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The boys track and field season is underway. Here are previews of teams from around the Record Newspapers coverage area.
Newark
Coach: Abbey Akre.
Top returning athletes: Logan Pasakarnis, mid-distance, jr.; Connor Morgan, sprints, jr.
Top new athletes: Zach Carlson, throws/jumps/sprints, sr.; Vincent Marmo, throws, jr.; Lance Pasakarnis, jumps/mid-distance, jr.; Nathan Kath, distance, jr.; Henry Mathre, distance, jr.; Reece Roberson, throws, jr.; Kolton Rizzo, distance, fr.; Cody Kulbartz, distance, fr.; Noah Baker, sprints, fr.; Reggie Chapman, sprints/jumps. fr.
Worth noting: Pacing the Norsemen this spring, literally and figuratively, is Logan Pasakarnis, who was 30th in the 800-meter run at state a year ago. The remainder of those back are setting a good work ethic for the four freshmen. “We have a great group of student-athletes out for this track season. They have been putting in the work on and off the track, and we are excited to see what this season holds for them,” Akre said. “The returning athletes have been setting a great example for our newcomers. … The guys have some incredible athletes with a lot of potential. We are excited to see what they are all capable of.”
– Charlie Ellerbrock
Oswego
Coach: Jeff Edwards.
Top returning athletes: Matt Padilla, sr., distance; Brody Skipworth, sr., distance; Brady Nelson, sr., distance; Jett Breed, sr., distance; Owen Fitzgerald, jr., sprints; Dwayne Westmoreland Jr., sr., sprints; Matthew Whitfield, jr., sprints; Luke Barry, sr., sprints; Orion Parnell, jr., sprints.
Top new athletes: Jeremiah Cain, so., jumps; Michael Kelly, so.; Will Mancke, sr., hurdles.
Worth noting: Oswego is coming off a banner season. Its fifth-place finish at Class 3A state is the best finish of any Panthers’ track team in school history. Oswego medaled at state in the 4x800 relay, the 3,200, 1,600, pole vault, long jump and triple jump. “We had a lot of seniors on that group who will be very tough to replace,” Edwards said. Padilla, already only a few seconds off the outdoor state qualifying time in the 3,200, and Breed in the 800 competed at the Illinois Top Times meet March 25. Cain set a new Oswego fresh/soph indoor record in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 2 inches. Edwards reported that Mancke has been showing great improvement in the hurdling events.
Oswego East
Coach: James Milner.
Top returning athletes: Parker Nold, sr., distance; Alex Das, sr., distance; Dhairya Trivedi, jr., distance; Noel Velasquez, jr., distance; TJ Stamatis, so., sprints/jumps; Tyler Bibbs, sr., sprints; Elijah Manzo, sr., throws; Oshobi Odior, sr., throws; Nick Mantucca, sr., jumps; Aiden Rinehart, sr., hurdles; Titan Cornelius, sr., pole vault.
Top new athletes: Jalen Lewis, sr., jumps.
Worth noting: The Wolves return virtually their entire lineup from a 2022 team that took fifth place in the SPC, led by returning state 1,600 qualifiers Nold and Das. Oswego East also qualified its 4x800 team for state last year. Nold, who will run collegiately at Bradley, is a two-time All-Stater in cross country and took second in the 1,600 at SPC indoor as Oswego East took fourth as a team. UIC recruit Das, like Nold, is a returning qualifier in the 1,600 and the 4x800 team, and Trived and Velasquez are also back from that 4x800 state team. Stamatis won and set the meet record in the frosh-soph long jump at the 2022 SPC meet.
“We’ve added some very good frosh/soph athletes to the mix,” Milner said. “Parker Nold will lead a very good distance squad with support from Alex Das, Dhairya Trivedi, and Noel Velasquez. Our field events had a very successful indoor campaign, while our sprinters continue to build up. We’ll be looking to improve throughout the season and challenge for the top spots in the SPC.”
Plano
Coach: Andrew DeBolt.
Top returning athletes: Waleed Johnson, jr., sprints/horizontal jumps; Tristan Meszaros, so., sprints/horizontal jumps; Jaylen Barber, sr., hurdles/high jump; Alex Diaz, sr., throws; John Garcia, jr., distance; James Brooks, jr., pole vault/hurdles; Carson Rubio, jr., distance; Nathan Smotzer, jr., mid-distance; Drew Cox, jr., sprints/throws.
Top new athletes: Thomas Harding, sr., sprints; Taron McGowan, so., sprints/horizontal jumps; Tim Young, so., sprints/discus; Dion Davidson, jr., throws; Jay Martinez, so., distance.
Worth noting: The Reapers graduated standout thrower Ivan Galvan, but DeBolt said the team looks much improved overall. Plano placed fourth at the Sycamore Gary Egeler Invitational and second at the Reed-Custer Comet Invitational during the indoor season. Johnson was fourth in the triple jump and sixth in the 100 at the conference meet last season. He leads a formidable group of sprinters that includes Meszaros, who missed the state qualifying standard by less than a second as a freshman, and football standout Harding, out for track for the first time. Barber was sixth in the 110 hurdles at conference last year. DeBolt said the sprint relays will be a strength.
“Most of our team is composed of juniors and sophomores so we are looking to continue to develop and take the next step as a group,” DeBolt said. “So far, our team has had great buy-in and is focused on getting better each day.”
Sandwich
Coach: Mike Lee.
Top returning athletes: Dayton Beatty, distance, sr.; Wyatt Miller, distance, sr.; Daniel Reedy, throws, sr.; Owen Sheley, jumps, sr.; Jaedon Thompson, jumps, sr.; Dylan Young, sprints/relays/jumps, sr.; Brodie Case, sprints/relays, jr.; Max Cryer, distance, jr.; Shaun Smith, sprints/jumps, jr.; Josh Schaefers, distance, so.; Adan Frieders, sprints/jumps, so.; Diego Gomez, sprints/jumps, so.; Simeon Harris, sprints/jumps, so.; Kayden Page, sprints/jumps, so.
Top new athletes: Luis Baez, sr.; Bryce Decker, sr.; Cesar Garcia, throws, sr.; Brian Loss, jumps, sr.; Sy Smith, distance, jr; Hudson Wills, sr.; Travis Kellogg, distance, jr.; Khari Moore, jumps, fr.; AJ Parkinson, distance, fr.; Alex Walsh, distance, fr.
Worth noting: In Miller, Schaefers and Cryer, the Indians return three of the four 4x800 runners that finished 13th at state last spring. With Beatty added, that relay already this spring has a second in the 4x800 and third in the 4x400 at Sycamore, with Miller second in the 800, one spot ahead of Beatty. “Our distance runners and their 4x800 team are well-seasoned and ready to compete,” Lee said. “We have a handful of sprinters that we can combine to put together a strong relay team for the 4x100 and 4x200, and we have the ability to have these individuals earn points in any individual event we put them in. Hurdles and jumps will be very competitive as a strong senior and junior group return and set the bar for the incoming lowerclassmen competing. … Our sophomore class has returned stronger than ever, making a dominant force in the short-distance relays. With the help of some very athletic freshmen, both can score with some of the best on the track or out in the field.”
– Charlie Ellerbrock
Yorkville
Coach: Nolan McCue
Top returning athletes: Josh Pugh, sr., 400/relays; Brycen Clements, sr., 200/400/relays; Taelor Clements, so., high jump; Ben Whaley, sr., 800; Kaden Kramer, so., long jump.
Top new athletes: Owen Horeni, fr., distance; Elliot Goodwin, sr., hurdles/relays.
Worth noting: Two-time state shot put champion Kyle Clabough has graduated and is at Wisconsin, but talent remains particularly on the track and some jumps. Pugh, third place in the 400 at state last year, is one of the top quarter-milers in the state. He won the 400 at SPC indoors in 51.10 seconds, and anchors the 4x400 relay that ran a school record 3:27.85 at the Downers Grove South Mustang Relays, which is the No. 1 indoor time in Illinois. Brycen Clements, all-conference last year in the 200, has been converted to a long sprinter this season and was all-conference at both at SPC indoors; he’s also a member of the 4x400 relay. Taelor Clements took second in the high jump at SPC indoor, and has his sights set on the school high jump record of 6 feet, 5 inches. Horeni, also on the 4x400 relay, has already set two Illinois No. 1 freshman times in the 800 (1:59.05) and the 1,600 (4:29.70), his 800 time among the top 25 in the state. Goodwin, the fourth member of the 4x400, also is one to watch in the 300 hurdles. McCue said Whaley is a potential state qualifier in the 800 and Kramer took fifth in the long jump at conference.
“The Yorkville coaches and athletes believe that they have the potential for some all-state finishes and hopefully a couple of event state championships when it’s all said and done,” McCue said. “They have a lot of work ahead this outdoor season, but the team is looking forward to the challenge.”
Yorkville Christian
Coach: Jeff Schutt.
Top returning athletes: Tiras Lombardo, so., middle distance; Matt Zueli, sr., middle distance; Xander Oliver, so., throws; Jeremy Loomis, sr., hurdles/shot put.
Top new athletes: Nate Fosco, fr.; Henry Fox, fr.; Michael Pigeon, fr.; Gus Hauser, fr.; Edoardo Tibaldeschi, middle distance/sprints; Abram Fields, sprints/jumps.
Worth noting: Yorkville Christian welcomes several new faces with incoming freshmen into the track program. Fosco, Fox, Pigeon and Hauser are freshmen expected to contribute. Lombardo and Zueli return in the middle distance events and Oliver in the throws. Loomis is a team leader and a multipurpose athlete who is expected to break school records this year in the hurdles and in the shot put. Upperclass newcomers include Tibaldeschi, an exchange student from Italy who is a soccer player trying the middle distance sprints and basketball player Fields in the sprints and jumps.