We are near the end of the regular season as the DVC championships are now here at Naperville North, as the meet features plenty of talent from across the area looking to make it down to Eastern Illinois for the state finals next week. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Long Jump
We begin with the long jump as Dekalb’s Ethan McCarter lands him a fourth-place finish as he jumps 6.4 meters.
Next up is Waubonsie’s Brody Squires, who strides down the runway and leaps to score an impressive 6.8 meters.
Yet, Neuqua Valley’s James Ammenhauser takes the cake as he jumps 7.1 meters to earn him the first-place finish.
Discus
We stay in the field with the Discus. Naperville Central’s Drew Chipman throws 42.2 meters to take third place.
Metea Valley’s Evan Sweeney’s throw of 51.1 meters takes second place for the Mustang.
Maverick Ohle of Naperville Central, who finished second at state in the Discus as a sophomore, edges out Sweeney to take the top spot, hurling the disc downfield to score 54.8 meters.
4×800 Meter Relay
We now move on to the track with the 4×800 meter relay. The Wildcats relay consisting of Ryan Palmer, Connor Boehm, Alex Persun, and Logan Brown, carved out a significant lead after the first and second handoffs as Naperville Central and Naperville North trail. Neuqua Valley, in the end, ran away with the race finishing with a time of 8:11, followed by Naperville Central at 8:22, with Naperville North rounding out the top 3 at 8:54.
4×100 Meter Relay
We stick with the relays in the 4×100. North’s relay of Muneeb Shah, Carson Marlar, Nate Jacobs, and Danny Eloe are neck-and-neck with Neuqua’s Jake Lansdowne, Tyrek Campell, Daniel Robinson, and Austin Belle. Yet, North wins by a tenth of a second, clocking in at 41.99.
3200 Meters
Next is the 3200-meter long-distance race, featuring Redhawk Nick Camp and Huskie Jack Robertz who leads the pack with Wildcats’ Joshua Nauman and Bryce Chamberlain on their heels. Kamp extends his lead to take first place, clocking in at 10 minutes flat, with Robertz taking second at 10:05. Nauman and Chamberlain finish with times of 10:18 and 10:19.
110 Meter Hurdles
On to the hurdles, Jake Lansdowne and Will Korosec are out in front. With a time of 15.2, Lansdowne beats Korosec clocking in a PR of 15.57. Central’s Bode Smith also PRs, clocking in at 16 seconds flat.
100 Meters
Next are the sprints with the 100-meter dash, with a heat featuring lots of speed. Austin Belle comes out on top, edging out North’s Danny Eloe and Nate Jacobs, setting a personal best time of 10.7 seconds.
800 Meters
We now have the 800-meter mid-distance race, featuring Central’s Foster Shelbert, who has the slight lead after the first lap, with Waubonsie’s Austin McInturff, Neuqua’s Matt Gutierrez, and Metea’s Austin Brown looking to narrow the gap. Yet, Shelbert retains the lead, winning the race, and records a personal best of 1:55. McInturff and Gutierrez both come in at 1:57, and Brown finishes with a time of 1:58.
Naperville Central snags the 400 Meters
Back to the sprints with the 400-meter dash, on the last straight away, Shelbert, Muneeb Shah, and Arthur Cox III of Metea Valley battle in the race’s final meters. Shelbert’s long strides help him cross the finish line first to win back-to-back events. Shah and Cox finish in second and third as they both record personal bests.
300 Meter Hurdles
We jump to the 300-meter hurdles. Lansdowne, maintaining his form on the straight away, goes on to win and record a PR of 39.61. Bode Smith and Noah McAninch of Central come in second and third with times of 40.3 and 40.6, respectively.
1600 Meters
The sun is maybe down, but the mile is up and running with Dekalb’s Riley Newport leading the pack as teammate Jacob Barraza, Neuqua’s Robert Glenn and Zac Close, with Central’s Samuel Barnard in the mix. With a lap to go, Newport extends his lead amongst the pack and keeps the lead to win the mile, recording a season-best of 4:17. Barraza finishes in second at 4:20, Glenn and Close come in third and fourth with times of 4:21 and 4:23.
4×400 Meter Relay
Last but not least is the 4×400 meter relay; Neuqua Valley leads after the first lap as Madhan Manikandaswamy runs a strong leg for the wildcats. In the second leg, the Wildcats retain the lead with Connor Boehm, Metea Valley’s Lucas Van Vlerah has a strong kick on the straightaway to move the Mustangs to second, passing Naperville Central. Neuqua remains in first with Nico Castrillon running the third leg as he hands the baton to James Ammenhauser; Metea stays in second place with Central, North, and Waubonsie battling for the third spot. In the final stretch, Ammenhauser seals the victory for the Wildcats, Metea’s Rameez Abrar finishes strong for a second-place finish, and Naperville North rounds out the top three.
The Neuqua Valley Wildcats complete the 3-peat as they are again crowned the 2023 DVC Outdoor Champions.
You can find the full DVC championship results on athletic.net.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
