While the meet this past Saturday at Waubonsie Valley was beset by 30 mph winds screaming across the track, our team still performed admirably in the face of adversity.

The Frosh / Soph squad finished 2nd in an overall field of 14 teams.  The  4 x 800 relay team of Brendan O’Connor, Mike Baker, Nick Doty, and Robbie Hohlman got us off to a solid start, running 8:51.9 to finish in 2nd place.  Alekh Meka (10:12.1) and Nick Bushelle (10:12.5) dominated the 3200 taking 1st and 2nd, respectively.  Nick was charging at the end and came very close to catching Alekh, who has an amazing amount of leg speed.  James Sampson took 3rd place in the 100 in 11.3 with the wind to his back.  The 4 x 200 relay team of James Sampson, Roland Dewgard, Julius Garcia, and Dennis Thurow took top prize, running 1:37.1.  Nick Rafacz won the 400 in an impressive time of 53.7.  The 4 x 400 relay team of Roland Dewgard, Alekh Meka, Matt Hughes, and Nick Rafacz rounded out the running events with another victory, finishing in 3:42.30.  Over on the field, Carlos Varela was declard the meet MVP and received the 2nd place team trophy for winning the discus with a toss of 147-10, over a 6 foot personal best!

On the Varsity level, the team finished in 5th place overall.  The 4 x800 team of Taylor Soltys, Andrew Tout, Joel Lynn, and Josh Ferguson took 2nd place, running 8:24.4.  The 4 x 200 team of Ryan Tomasi, Gbenga Okubadejo, Matt Wytiaz, and Jacob Bender finished 4th in 1:31.6.  Mark Derrick looked very strong in winning the 1600 in 4:30.5.  He pulled away in the third lap and never looked back.  Finally, a new 200 meter dash record was set when Jacob Bender won that event in 21.5.  He bested a record from Prince Riley that has stood since 2005.  Congratulations, Jake!

We travel once again to Waubonsie Valley next Tuesday to face their team and Metea Valley.  Then, it’s on to Conference (May 12), Sectionals (May 20), and hopefully STATE (May 27 – 28).