Kane County Chronicle Boys Track Athlete of the Year: Geneva's Taormina goes out 'with a big bang'

Multisport standout Justin Taormina recently experienced the rare instance in which seeing the phrase “Not so fast” carried a potential positive.

Taormina committed to the Minnesota-Mankato football program in November, shortly after his senior season at Geneva ended. He then began preparing for his final spring of track and field, and the Mavericks soon expressed interest in him possibly being an NCAA Division II athlete in a second sport.

“They just said we’ll just watch you during your senior year, and I was like, ‘All right,’’’ Taormina said. “They think I could be a huge asset to their team. I’m just really excited about the opportunity. … Not a lot of kids do two sports in college.”

Regardless of what happens in Minnesota, Taormina leaves a Geneva legacy that now includes recognition as 2016 Kane County Chronicle Boys Track Athlete of the Year.

He earned the distinction in large part because he happily kept going.

A voracious trainer and competitor, Taormina left his last prep race with a medal. He finished the 100 meters in 10.86 seconds, taking eighth at the IHSA Class 3A state meet in Charleston on May 28.

“My mentality was let’s just go have fun,” Taormina said. “It’s your senior year. Just go out with a big bang. And I feel like I went out with a big bang.”

Taormina qualified for four events at state, also advancing from the Metea Valley sectional in the 200, long jump and as part of the 4x200 meter relay. Classmates Donny Friedel, Sean Chambers and Zeke Buck joined him in the relay at state as fellow senior Ryan Skibinski dealt with hamstring issues.

Veteran Vikings coach Gale Gross said Taormina was the first Geneva boys track athlete to qualify for four state preliminaries “since at least 1989.”

“He’s a great athlete, he’s a great student. He cares a lot about what he does,” Gross said. “He takes everything to heart and does everything to the best of his ability and first-class. He was extremely focused throughout the whole year.”

Taormina routinely called his stretch run “a pleasant surprise,” namely marveling at the novelty of reaching four state preliminaries. As a junior, he qualified in the long jump and as part of the 4x100.

The 200 offered perhaps the biggest motivation in 2016. Early in the indoor season, Taormina hovered in the high 23-second range and wondered what it would take to eclipse the 3A state-qualifying standard of 22.3. Taormina had taken a shine to the methods of new sprints coach Andrew Olinger, yet he wasn’t seeing the time drops he desired.

Taormina admittedly “was just gassed” after many workouts, but between football, track and a successful gymnastics career in his youth and early teens, fatigue hardly has been a deterrent through the years.

By the time the Kane County meet arrived May 6, Taormina ran a 22.14 to win the event at Kaneland. The victory went nicely with his triumphs in the 100 and 4x200.

So began a state series that had no shortage of success. Competing at the Upstate Eight Conference River Division meet at St. Charles North the following week, Taormina earned titles in the 100 (10.98) and 200 (22.71) while running the lead leg for the champion 4x200 (1:30.14). He took fourth in the long jump with an effort of 20 feet, 7 inches.

“Justin did a nice job of progressing very well,” Gross said.

Taormina eagerly anticipates the opportunity for further growth in Mankato.