Team scores:
Sandburg - 98
Lockport - 88
Downers Grove North - 75
Bolingbrook - 62
Downers Grove South - 49
This was our best Sectional performance in school history, with two relays and eight individual qualifiers and a total of nine events. Our previous best was 6 in 2015 and 2013.
The running event portion of the Sectional started off the way most of our meets have for the last couple of years - with a victory in the 4 x 800 meter relay. Aside from gaining the automatic qualifier for State, their winning time of 7:42.70 was the fastest time in the State so far this year. It was also the 3rd fastest time in Sandburg school history - only trailing the 2014 and 2015 State final squads. The 2016 team now has 3 of the top 5 times and there are now 11 sub-7:50 times on the Sandburg all-time list. Probably not a lot of schools that can say that.
Next up was the 4 x 100 meter relay. Jordon Woods led off and handed to Jibreel Brown. Jibreel kept us in contention and passed the baton to Leo Espino for the 3rd leg. Taking the handoff for the anchor leg in the middle of the pack, Ayo Abiona raced to the line in 3rd place. We were nervous about the time - we knew it would be close to the State qualifying mark. The final time was 42.59 - another state qualifier and the 2nd fastest time in Sandburg history. It's also only the 3rd 4 x 1 relay Sandburg team to qualify for State.
In the 3200 meter run, David Gleisner showed his determination and toughness. A group of 5 broke away after the mile and traded the lead back and forth. In the end, Gleisner battled all the way with a third place finish and a State qualifying time of 9:16.85. His time stands in 5th place on the Sandburg All-Time list, trailing only Tom Graves, Bob Hicks, Mike Keane and Andy Homoly. Here is a link to the All-Time 3200 list.
In his third event, Ayo Abiona nailed down his 3rd qualifier with a second place finish in the 100 meter dash in a time of 10.85.
Taking the lead from the gun, Chris Torpy dominated the 800 meter run. His winning time was 1:54.36. Teammate Brandon Lukas placed 4th, with the Eagles bringing home 14 total points in the 800.
Our next scoring event was the 400 meter dash. Jibreel Brown raced to a second place finish with a time of 49.73 and another State qualifier. Freshman Peter Demogerontas, running from the slower heat, ended up in 4th place overall with a time to 51.38 - just missing the frosh-soph school record. 12 more important team points in the 400.
Chase Woolery added some valuable points in the throws with 2 huge PR's. In the discus he nailed down 5th place with a great throw of 141' 1" and in the shot put he nearly made the State mark with a heave of 51' 1". Chase has made incredible improvement this year and contributed 8 big points to our Sectional total.
Trailing Lockport in the meet, we needed a huge result in the 1600 meter run. The Eagle tandem of Sean Torpy and Dylan Jacobs did not disappoint. Sean smoothly handled the field, grabbing the lead early and powering to the fastest 1600 meter time of all the Sectionals this year with a finish of 4:12.65. Sophomore Dylan Jacobs showed that he is in fine form as he battled a stellar field and came away with the second place finish, as well as the 2nd fastest 3A Sectional time overall, in 4:16.08. His time broke the Sophomore record of 4:16.5 that had been held by Bob Hicks since 1975! And the 18 team points vaulted the Eagles into the lead.
In his 4th and final event, Ayo Abiona qualified for State for the 4th time in 2016 with a time of 22:02, good for 2nd place in the 200 meter dash. It was Ayo's 3rd second place finish (Long Jump, 100, 200) to go along with a 3rd in the 4x1 relay and netted him 30 points for the team total. He now owns the 3 fastest 200 meter times in school history.