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5/12/12 - Bear Place 4th in Frosh/Soph Conference
We placed a solid 4th in the Frosh/Soph Conference Meet,
with 4 sophomores moved up to the varsity level. Libertyville won in
convincing fashion, and looks to have the upcoming talent over the next
couple years. Here are some highlights in the distance events:
4x800: This wasn't our best performance.
We patchworked a relay team to try and snag a point. Pat McDonald,
Logan Ejupi, and Juan Ramos have focused on other events all season, and we
were not within reach of 6th place by the time our anchor Gerrit Williams
got the baton. Gerrit was shut down to focus on the 1600 later in the
meet.
3200: This was a showdown between 2 great
freshmen: our own Ian Murray and Stevenson's Sam Oh. Both entered with
10:15 seeds, and both were seeking a sub-10 clocking. From early in
the race, it was Oh leading with Ian planted nicely on his right shoulder.
The two dropped the field quickly with a 4:52 opening mile. On the 6th
lap, Oh surged and distanced himself from Ian, and it was clear that Ian was
feeling the discomfort. But Ian found another gear in the last lap,
caught and passed Oh en route to a victory in 9:55. Oh also broke the
10 minute barrier with a nice 9:59, but was later disqualified for running
in lane zero (along with 2 other runners)
Ian set our Freshman record for the distance, breaking
Pat Juras's record of 10:01. Keep in mind that when Pat ran the 10:01,
he had a season of cross country under his belt in which he was a varsity
All-conference athlete already, as well as a winter of training. Ian
has basically caught and passed Pat's marks in only 3 months of continuous
training. The young man undoubtedly has a gift, but what makes him
special is that he always seems to win the close races. There may be a
dozen freshmen in the state who have broken 10 minute, but Ian has that rare
ability to find one more gear when the race is on the line. It will be
interesting to see how he progresses over the next couple years.
800- We lined up Justin Shim and Brian Griffin in
this one. Justin put himself in great position early on, perched in
3rd behind the leaders. In lap 2, Justin made a nice move along with
the leaders to separate himself from the pack, and fought with all his might
through the last step, to place a strong 3rd in 2:10.x. While Justin
lacked the speed and strength to finish the race well enough to win, his
2:10 was a PR and a promising step for his future in the event.
Brian Griffin was under the weather, and struggled his
final race of the season. It wasn't his best time, but I respect his
choice to give the race a go.
1600- Matt Reninger and Gerrit Williams ran the
1600 for us. Matt ran a solid race to break 5:20 for the first time
this season, while Gerrit ran 4:51 to place 5th. Both have had nice
seasons to prepare themselves for strong showings in the fall.
5/11/12 - Bears Three-Peat at NSC Conference
Champions in Dramatic Fashion
We are all still reeling after a dramatic conference
championship meet. A scoring error may have clouded the fantastic
performances in the meet, but I am here to report that our athletes squeezed
every point out of their abilities. The final scoring showed Lake
Zurich with 90 points and Grant with 88, however the record books will
forever show a tie between LZ and Grant, each with 88 points. I will
report on this discrepancy after the great performances by our young men
that made the 2012 Conference Championship so memorable.
As coaches, we look forward to the conference meet more
than any other. It is the one meet that we want to win the most, and
it is the only meet that we put together our best scoring lineup. We
try to ride our superstars as much as possible, and use our depth to fill
the holes and steal points in other events. Thus, we felt we had our
heart ripped out when our All-State sprinter and senior captain, Mike Rantis,
tweaked his hamstring a week ago. Mike had been having a great season,
and had been undefeated in the 200 and 400 in outdoor racing. With
Sectionals and State still looming on the horizon, it was clear that it was
in Mike's and the team's best interest not to try to race in the conference
meet.
With Mike out, we had all but given up hope on a 3-Peat.
We competed at the Lake County Invite the week prior, and took a distant 8th
place, behind a half dozen of our conference foes. But, we could still
dream a scenario where we could win. And as the saying goes, "if you
can dream it, it is possible". We had to do everything right, and even
then, it was going to come down to the 4x4.
Well, our guys did just that. They nailed every
handoff, marked every step, fought for every position, and in the end, can
be proud of their accomplishment of carrying on the tradition of conference
champions.
We knew going in, that Stevenson and Grant were the teams
to beat. Grant features 2 superstars who will compete for Individual
State titles in Brandon Lombardino and Sean Wells, as well as a strong
supporting cast. Stevenson may lack the superstars that Grant boasts,
but probably owns the most well-rounded team in the conference. Our
strength was in the distance events, and we were going to have to pick up a
lot of points in those events to keep up with Grant and Stevenson.
4x8
The meet started off on a strong foot for us in the
4x800. We took a risk with having Bobby Klett lead off for us.
Bobby has had an up-and-down season and his PR was only 2:07, but he was
gaining confidence in recent weeks. The one thing I knew we could
count on, was that Bobby was going to compete. After knowing Bobby for
3 years, it has become common practice that he was going to fight every inch
of that track and do everything in his power to keep us in the mix.
Bobby led off with a new personal record 2:05.x, and we were within striking
distance in 5th.
Chris Rantis ran second for us, and he did exactly what
we hoped he would do: get us to the lead. Chris caught the leaders by
the 400 with a 55 opening lap, then tightened up a bit but held on for a
solid 1:58.0. At the exchange, we were in second place about 10m back
behind Warren . Chris still has a lot left to show and is ready for a
big race in the next 2 weeks.
Will Llanos ran 3rd for us. He was under
instructions to take the lead and extend as large as possible, with hopes of
giving Pat the ability to coast in the first of his three big races of the
day. Will followed orders and quickly took back the lead and began to
extend. When Will crossed the 400, it looked as if Will was going to
drop Warren's 3rd leg. However, Will started to tighten and Warren
picked up momentum. The Warren runner overtook Will and pulled away.
Will was a good 20m back at the handoff. Will did split a PR 2:01.9
and I credit his efforts with an aggressive race.
Pat got the baton 20m back of Warren's anchor, who had
run 1:57 the week prior to place 2nd in the County 800. I debated with
Coach Beaver of whether to shut down Pat at that time. We decided to
let him coast the first 400 and see how Warren responded. After a
smooth 58, it appeared that Pat had gained a step or two. When
he hit the backstretch, he had gained another step, and we let Pat loose to
catch him if he could. A spirited finish ensued, with Pat pulling away
to a 1:56.0 split and a narrow victory. More importantly, we had our
10 crucial points. The team's time of 8:01 was our season best.
3200
The 3200 was a big point scorer for us as well.
were hoping for 14 points in the event, and that is what we got. We
knew that Martin Martinez was going to be tough to beat for the win, and
thus the race was going to be for second and third. In the end,
Martinez cruised to victory, while Jared and Alex snagged 2nd and 3rd.
Times were not great, at 9:38 and 9:42, but the conference meet is not about
times, and our two up-and-coming juniors came through.
800
The 800 was going to be a big swing event. We lined
up Pat Juras coming off the 4x800 and Jon Ramirez running fresh. I was
a little worried how the race would pan out, as Pat and Jon have different
racing styles. Pat was hoping for a conservative race to show off his
kick, and Jon needed a fast race to keep the pace honest.
Both guys ran to their strengths. Jon took the lead
from the gun and gapped the field. Pat hung back in the pack, ready to
pounce. Jon hit the 400 in 56 while Pat came through with the pack at
58. Jon continued to extend on the backstretch as Pat slid up into
position. As the field entered the final 100m, Jon still held the lead
with Pat in second, charging hard, as the field challenged behind him.
Pat overtook his teammate, and Jon held on for second. Pat finished in
1:57.x while Jon ran a PR 1:58.x. We came away with a huge 18 points,
and LZ fans were starting to get the feeling that today was going to be a
special day.
1600
When the 1600 began, the score through 15 events was
reported over the loudspeaker: we were down by 9 points to Grant, who had
just won the 300IH with Sean Wells. We had nobody in the 200, while
Wells had qualified and was 1 race away from finishing his spectacular day.
We knew we had to score big points in the 1600 to have a chance.
We lined up a fresh Trevor Kuehr alongside a depleted Pat
Juras. Trevor had been nursing a sore calf for the past couple weeks,
and had lost his position as lead dog in the 3200. While the 1600 is
not his best event, he has really improved his speed and strength over the
past 12 months, and had the potential to be a factor in the race. To make
things more interesting, the 1600 is probably the conference's best event,
with 4 runners seeded at 4:19 or lower. It was going to be no small
task for Pat and Trevor.
The race started out slow, hitting 66 at the 400 and 2:13
through the 800. Pat was clearly lacking the bounce to his step that
we had become accustomed to. Nevertheless, the slow race made it
appear that we were going to dodge a bullet, and the race would fall into
our tired star's lap. But Lake Forest's star-in-the-making Billy Bund
made a strong move at the 800, and Pat was unprepared for the move.
Bund dropped a 63 at lap 3, and he was gone. Pat hung on to the chase
pack consisting of Libertyville's Huch and Reilly as the race began to
string out. Trevor had lost contact, and was holding back in 6th.
As the race approached its culmination, Pat and Huch battled down the
homestretch, with Pat narrowly edging the Libertyville senior for second.
Bund finished with a North Suburban Conference Meet record in 4:18, while Pat finished in 4:20, just a step ahead of Huch. Trevor came through with a key point in a 6th place 4:34.
We scored 9 points to square up the competition with only 2 events
remaining.
4x400
Wells scored 2 points for Grant with his 5th place finish
in the 200, so we knew what we had to do: finish ahead of Grant to tie up
the score, or win by 2 places to win outright. We have had a strong
tradition of 400 runners in recent years, and this year is no different.
However, we were very tired after a full day by our harriers. Other
than sophomore Anthony Baca, who was leading off fresh, Jon Ramirez had run
an 800, David Smith had vaulted and run a 400, and Chris Rantis had run an
800 and a 400.
Anthony led off with a solid 53.5, near his PR.
Grant held the lead by about 10 meters, but Jon got the baton in a pack but
within reach of the lead. Jon did well to escape the pack and pull us
neck and neck with Grant, with a 51.7 split. David ran 3rd, and was
able to get the inside lane on the first turn, but lost the lead on the
second turn. David split a 52.0, and we were a couple steps behind
Grant. Our 2-time all-stater Chris Rantis anchored for us, and
looked to be relaxing too much in the opening 200. But as the leaders
neared the final curve, Chris put on a surge as he passed our Blue Smoke,
took the lead, and drove for the tape. Chris pulled away from the
Grant anchor, but Lakes' anchor came from way back to beat Chris at the
line, while Grant finished a strong 3rd. Lakes was later dq'ed for
unknown reasons, giving us 1st and Grant 2nd.
The meet ended with a tie for the conference title with
us and Grant at 90 points even. Stevenson placed 3rd in a
not-too-distant 73.
We definitely rode our superstars as far as we could.
Our distance crew scored 51 points in the 4 distance events, and contributed
on the championship 4x4 Relay for 10 more. Pat Juras led the charge,
contributing 28 points to the cause in his 3 events, and Chris Rantis had
his hand in 24 points. But I will always remember the 2012 conference
meet because of the unsung heroes.
Take Mark Weber, for instance. Mark is a senior
captain thrower. Mark entered the competition with the 12 seed in the
discus. Prior to the meet, Mark's personal record throw was 121', but
on the biggest track and field competition of his life, Mark tossed a 133'
to snag 6th place and a valuable point, our only point in the throws.
That point turned out to be pretty big.
Robert Rossdeutcher also comes to mind. Robert is a
junior pole vaulter, and is in the first year in the event. Robert
entered the competition with a PR of 10'3'', and was well back in the seeds.
Robert has been working diligently to perfect his plant, and his hard work
paid off in the conference meet with not 1 PR, but 2 PRs, vaulting 11'3''.
More importantly, Robert cleared 11'3'' on his first attempt, earning the
critical tie breaker. Robert finished in 5th place, scoring 2 points,
while the 6th place finisher clear 11'3'' as well just with more misses.
As inspiring as our team performance was, Grant's team
performance was equally as inspiring. After looking at the results, it
was clear they had some unsung heroes of their own. Their two miler,
Peters-Clarke comes to mind. Peters-Clarke came in with a seed of
10:15ish, but ran 9:56 behind an inspired kick to snag 6th place.
Grant also snuck a point out of the 400, and I remember watching that young
man fight down the final straight and edge our own David Smith in the event.
We are honored to share the title with such a great team.
The scoring discrepancy that I eluded to earlier came in
the 4x200. We placed 4th in the fast heat, inches behind Grant for
3rd. Libertyville won the slow heat. The scores came out that
Grant placed 3rd, Libertyville 4th, and Lake Zurich 5th. We were
surprised that Libertyville somehow snuck in between us and Grant, but
trusted that the FAT system would provide the most accurate results.
We left the meet without a copy of the results, under the impression that we
were co-conference champions.
The next day, a copy of the results was faxed over.
We noticed that the 4x200 definitely had an error, with our time registering
as 1:37.x, with Grant at 1:33.x and Libertyville at 1:35.x. Our time
was 1:33.x, not the reported 1:37. We called the FAT company who
scored the meet, and they reviewed the photos of the finish. They
confirmed that they had indeed made a mistake in the scoring, the actual
times were Grant-3rd-1:33.23, Lake Zurich-4th- 1:33.24, and
Libertyville-5th-1:35.x. This 2 point swing gave us the outright title
and a heartbreaking correction for the proud athletes at Grant High School.
We thought... About an hour later, in total about
16 hours after the conclusion of the meet, Ron McGraw of the IHSA was called
for an interpretation. There are 2 rules in the IHSA Track and Field
Handbook: Rule 2 of Section 3 of Article 1 cites that "clerical or team
scoring errors may be corrected up to 48 hours of the conclusion of the
meet". We were well within those boundaries. Article 3 of the
Handbook cites that "appeals due to misapplication of the rules must be made
within 30 minutes after results have been made official". Mr. McGraw
sided with the Article 3 Rule and stated that the scoring error cannot be
changed, and thus, the relay places will remain as initially reported, with
LZ 5th and Libertyville 4th. Thus, the conference championship will
remain a tie.
As a compassionate person, I am in agreement with the
verdict, as it would be devastating to take this accomplishment away from an
inspiring Grant team who had already celebrated their victory. We can
call ourselves Conference Champions, and 10 years from now, nobody will
remember whether we were outright Champions or Co-Champions. The
banner that we will raise in our Field House will mark North Suburban
Conference Champions either way.
However as a coach, I see a problem. Is this really
the correct interpretation of "misapplication of the rules", as phrased in
Article 3? It sure sounds like a "scoring error" to me, as phrased in
Article 1. I was under the impression that a "misapplication of the
rules" is an error applied during the race itself, such as setting the
hurdles to the wrong setting or something like that. If so, what would
a "scoring error" entail, if not an error to the scoring after
the race has already concluded? Other thoughts come to mind, such as
would Mr. McGraw's decision have been the same if it would have changed the
outcome entirely?
We as coaches were not given copies of the results at the
conclusion of the meet. We did not see the final results until the
following day. How as coaches were we supposed to know to correct this
error within 30 minutes of the conclusion of the event? The only way
the results were reported was over the loudspeaker during the meet.
Are we as coaches supposed to be listening intently to every event score?
What if we don't hear the announcement of a particular race's results- then
how would we know to correct an error in the scoring if we don't see the
results until the next day?
I am still searching for more clarification on the exact
rule, and I am still unclear as to how this type of situation can be
prevented in the future. To any readers out there who are familiar
with the intricacies of the IHSA Track and Field Handbook and have any
insight to this, I am open ears. In the meantime, I am proud to be a
part of a team that put forth an unbelievable effort on the biggest day, and
honored to be considered Co-Champs with a first class team in Grant High
School.
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Records Updates
I have 3 records to update. It is a shame that
these records were not announced at the meet. We should make a point
to have these records on hand for our announcers in future competitions.
-A few weeks ago, Brandon Lombardino of Grant set the
All-Time North Suburban Conference Record with a 190' toss in a dual
meet with Vernon Hills. Brandon broke Llibertyville great Jim
Lenzini's mark of 187'10'' from 1977.
-Last week, Erik Peterson of Barrington set the
Lake County Meet Record
in the thrilling 1600 with a time of 4:12.47. Erik broke Deerfield
legend Mark McCallister's time of 4:15.64 from 1978.
-Billy Bund of Lake Forest set the
North Suburban Conference Meet
Record in the 1600 with his time of 4:18.31. Billy broke Stevenson
great Mickey Cobrin's time of 4:20.44, set in 2003.
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5/3/12 - Highlights from Stevenson/Warren Dual,
Barrington Frosh/Soph Invite, Lake County Invite
Lake County Invitational Highlights
-Our 4x8 crew of Will Llanos, Greg Geimer, Bobby Klett,
and Jon Smith took 8th place. Will led off and got boxed in in the
first 200. He was able to navigate through the field to a 3rd place
2:02.9, but needed a better tactical start to run a faster time. Greg
Geimer and Bobby Klett battled in our middle legs, both splitting season
best times of 2:08 and 2:07. Jon Smith anchored with a 2:12, and it is
clear that Jon is still having trouble finding his legs after knee ailment
in the past months.
-In the 3200, Jared Ripoli placed 5th and Alex Milner
placed 7th, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Alex actually ran
the better race, only to fade a bit in the last 2 laps. Alex pushed
the pace through the 1600 in 4:41, with a pack of runners on his shoulder
led by Burgoon from Barrington, Matuszak from Carmel, and Hanig from
Highland Park. Alex continued to hold 71 second laps through the 2400,
gapping Ripoli and Deerfield's Alex Gold. But Alex ran out of gas and
fell off the pace. Matuszak and Burgoon took over the pacing duties
and Alex fell back to 75s laps. Gold, Hanig, Ripoli, and a Lake Forest
Academy athlete all took advantage of the fading Milner. Nevertheless,
Alex ran the race how he needed to run it, and his racing style lends itself
for greater things in the future. Jared has found a strong finishing
kick, but must continue to maintain contact midrace as we approach the
Championship meets. Both Alex and Jared ran big PRs of 9:38 and 9:39.
-The 800 did not lend itself to Jon Ramirez and Chris
Rantis's strengths. Both guys need a blistering race that challenges
runners to make a decision in the first 400. Chris and Jon found their
way to the front in the first 200 but were hesitant to continue to push
thereafter. This is a key experience for us and we will certainly be
better prepared tactically to race to our strengths. The first split
57-58 with the leaders, but the pace was settling and the field was ready to
attack. Chris and Jon lost some positioning on the backstretch, and it
became a kickers race. Chris and Jon dropped to 6th and 8th in 1:58
and 1:59. Both were season bests, but we will be sure to close better
in future races.
-The 1600 was easily the most exciting race of the
evening, and a race that many fans will remember for a long time. It
was a loaded field with Peterson and Juras, along with Lake Forest's Billy
Bund (4:19 seed), Warren's Martin Martinez (4:22), and Libertyville's Easton
Huch (4:22). The race started out fast, with Peterson and Bund leading
a large pack through a 2:07 opening 800. From there, the field began
to thin, with only Bund, Martinez, Juras, and Peterson holding form.
The quartet hit the 1200 mark at 3:11 and the footrace was on.
Martinez surged to the lead and Bund faded. For a moment on the
backstretch, Pat was boxed in behind Peterson, who was in his typical pole
position, and the surging Martinez. Pat did well to slide out and
around Martinez around the final curve as he and Peterson began to pull away
from Martinez. When they hit the final 100, Peterson had a 2 step lead
on Pat. Pat closed to within arms reach of Peterson, but the finish
line came too soon. The result: same race, different day, just a bit
faster. Peterson's final time was a blistering 4:12.6 while Juras was
officially 4:12.7. We thought this was the fastest time in the state,
but later we learn that New Trier's Leland Later ran a solo 4:10 on the same
night. Behind the fireworks by Juras and Peterson, Martinez
finished in 4:15, Bund in 4:17, and Huch in 4:19. Peterson, Juras,
Martinez, and Bund all set their school records, and Peterson set the Lake
County Invitational Meet Record as well.
-Mike Rantis was pulled with a hamstring tweak, but that
didn't hold back our 4x4 from winning in exciting fashion. Sophomore
sub Anthony Baca led off with a 54.0 and we were in 7th. Jon Ramirez
passed 5 guys with a 51.8. David Smith passed took the lead with a
51.0. Chris Rantis held off strong anchors from Libertyville and Lakes
to win with his 50.5 split. The 4x400 marked our only event winner of
the day.
In the Barrington Frosh/Soph Invite
-Ryan Wendell provided the highlight of the day competing
in the 200m. Ryan ran a blistering 30.x while filling in the fast
heat.
-Will Llanos ran a fast 4:38 in the sophomore 1600 to get
second, just behind a Barrington runner.
-Richard Waller ran a nice 63 in the open 400.
-Pat MacDonald and Logan Ejupi ran great 800s in the
freshman 800, taking 4th and 6th in 2:13 and 2:20.
-Justin Shim ran a PR 800 in the DMR of 2:11, but Ian
Murray provided the highlight by anchoring the relay and coming from 80m
back to take second with a spirited finish.
-Brian Griffin continues to run the 800 the right way,
aggressively. Brian ran a PR 2:14.
We found a great day to run on our Monday dual with
Stevenson and Warren. A lot of nice times were put up:
-Pat Juras and Martin Martinez (Warren) went at it in the
3200. Pat pulled away in the final 300m in a PR time of 9:21.
Martinez finished in a close 9:23, which set his school record in the
process. Pat's 9:21 is our 3rd best all time, just behind Alex Brend
and Gerardo Perez.
-Trevor Kuehr came up lame with a calf strain, but still
managed a 9:58 in the process. We are hoping to get him back soon
because his fitness is at an all time high.
-In the 4x800, Juan Ramos broke 2:20 for the first time
with a 2:19.5.
-The mile provided the highlight of the day. Jared
Ripoli and Alex Milner had a breakthrough race, posting times of 4:30 and
4:33, setting big PRs in the process. These two are on a roll right
now, and are looking to set big PRs in the 3200 at today's County meet.
-Mike Unger finished his LZXC/LZTF career with his best
race of his life. Mike set a 15 second PR, running 5:09.
Congrats on a great career Mike!
_________________________________________________________
4/23/12 - Highlights from Lake Forest Dual
We found some decent weather to set some PRs in our dual
at Lake Forest. Notable performances include 5 PRs in the 3200 (Pat
Juras - 9:27, Jared Ripoli 9:51, Alex Milner 9:52, Ian Murray 10:16, and
Austin Kuehr broke 11 for the first time with a 10:55) Juras, Ripoli,
and Milner all made the top 10 list, and Murray ran our 3rd best frosh 3200
ever (behind only Juras and Perez). To note the type of talent this
young man has, Ian now can boast he ran a 4:41 in his first ever 1600m race
and a 10:16 in his first ever 3200m race. This is just the tip of the
iceberg for him if he chooses to pursue greater things in the sport.
We had some nice 800s as well, including a sweet 2:03
from Will Llanos, a 2:08 from Bobby Klett, and 2:16 from Mike Unger in the
relay. Chris Rantis got his first 800 of the season, hitting 60-65
splits for a victory in the open 8 with a 2:05. Pat MacDonald won the
frosh/soph 800 with a PR 2:16.
In the 1600, Trevor Kuehr broke 4:40 for the first time
with a 4:39, and Greg Geimer broke 5:00 for the first time with a 4:56.
_________________________________________________________
4/20/12 - Bears Bear the Weather, Take 2nd at Bear
Invite
We had less-than-ideal conditions for our 4th annual home
invitational on Friday night. Some teams, such as Barrington, Lake
Park, Fremd, and perhaps some others held out some athletes, but we still
saw some great races and great performances in the field events. We
took second to defending state champions Lake Park, who dominated in the
field events once again.
We saw two meet records go down, both in the
mid-distance. Barrington's frosh/soph 4x800 ran a nice 8:49.84 under
those conditions, to better the record of 8:53.24 previously held by LZ's
2011 team and Barrington's 2009 team. Our own Pat Juras narrowly broke
the Eric Schneider's (Barrington) record of 2:00.44 with his time of
2:00.24.
Here are some distance highlights:
4x800: Our varsity team of Will Llanos, Jon
Ramirez, Greg Geimer, and Pat Juras won the 4x8. The splits were not
great (2:08, 2:03, 2:14, 2:08) and we make some tactical errors in the race
that need fixing, but it is nice to get a victory. Will and Greg
looked good through 650, but need to finish the last 150 if they are to
become great 800m runners. Jon looked great in his smooth 2:03, and he
is primed for a breakout performance in that event. Pat held back as
our anchor, with the race already in hand.
Our frosh/soph team probably had the best race of the day
for our distance crew. They ran competitively and aggressively despite
the conditions. Ian Murray led off for us and got out way too slow.
Ian was probably the best runner in the race, but he found himself in the
back of the pack after the first 200m. He did well to fight over the
next 600m, passing nearly 10 runners, and was able to get us back to a close
second before the pass. While his 2:13 split was solid, Ian will have
to trust himself that he a talented enough to handle a faster start and
still be able to finish like he wants. Gerrit Williams and Justin Shim
ran strong races in the middle, hitting 2:11 and 2:12 splits. They ran
fast, controlled first laps, and made a move in the second half. The
one area they both need to improve on is when passing, to pass with
authority. Both took the lead without a purpose, and not to pull away.
That next gear will be a focus over the next 12 months as they progress
towards varsity competition. Pat MacDonald ran the best 600m I have
ever seen him run as a track athlete. He looked great as he clung to
the back of Barrington's anchor (who I believe ran a 2:03 the week before).
However, Pat ran out of gas in the last 200 and faded to a 2:19. Pat
has the potential to be exceptional in this event, and as his training
grows, so will his confidence to finish these types of races.
3200: Jared Ripoli and Alex Milner toed the
line for us, and both were faced with a critical decision early in the race.
Barrington's duo of cross country all-staters Peterson and Burgoon took the
race out fast, hitting 2:14 through the 800. Jared and Alex chose to
let them go rather than tag along, and they found themselves doing all the
work for the chase pack. Peterson and Burgoon eventually lost the
battle with the biting wind, finishing in 9:36 and 9:53, but still nabbing
1-2. Jared and Alex struggled as the race progressed, and it was clear
that the chase pack that sat behind them early in the race was much stronger
down the stretch. A trio of runners passed them in the last lap,
including Vershay from Benet, Winter from Fremd, and Morales from Lake Park.
Jared and Alex finished 4th and 6th, all of whom were north of 10 minutes,
but they learned invaluable lessons for future races. I am proud of
their efforts to be the aggressors and taking the lead, but clearly the
decision to go with Barrington's harriers is a choice that will arise again.
800
As mentioned earlier, Pat Juras won the 800 and set the
meet record with a 2:00.24. Pat got out quick in the opening 100
before settling in for the rest of the first lap. The race slowed to a
60 opening quarter before Pat began to surge. A couple runners hung on
Pat through the 600, including Prais from Lakes and Svoboda from Benet, but
Pat found another gear to pull away in the final 200. It was a nice
race for Pat, and great to see him run aggressive enough early in the race
to find position.
In the slow heat, Bobby Klett continues to race himself
back into shape as he recovers from a strained back. Bobby got himself
in a nice footrace to compete for the win, but came up just short. His
2:12 was a season best.
1600
Jared Ripoli and Jon Ramirez stepped up for us, both
doubling back from previous events. Both Jared and Jon did not have
their finest races, and the field moved away from them in the second half.
It was not our finest moment as a distance crew, and hopefully better days
are still yet to come. Jon finished 7th with a 4:38 and Jared was
further back north of 4:40.
Other Highlights
Chris Rantis has been recovering from a hip flexor issue,
so he finally got to race his first race of the season. Chris split
52.6 in the 400, but he was with brother Mike with 100 to go before he lost
his wind and dropped to 4th. Mike won the race with an impressive
50.5. Mike also won the 200 with a nice 22.3.
It's hard to believe that after 8 indoor and outdoor
meets, we finally got the opportunity to vault. David Smith has looked
good in practice, and I though he might set the school record (13'3'') in
his very first competition of the season, but it wasn't meant to be on this
day. David cleared 12'6'', tying his PR from last season, but as he
lined up for the attempt at 13', his lips were quivering from the cold, and
it was clear that the record will have to wait another day.
_________________________________________________________
4/16/12 - LZ Middle School North Bill Herlocker
Retirement Party
Attention Middle School North Alums, German teacher and
cross country coach is having a retirement party on Friday May 12, and you
are invited to attend! Please see the
attached flyer.
_________________________________________________________
4/13/12 - Highlights from Libertyville Fr/So Invite,
Patriot Relays
Our schedule is pretty dormant until this week, when is
speeds up really quickly. We really have no fast indoor meets on our
schedule, and our dual meet schedule early in the season is not favorable
for putting up good times. I apologize for the lack of updates, but
frankly, we haven't had a lot of highlights thus far. Alas, we finally
got in a couple big meets with nice weather to put up some nice PRs.
Libertyville Fr/So Invite
Our Frosh/Soph group traveled to Libertyville for their
Annual Relay meet. We were without a few of our stud sophomore
sprinters and jumpers, who were out with confirmations or injuries, but we
were still able to nearly pull out a victory despite minimal points in the
sprint relays. Palatine took the meet title for the second straight
year, but we edged a solid team from Lake Forest for second, about 12 points
back of Palatine.
For our distance crew, this meet is always centered
around the 4x1600. We always put our 4 best milers in this event, and
it has become a great source of pride in our culture to earn the right to
run in this event. For example, I have an end-of-the-season meeting
with each athlete after cross country ends, and something like 6 different
kids said one of their goals for track was to run the 4x1600 at
Libertyville. It has become an honor as well as burden to take on
Palatine and the rest of the competition in this event.
This year, I didn't know what to expect from our 4x1600
lineup. Only 1 athlete had ever broken 5:00 and we were lining up with
2 freshmen, one of which was making his debut performance at the distance.
Sophomore Gerrit Williams started off for us. The
pace went out fast, with Palatine's freshman stud Brown taking the reigns.
Brown pulled Gerrit and the field through the 800 at around 2:18 before the
field began to drop off. Brown cruised comfortably to a solid 4:36 and
a hefty lead. Gerrit stalled a bit in the 3rd lap, but finished strong
in the final 200m to lower his PR from 5:02 to 4:50. We were in a
distant 4th but within striking distance.
Will Llanos ran second for us. Will will be a
varsity athlete for us all season, so this meet was one of his only chances
to race against his age group. Will looked like a man among boys, as
he closed the gap on Palatine and eventually gave us a nice 15m lead going
into the 3rd leg. Will split a PR 4:41, down from his previous best of
4:45. Look for Will to fill a slot in our Varsity 4x800 this year, as
well as become a key player in cross in the fall.
After 2 sophomores grabbing the lead for us, we relied on
2 freshmen to bring home the gold. Justin Shim ran a smart first half,
hitting 2:22 at the 800. He started to feel the race in the 3rd lap,
but showed a lot of mental toughness to maintain his stride. Justin
finished in 4:54, and we were in second (Vernon Hills in first, I believe)
with Palatine not far behind. This was Justin's first time below 5.
Freshman Ian Murray was our anchor on this day. Ian
entered the meet with a 5:09 PR, which he did in practice a few weeks back,
but he has been tearing up our PPM workouts. Ian played soccer in the
fall, so he is completely unknown, but he has shown signs in only 2 months
of training of a superstar. To our alums and those close to the
program, in only 2 months of training, Ian has broken both our Freshman 4m
and 5m PPM records, and has challenged our Varsity athletes at times.
The young man has a gift.
Ironically, Ian looked like he had never run the
1600 before during his first lap. He split the quarter at 74 as Palatine jumped back to the lead with Ian and the Vernon
Hills anchor attached. But from there on, we saw a glimpse of Ian's
competitiveness, the type of competitiveness that allows you to completely
forget about the discomfort of running a 1600. As Ian clung to the
leader, he clipped off a pair of 71s laps in the middle before unleashing a
66 last lap to pull away from Palatine's anchor. Ian split a 4:41,
giving us the win and a solid time of 19:08. Its pretty rare to see a
74-71-71-66 effort in an athlete's first attempt at the 1600 in a meet.
I put together a chart of our 4x1600 teams at this meet
over the past 6 years. Its pretty neat to see the LZXC legends, past
and present, that have filled this relay. Check it out.
In the Distance Medley Relay, we were placed in a heat where we were
racing against the clock. We had a pretty strong team, with Justin
Wright leading off, Anthony Baca running the 400, and Will Llanos coming
back to anchor with the 800. Anthony showed his strength with a nice
53.7 split, while Will was just 25 minutes removed from a PR 1600, and split
a nice 2:06 all alone. We won our heat by nearly half a lap, but were
edged in the more competitive second heat. Nevertheless, it was great
to see Will show the strength of a thousand miles in coming back on a nice
double.
The 4x800 is still a work in progress, but I am very proud of the way
we attacked the race. Brian Griffin continues to improve, and showed
that he is not afraid to get after it. Brian set 2 PRs in the race: 61.0 at
the 400 and 2:14.1 at the 800. It was not a pretty race, but Brian is
setting himself up for great things if he continues to race with that
aggressiveness. On a side note, Brian broke 5:00 for the first time in
our dual meet earlier in the week (4:59.8).
Austin Kuehr ran second for us and put himself in a race shock
situation. Austin blasted out of the blocks, hit 31 at the 200 and 65
at the 400 before fading to a 2:21. Although it was not the sub-2:20
we were hoping for, it was a nice PR.
Our back end of the relay consisted off a couple cross country
runners-converted pole vaulters: Juan Ramos and Pat MacDonald. Juan
struggled to a 2:24, but is good for at least 5 seconds faster once we put
him in a pair of spikes. Pat has the potential to be great in this
event, but still lacks the training or confidence to pursue it. Pat
ran a nice PR 2:18, and snagged a 5th place medal for the squad after
passing the Antioch anchor leg.
Patriot
The distance medley relay was pulled from the meet, so the distance
events were very thin. There was only a 4x8 and the open 1600 to work
with. But with Chris Rantis still working on his hip flexor, Trevor
Kuehr nursing a sore calf, and Alex Milner out of town, the lack of DMR may
have helped our team score. It still would have been nice to get a few
more bodies in a big meet, and I am unsure why the meet schedule was
changed.
We had a decent lineup in the 4x8, but in retrospect, I think we could
have ran better had we played with the order a little bit. Three of
our 4 legs were in no-man's land, seemingly running by themselves.
Chalk it up as a coaching mistake.
Pat Juras led off for us, and looked like he was in cruise mode as he
pulled away to a nearly even split 2:01. Jared Ripoli finally showed
his strength with a solid 2:05 split. Jared held the lead, but both
Warren and Barrington were on his heels. Greg Geimer continues to
learn to run the race, and ran about 600m of a great 800 before fading in
the last 200. Greg hit a new PR of 2:09, and we were alone in 3rd.
Jon Ramirez anchored for us in his first race of the year, a solid 2:01.
We finished a distant 3rd, with Barrington's Erik Peterson doing what he
does by outkicking a solid Warren team for the win.
The Open 1600 was a pretty stacked race, featuring 5 cross country
all-staters and 3 or 4 other much improved runners toeing the line.
Jon Smith and Pat Juras lined up for us.
Let's talk about Jon first...Well, Jon's race looked painful to say
the least. I think we have all had that race where we press too hard
early and tighten up late. Well, Jon started tightening up, but he
still had 3 more laps... Jon hit 61 at the 400, much too fast for his
58s legs. I will refrain from reporting his time, but let's just say
that Jon will have better days. There were positives to be found in this
race, and hopefully we can report on these positives six weeks from now.
Thanks to Jon, the rest of the field ran pretty fast times for an
early season meet. There was a big pack at the 1200 with Peterson in
his typical pole position and Juras in his typical position, off his right
shoulder. The race opened up in the last 400, culminating in a
rigorous kick as Pat desperately tried to get a step on Peterson.
Peterson was not having it, and it was another victory for the Barrington
star. Peterson finished in a nice 4:20.8 while Juras finished in
4:21.0. It was a nice early season time for Pat, and recall last year
at this time he had yet to break 4:30. The race showed that he is very
fit, especially coming back after an 800 only 30 minutes prior. More
importantly, the demands are now more clear as we prepare for May.
Our 4x4 took second with PR splits from Jon Ramirez (51.8), Greg
Geimer (54.9) and David Smith (52.2). Mike Rantis led off with a solid
50.4 in his first 400 of the season.
Our frosh soph relays looked a little tired after Libertyville's
Relays yesterday. Our 4x8 finished second to Barrington with a nice
time of 8:37. Upon further review, the 8:37 set our frosh/soph record
for the event. Our splits were Gerrit Williams (2:09), Will Llanos
(2:05), Justin Shim (2:12) and Ian Murray (2:10).
_________________________________________________________
4/7/12 - Alumni Updates
Alex Brend ran his first collegiate outdoor 1500 this
past weekend, running a nice 3:53.3 at the Hamline Invitational. Alex
is redshirting this spring at the University of Minnesota.
_________________________________________________________
3rd Annual LZTF Octathlon Results
Our 3rd annual LZTF Octathlon concluded on Thursday of
Spring Break. Our Octathlon, a 4-day competition of 8 events, is
always a highlight of the season. Each participating athlete competes
in all 8 events, and coaches compete for bragging rights. A full set of
records and our
octathlon scorecard can be found on
the Records Page.
A full set of results can be found
here.
Here are some highlights:
*Senior David Smith won 3 events during the week: the
high jump the long jump, and the 400. David was our overall Champion
with a record-setting mark of 552 points. David's 552 point total
broke the previous record set by Jake Brinlee of 530 points.
*We allow all techniques in the high jump, including
2-footed attempts, and David took advantage with a 5'10'' mark in the high
jump. David won the long jump with a 17'5'' leap and the 400 with a
53.5 split.
*Sophomore Sam Walstrum was our top 100m finisher,
earning 88 points with his 11.3 clocking.
*Coach Towne remains undefeated in the 110 Low Hurdles,
as he has won the event for 3 consecutive years. Coach Towne's time
declined from last year, but 16.7 was good enough to win.
*Jon Ramirez won the 1600 with a 4:43, good enough for 90
points in the event. Jon finished second to David Smith in the overall
standings, and will be challenged by Sam Walstrum next year for top overall
Octathlete.
*The most exciting event of the week, the Pancake Eating
Contest, did not disappoint. Will Llanos hit the "state qualifying
standard" of 25 pancakes, earning 100 points and vaulting into 5th place
overall. Coach Beaver had to save his pride in his marquee event,
eating 26 pancakes and keeping the title as best eater (although some of his
pancakes were questionable).
*All in all, we demolished the all-time Octathlon
records. We witnessed 4 of the top 5 distance running marks (Ramirez,
Gerrit Williams, Llanos, and Greg Geimer). Smith and Walstrum posted 2
of the top 3 sprint records of all time. We saw 5 of the top 10
throwers scores, with Logan Ejupi leading a young group of Mark Pacyga, Greg
McLain, Aaron Hussey, and Tyler Criscione. Walstrum, Williams, and
Llanos posted the top 3 sophomore marks of all time, and 2 freshmen made the
all-time list: Ejupi and Justin Shim.
*The team competition was a blowout. Team Awsome
was just stacked, with Smith, Ramirez, and Walstrum destroying the previous
best mark with a score of 1547 to 1430.
After a bit of fun, we gear down to the heavy portion of
our season, and look forward to the competition that our schedule faces.
_________________________________________________________
Buffalo Grove Scarpino Invite Results
We saw a lot of neat things happen at our first big
invitational of the season in Buffalo Grove's Scarpino Invite. Times
and results don't tell the whole story, but we have a lot to be excited
about after competing against a strong distance field including Barrington,
Belvidere North, Buffalo Grove, Crystal Lake Central, and Prairie Ridge.
As a team, I was most impressed our racing attitude.
We made it a point to commit to more aggressive racing. Running
aggressively early in a race does not always correlate to great times and
great results, especially early in the year, but I think this attitude will
pay off dividends when it counts. Here are some highlights:
3200
Jared Ripoli ran his first ever 3200 after playing
baseball the past 2 season, and came away with his first win in the C
flight. Jared pulled away from the field early in the race and held a
20 second lead for most of the race. His final time of 10:36 was
nothing impressive, but it was nice to see him get a win.
Trevor Kuehr ran our B flight, finishing 5th overall in
10:28. However, the time is not an indication of his fitness.
Trevor led for the first mile, pushing the pace with Prairie Ridge's Mitch
Wilkins through a 5:00. A crowd of 3 runners waited about 15 meters
back and eventually swallowed Trevor as he lost his rhythm. Wilkins
went on to win in around 10:00. This was a great step for Trevor as he
makes the jump from pack runner to front runner.
Jon Smith ran our A flight, and placed 5th in 10:14.
A pretty strong field went out incredibly slow at 79s at the 400, before
dropping down to an honest pace after the 800. Jon looked
uncomfortable throughout as he tried to hold the pace set by Joe Cowlin of
PR and Al Baker of CLC. Jon held the pace through 2000m, but lost
contact in the 6th quarter. Jon found a second wind with 400 to go, but
it was not enough to catch either Barrington's Burgoon or Buffalo Grove's
Salvano.
Here are some notable Scarpino 3200 times over the past 5
years, as well as the times they went on to run later that season. As
you can see, every guy we have had who has broken 11 on Buffalo Grove's
track went on to break 10 later in the season.
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