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CHARLESTON – Chris Thompson had quite the swing late in the track and field season.
The Lemont High School senior went from wondering if he would compete at all at the Class 3A state meet to having the best meet of his life.
Thompson ran his best 400-meter dash time of the season in the state preliminary heats May 27, then went on to finish second in the finals the next day at Eastern Illinois University with a time of 48.45 seconds.
“I came up a little short as far as winning a state title, but it was a great experience to end on,” said Thompson, who became Lemont’s highest state finisher since Nick Bromberek won three state titles in 2000.
“It felt surreal. It was such a short time from when I came back, but I got to do everything I wanted to do.”
Thompson and Bromberek are the only Lemont boys track and field athletes to win multiple state medals.
A hamstring injury kept Thompson from competing for a stretch during the regular season, but he came back in time to win the 400 title at the Downers Grove South sectional. He had the fourth-fastest sectional time heading into the state meet (48.72 seconds) and he lowered that mark with a season-best 48.18 in the prelims.
Thompson placed sixth in the 400 at the 2015 state meet and said his previous state meet experience was beneficial in helping him earn another state medal.
“I felt like I definitely had the upper hand on a lot of the other guys,” Thompson said. “Being down there and knowing where the [event check-in] tent is and knowing what’s going on, it felt like there was less pressure because I knew the whole scene.”
Thompson also ran anchor for freshman brother Michael Thompson and fellow seniors Mike Prasauskas and Matt Uthupan on the 4x400 relay that crossed the line in 3:26.53 in the prelims, finishing just short of making the finals.
“That was kind of what we expected because it was pretty much our time throughout the year,” Chris Thompson said. “Our goal was to get the relay to state, and we did that with two seniors and a freshman that never ran track before.”
Thompson said he will compete in one more meet, the Senior All-Star Spotlight on June 11, which pits the best seniors from Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin against each other.
After that meet, he will start preparing for his freshman season at the University of Iowa. He should receive a training and weightlifting regimen from Iowa soon and will then get ready for the next stage of his career.
“Freshmen at Iowa, I’ve seen guys come in running 49 [seconds in the 400] and then they cut two seconds off their time in their first season,” Thompson said. “If I can get to the low 47s or 46.9 my first year, I’ll be happy.”
Lemont baseball
Garrett Acton and Nate Madej combined for a five-inning no-hitter in Lemont’s 17-0 victory against Coal City in the title game of the Class 3A Joliet Catholic regional May 28.
As impressive as the pitching performance was, the offense was just as lethal.
Lemont pounded out 14 hits with Nick Wisz (four hits), Acton and Angel Salinas (three hits each) and Dom Connolly (two hits) leading the way. Wisz went 4 for 4 with a triple, two RBIs and four runs scored, and Acton helped his own cause with a home run and six RBIs. Salinas homered and drove in five runs, Austin Tittle drove in two runs, and Connolly and Christian Krakar each drove in a run.
Jake Leibfritz scored three times running in place of catcher Casey O’Brien (three walks), and Ryan Sublette and Joe Kelley each scored two runs.
Lemont (25-9) was scheduled to play Morgan Park in a sectional semifinal at Lincoln-Way West on June 1.
Lemont boys tennis
Charles Balisalisa and Arjun Reddigari won a doubles bracket consolation match by a 4-6, 6-3, (10-8) score; and Faraz Longi and Peter Rogers competed in a pair of doubles matches at the state tournament May 26.