Metea Valley boys track travels to Lake Park for the IHSA Class 3A boys sectional. The Mustangs are coming off a fifth-place finish at the DVC meet last week. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Metea Valley opens the IHSA Boys Track and Field Sectional with the jumping events
Competing in the high jump is Metea Sophomore George Murphy. The Mustang clears over 1.88 meters, earning him a fifth-place finish.
Alongside Murphy is Mustang, Freshman Tre Jordan. Jordan will go on to clear 1.83 meters, securing a seventh-place finish.
Jumping over towards the triple jump pit, Mustang Aniketh Sanampudi gets a distance of 12.11 meters. Fellow Mustang, Anders Morancheck, finishes in thirteenth (13th) place with a distance of 12.03 meters.
Glenbard West’s Ben Schottle opens the track events with a win in the 110M Hurdles
Onto the track with the 110m hurdles. Glenbard West’s Ben Schottle and Wheaton Warrenville South’s Amari Williams get off to a strong start as they are neck and neck while approaching the finish line. After going down to the wire, Schottle gets the first-place finish with a time of 14.61 seconds. Mustang Kevin Foonde narrowly defeats teammate Akinyemi Igbalajobi to finish in fifth, qualifying for the state finals!
Next up is the 100-meter dash. Coming out of the blocks hot is Batavia’s Nathan Whitwell, finishing first in 10.71 seconds. Jordan Ademuyiwa of Glenbard West also qualifies for state in second. Metea’s Zion Felton finishes in fourth with a time of 11.16 seconds.
Moving on to the 400-meter dash. Henry Faber starts off strong for the black and gold, looking to speed past the two out in front. Going down to the final straightaway—Faber and Batavia’s Thomas Woodard are out in front. Woodard crosses the finish line first with a time of 48.71 seconds as Faber is less than half a second behind. Both qualify for state!
Nearing the end of the night with the fourth heat of the 200-meter dash. Getting out in front after his strong start on the curve, Felton gets the first-place finish for Metea at 22.67 seconds. He just misses out on state in the event, but what a race from the Mustang!
Metea’s team of Hawkins, Anargyros, Ben Vallandingham, and Faber move on to the State Finals
Ending the night with the most anticipated event, the 4×400-meter relay. Jamari Hawkins leads off for Metea and gets off to a strong start. Batavia gets a slight lead, reaching the exchange zone first as Mustang Jake Anargyos looks to get back into the race. Nearing the end of the race, Batavia’s Woodard and St Charles East’s Peter VanLue look for one last push for a first-place finish. Woodard just pulls ahead with a time of 3:21.70 seconds. St Charles East, York, and Geneva move on to state! Metea’s team of Hawkins, Anargyros, Ben Vallandingham, and Faber also moves on to the finals, with a time of 3:23.21.
In the team standings, Batavia wins the sectional title with 118 points. York gets the second-place finish with St. Charles North finishing in third.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page.
