Track & Field Team Had a Terrific Year

The Track & Field Team recently wrapped up its season at the IESA State Championships in Peoria, IL. On the quiet ride home, the bus filled with sleeping athletes, it was impossible not to reflect back on the past ten weeks. We started the season with four new coaches to the program, which brought a high level of excitement, and a number of adjustments, for the kids. After a few weeks of indoor conditioning, and a couple weeks transitioning to outdoor workouts, the team entered its competitive phase of the season.

Right off the bat, was the Dave Benson Invite. This meet is held at Concordia University, in River Forest, and is often the premier meet for our athletes, aside from the IESA meets. Both Brooks and Julian played host to a solid field of over ten teams, and for the first meet of the season, the competition was impressive. Will Vejcik and Melissa Sanders were our top scorers, earning major points in the distance events and sprints, respectively.

From there we traveled to Arlington Heights, Douglas Park, and Bolingbrook for a series of informal, yet important meets. It was at these meets that many of our front-runners emerged, dropping times and increasing distances over the weeks. This developmental phase of the season proved crucial for many of our distance runners, as strategy and training came together in a stretch of continuous improvement. Mary Pavlicek, Molly Ryan, and Emily Iseli all found themselves running at, or under, six minutes for the 1600 meter run. All of a sudden, the state-qualifying standard emerged as the new goal. Will Vejcik and Yussuf El Metennani battled back and forth in the 1600 and 800, and in doing so, watched their times drop significantly. We also had some nice individual performances from Micah Matsuno, Chloe Relf, Mateo Reyes, Charlie Matyas, Jake Matyas, and several other distance runners.

As for our sprinters, this was the phase of the season where our girls’ relays really came together and showed that they would be making some noise at Sectionals. Our 7th grade girls 4x100 meter relay, comprised of Monet Lewis, Kennedy O’Keefe, Mattie Blake, Zahria Woodard, and Jailyn Aceron ran under the state qualifying mark more than once. Our 8th grade girls, Melissa Sanders, Tiara Nichols, Elyse Kanagandram, Natalie Ungaretti, and Camille Luckett shuffled between the 4x100 and 4x200, but emerged as a formidable 4x200 group.

Our boys sprinters worked hard, but with a smaller group to work with, and a number of individual challenges, it was much more appropriate to focus on dropping times without the pressure of worrying about Sectionals or qualifying for State. The one exception, however, was Aidan Parker. He emerged as a 400 meter runner that simply would not accept anything less than faster every week. So many boys stepped up, filled relay spots, and just ran their hearts out for our team. The tremendous effort of all our runners was quite inspiring.

At Sectionals, battling the rain and stiff competition, our runners performed exceptionally well. Running season-best/personal-best times was the theme of the day. Our 8th grade girls just missed qualifying in the 4x200 relay, but ran a season-best time. Tiara scored some major points in the hurdles. Will and Yussuf ran season-best times in the 1600 and 800, respectively. Mary and Molly, however, were our first runners to take things to the next level, qualifying for State in the 1600 by shredding ridiculous amounts of time off their personal-bests. Our 7th grade girl sprinters followed this example, and qualified by time in a blisteringly fast field of competition. Then, Mary decided she also wanted to run the 800 down at State. Finally, on the boys’ side, Aidan stepped up, and ripped a second and a half off his 400 personal best, qualifying by time for State. Natalie in the long jump, and Aidan and Maggie Black in the high jump, had some fine performances, but came up just short of qualifying. Overall, for most of the team, this day served as a fantastic end to the season.

Down in Peoria, at the IESA Class AA Championships, battling the heat and sun, our athletes performed very well. Hurdling over fallen runners in front of them, nursing lingering injuries, and mentally accepting some technical disappointment, the team represented Oak Park and Brooks tremendously well. Mary brought in the top performance, continuing her trend of running her fastest in the biggest meets. Improving by twenty-some places from how she was seeded going into the race, Mary placed 9th overall in the 1600, and narrowly missed All State honors by one spot.

To all that supported the team, parents, family members, other students, teachers, and administration, we thank you. A special recognition goes out to the volunteers at the Dave Benson Invite; your help was so appreciated, and you made that meet happen. Thank you in advance for your continued support, as we look to build the program.