Sandburg breaks meet record in Boys 4x8

 

By Michael Newman

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Naperville, Ill --- The rumors of the demise of the Lincoln-Way East Girls relay squads were just that rumors. The Griffins flexed their muscles in a big way capturing the 800 Meter Relay by almost three seconds. Their presence in the 1600 Relay was also there. Ololade Ayoola ran a 57.5 opening leg for her team in that race and East never looked back. Their 3:55.95 smashed the meet record by nearly four seconds and won the event by that same amount.

 

The DGS Mustang Relays produced four #1 state performances. 175 elite marks from this meet landed in the DyeStat TFX leaderboards. This meet did not produce some great team performances but some individual performances that made eyes turn within those quartets.

 

Let’s look at each of what happened in each of the six events.

 

Girls 4 x 800 Meter Relay

 

The first two sections were faster than normal as Yorkville’s “B” team captured the first section (9:55.71) just ahead of St. Ignatius (9:56.81) as the Lady Foxes took the lead with a little more than two laps to go. Schaumburg won Section 2 taking the lead in the final 800 meters (9:46.40).

 

The opening of the final section got off to a breakneck pace as Lane Tech’s Imani Davis led the group through the first 200 in a swift 30 seconds. The pace stayed strong as Davis still led at 64 seconds. Downers Grove North’s Emma Moravec took over leading duties with Yorkville’s Skyler Bollinger close and Downers Grove South’s Michaela Hackbarth right next to Davis. Moravec pulled away from Bollinger to take the lead at the first exchange running a fast 2:14.6 opening leg.

 

The lead continued to grow for Downers Grove North on the second 800 meters of the race as they opened up a four second lead on Yorkville. Loyola Academy, who was sixth at the first exchange, moved up to third with a 2:22.4 leg by track newbie Margot Dooley. Lane Tech still held on and was now in fourth.

 

Grace Maletich kept the lead for Downers Grove North for most of third leg of this race. She started to falter coming into the final 200 meters. Lane Tech’s Madeline Monticello took that advantage and stormed into the lead. Yorkville’s Julia Schultz was right on Monticello’s shoulder as the two handed off almost at the same time. Downers Grove North was not out of it as they were less than two seconds back heading into the final portion of the race. Loyola Academy had faded and looked like they were out of it five seconds behind the leader.

 

Downers Grove North’s Zanya Jan caught up with Yorkville’s Lauren Daffenberg and Lane Tech’s Roisin Mulkerrins in the first 400. Creeping up towards the pack was Loyola Academy’s Kathryn House who was determined to keep her team in the hunt. Jan started to take off down the back stretch with a little more than 350 meters to. Daffenberg and Mulkerrins started to falter. It looked like the race would belong to the WSC-Silver school. House made a surge on Jan on the back stretch with 150 meters to go. As they came out of the curve, House passed Jan crossing the finish line with the state’s fastest time (9:25.02). Jan crossed next just a half a second back. Yorkville and Lane Tech finished 3-4. A strong anchor by Minooka’s Ashleigh Wilson gave them fifth just ahead of Hoffman Estates.

 

Splits:

 

Loyola Academy - Caroline Zaworski – 2:20.0 / Margot Dooley – 2:22.4 / Lainey McKinley 2:22.8 / Kathryn House - 2:19.8

Downers North – Emma Moravec - 2:14.6 / Kaitlyn Bonfield – 2:21.2 / Grace Maletich – 2:25.6 / Zanya Yan – 2:24.1

Yorkville – Skyler Bollinger 2:16.1 / Alexis Grandys – 2:23.9 / Julia Schultz - 2:20.2 / Lauren Daffenberg – 2:28.4

Lane Tech – Imani Davis – 2:18.4 / Caitlin Considine – 2:25.3 / Madeline Monticello – 2:16.7 / Roisin Mulkerrins – 2:29.9

 

Boys 4 x 800 Meter Relay

 

Out of all six events, this was the best race of the evening. It was a story of never giving up as the top two finishers looked like they were out of the race after the first two exchanges.

 

The 12 teams that were in the final section were together in the first 400 with Whitney Young’s Kevin Ma leading the way with a 57 opening 400. Lyons Township’s Vince Arata and Downers Grove North’s Ryan Clevenger were right next to the Whitney Young runner. The three teams came in together near 1:57. The top ten teams at the first exchange were all within four seconds of each other. This was any team’s race.

 

The race became a WSC-Silver affair during the second leg as Lyons Township’s Ben Gawthorp led a pack with Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove North, and Glenbard West close behind. Towards the end of the second leg, Gawthorp and Glenbard West’s Nate Crail moved away from the pack and had close to a two second lead ahead of Lane Tech’s Arturo Cardiel as the second exchanged occurred. Sandburg, which was sixth after the first exchange, had moved up to fourth on Max Leinhart’s second leg. Neuqua Valley, who was one of the favorites in the race seemed out of it in tenth place.

 

It was a shock at first to see Lane Tech’s standout 800 runner Pavlo Hutsalyuk running the third leg for his team. He anchored their relay with a 1:49.9 split at Nationals last June. It was a gamble to put him in that position to try to steal the race. It was a gamble that paid off for the Indians. Hutsalyuk caught up with the pack in the first 200 meters of his leg then glided away from the group giving Lane Tech a big lead as he handed off the baton to teammate Luis Ramirez. Hutsalyuk’s split was a fast 1:54.2. Glenbard West had moved into second three seconds behind Lane Tech. A strong third leg by Sandburg’s Sean Torpy took his team into third. Connor Madell handed off to Alex Lima giving his team fourth. Zac Espinosa had moved Neuqua Valley to sixth on the third leg of the race. As he handed off to Ty Moss, the Wildcats were a distant eleven seconds behind Lane Tech’s lead.

 

Lane Tech’s Luis Ramirez kept his lead on the rest of the pack. The focus of the race was the action that was behind him. Sandburg’s Chris Torpy was getting closer to the lead with Glenbard West’s Chris Buechner and Lyons Township’s Alex Lima also following Sandburg’s lead. Then there was Ty Moss. The Neuqua star senior started to pick off runners like an out of control locomotive. With 400 Meters to go, he had moved into striking position of the pack with his sights on the lead.

 

Chris Torpy made the first move with 230 meters to go as he passed Ramirez at the gun lap. Moss was on the move as well as he had his sights on the Lane Tech runner. Sandburg started out slow, but the final two legs by the Torpy brothers sealed their fate as Mustang Relays champions and also new meet record holders (7:53.49). Moss moved to second with an unbelievable 1:51.9 anchor. Lyons Township and Glenbard West finished 3-4 just a second behind Neuqua Valley. CPS Lane Tech and Whitney Young were next in line.

 

Splits

 

Sandburg – Tom Brennan – 1:59.7 / Max Lehnhardt – 2:02.2 / Sean Torpy – 1:56.2 / Chris Torpy – 1:55.4

Neuqua Valley – Kyle Bender - 2:05.1 / Matt Horsley - 2:00.2 / Zac Espinosa – 1:58.2 / Ty Moss – 1:51.9

Lyons Township – Vince Arata 1:58.1 / Ben Gawthorp – 2:00.7 / Connor Madell – 2:00.7 / Alex Lima – 1:56.8

Glenbard West – Ben Hecht - 1:59.2 / Nate Crail - 1:59.7 / Jake Jaskowiak -  1:58.7 / Chris Buechner 1:59.0

Lane Tech – Christian Badillo 1:58.9 / Arturo Cardiel – 2:01.6 / Pavlo Hutsalyuk – 1:54.2 / Luis Ramirez – 2:03.0

 

 

Girls 4 x 200 Meter Relay

 

It was a surprise in the first section as Neuqua Valley finished first with what looked like the second fastest time in the state 1:45.7. It was not the case as the Lady Wildcats were disqualified on an exchange violation.

 

Lincoln-Way East was the favorite in this event. They did have to overcome the fifth section time of Bolingbrook (1:45.21) that finished just ahead of 2A Kaneland (1:45.90). The Griffins did not have to worry about those times. They had to worry about the teams in their section including upstart Whitney Young.

 

The name of the game in this event indoors is keeping the lead and maintaining. That is what Lincoln-Way East did in this race as they had the lead at the cut with Whitney Young and West Aurora in close pursuit. The second exchange determined this race. The Griffins had the lead and made their exchange clearly. As the other teams runners were coming around the curve, the waiting athletes were jostling into position trying to get a good spot. That was the downfall as three teams tumbled to the ground taking them out of contention to get Lincoln-Way East. The race was all over at that point.

 

The team of Alexis Pierre-Antoine, Ololade Ayoola, Kyndall Wallace, and Asia Brown were easy winners just missing the meet record that they set last year. Their time of 1:41.90 was more than three seconds ahead of Bolingbrook. Whitney Young, who was involved in the pileup on the second exchange, finished seventh overall and second in the section.

 

Boys 4 x 200 Meter Relay

 

The first five sections of this event were mellow dramatic as Plainfield South’s winning fifth section time of 1:34.72 was the fastest time heading into the final race. With the teams in that section, surpassing that should be easy.

 

It was for Plainfield East. They took the lead at the cut-in and never looked back. The squad of Christian Glass, Jarvis Carter, Prince Smith, and Kenyon Marks won the event (1:31.26) holding off strong challenges by Minooka (1:31.98) and Metea Valley (1:32.60).

 

 

Girls 4 x 400 Meter Relay

 

Lincoln-Way East entered the event as the big favorite to win. Neuqua Valley running in the fourth section turned in a season’s best 3:59.43 led by strong legs by Maya Neal and Sami Miller. The shocking time meant that Lincoln-Way East would have to beat the meet record to win this race.

 

They did that with ease. It was smart strategically to have their best 400 Meter runner Ololade Ayoola leading off for them. She gave the team a three second lead ahead of Lane Tech, St. Charles East, and Downers North with a 57.6 leadoff. The only thing that was in question after that point was if the Griffins would take down the record. They did that with ease. Solid legs by Kyndal Wallace, Alexis Pierre-Antoine, and Asia Brown gave the team the win breaking the meet record by an astounding four seconds with their 3:55.95 time. St. Charles East finished strong in that final section (4:00.10) placing third overall.

 

Splits

 

Lincoln-Way East – Ololade Ayoola – 57.6 / Kyndall Wallace – 59.0 / Alexis Pierre-Antoine – 59.6 / Asia Brown – 59.8

 

Boys 4 x 400 Meter Relay

 

There was plenty of drama in the early sections of this event. In Section 3, Plainfield Central led off with a 49.2 split by defending 400 Meter champion Kahamari Montgomery giving them a big lead. They were passed by Lane Tech but retook the lead in the final 10 meters for the section win (3:30.91 / 3:31.16). St. Charles East also set the stakes high winning Section 5 (3:29.12).

 

Lyons Township had a slight lead at the first exchange with Hinsdale Central, Plainfield South, and Metea Valley close in hand. Neuqua Valley was back in fifth with a good first leg by Michael Duy. After seeing what happened in the 4x8 race, the Wildcats had their competition right where they wanted them. Kyle Bender moved his team closer to the lead. All-state 400 Meter runner Zac Espinosa ran a 49.3 split giving his team the lead as he handed off the baton to Ty Moss.

 

Moss is the ultimate closer in a relay this year in Illinois. If the New York Yankees had a lead late in the game, they would hand the ball to Mariano Rivera to seal the win for his team. Such was the case for Moss. He had the lead. No one was going to take it from him. He made it look easy as he crossed the line giving his team a three second win ahead of Lyons Township. Moss ended his great evening with a 48.9 anchor split.

 

Splits:

 

Neuqua Valley – Michael Duy – 54.4 / Kyle Bender – 52.3 / Zac Espinosa - 49.3 / Ty Moss – 48.9