LAKE ZURICH CROSS COUNTRY

Please send all questions/updates to Coach Hanson at lzxc@lz95.org To join the LZXC List-serve, email "List-serve" to lzxc@lz95.org

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6/4/10 - LZXC Bids Farewell to Seven Seniors

The LZXC Class of 2010 has a special place in my heart as they were the first group of runners I coached for 4 straight years.  They came in as freshmen when I stepped into coaching, and we have certainly grown together.  This group of seniors has given myself and Coach May an unwavering trust over the past 4 years, through thick and thin.  Of all the experiences that we have shared together, I will miss the conversations we shared at the front of the bus the most.  This group worked hard, but their personalities will certainly be the irreplaceable components of the LZXC family.

These seniors step away as arguably the most celebrated class of distance runners that Lake Zurich High School has ever seen.  They have seen 3 conference championships in cross country and 2 in track.  They have guided LZXC to its first two state meet appearances in cross country, finishing 13th and 16th.  They have been undefeated in conference duals for 2 years in a row.  In total, these seven seniors combined for 23 all-conference medals over the past 4 years in track and cross country, as well as 2 all-state medals from this year's 4x800 relay team.  Quite a lot of hardware.  Here is a synopsis of each graduating senior and their journeys.

Alex Galarce

My only picture of Alex is from my AP Statistics class group photo, in which he earned the much desired honor of MVS (Most Valuable Statistician).  Alex started his running career in the winter of his senior year as a Polar Bear, joined the track team, and has now found a life-long passion.  Alex will attend the University of Illinois and has already been in contact with the U of I Running Club coordinator, and plans on joining the club next fall.  Alex is one of the most cheerful young men I have had the privilege to coach or teach.  Alex set a goal of breaking the 6 minute barrier in the mile, and I am proud to say he did so in a thrilling final race where he ran an 86 second final quarter to 5:57.9.  Congrats Alex on a great track season and good luck as an Illini!

Derek Slaw

Derek joined cross country as a junior and was with us to stay.  Derek was never a headliner among this strong group of seniors, but always impressed with his quiet work ethic and toughness.  I never once heard Derek complain about anything, and Derek always seemed to look forward to workouts on the track.  Derek ran 28:11 in his first 3 mile race  as a junior, and finished his cross country career with his finest effort at the North Suburban Conference Junior Varsity race, where he blew me away with his 20:50 performance.  On the oval, Derek had a season goal of breaking 2:30 in the 800.  He did in his final race; 2:29.1.  Congrats and thank you Derek for sharing your life with the team.  You were appreciated and will be missed.

Joe Carabetta

Joe ran 3 years of cross country and 1 year of track, after switching over from baseball his senior year.  Joe was a stable force as a part of our Junior Varsity squad in cross country, running in the high 16s for much of his career.  I always thought Joe's greatest potential was on the track, so when he decided to join the track team his senior year, I knew he was going to have a successful season.  Joe ran a lot of 800s for us this year in track, although his versatility was a pleasant surprise, as he filled in on sprint relays and even the long jump at relay meets.  Joe culminated his career as a member of our conference championship 4x800 relay team.  Joe led off with a blazing 2:01, grabbing the lead that the team never lost.  Joe is a very talented athlete, but also boasts talents outside the athletic field.  Joe has composed 2 symphonies, one of which he conducted with the Lake Zurich Symphony Orchestra.  Joe is also passionate about physics, and he helped to organize the Physics Club at LZHS.  Joe will attend Purdue University in the fall where he will study Nuclear Physics.  Joe plans on solving the energy crisis, so look out for him in the Nobel Prize voting!

Jordan Pavlovich

Jordan was a 4-year track member and a 3-year cross country member.  Jordan boasts 2 all-conference honors in track and 2 all-conference honors in cross country.  Jordan ran in 2 cross country state meets and was the first alternate on the all-state 4x800 team.  Jordan's PRs include a 16:00 at Peoria Detweiller and 2:01 in the 800.  Jordan has an unwavering toughness that is present every time he competes, a toughness that helped to solidify the varsity cross country and track teams over the past 3 years.  Jordan will attend North Central College next fall where he will compete in the exceptional track and cross country programs.  Good luck Jordan and thanks for 4 great years.

Andrew Morrison

Andrew's story is one that I will tell to all my future teams.  When Andrew joined the cross country team as a freshman, the fastest mile he could manage was a 6:30.  From day one, Andrew bought into the "hard work over time beats talent" philosophy, and set a new benchmark for "hard work" in our program.  He was unquestionably the training leader of our program over the past 4 years.   He always looked forward to running further, running faster, then running faster further.  He ends his career with 6 all-conference selections and was conference and regional champion in cross country.  His PRs were 9:34 in the 3200 and 15:10 for 3 miles, pretty darn good for 59s quarter speed.  Andrew will be very successful at the University of Illinois, where he will study engineering.  Andrew: remember whenever things get tough...twist. 

Paul Geimer

When Paul joined the cross country team as a freshman, I remember bragging that the best athlete in the class chose to run cross country instead of soccer of football (which rarely happens).  What I didn't realize at the time was that he also happened to be one of the brightest, most genuine, hard working student-athletes as well.  Paul played basketball and baseball during his freshman and sophomore years, before switching over to a full-time runner his junior and senior year.  Paul is a natural leader and a young man that everyone on the team looks up to and respects.  He was selected by his peers as captain of the cross country and track teams during his senior year, where he led the squads to 2 conference championships.  He enjoyed individual success as a distance runner as well, earning 5 all-conference selections and an all-state medal as a part of the 4x800 relay team.  Paul ran PRs of 1:57/4:28 in track, and 15:26 in cross country.  Paul was also the Drum Major in the LZ Marching Band, scored a 35 on ACT, and was a National Merit Finalist.  That is quite a variety of accomplishments!  Paul will compete on the track and cross country teams next fall for Colorado School of Mines under the tutelage of former Fenton standout Chris Siemers.  Paul will study geo-physical engineering.  Congrats Paul- you have set yourself up to be very successful in the next phase of your life.

Francisco Soto

The 2010 track season was very special for Cisco.  He wanted a state medal in the worst way, an honor that had eluded him.  The phenomenal thing was that it seemed his teammates wanted that medal for Cisco more than they did for themselves.  Cisco had a great junior track season, winning the conference championship in the 800 over some great competition, and placing 10th in the IHSA state final.  He was running at an all-state level in his senior cross country season until he developed a fractured tibia during the Palatine Invitational (in which he placed 9th).  The rehab took its toll on Cisco, as much mentally as it did physically.  Cisco did not run until late February, and once he began running again, it was clear he was not the same.  Cisco did not have the stride he worked so hard to refine, and his leg seemed to have atrophied during his time away.  Nevertheless, he maintained confidence in himself even when nobody else did.  He was only able to run 30-35 miles this past season, but that was enough to get him to racing levels he had never done before. He consistently ran low 1:56 during the championship races, followed by a 4:26 double at both Conference and Sectionals.  His LZ career ended the same way his brother's did, with a 5th place medal in the 4x800.  Cisco finishes his career with 6 all-conference medals, and will run track and cross country at Saginaw Valley University next fall.  Cisco- we are very proud of who you have become.  Best of luck.

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6/2/10 - State Meet Pics Updated- Courtesy of Mrs. Brinlee

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5/29/10 - LZTF Produces 3 All-State Relays and 2 School Records at IHSA State Meet

I am proud to say that 3 of our 4 qualifying relay teams earned all state medals, spread across 9 different athletes.  The 4x100 Relay of Christian Williams, Braxton Klavins, Colin Wanat, and Jake Brinlee placed 8th.  The 4x400 Relay of Braxton Klavins, Jack Rathe, Alex Brend, and Jake Brinlee placed 9th, and the 4x800 Relay of Francisco Soto, Paul Geimer, Alex Brend, and Chris Rantis placed 5th.  Our 4x200 team of Christian Williams, Braxton Klavins, Jack Rathe, and Jake Brinlee did not make finals, but ran a season best time of 1:28.90, good for 14th.  Here is a rundown of the excitement.

4x800: After winning our prelim heat in 7:52, we ran a 7:48.61 in the final, good for 5th place in the IHSA state meet, but less than a second and a half out of first.  The race was a true nail-biter, as 9 teams seemed in the hunt going into the last lap.  We broke our own school record for the 3rd race in a row (sectionals, then prelims, then finals), and came within a second and a half of being state champs.  I don't know where to start with this team, so I am going to go through the relay one man at a time.  Each has their own story, and this was truly a team of 4 equally important irreplaceable pieces.

After sectionals, we decided to run Francisco as our leadoff.  Francisco is our most experienced runner, having run in a state meet final, and we knew we could count on him to get us near the front and set the tone for the rest of the guys.  We really wanted to get Francisco the all-state medal that had eluded him, after placing 10th in the 800 in 2009 and getting injured mid-season in cross country.  With Francisco never breaking the 1:56 mark, we made the decision after the conference meet that his best chance for a medal was in the relay, not the open 800.  In the final, we had hoped Francisco could get in space and open up to a 55 opening quarter, but that didn't happen.  Francisco got boxed in early, and was forced to run a rather pedestrian opening 400 of 56.5.  He finally got to the outside by the 400 mark, and got the lead through 600, but got outkicked in the final hundred meters, handing off the baton in 3rd place.  His 1:56.5 split was close to his all time best of 1:56.3. 

We didn't even decide to make Paul Geimer an 800 runner until 4 weeks ago.  Paul has been a workhorse for us for years, and is versatile enough to run any of the distance events.  I think had we given him an opportunity he could have come close to hitting a qualifying mark in the 3200.  Paul just recently broke 2 for the first time at sectionals, but we thought he had more to give, and he gave a heroic effort in the final.  Paul got the baton in 3rd from Francisco, but took the lead by the 400 mark with a strong 55 opening split.  Paul had recently been opening in 57-58, so this 55 was quite a stretch.  As I mentioned earlier, Paul gave a heroic effort as the second leg, an effort that is representative of a senior captain.  He willed himself around the track in his second lap, holding off the field until the final straightaway.  Paul handed off the baton in 2nd, splitting 1:57.x, a remarkable 2 second PR.

Alex Brend is only about 15 months old as a distance runner, after joining the program in his sophomore track season.  Despite invitiations from myself, it took his teammate and friend, Shawn Picha, to get him to join the team.  When he joined the program, he dove in head first, embracing the culture and showing a dedication from day one.  He only ran 2:08 last year in his first season, but showed great potential with his beautifully efficient stride, and it was clear that a couple thousand miles could make him into something special.  He earned a spot on the varsity cross country team in his first cross season, nabbing an all conference medal and an opportunity to run in the state cross country meet.  It wasn't until this season that he has started opening eyes, running high 1:56 in the 800 and 50.x splits as a part of the 4x400 relay.  In the final, Alex got the baton in second, and quickly took the lead.  He raced around the opening lap in low 56 before tightening up in the 3rd 200.  He was passed late in the last lap, but rebounded with a great last 50 meters that got Chris Rantis the baton in first.  Alex ran a 1:57.x split, within a half second of his PR.

It is a lot to ask of a sophomore to take the baton as an anchor in the state meet final with the lead and 9 teams less than 2 seconds behind, but that is the position that Chris was in when he started his leg.  Chris had not been our fastest split, in fact he was one of our slowest, but he is by far the toughest in the last 100 meters. He did not get a lot of opportunities to race in traffic, and it seemed that in all the races he ran, he was given the baton with a sizeable lead and a lot of room for error.  It is because of this that we thought he had a lot more to drop than he had shown.  Chris just recently broke 2 for the first time at sectionals, then ran 1:58 at prelims on Friday.  Since we don't have the 1:54 anchor to match some of our opponents, I thought we would need to get Chris a 2-3 second lead to give him a chance, just to make the opposing anchors work a little harder to catch him than they wanted.  We did have a lead, but it was minimal, and there were a half dozen experienced, hungry upperclassmen right on his tail. 

Chris held the lead through the opening lap, but with 400 to go, I counted 9 guys who were within striking distance.  With one lap to go, a single glance from a spectator appeared more like the opening lap of the race, with guys stacked 3 deep and 3 wide coming around the turn.  With 300 to go, the race started to move.  Chris was passed but he covered the move, hanging on to the leader's back.  Chris was in lane 1 in second, but was boxed in as 2 athletes climbed up the field in lane 2.  There were still 7 athletes in contention.  Coming around the final curve, Chris gave everything he had as the state title was a footrace that extended out into lane 4.  In the end, Chris finished 5th, splitting 1:56 behind 58/58 splits, another huge 2 second PR.  Glenbard East finished 1st, then came Prospect, Wheaton Warrenville South, and York.  Lyons Township and Neuqua Valley were close behind in 6th and 7th.  To give an idea of how close the race was,  Glenbard East won with a time of 7:47.22, and 7th place Neuqua Valley finished in 7:49.57, a little over 2 seconds behind.  Our 5th place 7:48.61 was a school record for the 3rd race in a row, and our final splits of 1:56, 1:57, 1:57, 1:56 shows just how steady our team was.  Chris's race was absolutely brilliant, and I cannot say enough about his toughness, competitiveness, and selflessness as he stepped in to the lion's den.  His effort was remarkable, especially for a sophomore carrying 20 miles per week who was only running his 7th 800 of his life.

4x100:  Our sprinters had a standout day on Friday, running a season best time of 42.14, only five hundredths of a second off our school record set in 2007.  They placed third in their heat, but had the 5th fastest time going into finals.  Finals was a different story.  We ran a 42.60, due mostly to slow handoffs, finishing 8th overall.  Although the performance on Saturday was disappointing, it was a great season by our sprinters and a successful conclusion.  With Christian Williams and Jake Brinlee returning in 2011, we have the backbone of another excellent relay.  Possible replacements for our graduating seniors include senior-to-be Jeff Winters and junior-to-be Mike Rantis, both of whom made finals in open sprint events at sectionals.

4x400: Our 4x400 also had a better day on Friday than Saturday.  In the Friday prelims, we placed second in our heat thanks to a 49.3 anchor by Jake Brinlee, earning the 7th seed in the finals.  Our time of 3:21.60 broke our 3:22.x school record by the 2007 team.  Braxton Klavins led off with a blazing 49.5, followed by Jack Rathe's 51.6, and Alex Brend's 50.6.  In the finals, our bookends were spectacular, both producing 49.3 splits, but our middle runners were not at their best, both producing 52 splits.  Nevertheless, it was great to earn an all-state medal, and it was the second all-state medal for Klavins, Brend, and Brinlee.  We have the potential to be stellar in this relay again next year, although it is clear that Braxton Klavins is a guy we simply cannot replace.  Braxton was a horse for us all season, and his work ethic, leadership, and toughness will be missed and his contributions will not be forgotten.

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5/21/10 - Bears Qualify All 4 Relays to IHSA State Meet

We thought early on this season that we could qualify all 4 relay events to state, a feat that LZTF has never accomplished before (in 2006, we qualified the 4x1, 4x2, and 4x4 relays).  We did just that, placing 1st in the 4x1, 4x4, and 4x8 relays, and 2nd in the 4x2.  Our times in each event were season best times (42.2, 1:29.2, 3:22.4, and 7:53.5), and the 7:53.5 broke our 30 year old school record of 7:55.8.

We are really coming on strong in the 4x8, and for the first time this season, all 4 athletes broke 2.  Paul led off, handing off the baton in a close second to Fremd in 1:59.x.  Cisco and Alex ran #2 and #3, gapping the field by over 60 meters, splitting 1:56.x and 1:57.x.  Chris anchored in a fading 1:59.x, although his 54 opening split shows he is capable of a lot faster when he smoothes out the first 400.  Deerfield finished second in 7:58.x.  Buffalo Grove and Palatine also qualified.

Our sprint relays nailed their handoffs, and ran well to edge Zion Benton in the 4x1, and place a solid 2nd to Stevenson in the 4x2.  Stevenson also qualified in the 4x1, while Waukegan snuck in to qualify in the 4x2.

We led from start to finish in the 4x4.  Braxton Klavins led off with a fair 50.9, but Jack Rathe had the lead when he hit the break in the second leg (Braxton ran 50.01 FAT last week, and we will need that type of effort this Friday). Jack ran a great leg in 50.9, and Alex Brend also ran well as the 3rd leg (50.9).  Jake Brinlee did his thing, holding off a late charge from Tavaris Thomas to win the race.  Jake's split was 49.6.  Zion Benton, Fremd, and Lake Forest also qualified.

In the open events, we got enough points to place 3rd overall behind Zion Benton and Deerfield, and some young guys gained valuable experience in the process.  Our individual medalists included a 6th place effort from Jordan Pavlovich in the 800 (2:01.4), a 5th place effort form Eric Porter in the high jump (6'1''), Christian Williams was 4th in the 100 (10.9), while Jeff Winters was 6th in the 100 (11.3), Chris Rantis placed 5th in the 400 (51.8), Francisco Soto took 4th in the 1600 (4:27.8) while Paul Geimer placed 6th (4:30.0), and Mike Rantis placed 4th in the 200 (22.7).

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5/15/10 - Bears Win North Suburban Conference Meet and Frosh/Soph Conference

We went for the win in both the Varsity and Frosh/Soph Conference Meets by putting together what I felt was our best lineup to score points.  The kids demonstrated a complete team effort at both levels and won both events (the Frosh Soph tied for the team title with Libertyville). 

Frosh Soph NSC Meet Highlights:

FS Hurdles:  Tyler Brandt and Chris Helgeson scored well in the hurdles, with Brandt taking 3rd in both the 110s and 300s, and Chris Helgeson placed 2nd in the 300s.  Add Jack Lynn to this group (who was out with a sprained ankle) and there is a tough sophomore class of hurdlers.

Mid-distance:  We haven't been able to train Pat Juras as a distance runner, so we decided to turn him into a sprinter.  Pat took second in the 400 with a nice 54.58, while Drew Pavlovich ran a nice race to take 5th in 55.06 out of the 2nd heat.  Jon Ramirez was our lone event champion, winning the 800 in 2:06.   Jon then came back to anchor our 2nd place 4x4 in a sizzling 53.x.  Jon is cut in the same mold as Francisco Soto; he is competitive, talented, and willing to work hard.  I look forward to what he can accomplish in the next couple years.

Distance:  Trevor Kuehr ran a nice race to take 2nd in the deuce, with a PR of 10:25.  Isaac Honegger took 4th in the race for a critical 4 points.

Field: Mitch Hanson made 10' for the first time this season to place 2nd in the pole vault.  Tyler Lindvahl and Jon Repplinger took 5th and 6th in the long jump with jumps of 17'x''.  Jimmy Bohn placed 2nd in the shot put with a big throw of 45'x''. 

Varsity NSC Meet Highlights

We ran pretty close to a perfect meet  to win the NSC Conference Meet with 115 points, besting 2nd place Zion Benton who scored 91.  Based on seed times, we were only supposed to score 83 points and place 3rd, so it was probably considered an upset by many spectators.  We as coaches preached that this is the meet that is all about points, not times.  We were fortunate to have nearly perfect conditions, and while the athletes were competing for places, their times were taking care of themselves.  We won the meet with only 1 individual event champion (Braxton Klavins in the triple jump), but double scores in the sprints and distance events combined with solid relays.  Here are some highlights:

Field:  Our weakness has been in the field, but we had 3 super performances that gave us 26 points in the field that we weren't expecting.  Eric Porter cleared 6'1'' in the high jump for the first time to steal second.  Andrew Lulis placed 2nd in the pole vault with a PR of 12'9'', and had a couple good attempts at the 13' school record.  Braxton Klavins "leaped" from 5th to 1st on his final attempt with a 43'1'' effort in the triple jump.  Braxton was an absolute horse for us, having a hand in 26 team points.  He is relatively unknown to colleges due to his knee surgery last year, but has the potential to be a great sprinter in any small college program.

Sprints:   The sprint times were expectedly slow, but I think we scored as many points as we could score.  We asked a lot out of our two junior horses, Jake Brinlee and Christian Williams, but they responded with double scores in each sprint event.  They took 2nd and 3rd in the 100, 2nd and 5th in the 200, and 3rd and 4th in the 400 (Klavins snuck a 50.01 effort in the slow heat of the 400 to steal 3rd, while Brinlee ran a 50.45 for 4th.)

Relays:  Our greatest strength as a track team is our depth.  We are fortunate to be able to put solid relays together while holding our studs out to run the individual events.  Our depth was on display in the 4x8, 4x2, and 4x4.

We did stack our 4x1 with our best team, and we needed every inch to beat Zion Benton.  We ran a season best time of 42.52 with great handoffs, which also set the NSC Meet Record.  Our 4x2 team of Jeff Winters, Jack Rathe, Mike Rantis, and Colin Wanat ran well to take 3rd in 1:30.9.  Our 4x4 team of Mitch Dudek (52.5), Alex Brend (51.0), Chris Rantis (51.3), and Jack Rathe (51.5) ran well to place 2nd in 3:26.9.

Our 4x8 won with a season best time of 8:07.29.  Joe Carabetta (2:01.3), Paul Geimer (2:00.9), Jordan Pavlovich (2:02.5), and Chris Rantis (2:02.6) ran PRs (except Chris because we shut him down in the last 200 meters), and are closing in on a qualifying mark even without Alex or Francisco.

Distance: 

We certainly took advantage of the ideal distance running conditions, and had our best day of the season, with every athlete running season-best or lifetime-best times. 

3200: We haven't run the fast times in the 3200 that we have in the past few seasons, but we still scored fairly well, with Vic Delatorre taking 4th in 9:47 and Andrew Morrison taking 5th in 9:50.  As expected, Henry Mynatt ran away with the race in 9:31.

800:  Tavaris Thomas won this race in a NSC Meet Record 1:55.15, but we took 2nd and 3rd with Francisco Soto  (1:56.34) and Alex Brend (1:56.74).  Thomas controlled the opening 400 in 55.0 (its hard to say that 55.0 is controlled, but if he is to be beaten, somebody is going to have to take him out faster than that).  Soto and Brend were in tow, and made their move with 300 meters to go.  They could not shake Thomas, and Thomas eventually dropped his trademark kick, leaving Soto in his dust.  Although Thomas has not run the low 1:50s that it takes to win a state title in the event, he has the talent to do it, and we will be rooting for our fellow North Suburban Conference competitor.  (Thomas also anchored ZB's 2nd place 4x1, won the open 400 in 49.10, and anchored their winning 4x4).  Francisco's FAT 1:56.34 was faster than his state meet time last year and a lifetime PR, while Alex Brend's 1:56.74 was another huge PR.

1600:  I was worried if we would score points in the 1600, as both Cisco and Paul Geimer would be coming off previous events.  Both Paul and Cisco did not run well last week at Lake County in the event, and team points late in the meet are usually hard to come by.  For the first time, we did not talk about race strategy or paces at all before the race, and I think that contributed to the fast times we ran(sometimes the best coaching is no coaching).  Cisco ran 4:26.x to place 3rd, but was appropriately disqualified for drifting out to lane 3 in the final 100m as Lakes Freshman Ryan Prais attempted to pass him.  The disqualification was our one mental mistake of the meet, but luckily it did not cost us a team title.    Paul had been stuck in the 4:34-4:36 range for literally years, and he finally broke through with a 4:28.41, good for 6th.  Mundelein's Robbie Munnings won for the 2nd week in a row while Vernon Hills' Andrew Thompson was the surprise runner-up, both with nice times of 4:23.

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5/7/10 - Bears Place 2nd at Lake County Invitational

We took 2nd at the Lake County Invitational with 68 points.  Deerfield won handily with 94, while Lake Forest was 3rd with 64.  The meet provides a preview of the competition over the next couple weeks (our conference was all in attendance minus Zion Benton and Lakes, and our Sectional was in attendance except Palatine, Fremd, and Buffalo Grove).  We are getting closer to putting our best team on the track at once, although we have a few adjustments still to make for conference.  I am really looking forward to seeing our entire team in full force at a single meet to see how strong we really are.

For spectators watching the meet, you might think that we were winning.  However, we scored very little points off the track.  We as coaches still need to put more emphasis in the field, and continue to put athletes in positions to score points.  It is difficult to be diverse with only 3 coaches, but I know that we can still do it better.  Nevertheless, we got some great performances in the field that give us confidence going into the next 3 weeks.  We got a great day from Kiah McGee in the throws.  Kiah threw 2 PRs: 147 feet in the discus and 49' and change in the shot, earning him a 3rd and 4th place finish in the two events.  Andrew Lulis set a PR in the vault of 12'3'', but more importantly got some great tips from Deerfield's Coach Caris, which can hopefully get him to the next level.  Eric Porter jumped 5'11'', and had a good attempt at 6'1'', good for 5th.  More importantly, these 3 athletes are all juniors, and all could be in the hunt for state qualifiers next year.

The highlight on the track had to be Christian Williams setting our school record in the 100m dash.  Christian ran 10.88 FAT, besting the legendary Bob Mull's 29 year old record of 10.94 FAT.  (Mr. Mull still owns the school 200m record in 21.94 FAT and a sick 400m record of 48.01 FAT).  Christian placed 2nd in the race behind Stevenson stud Brandon Stryganek. 

We showed our depth in the relays, placing in the top 3 in each.  Our 4x100 relay took 1st despite improvable handoffs in 43.29 FAT.  Our 4x200 team took 2nd in a season best 1:30.41.  We stacked out 4x400, and they responded by winning with a season best 4:26.x. 

We did well to take 3rd in the 4x800 in 8:10 without our studs Francisco Soto and Alex Brend staying fresh for the open 800.  Joe Carabetta led off with an average 2:04, then Paul Geimer ran his best 800 of his life and hit 2:01.9.  Jordan Pavlovich is looking great despite missing the whole season, and ran a nice 2:03.9, and Chris Rantis once again ran tough in the anchor position, holding off a late charge from Lake Forest and Barrington, splitting 2:01.5.  Deerfield and Pat Wylie won in 8:00 (for anybody who didn't know already, Pat Wylie is a beast) and Mundelein took second in 8:06 (they have a nice core of juniors that hopefully can stick together and produce some special things in the next 12 months).

The 3200 was an interesting race.  Going in, you knew that Mynatt would be up front with Barrington's Peterson, but then there would be a huge pack of 8-12 guys in the 9:45-10:00 range racing for 2nd. The race played out as expected, with Peterson pulling away from Mynatt, and the rest packing up until the last 800 meters.  Vic Delatorre and Andrew Morrison ran smart races, and ran their best races of the season, but didn't quite have enough power in the last 400m to compete for points.  Vic finished 8th in 9:53, while Morrison finished 10th in 10:00.

As I mentioned earlier, we rolled the dice and held Alex Brend out of the 4x800 hoping he could score some big points in the open 800.  We were right, as Alex ran a huge PR of 1:58.7 (down from 2:01.x), and snuck in for 3rd.  Francisco Soto took second behind Wylie in a season best of 1:57.9.  Cisco tried to steal the race from Wylie in the first 600 meters, but was unable to shake him, and Wylie showed his toughness in the last 200 and broke Cisco.  Cisco will have a similar test this week against ZB's Thomas. 

In the 1600, Cisco doubled back from the 800 and Paul Geimer doubled back from the 4x800.  In a slow race, both were positioned perfectly with 600 meters to go in 3rd and 4th, but could not produce the power in the last 400 to compete for points.  Paul ran low 4:35's for a mild PR, while Cisco shut it down for a 4:37.  Mundelein's Robbie Munnings was the surprise victor in this race.

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5/4/10 - Youngsters Gain Valuable Invitational Experience in Barrington Frosh/Soph Invite

We let every frosh/soph athlete compete in this meet, which for some, was the only invitational some of our youngsters got to compete in.  They stepped up in a big way, setting huge PRs and showing the LZTF competitive spirit that we as a team embody.  I didn't get to watch the entire meet, but the highlight had to be Freshman Bobby Klett breaking the 5 minute barrier, making him our 3rd freshman in the sub-5 club. 

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5/3/10 - Athletes Shine in Final Dual Meet of the Season

It was the last dual meet of the season, which turns out to be the final meet of some of our JV athletes.  We ran some nice races in the wind, as we were defeated by Stevenson and beat Libertyville, giving us a 4-2 Dual Meet record.  Here are some highlights:

3200: Paul Geimer took third in 9:55, and more impressively, threw up after!  Jon Smith also ran his best 3200 of the season in 10:32, good for 6th.

800: Jordan Pavlovich ran his first race of the season after a pinched nerve held him out for the past 6 weeks.  Jordan ran 2:07, good for 3rd place.  Joe Carabetta bounced back from a poor performance at Glenbrook North to win the race in 2:02.  Joe is a competitor, and simply needs to be surrounded by runners.  Joe may have earned full time duties as leadoff man.  Mike Sudol ran his best race of the season, kicking for a huge PR of 2:23, while senior Derek Slaw had his best day as a Bear, breaking 2:30 for the first time. 

1600: Vic Delatorre won his first race of the season in a nice negative split race and a PR of 4:41.  Andrew Morrison ran as strong as he has since cross country with a 4:43.  Ike Honegger won his second race in as many weeks after taking the frosh/soph race in a PR 4:54. The highlight of the meet had to be Mike Unger, JR Weigand, and Alex Galarce, who all broke 6 minutes for the first time in their lives.  Alex, a first year senior, showed great heart in kicking the last 150 meters to slide under the 6 minute mark with a 5:58.

4x400: With Jake Brinlee and Braxton Klavins already penciled in to the 4x4, we hoped that 2 other guys in this race would separate themselves to fill out the relay.  Unfortunately that did not happen.  Alex Brend, Mike Shield, Jack Rathe, and Francisco Soto each ran the race fresh, but were each running alone in front of the Libertyville/Stevenson Dual, and didn't get a chance to bust a great time.  All 4 runners ran solid splits, hitting between 52.3 and 52.7, but we are without a clearcut 3rd and 4th man.

Throws: Kiah McGee threw a PR Discus in 138'3'', while Mark Tabaka threw a PR shot of 47'9''.

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4/30/10 - LZTF Places 2nd at Glenbrook North Spartan Relays

We had our best team performance of the season thus far, placing in a tie for 2nd at the Glenbrook North Spartan Relays.  Deer"field" once again dominated the jumps and throws to take the title for the second consecutive year, but we performed well in all areas of the sport to take a surprising second.  Here are some highlights:

Throws:  We took 2nd in the shot and 3rd in the discus with a team that features no seniors.  The future for this group looks bright, and Coach Towne is doing some nice things to get these kids excited about throwing.  The throwers were led by Mark Tabaka and his PR spin of 137'4''.

Vault:  We had a nice day of vaulting despite the swirling wind that affected some athletes more than others.  Sophomore David Smith did something he may never do again, and that is claim 2 PRs in the same meet.  David cleared 11', and his previous best was 10'.  Freshman Mitch Hanson also PRed with a nice vault of 9'6''.  Andrew Lulis led the way, tying his PR of 12'.  This team also features no seniors, and with Junior Colton Gray returning to the lineup next year, this could be a group that challenges Deerfield, Highland Park, and Maine South for high honors at this meet.

Hurdles:  We didn't expect to score any hurdle points at all in the meet, and our team featured 3 sophomores and a junior. Nevertheless, we took a solid 5th in the highs and 7th in the lows.

Sprints:  Our sprinters were awesome for us today, winning the 4x100 in 42.8, placing 2nd in 1:31.4, and 3rd in 3:28.8.  All times were season bests.  Highlighting the 4x4 was Jake Brinlee's 49.8 anchor leg in his 4th event of the day, and Braxton Klavins' 51 split in his 4th event.  On a less windy day with less events under our belt, I think Jake can dip under 49 in the relay and Braxton can dip under 50.  But it's gonna take 4....

Distance:  We had an up and down day in the distance events.  Most races seemed to start out slow since nobody wanted to lead in the wind, and as a result, most times were slower than the current fitness levels of athletes. 

4x8: Deerfield's Coach Kauffman and New Trier's Coach Wizner (my hs coach for 2 years) schemed to slot Pat Wylie and Tommy King up against each other as leadoffs, so we switched Francisco to leadoff to let him race some studs.  While those three distanced themselves from the field, the times were nowhere near what those guys were capable.  Cisco reluctantly took the lead from the gun, and cruised through a lazy 60.  The race started to open up on the backstretch, and King made a great move, with Wylie in tow and Cisco in their wake.  Cisco's 2:01 was nothing to write home about, but I'm glad he took the chance of leading the first lap when nobody else would.  Faster times are coming for Cisco...  Our second leg Joe Carabetta absolutely blew up, running a 2:10, and cost us a chance for victory.  It was a poor performance, and that is all I am going to say about that.  We closed fairly well despite New Trier running away with the race.  Alex Brend ran 3rd and split a PR 2:01.2, while Chris Rantis anchored in a 2:02, oukicking Deerfield's and Glenbrook South's anchors.  We settled for second in 8:14, but I know we can and will run better.

DMR:  We ran 2 freshmen and 2 sophomores here, and wasn't expecting any points, so when I heard that we took 5th, I was thrilled.  Freshman Jon Ramirez led off with a beautiful 3:30 in the 1200.  Based on that race, Jon is ready to run 4:42.  Freshman Tyler Lindvahl split 56.6, and had a strong finish into the wind.  Sophomore Pat Juras ran his first 800 of the season in 2:12.  Pat has had a number of breathing issues over the past 6 months that have affected his training and racing, so while the 2:12 is nowhere near the 2:03 he ran last year, the highlight was that he didn't have any serious complications after the race.  Isaac Honegger anchored for us in a time that was rather poor, 5:04. However, he raced the runners around him, waited for the last 150 meters, and outkicked 2 other teams, giving us the valuable team points.  Sometime we (myself included) get so caught up in running splits and times that we forget that this sport is about racing people, not the clock.  I give Isaac props for salvaging a slow race with a nice finish.

4x1600:  I expected more from this relay.  We took 4th behind New Trier, Maine South, and Loyola, all very good teams, but I thought we could have ran better.  Paul Geimer led off with a fair 4:36, within a second of his PR.  The race was slow from the start, with the lead pack hitting the 800 in 2:20.  The race started to open up in the 3rd lap but Paul could not match the move made by Tommy King and David Eckhardt.  Vic Delatorre ran a great second leg, splitting a PR of 4:41.  Vic is capable of 4:35, although his opportunities for that mark are diminishing as we near the championship races.  We were in 3rd when Alex Brend got the baton as our third leg.  I won't dwell on Alex's race, but it was not his finest effort.  Alex was caught in a position where there was only 1 runner around him (Loyola) and he couldn't decide to take the lead and move on the lead group (Maine South and New Trier) or draft off Loyola and kick in the end.  As it turned out, he did neither, deciding to draft off Loyola and not kick.  Alex ran a 4:47, nowhere close to his PR, and lost nearly 80 meters on Loyola and over 100 meter on Maine South and New Trier.  I think Cisco might have been the strongest anchor in the race, but he got the baton with nobody within 80 meters of him on either side, so he cruised to a 4:39.  I really wanted to see what Cisco could do in that race, but with nobody around him on a windy day, we missed an opportunity.

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4/26/10 - LZTF Produces Some PRs in Dual vs Zion Benton

On a day where we rested some of our varsity guys after a 3-meet week, we managed to produce some nice performances and competitive races.  Zion Benton beat us handily, and proved that they are still the favorite to win the conference, with strong sprinters and jumpers.  Furthermore, Zion's distance crew showed as much promise as it has in years, with new coach Nate McPherson at the helm.  Nate is groomed from the great Palatine distance factory, and I would expect to see Zion become competitive in North Suburban Conference and Lake County within the next couple years.

Highlights:

3200:  We put some Frosh/Soph guys here, Isaac Honegger and Jon Ramirez to see how they responded to holding fort in a varsity race.  This was Jon's first attempt at a 3200 race, as he has been focusing on the 800/1600.  From the gun, a Zion athlete exploded out of the gate, splitting around 2:25 at the 800.  Isaac and Jon went out slowly, probably too slow for their standards, hitting the 800 in close to 2:40.  The race changed from there, as Isaac and Jon clipped along at their 80 second laps, while the Zion kid faded.  Isaac showed how an 800 mile winter can create a kick, and he closed in a nice 69.7, for a PR 10:32.  That was Isaac's 2nd negative split race in as many weeks, and his first win in a varsity race.  Hopefully there are many more to come... Jon's race did not end as we had hoped.   With his 4:46 mile time, I thought he could run in the 10:20s.  That didn't happen.  Jon faded to 10:49 and 3rd place, although he edged the Zion runner.  Clearly the lack of a winter training base caught up to him in this race.  His future is still bright, and his middle distance times are dropping consistently, but if he is to be a superstar like he is capable, he is going to need more consistent year-round training.

Vic Delatorre was also in the race, but ran it as a workout.  We wanted to see Vic close races stronger, so his objective was to negative split each lap, closing out the last mile in 76, 74, 72, 70.  Vic failed to go negative each lap, after a slow second lap, but was pretty close to accomplishing the workout from there on.  His splits were 86, 87, 84, 80, 76, 75, 74, 69, which placed him 2nd in the race behind his teammate Honegger.  Now if we can get a comfortable 4:50 first mile with that same finish, he is scoring much needed points for us in that event.

800:  Francisco wanted to run this race against Zion's Tavaris Thomas, so we decided to stack it with a number of our varsity runners, including Paul Geimer, Joe Carabetta, and sprinter Braxton Klavins (who asked to be in the race, claiming the race is easy and he could easily put two 58 second quarters back to back).  Thomas and a teammate ran a terrific tactical race from the gun.  They got out quick in the first 100 meters, ran 2 abreast in lane 1 and 2, and slowed down the pace to a rather pedestrian 61 opening quarter.  Our guys were stuck behind them, waiting for their opportunity to go.  That opportunity finally came with 300 to go when Francisco swung wide to take the lead, gapping Thomas by a stride or two.  But Cisco's lead did not last very long, as Thomas flaunted his sub-49 quarter speed with a devastating kick, leaving Cisco in his wake.  Carabetta and Geimer ran solid times of 2:03 and 2:04 for 3rd and 4th, while Klavins struggled to a 2:10 (the race is harder than it looks...).  I'm glad we ran the race, because a great lesson was learned: Thomas and other runners like Thomas are tough to beat, but if you want any shot, you have to take it out hard and try to break their kick early.  We have to be masters of our own destiny.

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4/23/10 - LZTF Takes 2nd at Bear Invite

We took a surprising 2nd place at our own Bear Invite.  Lake Park lived up to their #1 state ranking with a convincing win with 264 points despite holding out some of their studs (I know Ziemek did not compete).  We finished 2nd with 180 over Barrington's 177.  We used the meet as an opportunity to try some guys in events they don't usually run in invites, and I know the same concept was on the Barrington coaches' minds as well.  Here are some highlights:

4x800:  Our 4x8 lineup was Paul Geimer, Joe Carabetta, Mike Filenko, and Shawn Picha.  Paul led off with a steady 2:04.8.  His time was within tenths of his PR from last season, but he lacked the burst he didn't find the burst he needs to be a great 800 runner.  Joe Carabetta ran 2nd and his goal was to run even splits (after watching him run 55/69 at Patriot Relays).  He went out almost too conservatively (31 at the 200) but was still rewarded with a PR 2:04.5.  Now he is ready to make a run at 2:00.  Mike Filenko got an opportunity to run in his first Varsity Invitational, and contributed a solid 2:20, tying his PR.  Shawn Picha anchored for us in a PR 2:06.  Shawn, like Joe, learned that faster times can be run if you have the strength to finish the race.  The team placed a respectable 4th behind Barrington and Lake Park.

3200:  Vic Delatorre ran 10:00.5, good for 3rd.  He is nearly 100% recovered from his bout with food poisoning and looking a lot stronger.  Nevertheless, he must now learn to run stronger in the 2nd half of the race if he wants to run in the mid 40s like he is capable.  His 10:00.5 was a small PR, but was not pretty, as seen in his 4:50/5:10 splits.  Trevor Feltner got to run in his first invitational ever, and did not disappoint with an 11:55 clocking and a devastating kick to nip a Benet athlete.

800:  I had hoped for an faster race in the open 800, but that race just wasn't as stacked as I had hoped.  Alex Brend was scheduled to run it, but had to be a scratch due to sickness, so Chris Rantis was in the race by himself.  Chris ended up winning a rather pedestrian race in 2:03, edging out Barrington Freshman stud Ryan Skelly.  While Chris didn't run the sub-2 that we hoped, I applaud him for racing the competition and not forgetting his own identity.

1600:  We gave Francisco Soto a chance to run a fresh 1600, and Paul Geimer also ran it coming off his 4x8.  This turned out to be the race of the meet.  There was still a 9-man pack at the 1000 meter mark, including Cisco, Paul, Benet's stud Jerry Olp, Barrington's Erik Peterson and Kyle Dockery, and Lake Park's Ryan Jorgensen.  Olp make a strong move at the 400, and nobody responded.  He seemed to run away with the race with a 4:26.  Cisco was tough in the last 300 to hold off Barrington's Erik Peterson and Lake Park's Ryan Jorgensen for 2nd in 4:28.3.  Cisco's time was a nice 8 second PR, and was faster than Gerardo Perez's time in this race last year (Gerardo went on to run 4:20 in the state final).  Paul faded to 4:36 and 7th place, although his time was within a second of his PR.

Other highlights:  Jake Brinlee won the 400 with a nice 50.9, and he could go under 50 as a split in the relay.  Jon Ramirez continues to improve as his FS 4x8 split was a PR 2:08.5.  Our Frosh/Soph 4x4 won handily behind 4 PRs by Mike Rantis (52.6), Ike Honegger, (57), Jon Smith (58), and David Smith (56.6).  Sophomore Jimmy Bohn won the FS shot put, with a nice 2 foot PR of 43'5''.  Christian Williams ran great 100m dash to take second in 10.7.  Christian is looking more like an individual state qualifier every day. 

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4/21/10 - Frosh/Soph Find a Way to Win the Libertyville FS Invite for 2nd Year in a Row

We like to put our best foot forward in this meet and give our youngsters the confidence they deserve.  It is a well run meet and really brings the team dynamic into play as all events are relays.  One fall in the hurdles or a scratch in a field event kills your team's chances of scoring well, so it puts a pressure on the boys similar to what they will see in big varsity meets.  We found ourselves scrambling to fill spots at the last minute after injuries, sickness, driving class, and even dentist appointments were magically scheduled at the last minute...  Nevertheless, we found a way to get it done and I am especially proud of the way some of these youngsters stepped up to run events they have never run before.   We placed in the top 3 in each event except the long jump (which Ty Kapitzky had to scratch due to a sprained ankle, costing us any points in the event), and each competing athlete came home with at least one medal.  Here are some highlights:

4x1600:  We have won this race over Palatine 2 years in a row, and wanted to win this one in the worst way, but it simply wasn't happening this year.  Palatine's sophomore class is flat out loaded, and Coach Quick stacked his lineup to break the record.  They did end up breaking the record, averaging 4:40 a man, and look scary good as they set up for the fall over the next couple years (state trophy perhaps?).  Our team ran really well to place 2nd, with 3 of 4 guys setting PRs.  Trevor Kuehr filled in for Pat McPartlan and broke 5 for the first time in 4:59.  Jon Smith ran a PR himself, clocking 4:52.  Sophomore Isaac Honegger ran too aggressively early, and setted for a 4:57, which was within a half second of his PR.  Freshman Jon Ramirez anchored and lowered his time to 4:46, as he closes in on the Distance Gala qualifying mark.

4x800:  Our 4x800 was the strongest it has ever been at this meet, mostly due to the hard work that our freshman class has put in this year.  We didn't run our best races here, but we were competitive enough to place 3rd in 9:15.  Only David Smith ran a PR, with a 2:16, while Bobby Klett, Oliver Shim, and Kyle McNair finished between 2:16 and 2:21.

Sprint Medley: We thought we were going to win this with Chris Rantis anchoring, but we got stuck in a slow heat and got beat based on time by a good Lake Forest team.  Chris Rantis showed his inexperience in the event, running by himself the entire anchor leg, and clocking a 2:06.  Had we been in the second heat, I like his chances to win the race. 

4x400:  We thought this could be a really special Frosh/Soph 4x4, since it boasts 2 guys who have already run 51 splits this year.  However, Drew Pavlovich was a late minute scratch due to illness, Tyler Lindvahl had to go to the doctor, and Mike Shield was coming off sickness, so the magic never materialized.  We still won with 3:40, thanks to a great leg of 57.8 by Sophomore David Smith.  Chris Rantis led the way with a 52.6 split.

4x300 Hurdles:  We haven't had a good hurdlers since 2007, but this could change soon.  We were close to breaking the meet record in this event, even with one of our shot putters, Adam Polywka, running the event for the first time (he ran 52.1).  Our team was led by Mike Shield's 43.6, Chris Helgeson's 45.5, and Tyler Brandt's 46.x.

4x100:  Our sprint tradition continues, as we took the 4x100 in 45.6, on a team that features football stars Jack Lynn, Mike Shield, and the Rantis twins.

Field: I didn't get to watch a lot of the field events, but I know Ty Kapitzky threw our 2nd longest freshman discus ever with a throw of 106' (before he hurt his ankle).

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4/19/10 - Freshmen Place Respectable 4th at Barrington Frosh Invite

Our Freshmen competed at the Barrington Frosh Invite while the rest of the team held fort in the dual against Warren and Mundelein.  I was not at Barrington for the meet, but I am proud of the reports that came back.  Our distance runners showcased their promise, while we have some nice performances out of our sprint relays and field events.  We ran 2 PRs in the 3200, as Trevor Kuehr ran a nice 10:39, good for 3rd, and Bobby Klett toughed out a 10:47, good for 6th.  Jon Ramirez placed 2nd in the 1600 with a PR 4:49.  We scrambled to put together a 4x800, and got some gutty performances out of a couple sprinters to nearly get us into the scoring.  Alex Milner led the way with a 2:22, followed by a 2:25 in the open.  Chase Stout ran a nice 110 hurdles to place 2nd in 18.9, while Ty Kapitzky placed 5th in the discus with a 96'.  Our lone champion was the 4x4 squad featuring Jon Ramirez, Tyler Lindvahl, Drew Pavlovich, and Jon Repplinger, who won a close one in 3:46.  _________________________________________________________

4/19/10 - Bears Squeak Out Win in Warren, Mundelein Dual

We put more emphasis on individual development than team victories in the dual meets, but we do run every race to win, and let the team chips fall as they may.  We handily defeated Mundelein and narrowly defeated Warren in a meet where it came down to the 4x4.  As we have now seen every team in the conference except Zion Benton, it is clear that the Conference Meet is anybody's to win, with us, Zion, Stevenson, Lake Forest, and Warren having enough depth that could score enough points to win on any given day.  It is going to be an exciting conference meet...

Highlights:

3200: We stack our 3200 in this dual every year with hopes of getting a lot of PRs and a lot of guys under 10.  We got quite a few PRs, but not nearly the times we were hoping for.  It is evident that while we have been focusing many of our guys on the 800, we have lost a little in the 3200.  We can look back at our winter of training, and it simply was not what it needs to be if we want to become an elite program.  Too many key guys took the winter off, and it is showing now.  Hopefully we can learn the valuable lesson that you can only do what your training dictates, and what you have done in the past doesn't mean anything if you don't have the training to back it up. 

We did have some highlights though, including Paul Geimer coming off a kidney infection to break 10:00 for the first time in his life, despite getting edged at the tape by Warren's Kleine. 

Sophomore Pat McPartlan ran a huge PR of 10:15.  Pat is a guy who is under the radar but coud be an integral part of our cross team next year.  Unfortunately, after Pat finished the 3200, he could hardly walk, and was diagnosed with an acute case of patellar tendonitis. 

Sophomore Ike Honegger is showing what hard core winter training can do, as he dropped his 3200 to 10:35.  I think Ike can go as low as 10:15 this year, putting him in good position to contribute at the varsity level next year.

Francisco Soto was on pace to break 10, but fell off the pace in the last 800, dropping to 10:10.  Francisco broke 10 in his 2mile split at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite last cross season, but will have to wait for college to do it in track because this is likely his only shot at the 3200.

4x800:  We put a lot of our developing runners in the 4x800, and they produced some nice PRs in the process.  Junior Mike Filenko ran a nice leadoff 2:20. Sophomore Kyle McNair dropped  9 seconds to 2:20, and he is showing some nice speed as he continues to develop.  Junior Trevor Feltner broke 2:30 for the first time, as did Sophomore Mike Sudol.  Mike Unger ran competitively to a PR 2:40, and Derek Slaw broke 2:40 for the first time, running 2:37.

4x400:  The highlight of the meet was probably the 4x4.  We ran a respectable 3:30, which bested our season best time at Patriot Relays by 1 second.  The interesting thing is that this squad showcased 4 different athletes than those who ran the relay at Patriot Relays, showing our depth at the event.  We now have 8 guys at or under 53 second splits (Rantis, Shield, and Klavins at 51; Brinlee and Brend at 52; and Soto, Rathe, and Dudek at 53).  Klavins and Brinlee have only ran the 400 once this season, and I think they are both guys who could dip under 50, so it is just a matter of finding the right combination to make a run at state and our 3:22 school record.

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4/16/10 - LZTF Places 3rd at Stevenson Patriot Relays

We placed 3rd at the Stevenson Patriot Relays.  Barrington was 1st with 116 pts, followed by Stevenson with 96 and us with 93.  We certainly had our moments in the meet.  Our stars really stepped up for us, as is expected in invitationals.  Here are some highlights.

Long Jump:  We have a good trio of long jumpers in Jake Brinlee, Braxton Klavins, and Jack Rathe, all of whom have the potential to jump over 20 feet.  I don't think we had our best day in the pit, but it was still enough for 1st place, as all three jumped between 19'6'' and 19'11''. 

4x800:  Each of the members on this 4x8 squad has a unique story to tell, and each ran very different races.  I will get to the individual stories shortly, but the team won with a solid 8:08, which is the 3rd fastest time in LZTF history (behind the 2008 team of Stott, Pavlovich, Soto, and Paulus who ran 8:07 and our school record team from 1981 that ran 7:55). 

I can say that Chris Rantis is a natural 800m runner.  Besides being gifted with a ton of speed (see 51.6 split in 4x4 later in the meet), he seems to always be in the right position (2nd place at the turn, on the shoulder of the runner in front of him, waiting for the right time to make his move).  It is fun to watch a kid run faster than even he thought he could run.  Chris Rantis led off for us with a 2:01 (59/62) and got Joe Carabetta the baton in 2nd place behind a strong Barrington leadoff leg.  Chris has now run 3 800s in his life, 2:08, 2:04, 2:01.  If only we could see this pattern continue for one more week...

Joe proceeded to open with a 55 quarter and showed no signs of slowing down...until the last 300.  Although he held a large lead over the field, Joe struggled to finish with a 69 and Barrington once again had the lead going into the 3rd leg.  I love Joe's aggressiveness, especially early in the season, but I made him very aware that if this relay is going to do special things, we cannot afford a 69 second lap.  Nevertheless, Joe's 2:05.8 was a PR, and showed he has lot left to drop.

Alex Brend is a great third leg runner.  He likes to run steady splits, so needs to have a lot of space.  Alex ran a 2:02, within tenths of his PR, but gave us a considerable lead over Barrington.  Alex will definitely need to open faster than the 61 he ran at Stevenson, but that will come when the time is right.  Alex was simply racing the competition, which is a necessary skill as well.

Cisco enjoyed a 15 meter lead when he got the baton, and I believe Barrington's anchor, Chris Cogswell, was instructed by his coaches to shut it down and save himself for the mile later in the meet because he let Cisco have the win.  Nevertheless, Cisco ran his best split of the season 1:58.6, and I admire him for running hard when nobody was around.  Cisco's speed seems to be coming back to him, and is nearly back to his end-of-season form that got him into the state finals last year.

FS 4x800

Our FS 4x8 was overshadowed by Barrington's meet record-setting team (they ran an impressive 8:32), but I am proud of our 3rd place 8:45 effort.  The future looks bright for Warren in this event, who took a strong 2nd in the event in 8:42. All 4 members of our squad ran PRs: Pat McPartlan ran 2:11.4 after running the first 100m in lane 8 because he didn't know he could cut in, Ike Honegger ran a negative split 2:11.4 (66.6, 64.8), Jon Smith ran 2:13.2, and Jon Ramirez ran 2:09.5.  I think we could have given Barrington a run for their money in this event had we kept Chris Rantis down at the FS level and had a healthy Pat Juras (who ran 2:03 in this meet last year).

1600

I was disappointed with our mile performances, despite Alex Brend and Cisco Soto doubling back and running PRs.  Cisco ran 4:36 and Alex ran 4:40, but both finished out of the scoring.  Both Cisco and Alex were right where they needed to be with 400 to go, but couldn't find the next gear to make a move, and ended up getting dropped.  I will chalk it up to a lack of experience in the race, as both have probably only run the race 2 or 3 times in their careers.  Both have a long way to go, but both have the potential to get there.

Sprint Relays

We won both the 4x1 and 4x2, although Stevenson was DQed in the 4x2 and should have won.  It was apparent that Stevenson will be our rival in these events at the end of the season.  Stevenson boasts a blazing fast anchor (I forgot his name, but he was a state qualifier in the 100 last year) and we will need a sizeable lead from our first three legs to keep it away from him.  Nevertheless, we ran decent times, 43.3 and 1:31.0 to win both races.

Other highlights

Mike Shield anchored the FS 4x4 and came from 30 meters back to win, splitting an impressive 51.3.  Chris Rantis split 51.6 in the Varsity 4x4 to finish his impressive day.  Chris and Mike give us 2 sophomores under 52 in the 400, and could be the making of a dominant 4x4 over the next couple years.  Kiah McGee threw the disc 136 and change for a PR.  The gutty performance of the day came from Vic Delatorre, who was tough as the anchor of the DMR, despite fighting off some food poisoning.

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4/14/10 - Great Weather Drops Times in Dual Against Lake Forest

We seem to run with the weather.  As bad as we performed in the freezing rain against Lakes, we performed that well in the calm warm afternoon at Lake Forest.  We defeated Lake Forest in a close score of 76-70, although I have heard that they were without a few of their big guns.  Lake Forest is favored to defend their NSC crown, and they have 4 or 5 studs who can win 2 events each on a given day, and Lake Forest may just win on the strength of those athletes.  Nevertheless, it was a much needed confidence boost for us to compete on their level.  It was a day that saw 21 (yes, that is twenty-one) different marks make the Track Top 10s.

Here are some highlights:

4x800- The 4x8 seems to be rounding into form.  Chris Rantis led off with a 2:04 in only his 2nd 800 of his life, followed by a PR of 2:06 by Joe Carabetta.  Alex Brend ran a nearly even split 2:02, and Cisco cruised to a 2:01 anchor for an 8:13, not a bad time for a dual meet.   Lake Forest gave us a push for our first 2 legs, but finishing in 2:02-2:01 proved to be too much. Our Frosh/Soph team set 4 PRs (Jon Ramirez: 2:11, Isaac Honegger 2:16, Oliver Shim 2:16, and Bobby Klett 2:19) in winning the Frosh/Soph 3200.

3200- It is rare that you can run a race shock and set a PR in the same race, but that is what Vic Delatorre did.  He split 65/70 in the first 800 as he tried to stick with Henry Mynatt, and that probably cost him a shot under 10:00.  Nevertheless, a race like this early in the season will only give him comfort in a 2:20 opening 800 late in the season, and will pay off big dividends when it counts.  Vic's 10:04 was the best time by a Bear this season.  Mynatt ran away with the race in 9:4x, and may cruise through the NSC that is weak in the 3200 this year.  Another highlight in the 3200 was Trevor Feltner, who broke 12:00 for the first time in his life with an 11:53.

1600- Freshman Trevor Kuehr made a valiant attempt at the 5:00 mile, only to come up 3 seconds short.  Trevor has a lot of development still left in him, and could be special in years to come.

800- Freshman Bobby Klett doubled back from the 4x8 to run another PR 800, this time in 2:19.  It was a gutty race by a tough kid whose name we will hear a lot of in years to come.  First year soph Mike Sudol also PRed with a 2:33.

400- Freshman distance star Jon Ramirez looked sharp in his second race of the day, winning in 55.0.  We hope to see Jon's name in the Distance Gala Freshman Mile this year.  At the varsity level, Jason Tiedmann is starting to develop into the promising 400 runner that we though he could be 2 years ago.  Jason PRed in 54.8, although came up with a tweaked hammy later in the meet in the 200.

Sprints - Our 4x100 may have been the highlight of the meet.  It was the first time we saw our 4 fastest runners on the track at the same time: Christian WIlliams, Colin Wanat, Braxton Klavins, and Jake Brinlee.  We needed every inch of the 42.9 handtimed split to beat Sam Howard and Lake Forest, but it was evidence that the Lake Zurich sprint tradition is still alive and breathing.  This could be the first trip back to state that our sprinters have had since the 2007 season.

Field - It was a day of landmarks, with many of our upperclassmen breaking through the mystical landmarks that act as separators in their events.  Senior Jack Rathe broke 20 feet in the long jump for the first time, with a jump of 20'2.5''.  Junior Eric Porter jumped 6 feet in the high jump.  Andrew Lulis looked down at 12 feet in the pole vault, only to see his feet clip the bar on the way by.  That barrier will have to wait...

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4/7/10 - Outdoor Season Kicks off with Duals against Lakes HS

I don't know what I would do if there was a nice day to run our first outdoor track meet.  We ran at Lakes HS on a cold rainy day.  Lakes is arguably the favorite to win the NSC Prarie division, and could contend for a top 3 finish in the NSC conference meet.   We are lucky to get to race them in our crossover, and they certainly gave us a little gut check after they seemingly ran circles around us.  Here are some highlights:

3200: We put 4 Frosh/Soph runners in the 3200, and it worked out well because Lakes only submitted 1 athlete, Josh Camp, and he was in running the same neighborhood as our boys.  Camp ended up winning the race with a strong last 800, but I was pleased with the performances of our 4 contenders.   Sophomore Jon Smith had a breakthrough cross country season but a disappointing winter, so he is still getting back into shape.  His 10:42 was a PR and good for second place, but nowhere near where he can be by season's end.  Sophomore Isaac Honegger continues to improve (once the slowest member of the program) and PR'ed in a second place 10:49.  Two freshmen, Bobby Klett and Trevor Kuehr ran 10:52 and 10:59, both their first times under 11.

800: I planned to stack this 800 with all our top half milers to give any of them a chance to beat Cisco Soto.  I knew if any of our guys had a chance of beating him, it would be in his first race back since the Palatine Invitational in cross country (where he was 12th).  Cisco did not run a step from then until late February when he could start rehabbing from his fracture.  His training has been very slow and we have been very cautious since he has a future in running beyond high school.  While his speed is not back yet and his fitness is not at the all-state level that it was before he got injured, he still has the edge about him that makes him a scary opponent to anyone who toes the line with him.

Cisco took the race out with a blazing 57, and I was pleased that he had company.  Lakes' freshman Ryan Prais and our trio of Paul Geimer, Alex Brend, and sophomore sprinter Chris Rantis were right on Cisco's tail through the quarter.  Cisco pushed through the backstretch before tightening up, winning a close one over Prais in 2:01, while Brend, Geimer, and Rantis faded to 2:06+.  Prais was certainly the story of the night.  If I had to bet on a future state champion, I would bet on Prais, as he will be one of the top AA distance runners for the next 4 years.  I was impressed by Rantis' race, and his 2:08 clocking was the best debut performance I have ever seen.  Rantis has the speed, toughness, and competitiveness to be a very good middle distance runner in the next couple years.

400: Junior Mitch Dudek won the 400 in his first race since basketball ended.  His split of 54.1 was a lifetime PR.

Sprints: We were without our top 4 sprinters (Wanat, Williams, Brinlee, and Klavins) due to eligibility sickness, and a sore groin, but a couple fill-ins competed well and may give us a bit more depth in times of need.  First-year senior Joe Carabetta, who chose to bypass baseball, moved down from his typical 400/800 events and showed legspeed that could earn him spots in our big meets.  Sophomore Jack Lynn also stepped in and ran well in his first meet since basketball.

Hurdles:  We have been searching for hurdlers and we may have found one in sophomore Mike Shield.  Mike ran his first 300 of his life in 44.8.  Mike has all the traits of a great 300 hurdler: he is ultra competitive, aggressive, fearless, and fast.  Mike could dip into the 41s and maybe high 40s this year if he develops his technique, and could be a potential state qualifier in years to come. _________________________________________________________

4/1/10 - First Annual LZTF Octathlon Concludes as a Huge Success

We held the first annual LZTF Octathlon over spring break, an 8-event competition lasting 4 days, in which every member of the LZTF team competes (including throwers and distance runners).  Athletes earn points based on their performances of the following events:

1. Shot Put  2. 100m Dash  3. Long Jump  4. 400m Dash  5. High Jump (all techniques acceptable, including 2-foot jumping)  6. 110 Low-Low Hurdles (girls heights)  7. 1600m Run  8. Pancake-Eating Contest

Check out our point-scoring system, on the Octathlon Scorecard.

Athletes formed teams of three, competing for two heralded team titles: Overall Team Champions (total of 3 team members) and Bestball Team Champions (sum of best scores by any team member for each event) as well as the Individual Title.

The 2010 Octathlon Results can be found here.

It was a very spirited week, with a gut-wrenching (no pun intended) final day with three teams within 10 points going into the final event, the Pancake Eating Contest.  Here are some highlights:

-In the Overall Team Championship, Team Awsome, consisting of  pole vaulters Andrew Lulis, Colton Gray, and David Smith, proved that pole vaulters really are the best athletes on the Track team (although maybe not the best spellers, indicated by their team name)by winning the overall competition with 1259 points.  Team Awsome didn't place first in any event, but showed that consistent well-rounded athleticism is the best way to score well in a multi-event competition.  Three PRs in the 1600, led by Andrew Lulis's 5:03 and a combined 30 pancakes in the Pancake-eating contest proved to be the difference over The Polish Eagles, who could only manage 25 pancakes.

-The Polish Eagles, consisting of thrower Mark Tabaka, sprinter Jason Tiedmann, and jumper/hurdler Erik Porter finished 2nd in the Overall Team Championship with 1238 points. The Polish Eagles showed the most team spirit, sporting Polish jerseys and frolicking around the track while squeeling like wounded birds.  This team seemed to overperform throughout the week, although Erik Porter's effortless 1600m (8:35) will certainly relegate him some hate-mail from Polish Eagle fans.  With the Eagles returning all three athletes to next year's competition, it will be interesting to see if the Eagles can muster the motivation to take down Team Awsome, who also returns all three athletes next year.

-Team Chad (names after Cisco's creepy doll), consisted of distance runner Cisco Soto, sprinter Jake Brinlee, and jumper Stenli Shopov.  Team Chad proved to be the most well-rounded team in the competition, winning the Team Bestball Championship with 578 points.  Jake Brinlee won the overall individual title in convincing fashion with 517 points, over 50 points more than runner-up Andrew Lulis with 465.

-Mark Tabaka, captain of the Polish Eagles, was very impressive throughout the week, starting with a PR Shot Put of 47' and showing great overall athleticism which will make college football coaches drool (12.5 100m, 61.5 400m, 5'7'' High Jump).  Mark's efforts were good for 3rd overall in the individual competition.

-The coaches' team, Jonas Muskrat Village, consisted of Coach Hanson, Coach Beaver, and Coach Towne (you can figure out the wordplay on that one) finished an impressive 2nd place in the Bestball competition and a competitive 5th in the Overall.  Coach Beaver gave us the edge we needed on the final day by doing what he does best, eat pancakes.  Coach Beaver's 17 flapjacks was the event leader, and 20 valuable points over Nick Buchta's 2nd place performance of 13 flapjacks (although Nick chose to forego the syrup and chocolate chips to make room for more pancakes).

-Freshman pole vaulter Mitch Hanson took down an impressive 11 pancakes, but was disqualified for not keeping them down (apparantly a hair found its way onto Mitch's plate).  The disqualification may have cost him the Freshman title, which went to distance runner Jon Ramirez with 354 points.

-All distance runners should be embarrassed after getting beat by Coach Hanson's 7th place overall performance with 403 points.  Coach Hanson forced down the 13th pancake at the end of the competition to outdo Paul Geimer by 1 point.

-We may have found a missing link to our 4x800 in sophomore sprinter Chris Rantis.  Chris's gutty 4:55 1600 made Coach Hanson drool in hopes he gets tired of football (not likely).  Nevertheless, Chris may have a legitimate future in the middle distances.  Chris was our top Sophomore finisher with a 6th place 408 point performance.

-Coach Towne, a former decathlete at Augustana College, showed explosiveness in the short events and jumps, although his 71.6 in the 400m and 6:49 in the 1600m showed his best days are behind him.  Coach Towne finished 10th overall with 397 points.

-Sophomores Pat McPartlan (4:52), Chris Rantis (4:55, already mentioned) and Isaac Honegger (4:57) broke the 5 minute mile for the first time, while Freshman Jon Ramirez (5:05), Freshman Bobby Klett (5:08), Freshman Trevor Kuehr (5:10), Sophomore David Smith (5:11) and freshman Oliver Shim (5:18) approach that barrier.

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3/6/10 - LZTF Places 5th at Buffalo Grove Scarpino Invite

With get very excited about the Joe Scarpino Invite every year.  It acts as an oasis in our winter training that is not filled with many meets.  Thus, we try to get as many kids in the meet as possible, and we only let our distance runners run in 1 event.

We tied for 5th with 99 points with Buffalo Grove, behind Barrington, Hinsdale South, Crystal Lake Central, and Belvidere North.  It was a solid but not spectacular performance by the Bears, and with the addition of our superstars to the lineup (Francisco Soto, Jake Brinlee, and Kiah McGee) and a few other of our solid varsity athletes (Victor Delatorre, Jon Grossi), we have the ability to compete for titles. Highlights:

4x800: It was an interesting day for our 4x8.  Our team consisted of freshman Oliver Shim, junior Mike Filenko, sophomore Brent Skupien, and freshman Bobby Klett, all of whom no experience in varsity competition.  The counters of the race miscounted, cutting off all the 2nd legs with 1 lap to go, who for us was Mike.  Then, the third runner for each leg "got" to run an extra lap, who for us was Brent Skupien.  Nevertheless, it wasn't the best race we have ever had, although we will look back at the race as a memorable on.  Bobby ran a great leg, running 2:21 and looking strong the entire race in his debut performance.

3200: I don't know how many people would consider 6 heats of the 3200 a highlight, but that is what makes the Scarpino Invite special.  Ike Honegger ran his in his first varsity race in the C flight, placing 6th in 11:17.  He is in great shape after a solid winter of training, but his 11:17 is not an indication of that.  Ike got lost in the race as the pack pulled away from him.  Hopefully he can learn to be more consistent in his strides to becoming a varsity athlete.

Andrew Morrison ran the B-flight for us, placing 4th with a 10:24.  Andrew is still getting back into shape after a winter off running, but he showed a competitiveness in the last 400 that has never left. 

Paul Geimer ran the A flight for us, placing a tight 5th in 10:07.  AA Cross Country State Champion Paul Zeman pulled away from the field, with Ryan Alvarez from Crystal Lake Central and Cary Grove's Phil Fairleigh chasing in tow.  The main pack consisted of Paul, Buffalo Grove's super soph Jeremy Atchison, Glenbrook North's Jon Poupard, Barrington's Kyle Dockery, and Diverde from Prarie Ridge.  Dockery and Poupard dropped back early, while Atchison, Geimer, and Diverde ran a spirited final 2 laps as they nearly caught Fairleigh from behind.  Paul ran a smart race in only his 2nd 3200 of his career, although hesitation cost him a place with Atchison edging him at the line, and Diverde almost nipping him as well.  Time will tell if he focuses on the 3200/1600 or the 800/1600 this year.

55: Our sprinters looked very good in the 55 dash, with Braxton Klavins placing 3rd in the A flight, Christian Williams placing 1st in the B flight, and Colin Wanat placing 3rd in the C flight.  Throw Jake Brinlee into the mix, and the prospects for our sprint unit look strong this year.

800:  We put our solid crew of Alex Brend, Jordan Pavlovich, and Shawn Picha in the 800, and came away with a 4th, 3rd, and 1st. Shawn Picha led wire to wire, looking good, although his time was fair (2:11).

Jordan's race proved that there is no place for hesitation in an indoor 6-lap 800.  He missed a golden opportunity to win a race by failing to act when he sensed weakness in the field and could have taken the lead.  Jordan finished 3rd in 2:12.

Alex did not run a great race, and still needs more experience in a highly competitive setting.  He finished 4th in 2:10.  Nevertheless, we must remember that he ran 2:32 at this meet last year, and has come a long way.

Other highlights: Joe Carabetta ran his first high school track meet, finishing 4th in the C flight 400 with a 58.8.  He is certainly blessed with a quick turnover, and it is going to be interesting to watch his progression this season.

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2/25/10 - Senior Paul Geimer Named National Merit Finalist

It is with great pride that I announce that Senior Paul Geimer has been named as a National Merit Finalist.  Being named as a National Merit Finalist is one of the most prestigious academic awards that a high school student can achieve.  It is difficult to imagine that Paul, as successful as he has been as a part of the Lake Zurich Track and Cross Country teams, is even more successful as a student.  He represents us well and is deserving of all the accolades that come his direction.  Paul is still deciding between attending the University of Illinois or attending the Colorado School of Mines, where he would run on the track and cross country teams under coach (and former Fenton standout) Chris Siemers.  Congratulations Paul.

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2/15/10 - LZXC Polar Bears Set New Records

The 2009-2010 Polar Bear Season ended with the first annual Polar Bear Bonfire.  Held on a chilly winter afternoon, we had an epic snowball fight (which I hadn't done in over a decade), attempted to build an igloo (harder than you think), and cooked hotdogs and marshmallows while we snuggled by an open fire.  It was a great time to all those that braved the cold winter months and maintained their fitness.

One goal that I have for the LZXC distance program involves continued growth and dedication by its athletes.  In the past 4 winters, our Polar Bear Club has grown each season, both in terms of total mileage and number of individual high harriers.  Any individual logging at least 400 miles in the winter (November 15 - February 15) earns the title of High Harrier, and T-shirts are awarded to these individuals based on their mileage (400, 600, 800, 1000).  With some of our "usual suspects" taking much of the winter off to heal their aching bodies, I was worried that this winter we would take a step backwards as a program.

That was not the case.  WIth our youngsters carried much of the load, we equaled last year's total of 13 High Harriers and bested last year's 9,149 miles logged.  Here is the Polar Bear progress over the past 4 years.  While we don't match the dedication of some of the elite programs in the area, we continue to improve in our training as we hope to challenge them in future racing.

Full High Harrier Records can be found on the High Harrier Records page. 

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LZTF Opens Season Against Maine South and Elk Grove

 For the first time this season, we were able to run on an indoor track, jump into real sand, vault with a real plant box, and throw in an actual ring.  It was nice to have the opportunity to use Maine South's 12 lap facility and compete against some fast, strong, and very able competition.  Overall, Maine South dominated both us and Elk Grove in all areas, but we were able to give our youngsters some good experience and let our veterans have some fun.

Highlights of the meet had to include junior Kiah "Big Love" McGee throwing 48+' to win the shot.  Senior Braxton Klavins won both the 55 dash and triple jump (40+') in his first meet since Sophomore year after undergoing knee surgery.  Junior Alex Brend also won the 400 (56.x).  At the frosh/soph level, Sophomores Chris and Mike Rantis impressed in the sprints, showing that their time at the Frosh/Soph level is dwindling.  _________________________________________________________

LZTF 2010 Has Begun!