Junior sprinter Ayo Abiona has been extremely impressive the last two weeks. Since last May, he has broken the Sandburg Varsity 100 meter record 3 times and now holds the top 8 best 100 meter times in Sandburg history (Top 10 100's). He won the Minooka Invite in 10.75 and then set the Sandburg record with 10.71 against some of the best sprinters in the State of Illinois at Downers Grove South. In the 200, he now owns 7 of the Top 10 times in school history (Top 10 200's). After running 21.81 to win the Minooka Invite, he set the Sandburg all-time best with a 21.71 in the prelims at DGS. After setting his Long Jump best with a 22' 10" leap at SWSC indoor conference, he's had jumps of 22' 5.25" at Minooka and 22' 1.75" at DGS.
Senior Jibreel Brown, coming off his second ACL surgery this past December, continues to train through the pain in preparation for May. After finally being cleared for full participation the first week of the outdoor season, he ran an impressive 50.51 time in the 400 meter dash, finishing 3rd against some top-notch competition at the DGS Cohoon Invite. He has his sites set on a return to the State meet and will be chasing the 37 year old school record in the 400 set by Chris Revord (49.1) in 1979.
Senior Chase Woolery has shown incredible improvement in the shot put, earning a strong 4th place finish at Minooka with a heave of 49' 10" (an improvement of 4 1/2 feet over his PR from last year.
In the 800 meter run, senior Chris Torpy smoked the competition at Minooka with a winning time of 1:56.11. He currently has the 8th fastest Class 3A time in the State so far this year. After an extended rest for Prom, I think Chris will be ready for even bigger things in the next few weeks.
Another senior, David Gleisner, has shown continuous improvement in the 3200 meter run. After running a very solid 9:30.09 time at Minooka, David really broke thru at the Palatine Distance Night with a stellar time of 9:18.17. That time is currently the 10th fastest 3A time in the State so far this year. More importantly, he now ranks 5th All-Time in Sandburg history, trailing only legends Tom Graves, Bob Hicks, Mike Keane and Andy Homoly (Top 3200 times).
Senior Sean Torpy has been showing why he's one of the best distance runners in the nation this year. On a hot night in Minooka, he cruised to an easy victory in the 3200 meter run in 9:19.65 (just off his PR). And at the Palatine Distance Night, he electrified the crowd - blowing away a field of All-State runners in the 1600 meters to win in 4:08.64. That time is the third fastest in Sandburg history, trailing only the State Champion times of Bob Hicks (4:07.30) in 1977 and Tom Graves (4:08.06) in 1978. Sean's time is the fastest in the State of Illinois this year and the 2nd fastest in the United States so far. If you haven't seen the race yet, you'll want to check it out here (1600 meter video).
Super Soph, Dylan Jacobs, has shaken off his cross country injury and has been doing some amazing things once again. At Minooka, he battled an incredible field in the 1600 meter run, finishing 3rd in 4:19.87 (doubling back from the first place 4 x 800 relay). At the DGS Cohoon Invite, he raised it to another level. Competing against a field of the State's best runners, he led the 3200 most of the way before finishing 4th in 9:19.67 (the 7th best Sandburg varsity time ever). After a brief rest on a cold and windy night, he came back to double in the 1600 - handling the lead in that one most of the way too. In the end, he just missed beating Irwin Loud, finishing a close 2nd in 4:21.73. Quite an impressive double for a sophomore!
Fellow soph Robbie Sieczkowski ran a very solid 10:04.34 in winning the 3200 at Minooka and freshman Nico Calderon showed that he is a future star in the making with a 2nd place finish in 10:17.46.
Finally, we're developing a great Frosh/Soph tandem in the High Jump. Sophomore Dan Pawlikowski has already cleared 6' 0" this year and freshman Peter Demogerontas jumped 5' 10" at the Tinley Relays on Friday night. Looking forward to good things from these two young jumpers.