This past Friday, our top Varsity and Frosh-Soph teams competed in the Red Ribbon Invitational at Waubonsie Valley High School. The meet was originally scheduled for Saturday, but due to some great planning on Waubonsie Valley's part, the meet was able to be moved up one day, avoiding the cold, rain and snow that would occur on Saturday. The Frosh-Soph team took 2nd place, only half of a point out of first behind Metea Valley, showing that our Frosh-Soph team is making great progress just before the conference meet. Our Varsity team, still not at full strength, took 4th, only one point away from 3rd. Complete results from the meet are at the link below. 

www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/371404/results

The meet began with a complete Neuqua Valley sweep of the top spots in the throwing events. Hunter Danton (So.) took 1st place in both the Frosh-Soph Shot Put and Discus with marks of 46' 8.25" and 143' 2" respectively. Both of these marks are personal bests for Hunter. Matt Appel (Jr.) would accomplish the same task at the Varsity level, winning both throwing events with marks of 55' 8" and 156' 0".  Matt's mark in the Shot Put is now just inches away from the school record and is another personal best. Adding to the point totals from the throws were Elijah Darden (So.), who placed 3rd in the Frosh-Soph Discus with a personal best throw of 120' 0" and Jake Dauod (So.) in the Frosh-Soph Shot Put, taking 5th with another personal best of 39' 5.25". Jacob Remack (Sr.) took 5th in the Varsity Shot Put with a throw of 46' 4".

In the jumping events, Jailen Poole (So.) took 2nd in the Frosh-Soph Long Jump with a leap of 18' 8", which is a personal best. Jailen took a break from the Pole Vault this meet, but our depth in the Pole Vault showed through when Goutham Baskaran (So.) and Jonathan Martinez (So.) took 4th and 6th respectively at the Frosh-Soph level with vaults of 9' 8" and 9' 2". In the Varsity Pole Vault, we had identical scoring as we did in the Frosh-Soph, with Alex Kiefer (Sr.) and Trevor Lambert (Sr.) taking 4th and 6th places with marks of 13' 2" and 12' 8". 

With the wind picking up, we started the events on the track and Vasant Fong (So.), Daniel Gutierrez (So.), Luke Suman (So.) and Luke Mennecke (So.) turned in nearly identical 2:11 splits in the Frosh-Soph 4 x 800 m relay to take 2nd in a time of 8:47.01. The Varsity 4 x 800 m relay would face some stiff competition but Chris Keeley (Sr.), Michael Madiol (Sr.), Spencer Teske (Sr.) and Jack Orengo (Sr.) charged through to a time of 8:16.72, good enough for 3rd place and a season best. Vasant Fong would return about an hour later in the Frosh-Soph open 800 m to take 3rd in 2:10.14, a personal best. Michael Madiol would do the same at the Varsity level to take 4th in the open 800 m in 2:01.93, bettering his split in the relay. 

The Varsity 4 x 100 m relay of Max Rivera (So.), Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.), Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.) and Christian Allen (So.) ran a season best 44.18 to take 6th against some tough teams. The same team returned in the 4 x 200 m relay with Max Rivera replaced by Michael Grawe (Sr.) and again took 6th in 1:33.27. Max Rivera also placed 6th in the 100 m dash with a time of 11.64. In the Frosh-Soph 110 m High Hurdles, Enoch Kim (So.) continues to improve and took 5th in 17.88.

In the Frosh-Soph 3200 m, Aidan Stone (So.) ran 10:16.26 to capture both 2nd place and a personal best. Nicholas Drechsler (Sr.) would also achieve an outdoor personal best in the Varsity 3200m, running 10:01.48 and taking 6th place. 

As the night drew to a close, we were tired and cold, but despite this fact, our last relays of the night came through with some aggressive racing. Our Frosh-Soph 4 x 400 m relay team of  Ethan Briones (So.), Ethan Thomas (So.), Brandon Do (So.) and Max Mitchell (Fr.) ran 3:48.01 to take 3rd place. For Ethan Thomas, this would be his second 400 m of the night as he took 3rd place in the open 400 m with a time of 54.59. The Varsity 4 x 400 m relay team of Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.), Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.), EJ Oketona (So.) and Patrick Hoffman (Jr.) ran 3:31.32, a season best time, taking 3rd place. 

We have just under two weeks before the DVC Championship Meet and now is the time to really focus on doing everything possible to get ready for a peak performance at the end of the season. Sleep right, eat right and train right and big things can happen in the next few weeks. 

On that note, the Red Ribbon Invitational has always been the "Meet with a Message". The message being that of drinking and driving and the tragedies that our district has experienced as a result. As we move into next weekend and Senior Prom, we want all of our seniors to make positive decisions, not simply because it will help them perform at their best later, but so that we can see them safe and sound next Monday. 

It was a cold, windy night at Downers Grove South High School on Friday as our Varsity team took a step forward, ready to end the season with a strong finish. The team took 3rd place at the Bob Cohoon Invitational and was within striking distance of Oak Park-River Forest and Minooka. Complete results from the meet can be found at the website below. 

www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/376247/results

In an effort to simulate the State Meet, our throwers competed in back-to-back meets, competing both Thursday at the West Aurora Throws Meet and Friday at the Bob Cohoon Meet. Despite the tough schedule, Matt Appel (Jr.) was able to place 3rd in both the Shot Put and Discus. His throw of 52' 8" in the Shot Put is above the State Qualifying Mark and Matt was also able to throw 146' 10" in the Discus, despite a 30 mph head wind. That same wind was a crosswind in the Pole Vault, where Alex Kiefer (Sr.) took 3rd place with a jump of 12' 6".  

Moving to the track, our 4 x 800 m relay team of Spencer Teske (Sr.), Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.), Michael Madiol (Sr.) and Michael O'Connor (Sr.) won the meet in an impressive fashion and with solid strategy in 8:25.58 as they battled the wind. Nicolas ran the fastest split in 2:02.3. With only about 45 minutes of rest, Nicolas and Michael O'Connor returned in the 800 m, where Michael placed 2nd in 1:58.16 and Nicolas placed 6th in a nearly identical time from the relay of 2:02.26. These would be solid marks without the wind! Michael Madiol would also return later in the meet in the 1600 m, where he took the lead in the last 100 m to win in 4:32.27. Michael was joined by Chris Keeley (Sr.) who continues his comeback and took 5th in 4:36.68. Matt Jett (Sr.), forging his own comeback trail, fought hard in the 3200 m and took 2nd in a time of 9:57.32 by running a very smart race. 

Turning to the sprint events, Max Rivera (So.) continues to medal in the short sprints and took 6th in 11.39 in the 100 m dash. Max would run lead off on the 4 x 100 m and the 4 x 200 m relay. In the 4 x 200 m, Max was joined by Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.), Aditya Sathyaprakash (Sr.) and Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.) and took 2nd in 1:33.90, despite a pulled hamstring by Aditya where he still managed to finish the race. In the 4 x 400 m, Max Mitchell (Fr.), Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.), EJ Oketona (So.) and Patrick Hoffmann (Sr.) took 3rd in 3:36.78, showing that our 400 m runners are starting to get into racing shape. 

This meet began to give us a sense of what is possible at the end of the season, something that we discussed at our team meeting this past Wednesday. The end of the season is within sight and we need to take care of the little things (sleep, nutrition, technique, etc.) now more than ever if we want to make our own luck.

This upcoming week has two more chances to take another step with our meet at home on Monday and the Red Ribbon Invitational at Waubonsie Valley on Saturday. After that, we begin our march to the end with the Conference, Sectional, and State Meets! 

The conditions at Minooka's SmithStrong Invitational were far from perfect. For most of the morning, it was cold and windy, despite the fact that the sun was out and trying its best to warm us up. Our lineup was far from perfect. We were missing some key athletes for a myriad of reasons, from injury to college visits. Therefore, this meet presented us with the opportunity to face some adversity and see what we were made of. Despite an 8th place finish at the Varsity level and a 5th place finish at the Frosh-Soph level, we left the meet with a sense of promise that we would be ready to answer the call at the end of the season. Out of 54 individual performances, our athletes set 27 personal bests and 6 season bests. In other words, over half of our team had their best outdoor performance ever! The conditions may not have been perfect, but many of our athletes rose to the occasion. 

Complete results from the meet can be found at the link below. As you check the results, look for "PR" or "SR' next to the mark to see if you have a personal record or a season record. 

www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/376373/results

There were quite a few special performances and medal winners at the meet. In the throws, ​Jacob Remack (Sr.) took 4th place in the Varsity Shot Put with a throw of 48' 4", marking a personal best. Martin Kiefer (Fr.) would also set a personal best in the Frosh-Soph Discus, taking 2nd place with a throw of 115' 5". Martin's older brother Alex Kiefer (Sr.) would take another 2nd place, but this time in the Varsity Pole Vault with a jump of 13' 2". The Frosh-Soph Pole Vault would see a pair of Sophomores, Jailen Poole (So.) and Goutham Baskaran (So.), tie for 5th place and set outdoor personal bests with jumps of 10' 2". In the Long Jump, Abood Armouti (Jr.) took 6th place at the Varsity level with a jump of 19'  3.5" and Ethan Thomas (So.) took 5th place at the Frosh-Soph level with a jump of 18' 9". Both of these jumps represent outdoor personal bests.  

On the track, the Frosh-Soph 4 x 800 m relay team of Daniel Gutierrez (So.), Luke Mennecke (So.), Kyle Kretovic (So.) and Vasant Fong (So.) took 4th place with a collective time of 8:53.90. Not long after this event, Stephen Smilie (So.) took 5th place in the Frosh-Soph 3200 m with a personal best time of 10:12.52. In the Varsity 3200 m, we saw the return of Chris Keeley (Sr.) after a long injury with Chris surpassing where he left off at the intra-squad meet, running 9:37.71 and taking 4th.  

​The Varsity 4 x 100 m relay team of Max Rivera (So.), Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.), Christian Allen (So.) and Michael Grawe (Sr.) took 6th place in 45.21, showing a great improvement in the exchanges even with the new addition to Christian Allen to the team. Christian was moved to the Varsity team for this relay but also placed 2nd in the Frosh-Soph 100 m in a time of 11. 74 and 6th in the Frosh-Soph 200 m in a season best 24.09. Christian would also join Ethan Briones (So.), Daniel Shin (So.) and Jailen Poole (So.) in the Frosh-Soph 4 x 200 m relay where the team would take 6th, clocking 1:39.64. The Varsity 4 x 200 m relay team would also take 6th and with nearly the same squad as the 4 x 100 m relay, with Dan Wu (Sr.) replacing Christian Allen in the 3rd leg. The team ran 1:35.68 which is a season best considering a dropped baton at the Schaumburg meet. 

In the middle distance events, the Frosh-Soph 800 m would showcase an up-and-coming middle distance runner, Ethan Thomas (So.) who ran a personal best time of 2:10.44 to take 6th. The Varsity 800 m would see Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.) win the slow heat to take 5th overall in a season best time of 2:04.52. Michael Madiol (Sr.) ran a great last lap and had a great kick into the wind in the next heat to take 2nd in 2:03.05. Max Mitchell (Fr.) ran an impressive 400 m at the Frosh-Soph level and took 5th in 53.49, a personal best. Max was charging hard on the last stretch into the wind. Finally, despite the wind and the long day, our Varsity 4 x 400 m relay team of Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.), Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.), Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.) and EJ Oketona (So.) ran a season best time, even considering indoor and outdoor seasons, of 3:33.21 to take 5th. 

This upcoming week is a busy one for us. We have an open meet on Monday, our Varsity team goals meeting on Wednesday, the West Aurora Throws meet on Thursday and the Bob Cohoon Invitational on Friday. Friday is the first Varsity-only invitational of the season and is our chance to show what the team can do. After all, the Conference Championship is only 4 weeks away, the Sectional Meet is only 5 weeks away and the State Meet is only 6 weeks away! 

On Saturday, both our top Frosh-Soph and Varsity teams competed in the Mikias Tibebu Invitational Meet at Schaumburg High School. Our Varsity team took 3rd place and our Frosh-Soph team was invitational champions! This was a huge victory for our Frosh-Soph team and their first invitational victory in quite some time. Our younger athletes are starting to develop into serious competitors. 

Complete results from the meet can be found at the link below. 

​www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/368080/results

The meet began with the field events and some solid performances in the throws. Hunter Danton (So.) won the Shot Put with a throw of 41' 8" and also took 2nd place in the Frosh-Soph Discus with a mark of 112' 3". Hunter was joined by Martin Kiefer (Fr.), who was filling in for Elijah Darden (So.). Martin took 3rd place in the Frosh-Soph Discus with a throw of 104' 8". Matt Appel (Jr.) won both the Shot Put and Discus at the Varsity level. In the Shot Put, Matt threw 55' 0", which is past the State Qualifying Mark and in the Discus, Matt threw 152' 4', less than 2 feet from the State Qualifying Mark.  

In the Frosh-Soph Pole Vault, Jailen Poole (So.) and Jonathan Martinez (So.) took 3rd and 4th respectively, with jumps of 9' 6". Jonathan would later place 3rd in the Frosh-Soph High Jump with a leap of 5' 2" and Jailen would take 5th place in the Frosh-Soph Long Jump with a mark of 17' 11.75". Jailen would also later anchor two relays, giving him a total of four events for the day. In the Triple Jump, Abood Armouti (Jr.) took 4th place with an outdoor personal best of 40' 5.5". 

Moving to the running events, our Frosh-Soph 4 x 800 m relay team of Ethan Thomas (So.), Ryan Horn (So.), Kevin Saju (So.) and Sachin Fong (Fr.) took 2nd place in a time of 8:55.00. Our Varsity team of Jordan Matthews (Sr.), Michael O'Connor (Sr.), Spencer Teske (Sr.) and Kel Foley (Sr.) won the meet in a time of 8:22.71. Michael O'Connor would record an 800 m split of 1:59.3, the fastest of the day. 

In our sprint relays, the Frosh-Soph 4 x 100 m relay team of Christian Allen (So.), Ethan Briones (So.), Jack Wharton (So.) and Jailen Poole (So.) would run 47.21 to take 2nd place. Later the meet, the same group would return in the 4 x 200 m with a serious determination not to lose again and won the meet in a time of 1:39.83. Our Varsity sprint relays experienced some exchange issues and have resolved to have them fixed for the next meet. 

​Back to the distance events, Vasant Fong (So.) went wire to wire with Charlie Siebert from New Trier in the Frosh-Soph 3200 m, with Siebert just edging out Vasant for the win. Vasant's time of 9:53.86 would show that he is getting back to his old racing form. At the Varsity level, Matt Jett (Sr.) would return to invitational competition after injury with a time of 9:53.56 and 5th place. Quinn Kennedy (Jr.) took 6th place in 10:10.41.  

In the Frosh-Soph 110 m High Hurdles, Paul Lee (Fr.) took 4th place in a time of 18.37 and Enoch Kim (So.) took 6th place in 19.32. The pair would later return in the 300 m Intermediate Hurdles with Enoch taking 2nd place in 46.11 and Paul taking 4th in 46.86. Before the meet, Paul was considering not competing because of a sore quadriceps muscle, but ended up placing in both of his events. 

Besides both sprint relays, Christian Allen (So.) placed in both the Frosh-Soph 100 m and 200 m, taking 2nd in both, with times of 11.87 and 24.70 to round out an impressive day. Christian was joined in the 100  m dash by Max Mitchell (Fr.) who took 5th in 12.21. The Varsity 100 m featured Max Rivera (So.) taking 2nd in 11.73 and Aditya Sathyaprakash (Sr.) taking 4th in 11.76. Max and Aditya were also key members of both of our sprint relays.

The middle distance events were another place where our athletes scored big places. In the Frosh-Soph 800 m, Daniel Gutierrez took 2nd place in 2:10.76 and Luke Mennecke took 3rd in 2:11.32, adding 14 points to the total. Blake Storoe (Sr.) took 5th place at the Varsity level by winning the slow heat in a time of 2:05.53, which is a personal best for Blake. In the Frosh-Soph 400 m, Cory Papastathis took 5th place in 57.08. The 400 m at the Varsity level would see the duo of Kel Foley (Sr.) and Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.) double scoring 16 points by taking 1st and 3rd. Kel ran 51.33 and Patrick Hoffman ran 52.70, showing that these two athletes are quickly returning to racing form. 
 
In the last distance event of the day, Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.) would run an impressive 4:31.45 to win the Frosh-Soph 1600 m. He was followed by Leif Anderson (So.), taking 3rd with a huge personal best of 4:37.46. The Varsity 1600 m would see another event win with Michael Madiol's (Sr.) kick bringing him across the finish line in 4:21.55 which is under the State Qualifying Mark in this event. Nicholas Drechsler (Sr.) would take 5th in 4:41.56. 

In the final event of the day, the Frosh-Soph 4 x 400 m relay team of Ethan Thomas (So.), Max Mitchell (Fr.), Ethan Briones (So.), and Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.) would claim victory in 3:43.66. Ethan Thomas would end up competing in a distance event, a sprint event and a field event in the same meet, something that we have not seen on our team. For Ethan Briones, this would be his third event of the day and for Nicolas Dovalovsky, this event occurred only 20 minutes from the 1600 m. At the Varsity level, the team of EJ Oketona (So.), Aditya Sathyaprakash (Sr.), Michael Grawe (Sr.) and Kel Foley (Sr.) would take 3rd in 3:36.98. Aditya would record a split of 53.9 in his first ever Neuqua Valley 400 m and Kel Foley would record a split almost a second faster than his open 400 m. Michael Grawe and EJ Oketona would record outdoor personal best splits as well. 

At the end of the meet, the sun was shining and we received a glimpse of what was to come in terms of weather and in performances from our athletes. We saw a young team start to come into their own. We are not there yet, but the marks are coming. Reflecting on the performances, it occurred to me that many of the athletes in this meet have committed to continuous improvement by training outside of the season. Whether it is through other sports or summer programs, we want to see all of our athletes commit to this same mission. Some of our athletes that were not part of invitational teams in the past have become part of them because of their dedication to training and improvement. The easiest way to do this is through our summer programs, which we will be discussing with our athletes this week. For more information and to register, click on the link below. 

www.wildcatxctf.com/

Next week, we have a meet at Metea Valley on Tuesday and an invitational meet at Minooka on Saturday. Let's continue showing the benefits of our training and come out to compete!