Well, at Downers Grove South on Friday night, we got a lot of both.
The meet started off really well. We went with a mix of experience and youth for the 4 x 800 relay and the results were awesome. Sophomore Martin Skucas led off with a nearly flawless opening leg in 1:58.2, giving the team a nice lead that they would never relinquish. He handed the baton to freshman Dylan Jacobs, running in the biggest meet of his young career. Dylan rocketed out with a 55/56 second opening lap and then hung tough to finish with his first sub-2:00 and a new PR of 1:59.4. He was followed by junior Tom Brennan who solidified the lead with a split of 1:58.2. Junior Sean Torpy then proceeded to cruise the final two laps in 1:55.8 to secure the win and a very solid time of 7:52.17. Our first qualifier of the day and an exciting way to start the meet.
After completing the Long Jump competition with a jump of 20' 11" and 4th place, sophomore Ayo Abiona settled into the starting blocks for the 100 meter dash finals. Against a first-class field, he raced to 2nd place in 11.14 and nabbed his first individual event qualifier. Another high point for the Eagles!
Next up was another huge event for our team, the 800 meter run. Against quality competition, junior Chris Torpy took care of business with a strong first place finish. His time of 1:54.12 would end up as the 5th fastest of all the 800 meter State qualifying runners. Brandon Lukas continued his steady improvement and ended up in 4th place in 1:58.87. Although he fell about 1.5 seconds short of qualifying, this was a very solid race for Brandon.
With two of our best athletes in the 1600 meter run, we were hoping for a double celebration here. I was expecting a fast pace, but this one turned into a tactical affair. In the end, Sean Torpy held on for second place in 4:20.01. Meanwhile, junior Tommy Brennan hit the 1200 meter mark at about 3:17 and needed a sub-65 lap to punch his ticket to Charleston. Unfortunately, he fell achingly short and finished 4th in 4:22.65 - just 61/100's off the qualifying mark.
The 6 events (one relay and five individual) is a tie for the most we've ever had at Sandburg. Overall, a very solid performance with a few disappointments mixed in. Let's take this team on to the Blue Oval at Eastern this week!