During each season, we do not worry too much about the team score for meets until we start to “put it all together” at certain meets near the end of the season.  For this year’s Downers Grove South “Bob Cohoon” Invitational, we put together a lineup to show our team’s strength and to see how it would all play out.  Our team did not disappoint.  Despite the cold and windy conditions, our athletes competed extremely well and gave a glimpse of what we can accomplish as a team. 

Here is a link to Mike Newman’s writeup on Dyestat: http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/track-and-xc/post/_/id/3039/neuqua-valley-wins-team-title-at-bob-cohoon-munar-steps-into-sprint-spotlight

As the field events were underway, the finals began with the 4 x 800 m relay.  We decided to enter a Frosh-Soph relay in this Varsity meet to see if they could break the Frosh-Soph school record in this event.  Nick Bushelle (So.) took the first leg and split 2:05 in his first 800 m of the season.  Ty Moss (Fr.) took over for the second leg and in only his second 800 m, Ty put us right in the thick of the race with a great effort and split an amazing 2:02.  Mike Baker (So.) was able to maintain our position through the third leg with a 2:04 split.  Finally, Roland Dewgard (So.) ran an incredible anchor leg and was challenging for the lead at one point.  He came across the line with a split of 1:59.9, a new school record of 8:12.43, and a fourth place finish in a Varsity meet.  When you consider that the winning time in the open 800 m was 2:01.39 on this night, it shows how well this team ran.  There is a great future ahead for these athletes. 

Moving on to the 4 x 100 m, the team of James Sampson (So.), Jacob Bender (Sr.), Dennis Thurow (Jr.) and Eric Metoyer (Sr.) took the victory with a time of 43.36.  In the 3200 m, the power duo of Mark Derrick (Sr.) and Taylor Soltys (Sr.) took second and third, respectively in this event with some courageous moves in a race that involved the Cross Country State Champion.  The 400 m Dash had Jacob Bender (Sr.) win the meet with a mark of 49.68, which is under the State Qualifying mark.  Despite problems with handoffs, our 4 x 200 m relay team of James Sampson (So.), Dennis Thurow (Jr.), Josh Prescher (Jr.), and Eric Metoyer (Sr.) still placed fourth in the meet. 

The 3200 m began a string of events in which we “double scored”.  This means that we had two athletes both score in a single event.  We did this six times during the meet.  This pattern continued in the 800 m, where Andy Martinez (Sr.) and Kevin Skrip (Sr.) both scored for the team and were only about 1.5 seconds off of the top mark.  In the 1600 m, Mark Derrick (Sr.) and Drew Smith (Sr.) took third and fourth respectively with Mark completing a great “distance double” by placing in both the 3200 m and 1600 m.  This was a great effort for Mark who was willing to have a tough night to help our team and prepare himself for the possibility of doing this at the end of the season.  In the 200 m, Jacob Bender (Sr.) and Eric Metoyer (Sr.) sprinted to second and third place finishes.  Jacob Bender’s mark in the 200 m was under the State Qualifying mark in this event. 

The double scoring continued in the field events.  Noah Heupel (So.) and Emery Barnes (So.) both scored in the long jump taking 4^th Place and 7^th Place, respectively.  Brad Mikulecky (Jr.) and Austin Parks (So.) took 3^rd and 5^th in the triple jump with Austin Parks breaking his own Frosh-Soph Triple Jump school record with a mark of 42’ 8”.  Our field events were impressive at this meet as we scored in 5 out of the 6 events.  Andrew Peterson (Sr.) won the Pole Vault with a jump of 13’ 6” and Tim Heinz (So.) jumped 6’ 2” in the High Jump to take fourth.  Carlos Varela-Hernandez (Jr.) placed 7^th in the Discus.

The meet ended with an impressive showing in the 4 x 400 m where we took second place without our top squad.  Andy Martinez (Sr.), Ty Moss (Fr.), Roland Dewgard (So.), and Kevin Skrip (Sr.) held their own against some impressive teams in this event. 

Overall our success in this meet came from the strength of our entire team.   We scored in 14 out of the 18 events and we looked strong and ready to compete in the championship part of the season.  The next few weeks will have us polishing up some of the things that we need to work on and then we should be ready. 

Thanks to all of the parents, alumni, and fans that braved the weather to support us for this meet!  Our next meet will be at Metea Valley on Saturday, where WVHS will be hosting the annual “Red Ribbon” Invitational.

NVHS Track and Field Order Form

Come out and support us this post-season! Next month, we’ll be competing at the IHSA Sectional and, pending qualifying marks, the IHSA State finals. While it is difficult to know exactly how the lineup will unfold or how athletes will compete for qualification into the state meet, we have a strong tradition of fan support that requires a little bit of planning ahead.

This year, we’d once again love to see the stands packed with bright yellow so the men representing our team on the track can feel the support our team and community has for them when they compete. While state qualifiers will earn a shirt to mark their achievement, the same design is available for fans and teammates, too. Please see the attached instructions to order yours!

TO ORDER: You can either download and use the order form posted here or write the sizes and quantities you’d like in the memo line of your check.

ORDER DEADLINE: Monday, April 30 @ 5pm

SHIRT PICKUP: May 14-17 or May 21-23.

QUESTIONS: Contact Coach Saul – steve_saul@ipsd.org