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

The Varsity squad secured the victory over a loaded Minooka (111 to 102.5) with several victories from both the track AND field.  The 4 x 100 relay team of James Sampson, Jake Bender, Josh Prescher, and Eric Metoyer gained our first win of the day in 42.96.  That time is only .12 seconds away from the State qualifying mark.  Speaking of State qualifying marks, Mark Derrick (9:20.10) and Taylor Soltys (9:25.22) racked up another 18 points for the team, finishing 1st and 2nd, respectively, both breaking the 9:29.04 State barrier.  Mark broke his own meet record as well.  Eric Metoyer (11.42) then dominated the 100 dash, edging out the 2nd place Patterson from Schaumburg by nearly .2 seconds!  Jake Bender then did his thing in the 400, placing 1st in 49.43.  Finally, Brad Mikulecky won the Triple Jump with a personal best leap of 43-1.5.

Over on the Frosh / Soph side, Minooka took home the 1st place trophy, while we were right on their tails (130.50 to 118).  Nick Bushelle returned to form in the 1600, running 7 seconds faster than his Tuesday outing.  He charged the last 400 meters in only 62.6, finally taking 1st in 4:35.35.  Mike Baker was right behind him in 2nd in 4:46.09.  Zac Espinosa grabbed 2nd placed in the 400 in 52.98.  He is definitely becoming a force to be reckoned with in that event, and he’s only a freshman!  Adam Peterson brought home 2nd place honors in the Pole Vault, leaping 12-0, and Austin Parks was the winner in the Triple Jump.  Austin jumped 42-5, which was over a foot farther than the 2nd place competitor.

It was a great first week, but there are many more opportunities for personal bests as the weeks roll along.  On Tuesday, we host Metea Valley at 4:30 pm, and on Saturday, we travel to Metea for their inaugural invitational.  Hope to see you all out there!

Hurdlers/Sprinters/Jumpers

Ty Moss starting leg of the 4x400m relay

On Monday night our F/S squad traveled to St. Charles East in the hopes of capturing another Conference Championship. Our squad was depleted for this meet since several of our sophomore runners have earned varsity positions, and this left a conference championship in the balance, and many positions to be filled.

We started of the meet with an outstanding 4x800m relay (Baker, Weiss, Pierce, Bushelle) capturing the first conference championship of the night with a time of 8:51, at this point Neuqua was in the lead and our squad never looked back.

In the distance events Mike Baker highlighted the evening by winning the 800m in a time of 2:06.70, setting a new FS school record in the process. Mac Kiley also ran a great race finishing second in a very tough 2:08.20. The mile was another great race for Neuqua with runners Matt Livingston and Daniel Weiss running 1-3 with 4:48 and 4:51 respectively, great times on that track for those runners.

In the sprints we scored in every event! Tobi Ijose takes second in the 55m dash, Vincent Lu scored in the 55m low hurdles and the 55m high hurdles, Aiden Collins took 5^th in the 55m high hurdles. Willie Anderson stole second in the 200m out of a slow heat, in the 400m both Ty Moss and Mac Crockett both scored points and we won the 4x160m relay of Christian Malave, Willie Anderson, Kyle Bender and Zach Espinosa. Our 4x400m relay finished up the meet with a solid race from Ty Moss, Zach Espinosa, Tobi Ijose, and Kyle Bender.

Matt Livingston running in first during the 1600m

Our field events were highlighted by Adam Peterson who won the pole vault with a jump of 11-0” while placing 4^th in the long jump. Another Field event champion was Noah Heupel in the Long Jump with a leap of 19-4”. Another notable performance for the night was Willie Anderson in the triple jump placing third with a leap of 38-0.25”

At the end of the night our FS squad really stepped up and took the roles of our sophomores who moved up to varsity. It is awesome to watch our sophomores running varsity able to compete against our conferences’ best athletes, but to see our freshman and sophomores step up and fill their spots is really special. When the totals were in we won the meet 126-84 over second place Metea Valley.

With a warm spring we can get outside and back to working hard. After spring break we will be in action at York HS, come watch these young men outside with the warm spring weather!