-7 1/4 by seniors Nkemjika Nwosu and James Benak, and juniors Shah-Zeb Raja and Alex Wang) also was fourth. Nwosu had a team-best 42-5.

Taking fifth were the 1,600 sprint relay (Scully and juniors Jack Breslin. Zach Hedayat and Matt Tobia in 3:53.23), the 4,000 distance medley relay (senior Aria Darbandi, junior Griffin Gartner, senior Jake Hall, junior Josh Feldman in 10:49.95), the long jump relay (69-0 by senior Kyle Stiff, Nwosu, Raja and Wang) and the weightmen’s 400 relay (junior Stefan Ivanisevic, senior Josh Mysliwiec, sophomore Mark Cybor, junior Spencer Laughman in 53.40).

Stiff (18-0) and Benak (17-8 1/2) had the Red Devils’ top long jumps. In the DMR, which consisted of legs covering 1,200, 800, 400 and 1,600 meters, Hall had a personal-best 52.7 400 split.

The 110 shuttle hurdle relay (1:19.93 by Shuaike Zhou, Neumann, freshman Jacob Dawson, sophomore Nikolai Vorobiev) and the Class 1,600 relay (freshman Sam Fathizadeh, sophomore Neumann, junior Breslin, senior Tom Young) were sixth.

Benak had a strong jumping season in 2013 but also was found to have an iron deficiency. He returned to full-time action after spring break and made his debut in place of Nwosu at the Hinsdale Relays April 12. Friday was his third competition of the spring. ”I’ve improved pretty quickly. The first meet, I was doing 36 (feet) and then I hit 39-8. This week, I took a little bit of a dip, but overall the trend is upward,” said Benak, whose best Friday was 38-5.

”I’m feeling better than I have for maybe the last year, but still a little under the weather. I could have had an iron deficiency for five years and it’s just caught up with me in the last couple of years.” Benak is hopeful he surpasses his lifetime-best 41-10 1/4 from last indoor season. He jumped an outdoor best 41-1 at the 2013 outdoor conference meet and was 11th at sectionals with a 39-9. In 2012, Nwosu qualified for state in triple jump as a sophomore with a second-place 43-3 1/2 at sectionals. On March 7, Nwosu set the indoor school record with a 46-0.

Under new jumps coach Kyle Mengarelli, the Red Devils still are training hard and waiting to taper. ”The practices definitely take a toll during some of these meets, but once we get to conference week, we’ll step back a little bit and recover from the entire season. We should be going much greater distances,” Benak said.

Six Red Devils participated in the non-scored 1,600, which was run in freshman, sophomore and varsity flights. Junior Nick Tandle ran a team-best 4:46.7, and freshman Conor Bryan broke 5:00 for the first time and then some with a personal-best 4:52.6.

Bud Mohns

@ Downers South

April 25, 2014

By: Bill Stone

Hinsdale Central senior Jake Hall has been waiting a long time to compete on a regular basis.

Little did he know that the extra warmup with 3,200-meter relay teammates was only the beginning at Downers Grove South’s Bud Mohns Invitational Saturday, April 19.

Hall originally was scheduled to only compete in the event, but by end of his day, he had been added to the 400 and 1,600 relay. He ran lifetime bests in all three. ”It was nice because on Tuesday we didn’t have our (actual) meet, and I ran pretty well in our practice meet,” Hall said. “Basically (I ran) the same exact same thing as today – 800, 400, another 400, with a lot less rest in between.

”I’m just glad I’m not sick anymore and I had a really solid week of training and I felt really strong.”

The Red Devils finished a solid third (86 points) in the nine-team field. They finished behind York (176) and Lake Park (138) while well ahead of fourth-place Downers South (40).

Senior Billy Magnesen comfortably won the 1,600 in a personal-best 4:22.64 fully automatic time and the 3,200 relay with Hall, seniors Aria Darbandi and Emmett Scully and junior Griffin Gartner won in 8:12.36.

The 1,600 relay with senior Keaton Tatooles, Hall and juniors Jack Breslin and James Reilly (3:32.51) and senior Derek Roberts (200 in 22.36) finished second.

Hinsdale Central’s first outdoor invite was the Hinsdale Relays April 12 and the next is the Lyons Township LT Relays Friday, April 25. With that schedule, several key Red Devils were allowed to compete only in individual events to help them establish seed times or at least more accurate splits.

Relay regular Roberts, a member of last year’s state-qualifying 800 relay, only competed in the open 200 and 100 Saturday. ”It’s a little easier (than relays) because you don’t have to worry about handoffs and getting all of the rest of your relay together,” Roberts said. “It’s a little more individual, but I like it because (times are) FAT so you get exact times so you’re really going to know where you’re at. I like open events. You’re always starting.”

Hall gave the 3,200 relay the lead to stay with a 2:01.5 on leadoff leg, one of three personal-best splits among the group. Hall followed that with a ninth-place 53.46 in the open 400 and then a 53.0 split on the 1,600 relay.

”It’s nice. I’m right there to run a 51-high, 52-low (in the 400) and a sub-2:00 (for the 800). I feel happy that I’m there,” Hall said.

It’s been a long road back for Hall. During cross country, Hall was fifth at a team time trail in August but he missed the season after being sidelined two months with a strained or torn right hip flexor.

During indoor track, he competed only four times primarily because of a sinus infection that led to an ear infection and bronchitis. He has competed in all three outdoor meets so far and said during the Hinsdale Relays April 12 that his chest finally does not feel congested.

”As far as injuries, no problems,” Hall said last weekend. “I’ve just been coming to practice every day. I’ve been lifting. I’ve been doing all of the general strength and everything I can (to return).”

Hall seemed destined to run more Saturday than he expected. When the 3,200 relay returned to the track following their warmup, they found out they’d have to warm up again because the track preliminaries were delayed by more than 30 minutes.

Once the meet started, Hall went out hard his first 200 meters and wasted no time putting the Red Devils in front. And he was able to sustain a strong pace. ”I’ve been working on (strong starts) a lot,” Hall said. “Our new training system that we’ve been doing (this year) has been really pushing us to do that. I think this training’s really paying off for us and we’re going to be able to do really good things moving on.”

Scully (2:01.5) and Gartner (2:03.1) also had personal-best splits, and Darbandi (2:05.5) missed his only because he ran a personal-best 2:04.1 during a team time trial Tuesday.

Gartner was added to the relay Friday because of an illness to a teammate. Gartner gave the Red Devils the victory by 5.54 seconds over second-place Lake Park (8:17.82) and maintained his composure even after he received the baton in a virtual tie for first before Lancers’ anchor went out flying the first 150 meters. ”We were like neck and neck and I looked ahead and he’s like 10 meters ahead of me. I’m like, ‘Oh jeez, this guy’s a monster,’ ” Gartner said. “But the coaches just told me to get on his shoulder. By the time I caught him on the backstretch, he started to fade and I just held on and made my move eventually.”

Gartner joined track for the first time in 2013, mostly competing in 400s, and added cross country in the fall. He hadn’t competed in the 3,200 relay since early in the indoor season but he has run some open 800s.

He originally wasn’t going to compete Saturday and would have otherwise been training on his own. ”It’s a great feeling, especially after a guy gets sick, still being able to win the relay,” Gartner said. “The training’s been paying off. Every meet I seem to get a PR (in the 800) and it just keeps getting better. I feel a lot more comfortable running the 800 because I just keep improving. I’m trying to break 2:00 by the end of the season and hopefully next season I can go downstate on the (3,200 relay).”

At the Hinsdale Relays, senior Trent Hyland, junior Matt Tobia, Hall and Scully won the 3,200 relay but in 8:17.6 manual time. The Red Devils, however, had a sizeable lead and had to contend with a vicious wind in the homestretch.

”This (victory) was definitely better. It was just a lot more fun because the weather was cooperating,” Scully said. “(The Hinsdale Relays) was kind of more of a head scratcher because we won, but we didn’t run all that fast. This time, we’re definitely bringing down our times and we still won again so that was definitely way better.”

Magnesen was in control of the 1,600 but he still ran his fastest time ever, fairly comparable to his 4:24.02 FAT indoors for a true one mile to win the Proviso West Invite Feb. 22.

Hinsdale Central freshman Blake Evertsen was fourth (4:29.03), and continues closing on the freshman outdoor track school record of 4:27.4 manual time from 1981. Magnesen had hoped to run at least sub-4:20. The state-qualifying standard for the 1,600 is 4:22.04. ”The time wasn’t as fast as I would have wanted, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” Magnesen said. “I think I’m ready to run really fast when I’m pushed. We’re going to run against guys that can push me definitely later in the season, and I’m excited for those opportunities.”

York senior Alex Bashgawi (4:23.95) and junior Kyle Mattes (4:27.10), who finished second and third, are among the state’s best, but they had competed earlier in the 3,200, placing first (9:18.93) and second (9:22.83),

respectively. Evertsen was five seconds ahead of fifth-place Plainfield Central senior John Principato (4:34.03). ”I was just going out, trying to compete for the win. I knew some quality guys were running in that race, but they were coming off a 3,200 so they were going to be tired,” Magnesen said.

”I took the lead right from the beginning. I didn’t know how far anyone was behind me so I just kept pushing those first three laps and held on for that fourth one. I just felt like if I kind of got out fast and gave myself a nice cushion, I thought I would be able to keep it for the win.”

The 1,600 relay was beaten only by York’s 3:26.88 and was 2.05 seconds ahead of third-place Proviso West.

In the 200, Roberts ran a personal beat and only was beaten by Plainfield Central junior Kahmari Montgomery (21.84). Senior Kyle Stiff was fourth (22.82).

In the 100, York senior John Farrar (11.13) and Montgomery (11.21) finished 1-2 with Roberts pulling out third pace over York junior Jake Sacksteder (11.56) by thousandths of a second. ”I knew (for the 200 final Montgomery) in the lane next to me is just so fast,” Roberts said. “I know he’s going to try and pass me. And he passed me, of course, but I’ve just got to keep going and chase him down. I guess I did that kind of well so I ran a personal best. I’m happy.

”The 200 is really a positive. And I thought I had good starts all around. I’ve just got to get my legs a little rest and get better in my 100. But otherwise it was a good day, a great day. The weather was nice.”

Seniors Kevin Huang (800 in 1:59.01), Greg Betman (5-8 in high jump) and TJ Caveney (3,200 in 9:47.73) and junior Steven Chun (13-6 in pole vault) also were third. Senior Nkemjika Nwosu was sixth in triple jump (40-4 1/2).

Chun took advantage of better weather for yet another personal best, this time by six inches, on his first try at 13-6. In his second year of pole vault, Chun now is just three inches from the state-qualifying standard. Junior Mike Ochoa tied for seventh with a personal-best 11-6. ”Last week (the wind) was awful, but today it was perfect. We had a tail wind going into it. When we started vaulting, it was sunny, warm,” Chun said. “Everything kind of came together. I had some height over 14-0. If I put some things together (I’ll clear it) and also I needed a bigger pole and we didn’t have that here.”

Huang and Hyland (1:59.67) finished 3-4 in the 800 with Hyland breaking 2:00 for the first time.

Caveney and junior Josh Feldman (9:45.80) finished 3-4 in the 3,200. Caveney ran a season best and Feldman, an addition to the lineup Thursday, ran a career best by roughly nine seconds. ”I knew that Mattes and Bashgawi were going to try to go 9:15 and I just didn’t think I could stay with them the whole race. I was really just racing for place today,” Caveney said.

Caveney helped the Red Devils win the state championship in boys cross country as the last individual all-stater in 25th place. That momentum has carried over to track despite his just returning to full strength after two weeks of illness. Caveney already is close to his career best of 9:39.72 from junior year. The state-qualifying standard is 9:29.04.

”Cross country has given me a good sense of confidence about this season,” Caveney said. “I know what I’m capable of now and I’m going for state in the 3,200. I feel like even with the setback I’ve had that I’m getting ready to qualify at sectionals. ”Indoor season was kind of rough with me. I was sick a few times but now I’m getting back into things. Last week was a little rough but this was a good week of training and I feel like 100 percent now.”

In high jump, Betman equaled his best height of 5-8 for the third time and first time since indoor season. With jumps coach Nick Gebhart also working with the sprinters, the high jumpers had a mild week of practice, and that made have helped Betman’s legs feel fresher. He just missed clearing 5-10.

”(At 5-10, Gebhart) told me I had the height but at the last second I dipped my hips and my butt knocked it down,” Betman said. “Next week, we’re practicing a lot. I got rest, though. Rest helps. I had shin splints before. Now I’m recovering.”

Betman were put to the test in other events as another late relay addition.

After a rare 200 at the Hinsdale Relays for the sprint medley relay, Betman led off Saturday’s sixth-place 400 relay with senior Rokas Venckus, junior Zach Hedayat and senior Kyle Stiff (45.73). ”(Gebhart) came up to me while I was high jumping and said, ‘You’re in the 4-by-100 now,’ so I warmed up for that and did my best,” Betman said. “I never did the 4-by-100. This was my second relay that I’ve ever been in. It’s fun. I like relays.”

Before high jump, Betman briefly practiced handoffs with Venckus, also primarily a high jumper. Venckus later led off the fifth-place 800 relay with Breslin, Tatooles and junior Alex Wang (1:36.22). Betman’s improvement and versatility can partly be traced to his better offseason preparation. In the fall, he joined the boys cross country team’s super sprint group, which does not compete but trains consistently. He also did more weightlifting and currently is involved in weight training.

”It made the transition to track a lot easier because it’s not just going straight into hard workouts. You kind of settle into it so it helps,” Betman said. “I think (5-10) is in the near future. That was a goal I set for myself early in the year, to get 6-0.”

Sophomore level

Hinsdale Central sophomore Michael Licata was a pretty decent cross country runner at Butler Junior High in Oak Brook and head coach John Marinier didn’t forget.

Marinier is now a guidance counselor at Hinsdale Central and has joined the boys track coaching staff this year as the hurdles coach. He persuaded Licata to join the high-school team. ”Since (Marinier) was new and he knew I was fast because I used to run at Butler, he sought me out and said, ‘You should do track with me.’ I gave it a shot and I actually liked it,” Licata said.

”Since (Marinier) is the hurdles coach, he wanted some help with (athletes competing) in hurdles. That was my first time doing it.”

Licata is improving by leaps and bounds. In only his third race in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, Licata took first place in 44.06 seconds fully automatic time at Downers Grove South’s Bud Mohns Invitational Saturday, April 19.

The Red Devils (52 points) finished fourth behind York (144), Downers South (135) and Lake Park (87).

Sophomore Nathan Hill was second in the 1,600 (4:37.08) and sophomores Matt Hillock (24.27 in 200) and Andrew Irvine (3,200 in 10:08.84) were third. All three performances also were personal bests.

Licata pulled out the 300 hurdles title by .18 over York sophomore Mike Geiger (44.24). In his last race at the Hinsdale Relays April 12, Licata ran 45.5 manual time. ”I knew I had the potential the whole way and (Marinier) is a really good coach. I knew it would click at some point and it finally did (Saturday),” Licata said.

”(Geiger) was really close. We were shoulder to shoulder but I pulled it out, I guess. Yeah, I was surprised (to win), but I just went out there and attacked the hurdles. I gave it everything I’ve got. I wanted to help the team out. I just wanted to beat my previous PR.”

Licata competed in track at Butler but never as a hurdler. Marinier was not part of that coaching staff. Besides the 300 hurdles, Licata also is tackling the 110 high hurdles, but he did not compete in those Saturday.

”Most people say (the 300 hurdles) is a challenging event. Actually, I enjoy it because I’m coming on quick. I enjoy the fact that I’m improving quickly,” Licata said. “I know my advantage of hurdles is I have speed. I just have to get used to approaching hurdles once in a while and once I got that down, it started to flow. I’ve got the rhythm down and it’s starting to become second nature.”

In the 1,600, Hill ran his race according to plan and briefly took the lead before York sophomore John May (4:35.10) pulled ahead at the start of the fourth and final lap and won by 1.98 seconds. Hill was 1.77 seconds ahead of third-place York sophomore Devin Davies (4:38.85).

Hill ran a personal best by about 13 seconds. Sophomore Yuji Cusick was fourth (4:46.16) and dropped roughly nine seconds. ”I wanted to go out in the top three, which I put myself in that position, and then take the lead in the third lap, which I did,” Hill said. “I got passed with 400 to go. I’m glad I hung on, though. That was a good kick and I felt really strong today, the whole day, which was good.”

After sidelined the first half of the cross country season with shin splints, Hill enjoyed uninterrupted offseason training but was plagued by nagging injuries indoors. His recovery has been compounded by illnesses, such as a recent sinus infection. “I’ve kind of been sick and hurt and just a bunch of things that have been bothering me, but hopefully now I’m back on track, done with all of this winter sickness, and I’m coming back to 100 percent,” Hill said.

There were two more distance personal records in the 3,200. Besides Irvine dropping six seconds for third, freshman Ethan Planson slashed a whopping 28 seconds in finishing sixth (10:31.14).

Irvine now is within nine seconds of breaking 10:00. ”Overall, it was a decent day. It was a PR, but I’d like to be closer to 10:00 going forward,” Irvine said.

”It was a pretty good day for (improved times) and there was some solid competition. They set out with a good pace and we came through (at 1,600 meters) in I think 4:58, which is right where I wanted to be.”

A four-man front group established the pace early. Irvine remained near the top two finishers, York sophomore Max Denning (9:56.48) and Morton sophomore Eduardo Martinez (9:57.50), for most of the race. He dropped back during the seventh lap but held strong and finished 8.76 seconds ahead of third place after being virtually tied with 400 meters left.

“I went in the fourth spot (early), but looking back on it, I should have tried to probably been in third, in the middle of that pack, because I kept falling off just a little bit and then catching back up. That was a little waste of energy,” Irvine said. “I didn’t keep up with the top two guys. I’m kind of disappointed about that but I tried to keep up the pace at the end, kick it in a little bit.”

Hillock continues to add sprinting to her repertoire. Usually only competing in high jump as a freshman, Hillock told the coaches early in the season that he’d like to add the 200-meter dash. ”I started running it, and I got some pretty good time. I think I’m going to run it regularly now,” Hillock said. “I’ve been running a lot of events, more than I used to. It’s been kind of nice. The jumping gets a little repetitive. It’s kind of kept my motivated and focused. It’s given me a new purpose.”

Hillock’s 24.27 in the 200 finals beat his previous personal best of 24.2 manual time. He only was beaten by Downers South freshman Juankeem Finley (23.96) and Lake Park sophomore Peter Szkaradek (24.13).

Hillock also qualified for the 100 finals and took sixth (12.20) with sophomore Matt Cherry seventh (12.22). Proviso West sophomore Angel Smith won the 100 (11.69) with Finley (11.75) second. ”The 200 is more exhausting. I like them both,” Hillock said. Hillock said he is adjusting having more events, which sometimes conflict with his high jump attempts. He was fourth in high jump Saturday but disappointed about only clearing 5-4, six inches under his personal best. ”Usually I’m going straight from a running event to go high jump and my legs are tried and I’m out of breath so it does have an effect on my high jump performance. It’ll get easier over time,” Hillock said.

Sophomore Dan Lillard, another versatile jumper for the Red Devils, was fourth in the 400 (54.11) and fifth in triple jump (36-3 1/2).

Sophomore Phil Barrett led a strong day for the throwers by taking fourth in discus and surpassing 100 feet (100-5). Although Barrett was the Red Devils’ only discus thrower to place top-six, both throwers on both levels had personal records.

Sophomore Shuaike Zhou qualified for the 110 hurdles finals and was eighth (19.13).