High school sports roundup: Sectional win sets up Lyons Township boys track and field for state meet

WESTERN SPRINGS – Lyons Township’s boys track and field team had a big day at its own Class 3A sectional meet May 19.

The Lions won 11 sectional titles, earned 16 total state berths, and took the sectional decisively, scoring 202 points to finish well clear of runner-up Riverside Brookfield (79).

Thomas Saggau in triple jump (47 feet, 4.5 inches) and Joe Kriekmeier in pole vault (13-1 on criteria) were field event champs. Saggau (21-7.75 in long jump) and Austin Iturralde (13-1 in pole vault) finished second.

LT had 1-2 finishes in both long-distance events. Danny Kilrea won the 3,200-meter run in 9:07.99, the second-best sectional time in the state. Patrick Kane was second in the race (10:09.86). Vince Zona (4:21.37) and Kilrea (4:21.80) were neck and neck in the 1,600 run.

Antwane Thigpen won the 100 dash (10.95 seconds), Griffin Vizgirda was the 400 champ (51.64), and Xavier Armand won the 300 hurdles (40.63). Alex Lynch was second in the 800 run (1:59.40) to move on to state.

LT also won all four relay races.

Iturralde, Saggau, Reggie Terrell and Thigpen ran in the same order on both the 4x100 (43 seconds) and 4x200 (1:29.23) relays.

Armand, Ben Cranny, Lynch and Vizgirda won the 4x400 in 3:29.59, and Daniel Palmer, Lynch, Charles Harders and Zona took the 4x800 in 8:03.54.

The state meet takes place May 26 and 27 at Eastern Illinois University.

BASEBALL

Lyons Township

The Lions clinched the West Suburban Silver title with an 11-1, five-inning win May 16 against Downers Grove North, then won the WSS finale 2-1 against the Trojans on May 18.

Brendan Pugliese gave up five hits but just one earned run in the 11-1 win. Drew Mrazek hit a three-run home run, and Connor Pasko, Bryce Moskiewicz and Michael Courtney drove in two each.

Matt Piento earned the win and Matt Phillipp got the save in the 2-1 win as LT improved to 23-4-1 on the season and 15-3 in the WSS.

GIRLS SOCCER

Lyons Township

A big second half propelled the Lions to a 6-1 win against Oak Park-River Forest for a regional title May 20. The Lions led 1-0 at halftime. LT will face Glenbard East in a sectional semifinal at 6:30 p.m. May 24 at Downers Grove North.

Morton

A 2-0 win against Jones on May 16 sent the Mustangs to the championship game at the Class 3A Glenbard East regional, where the host Rams won 2-0 in a double-overtime game May 19.

Nazareth

The Roadrunners outscored their opponents 16-0 to claim the Class 2A Hancock regional title. Naz topped Noble Street-UIC 9-0 in a regional semifinal May 16 and downed Farragut 7-0 in the championship game May 19.

BOYS TENNIS

Fenwick

Carlos Gutierrez and the doubles team of Nico Halter and Mike Prabhu both placed fourth at the Class 1A Timothy Christian sectional May 20 to move on to the state tourney.

Lyons Township

The Lions earned two state tournament berths as they placed second at the Class 2A Proviso West sectional May 20.

After winning his first five sets without dropping a game, senior Jack Bernstein made it to the singles championship match, where he fell 6-3, 7-5 against Hinsdale Central’s Zach Elliott.

Senior Tanner Burke and junior Demetri Triantafel won a quarterfinal match 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 to lock up a state berth before falling in their last two doubles matches.

Morton

Nadrian Fiesta assured a spot at the Class 2A state tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal win in singles play at the Class 2A Oak Park-River Forest sectional. He improved his seed with a 6-0, 6-2 win against OPRF’s Sean Wangelin in the third-place match May 20.

Nazareth

Freshman Michael Rooney swept his first two matches and did not drop a set as he won the singles title at the Class 1A Timothy Christian sectional May 20 to lock up a state spot.

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

Fenwick

Jack Darrow and Anthony Pasquesi were both two-event champions at Fenwick’s Class 2A sectional meet May 18.

Darrow swept the long-distance races, winning the 1,600-meter run in 4:35.61 (just ahead of teammate Joseph Wemes’ 4:35.81) and taking the 3,200 run in 9:44.05.

Pasquesi won both horizontal jumps. He posted a mark of 41 feet, 7 inches in triple jump and a 22-2 in the long jump.

Thomas Biegler won pole vault (9-6) ahead of teammate Anthony Maite (9-0), William Flaherty won discus (125-1), and the 4x800 (8:41.69) and 4x400 (3:36.61) relays were also champs.

Austin Glazier (41-2.5 in shot put), Matthew Augustyn (40-9 in triple jump), Brendan Copp (2:09.48 in the 800), and the 4x100 relay (44.02) were all second as the Friars won the meet with 145 points.

Morton

Daquan Travis punched his ticket for state in two events May 19 at the Lyons Township sectional. The senior won the 110-meter hurdles (14.99 seconds) and took second in the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 1 inch.

Riverside Brookfield

The Bulldogs crowned two sectional champs and earned two additional state meet berths at the Lyons Township sectional May 19.

George Cervanka won the 200-meter dash in 22.20 seconds and was second in the 100 dash (11.04).

Devin Moody won high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 3 inches, and the 4x800 relay team of Jack Sagan, Jacob Wardzala, Angel Alarcon and Chris Magno moved on to state by taking second in 8:07.31.

BOYS WATER POLO

Fenwick

After edging Barrington 10-9 in a state quarterfinal match May 19, the Friars narrowly fell in both a semifinal match against New Trier (12-11) and a third-place match against Naperville Central (8-5) on May 20.

Matt Hoban scored four goals and Ivan Soto scored three against Barrington. Payton Comstock scored three against New Trier and two against Naperville Central.

Lyons Township

Cameron Cowan made 10 saves, Ben Ezsias and Frank McCarter each had two goals, and Armin Korsos scored once, but the Lions fell 8-5 against New Trier in a state quarterfinal match May 19 at Stevenson High School.