Waubonsie Valley welcomes the six DuPage Valley Conference schools, including indoor champion Naperville Central, to the Warrior track for the DVC outdoor track and field championships. A hot and windy afternoon with a rolling start due to potential storms in the area. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The wind plays tricks on the high jump athletes, blowing the bar over mid-jump on several occasions. Metea Valley sophomore George Murphy makes the best of it, clearing 1.88 meters to set a new PR and finish in second place.
Naperville North senior Edward Mumford is the DVC champ after clearing 1.93 meters, but his attempt at 1.98 just clips the bar. David Rowan and Ishmaiah Elliot from Waubonsie Valley and Ben Blank from Naperville Central round out the top five after they all clear 1.83 meters.
The pole vault is also tough to manage with the whipping winds across the field. Only three vaulters are able to clear 3.86 meters, one of them is Naperville Central senior Brandon Kenny who takes second place. Matthew Crane from Waubonsie Valley takes third. The winner is Neuqua Valley freshman Connor Tran who wins because he cleared the height on his first attempt.
Ben Blank dazzles with his versatility in the field events
In the shot put, Waubonsie Valley senior Patrick Cassidy takes fifth place with a heave of 14.16 meters. Despite the graduation of former state champion Marverick Ohle, Naperville Central takes the top two spots in both the shot put and discus. Tim Preissig is the runner up in both events for the Redhawks.
Taking home first place in both the discus and shot put is Central sophomore Ben Blank. His winning toss sails 16.40 meters, just under 54 feet.
After his top five high jump performance, Blank shows off his athleticism just minutes after winning the throws. He then heads over to the triple jump pit and takes home third with a leap of 13.22 meters. Four top-five finishes help Blank win the DVC field athlete of the year.
The triple jump champion is Neuqua Valley senior David Taiwo, who shows he is one of the best in the state with a new PR of 14.13 meters. Freshman teammate Bryson Pierre also sets a new PR at 13.22 meters.
On to the track events where the 3200 runners get off to a quick start after Naperville Central wins the 4X800 and Neuqua wins the 4X100 to start things off. Simon Reckamp from Naperville North and Ian French from Metea Valley trail Manny Najera from Naperville Central. Down the stretch Najera pulls away to hold off Reckamp, Aaron Hamilton from Neuqua Valley and French to win at a shade over 10 minutes.
Cooper McGinnis sweeps the hurdles for Neuqua Valley
Next up is the 110 hurdles. With the wind at their backs, the runners fly down the track led by Cooper McGinnis from Neuqua Valley. He takes the win at a blazing 13.99, just ahead of Nico Gall and Edward Mumford from Naperville North and Oliver Ross from Central and Kevin Foonde from Metea who all set PR’s. McGinnis also wins the 300 hurdles later in the night just ahead of Eron Kennedy.
DeKalb sprinter Braylen Anderson dazzles in the 400 and the 100, winning both events. In the 400 he holds off Henry Faber from Metea Valley, Averi Smith from Neuqua and Jordan Rich from Waubonsie.
Doubling the distance with the 800 meters where Patrick Clune pulls away from the pack. Charlie Minnot tries to keep pace, but fades right at the end and is passed by Matthew Wick from Central and Nathan Tumminaro from DeKalb. Clune wins with a time of 2:00.56 as the Redhawks move into first place in the team standings.
In the last distance race of the night, another DeKalb Barb, Jacob Barraza pulls away to win. Jackson Truty from North and Jesse Gudauskas from Neuqua finish second and third with Evan Wojtowich from Waubonsie in fourth.
Lightning causes a lengthy delay
Multiple lightning delays then clear the track as the runners head indoors to remain mentally and physically locked in before heading back out once the weather delay comes to an end.
With the sun fully set and the storm clouds clear, the final two races get underway. Neuqua Valley junior Daniel Robinson takes the early lead in the 200 meters, just ahead of impressive Naperville Central freshman Eron Kennedy and fellow Wildcats Averi Smith and Jacob Kucharz. Robinson wins with a new PR of 22.02.
Naperville Central takes home the team championship
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page.
