Kaneland makes most of time outside at Batavia’s Les Hodge Invitational

BATAVIA – Winning five track events, including three of the four relays and two field events at Friday’s Les Hodge Open Invitational, Kaneland’s first outdoor meet of the season, was just icing on the cake for the Knights.

“We are an outside track team so we’re just happy to be here and happy to be running outside with great weather and great competition,” said Kaneland coach Andy Drendel.

Host Batavia was the most challenging rival, finishing first in six events. Geneva took home three first-place medals and St. Charles North captured two top honors.

Since the competition was an open invitational, no team scores were tallied.

Drendel was especially pleased with junior Luke Gadomski, who won two individual track events, the 110-meter hurdles (15:33) and 200 (22.76) and anchored the winning 4x100 relay team.

“Luke stepped up and did a really good job today,” Drendel said.

“This week I’ve been prioritizing hurdles. Yesterday I felt really clean, and the legs felt really fresh after a week off from spring break,” Gadomski said. “I did some routine stuff this week and it just paid off.”

Freddy Hassan winning the high jump also impressed the Knights’ coach.

“Freddy had a great basketball season and ended up coming out late and jumped six four tonight after two practices,” Drendel said. “We’re excited to see if he will go after the school record of six four and half inches.

Knights finished the 4x100 relay with a time of 43:55. Kaneland also won the 4x200 (1:30.58) and 4x800 (8:14.69 ) relays. Dylan Sanagustin won the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 7 inches.

Batavia’s Thomas Woodard (40.18) barely beat Gadomski in the 300 hurdles (40.61).

Bulldog Francesco Benelli won both the 3,200 (9:14.55 and the 1,600 (4:28.96). The senior ran both races to increase his endurance.

“It was just a nice day today. It was like 50 degrees, sunny. It was supposed to be low winds, so it’s was a little windier than expected, but it was good conditions for a 2-mile (3,200),” Benelli said. “I’m also experimenting with doubling to see how to score as many points as I can at the state meet.”

Batavia’s Darin Ashiru won the triple jump with a distance of 39 feet 10 inches. Teammate Gavin Pecor took top honors shot put with a throw of 56-10.5. The Bulldogs also won the 400 relay with a time of 3:29.72.

Geneva junior Lex Griffith finished second to Pecor in the shot put but the two flipped places in the discus, with a Griffith throw of 160-6.5 to clinch first place.

“I’ve been just been having some really good days of practice, getting a lot of reps in which definitely helped,” the junior said of throw that was a personal record by three feet.

Griffith would also like to break a school record.

“Before the season is over, I would like to throw over 170. Our school’s record is 169, so I feel like I could get there,” he said.

Vikings senior Benny Deasy won the 400 (52.42) and sophomore classmate Parsa Manafi finished first in the 800 (2:02.50).

St. Charles North’s Wylder Smith finished first in the 100 (10.92).

“I’m improving my block starts and then the rest of it, I was just running to just keep it ahead of everyone else,” the junior said about his winning strategy.

North Star Nathan McLoughlin’s jump of 15 feet earned the senior first in the pole vault.

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