Boys Track and Field: Alec Crum, Batavia sail to third consecutive sectional title

BATAVIA – Alec Crum could finally catch his breath.

Moments after finishing the 4x400 relay to close the Class 3A Batavia Sectional Meet, Crum was briefly clutching his knees and gathering himself after a symbolic marathon of a track meet.

Crum, the Batavia senior, qualified for the IHSA Class 3A state meet in the long jump (6.76-meters), high jump (1.95-meters), triple jump (13.74 meters) and as a part of the 4x400 relay.

The jam-packed schedule is by design. Crum probably wouldn’t operate it any other way.

“For the first three jumps, I definitely just need to go full throttle until I can’t anymore,” Crum said. “Then, I have a long break until the 4x400.”

It marks the second year in a row Crum qualified in the high jump. He placed 26th at state a season ago.

“…But I came really close in the triple [last year] and that was the one thing I really did want to go into [state this year],” Crum said. “So, it was kind of my comeback; to qualify in three jumps and the 4x4, it means a lot.”

Batavia, as a team, won sectionals for the third year in a row with 121 points. Barrington (74) and St. Charles North (73) followed in second and third, respectively.

The Bulldogs’ 4x800 relay (8:00.80) and 4x200 (1:28.75) won sectional titles. The 4x100 relay took second to set a new team PR of 42.4 seconds and their 4x400 relay qualified with a 3:28.13 effort.

Bulldogs senior pole vaulter Gabe Benkers is back to Charleston for his second time and won first place in sectionals with a 4.30-meter effort. Benkers tied for 14th last year at state.

“Once you qualify for state the first time, it gets a lot harder,” Benkers said. “Because then [it’s] that big mark that everyone thinks of before they get it, it’s gone. You have to set your own goals [and] your own achievements. I struggled with that a little bit in the offseason.

“I slowly built up to the season. Now, I’ve been setting my own goals and trying to hit certain marks every day.”

Benkers worked through a groin injury early in the season and now is good to go. Former high school teammate Nick Fortino also has been a helpful resource in the weeks leading up to the finish line of the season.

“He’s been working [helping] on my top half a lot,” Benkers said. “And, that’s been helping me get higher…I was ‘this close’ to 14–6. I needed to throw my head back.”

Quintin Lowe won the 800-meter dash (1:56.33) and the 1,600-meter run (4:24.65); Ben Matthews (110 hurdles, 15.37 seconds) also qualified, as did Weston White in both the 100 dash (10.89 seconds) and 200 dash (22.05 seconds). Luke Alwin advanced in triple jump (43-11).

St. Charles North senior hurdler Bryce Thomas continued his excellent season with a sectional victory in the 110-meter hurdles (14.93 seconds) for a new personal record and the 300 hurdles (38.95 seconds), also a PR.

Thomas, who was a member of the North Stars’ 4x800 relay at state last year, has transformed himself into one of the area’s top hurdlers in just over a year’s span.

“The year before [that state relay], he did four sports: soccer, he swam; he loves everything to do with doing everything he can,” North Stars coach Kevin Harrington said. “He was sitting last year in early April and ‘Hey coach, can I try the hurdles?’

“…Last year, I think he PR’d six or seven times in a row and was third at sectionals; just missed state by a hair. Last year, he wasn’t hurdling. he was a fast kid jumping over things. He learned to hurdle.

After months of working on his craft, Thomas transformed himself into the high-caliber competitor he is today. In his 2023 outdoor season alone, Thomas has five first place finishes in the 110 hurdles and seven for his 300 hurdles opportunities.

“…Honestly, just serendipity, the former Maine South head coach Scott Sutschek, contacted me. He was looking for a coaching job. He’s an expert at hurdles,” Harrington continued. “…Bryce, not only is awesome…Bryce eats it up.”

“Definitely last year, I threw myself into hurdles and I was like ‘Woah, I didn’t know this is my event’,” Thomas added. “Now, I’ve had this picture of this path to state in my head. I’ve been doing work over the summer, all by myself in the winter; hurdles, upon hurdles upon hurdles and finally get my form down…hopefully, I got two races left.”

Henry Warsaw won the shot put sectional title with a 17.82 meter effort. The North Stars’ 4x200 and 4x100 each qualified, and their 4x400 blazed to a sectional title with a speedy 3:24.20 effort. Pole vaulter Nathan McLoughlin also advanced (4.30-meters).

Geneva senior and German foreign exchange student, Karl Gattinger, qualified in the 100 meter dash with a 11.02 second finish for a personal record, and also the 200 dash (22.18 seconds). Jack Kuehl (800 dash, 1:58.64) qualified and had a PR. The Vikings’ 4x200 also qualified.

St. Charles East distance standout Mitch Garcia qualified in the 3,200 meter run with a 9:18.93 finish. The Saints’ 110-hurdler, Matthew Hall (15.40 seconds) also qualified.