By Michael Newman

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This meet was not meant to be last year. Heavy rains hit the area early in the week followed by a deep freeze. The meet was called off early the day of the meet.

We will not see the same thing this season. Temperatures should be seasonable near 70 degrees by the time the first running final begins at 5:30 PM.

The meet should be a good one. Some of the top athletes so far this season will be ready to go for another week of fast times, long throws, and how high they can go.

Here is a look at each of the events to be held at the Downers Grove South track Friday evening.

Field Events

Long Jump – This should be a close competition with eight athletes with seeds longer than 21 feet. Noah Heupel (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) jumped 22-3 ¼ indoors and could be one of the favorites. A pair of freshmen, Vittorio Tricase (Glenbard North HS, Carol Stream) and Ayoolumide Abiona (Sandburg HS, Orland Park), are capable of going past 22 feet in this meet. I would watch for them to perhaps surprise. Also watch for Javon Charleston (Warren Township HS, Gurnee), Garrett Lyle (Bloomington HS), and Kiwan Kim (Stevenson HS, Lincolnshire) to be within the mix as well.

Triple Jump – Austin Parks (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) started off his outdoor season nicely going 45-3 at Schaumburg two weeks ago. Parks has the top seed mark heading into this event. In the same weekend, Zach Hogan (North HS, Downers Grove) was helped by a little wind at Glenbard South and flew 44-10 ½. Both of the athletes will be favored heading into this competition. Bloomington jumpers Coree Harrell and Jonathan Warren could surprise in this event.

High Jump – The most consistent jumper in this field so far this season has been Peter Andreano (Minooka HS). The senior has been over 6-4 or higher five times this year and should be considered the favorite. Max Zinski (Benet Academy HS, Lisle) should be his chief competition. Nolan Barajas (Minooka HS), Darius Davis (Warren Township HS, Gurnee), and Tommy Demogerontas (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) could push for higher heights as well in this meet.

Pole Vault – Steven Bradford (Bloomington HS) had a great round of vaults last week in Springfield with a seasonal best 15-0 clearance winning the event. He will look to go higher Friday evening. The one athlete that could push Bradford is Adam Peterson (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville). He went through a slump in the middle of the indoor season but looks like he has rebounded. 14-6 is his best vault outdoors. Ryan Pullara (Minooka HS) and Eric Wisz (North HS, Downers Grove) should be the next highest in this event.

Shot Put – Nitim Tangellamudi (Warren Township HS, Gurnee) and Brock Whalen (Minooka HS) are the only athletes in this event that have been over 50 feet in this field. They will be the two athletes to watch Friday night. Stephen Hubona (Benet Academy HS, Lisle) could be the one athlete to surprise and keep an eye on.

Discus – This could be a close event. Both Stephen Hubona and Austin Weltha (Bloomington HS) threw in the 160 foot range last weekend. They should battle for first in this meet. Nick Janicki (North HS, Downers Grove) is the only other athlete over 150 feet in this field. I would also watch for him.

Track Events

4 x 800 Meter Relay – New Trier ran 7:54 last weekend at Naperville but will not be running the same quartet. They are scheduled to have Peter Cotsirilos and Connor Trapp within their quartet. They still could be pushing for the win. Neuqua Valley will be in contention for the win. They will have a strong quartet anchored by 1:55 800 runner Ty Moss. They will push the Trevians. Downers Grove North will not have a loaded relay, but will still have Tony Zea in their foursome. Watch for the Trojans. Also keep an eye on Sandburg who is scheduled to run four sophomore on their relay. It will be interesting to see how fast they run.

4 x 100 Meter Relay – We should see a winning time under 43 seconds in the final section. Minooka ran 42.68 at Belleville West. The Indians could run under 42.5 in this race. Sandburg, Bloomington, and Sandburg all have the talent in their quartets to push under that 43 second barrier. Anything can happen in the sprint relays in regards to handoffs. Hopefully, we will see clean handoffs in this meet.

3200 Meter Run – This could be the best race of the evening. Zack Smith (North HS, Downers Grove) ran 9:08 two weeks ago in California and will be one of the favorites. We could see Smith pushing his teammate Ryan Clevenger to a fast time in this race similar to like the two did during the cross country season.

It’s a good field. Nick Bushelle and Daniel Weiss (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville), Chase Silverman and Josh Rosenkranz    (New Trier HS, Winnetka), and Jeremy Craven (North HS, Downers Grove) are all capable of running under 9:30 in this race. There are sixteen runners all with seed times under 10 minutes in the final section. I would not be surprised if we see 12 runners under 9:50 in this race.

110 Meter High Hurdles – Minooka teammates Bobby Kazula and Shabari Bailey are the only athletes in this field that have gone under 15 seconds according to TFX this season. They would be the two athletes to watch in this race. Christian Neal (Bloomington HS), Grant Golob (Lockport Township HS), and Brian Guitron (Morton HS, Berwyn-Cicero) have the talent to be under 15 seconds in this race.

100 Meter Dash – Devin Ingram (Minooka HS) is the only athlete that has gone under eleven seconds FAT in the 100 in this field. He will be the sprinter to watch in this race. Also keep an eye on Tim Vestuto (Stevenson HS, Lincolnshire), Isaac Walker (Warren Township, Gurnee), Dylan Guenther (New Trier HS, Winnetka), and Lavelle Johnson (Sandburg HS, Orland Park).

800 Meter Run – An interesting race looking at the meet program. Peter Cotsirilos, Connor Trapp, Ty Moss, and Tony Zea will all be coming back after running a leg in the 4 x 8 relay. Jacob Amiri (South HS, Downers Grove) will be on his home track and could possibly take this race. Sean Torpy (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) and Kevin Ma (Whitney Young HS, Chicago) could also be in the front. Moss has great finishing speed to be under 1:55 in this race. Zea and Cotsirilos could be in tow. A good chance that we could have two runners under 1:55 in this race.

4 x 200 Meter Relay – Minooka has the second fastest time in the state and should be the favorite in this race. Neuqua Valley could be Minooka’s chief competition. Sandburg, Bloomington, and Stevenson could be close behind.

400 Meter Dash – This is another race that I am looking forward to seeing. Chris Wilson (Minooka HS) continues to drop his time in this event. Last week, he ran 49.19 to win on his home track. He will be the favorite but will be strongly challenged by a pair of Neuqua Valley runners Zac Espinosa and Nick Rafacz. Espinosa currently has the state’s ninth best time. It would not surprise me to see Wilson or one of the Neuqua runners to dip under 49 seconds in this race.

300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles – The question in this race will be if we will see a runner under 40 seconds. None of the runner has seed times under that mark. Joseph Matthews (Bloomington HS) was a surprise winner last week at Springfield. He could be one of the favorites. Minooka hurdlers Shabari Bailey and Bobby Kaluza will also be pushing for the win.

1600 Meter Run – Chase Silverman and Zack Smith will be coming back from the 3200 and will be the favorites in this event. Nick Bushelle will be doubling as well. I would keep an eye on him as well. Michael Widmann (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) has been improving every race this year. He will be fresh. He could push for the win. Martin Skucas (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) could be a factor even though he is only a freshman.

200 Meter Dash – Devin Ingram has the fastest seed time by more than half a second. He should be the favorite in this race. Also watch for Isaac Walker, Dylan Guenther, and Cary Lockhart (Bloomington HS) to possibly challenge.

4 x 400 Meter Relay – If the 3200 is not the best race of the night, this one could be the one to watch. Neuqua Valley has a talented quartet that ran 3:21 last week at Metea. Minooka will be the on team to push Neuqua. Minooka should have Chris Wilson anchoring. Neuqua could have either Ty Moss or Zac Espinosa anchoring. I would love to see a sub 3:20 in this race. Both could do that to close the meet out.