May 14, 2006 - MSL Conference Updates
I apologize for the lack of recent updates, but the end of
track season is hectic. On Saturday, the Palatine boys track and field
team placed 4th overall in the MSL Conference meet. Although the
premature cancellation of the meet on Friday night led to us competing the
day after our prom, the boys came out and competed hard. We finished
with 66 points behind Barrington, Fremd, and Prospect. The meet is
actually not finished yet as the pole vault will be completed along with the
F/S MSL Conference meet on Monday afternoon. The F/S was originally
scheduled for Thursday night, but it was also cancelled due to inclement
weather.
I have updated the
2006
Performance List to reflect races and time trials run since the last
update, and I have also added recent times to our all-time
History lists. Steve Finley ran a
1:55.4 at the Lisle Invite to move onto the 800 meter list while the 4 x 800
meter relay just missed the school record at the MSL meet, running 7:51.7.
That places our boys second on the all-time list. Mat Smoody also
moved up on the list with his 1:55.0 at the Palatine Relays and also helped
us break the school record in the F/S 4 x 800 meter relay. It now stands at
8:17.0.
MSL Conference Results - 4 x 800 and Steve Finley Win
Titles
This had to be one of the weirdest MSL meets I have been too.
It felt much more like a triangular than the usual fired up conference meet.
Perhaps having it during the day took away the special atmosphere created
under the Friday night lights. Perhaps the coaches were all pissed at
each other about the divided decision to postpone the meet. Who knows.
But it rained off and on throughout, there were almost no fans, and it felt
weird. But it was still the MSL - which means fast.
4 x 800 meter relay - Prospect and Palatine both
stacked this one so I was excited for a battle that could bring out the best
in both teams. We have had Prospect's number in cross country
recently, but they have certainly had ours in track. This was a great
race with us loading our best lineup for the first time all season and
gunning for the school record. We ran Alex Soto to Mike Ducore to Mat
Smoody to Steve Finley. Prospect countered with Anczyk, Hayek, Addante,
and Murray.
Ancyzk immediately established a solid lead with an
aggressive first 600, but Alex Soto hung tough and trimmed down the lead by
the first exchange. Alex ran 1:59.2 to get the stick to Mike Ducore.
Ducore was the big question since he hadn't been under 2:04 since indoors.
He has been plagued of late by knee injuries and breathing problems.
However, in the biggest moment of his career, he came up huge. He
looked comfortable through the 600 and then competed hard to the exchange to
hand off in 2:00.6 in about 3rd or 4th place.
Mat Smoody immediately took off after Addante. He went
through the 200 in 24 and the first 400 in 52.7, an almost suicidal pace.
He barely made up ground on Addante, who had to have gone out in 55 or so
himself. I hoped that he could come up with a miracle, but Smoo tied
up badly in the last 100 meters, but still ran 1:57.0. He will learn
from this tactical mistake, but he still caught Prospect a bit. Mat's
run set the stage for a classic run between two senior stars - Mike Murray
and Steve Finley. Mike had a two second or so lead at the exchange,
but Finley showed the patience that Smoody had not. He caught Murray
gradually and got on his shoulder by the 700 meter mark. Steve's kick
brought us a conference title and a near school record of 7:51.7. His
split was 1:54.6.
3200 meter run - The bad news for our team in this
race was that Glenn Morris was unable to compete due to a lingering leg
injury suffered at the Prospect Wanner Invite. We hope to have him
ready for the IHSA Sectional on Friday night. The good news was that
Sagar Patel and Kevin O'Brien had to step up and score some points. OB
was in the slow heat. He ran 10:07 to finish second overall, but his
race was marred by an early tactical error. He went out too hard (65
seconds) and paid the price in the second mile. Sagar, meanwhile, had
not such trouble. He ran 9:34.7 in a loaded 3200 meter race to better
his all-time best, break the new state qualifying mark for the first time,
and place 6th overall. The race saw Ryan Craven (Prospect) defeat
Kevin Havel (Hersey) 9:13 to 9:16 in a spirited race while Josh Tomek (9:24
- Barrington) and Sean Carlson (9:28 - Buffalo Grove) set school records.
I was really proud of Sagar. He split 4:41 at the mile and then
battled Bill Wisser from Hersey to the end.
800 meter dash - Coming off of prom and a lactate
building mistake in the 4 x 800 meter relay, defending MSL champion Mat
Smoody had a tall task ahead of him in the open 800. It proved too
tall. Smoody ran 1:57.8 to place 5th overall. A loaded field of
fresh, senior talent proved too tough to handle as Nick Farina ran to the
win followed by Joe Myszka (junior), Jared Hardy, and Christian Escareno.
Still, two sub 1:58 half miles by a sophomore within an hour is pretty damn
good. In the slower section, junior Ulises Reynoso made the most of
his chance to run by dropping 2.5 seconds off of his personal best,
recording a 2:05.2.
400 meter dash - We put Terrence Thigpen and Telly
Halloran in the 400 hoping to snag some points, and they responded by
placing 7th and 6th, respectively. They ran 52.5 and 52.8. With
Terrence a junior and Telly only a sophomore that bodes well for our 4 x 400
meter relay in the future.
1600 meter run - Steve Finley was the defending
champion in this event, and he wasted no time running to his trademark lead.
He looked a bit thick after a night of prom and a scorching 4 x 800 leg, but
he proved that he has the heart of a champion. He ran 4:21 and change
in a steady downpour to capture his second straight MSL crown. Junior
Matt Dettloff placed 8th in his first ever MSL meet, running 4:29.5 to set a
personal best. He made a drastic move to get into 4th place at the
1000 meter mark, but faded. Still, it was the first time he had ever
joined battle with the MSL elite, and I was proud of his improvement and
success.
4 x 400 meter relay - We put the best team we still
had out there for the mile relay with the intent of stealing the last event.
Smoody and Finley had already run two races, but they ran like champs with
both of them splitting 52's. Alex Soto ran the best split of 51.2
while Telly Halloran doubled back from the 400 with a 53 split. They
ran 3:28 and change to place third overall. I was proud of how all of
these guys competed!
Carlin Nalley Lisle Invitational - Finley and Soto Run
Fast 800s
I won't give a full report of this meet, but we definitely
had some highlights. Steve Finley provided the best one, dropping a
1:55.5 (1:55.70 FAT) in the 800 to move onto our all-time list. Alex
Soto also showed that he is recovering nicely from a foot injury with his
1:59.1 (1:59.32 FAT) run. In the 3200 Matt Dettloff improved his
career PR from 9:54 to 9:46. Sagar Patel also ran a PR of 4:35 in the
1600. In our quest to improve our 4 x 400 meter seed time, we failed
again, running 3:27.5, which was .2 slower than our best time of the year.
Hersey F/S Invite - F/S 4 x 800 sets school record
The main priorities of this meet were to win the team title
and break the 4 x 800 meter relay F/S record. It was established at
Libertyville two years ago by our current seniors in 8:24.8. This
year's group blew it away with some special help from Mat Smoody. Omar
Herrera lead off in a blazing 2:06.4, which was his first time under 2:10.
Freshman Vlad Novikov then ran a solid 2:08 and got it to Kevin O'Brien just
off the lead. OB then ran his own solid 2:06. Smoody did the
rest, running a staggering 1:55 split to set the new record at 8:17.0.
The rest of the meet provided a solid performance from all
members of the Palatine F/S squad as we rolled to the team title with 130
points. Eddie Lopez (10:07) and Tom Laskowske (10:31) both set or tied
their PRs in the 3200. Omar and Vlad came back in the open 800 to
score big team points and set new PRs in the open 800 of 2:07 and 2:09.
Smoody and OB then came back and went 1-2 in the 1600 with Smoo running 4:34
and O'Brien dipping under 4:40 for the first time with a 4:39.8.
April 28, 2006 - Wanner Invite - Finley
ties school record
The 3200 at Prospect on Friday night was one
of the more hyped up regular season races I have had the opportunity to
attend or be a part of. It is just rare for so many good runners to
get together outside of the state meet. The exciting prospect was that
there was little pressure and openings for guys to take a risk with the
early pace and go for great times.
As you can see, Finley and Morris took the
early pace. They led through the first mile together. Steve,
especially, was determined to make the race fast even if it cost him places
and some time at the end. I think everyone expected him to lead.
Glenn dragged right behind him through the 1600, but his body language
looked off to me. He briefly took the lead in the front stretch
heading to the 1600, and it appeared that he really started to struggle as
the pace increased. At the 1700 meter mark, a wipeout occurred, but
neither Finley nor Morris were involved. Both Christian escareno and
Ryan Jacobs fell. Many watching think that Glenn got stepped on, but I
think the shift in pace caused him to tighten up in his quads. Much to
his disappointment, I pulled him at the start of lap six. Hopefully,
he'll feel alright as the big races approach.
This picture shows a bit of action from
either the start of the 5th or 6th lap. Eric Dettman made his big move
in this race last year just past the mile when he ran away to win in 9:06 or
9:07. This year, he waited until the 2000 meter mark before moving.
The difference was that Stevens was in the race, and it had gone out in 4:32
rather than 4:38. Jacob Nachel and Finley both were dropped by this
move, but not as bad as the rest of the pack.
As you can see from this finishing picture,
Jeremy Stevens proved once again that he is an all-time great in Illinois
distance running. He ran 8:56.9 to take the win and put five seconds
on Dettman from York in the last 150-160 meters. There may have been a
brief tangle between them in the last curve, but Stevens was clearly better
than the field on this night. Both Nachel and Finley charged valiantly
in the last stretch to try and catch Dettman, but it was in vain. I
yelled at Steve for quitting early and letting Nachel catch him, but I think
he leaned (like Lancaster last year) at the mile line rather than the finish
line. This mental error cost him 3rd place. Places 2-3-4 were
separated by a second: Dettman 9:02.0, Nachel 9:02.5, and Finley 9:02.9.
Afterward some were disappointed that more
people did not break nine minutes, but I urge them to look at old state meet
results. This was one of the fastest 3200s in state history.
Check out the
list of
top 3200s that the IHSA keeps. Matt Withrow's state title winning
8:57 is not on there, but the top four from this race all qualify to be on
that list. Furthermore, Jeremy Stevens' time of 8:56.9 puts him at
14th, but is even more impressive when you realize that Troy Maddux's Class
A state record is 9:10 and change. That list is a bit messy (Don Sage
is on it twice - if we did that we'd mostly have Graves and Virgin on
there), but it is a good indication of the historic import of last Friday's
race results.
