Evanston Takes Sectional Track Crown

Taking home the team trophy for the sixth straight year, the Evanston High School boys track team won the Niles West Sectional Thursday in Skokie sending five individuals and three relay teams to the State Meet May 24 and 25 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston

The Wildkits compiled 85 points. Glenbrook South took home second place with 72 followed by Prospect in third with 70 and New Trier fourth with 58. Niles West accumulated 47 for fifth with  Deerfield sixth, Main South seventh, Niles North eighth, Highland Park ninth place, Notre Dame of Niles tenth, Maine West 11th , Loyola Academy 12th, Maine East 13th, Glenbrook North 14th and Von Steuben 15th.

"Last year, a lot of guys, when they went downstate, were qualified just about the same as we did now, but this year is a little different because guys are more competitive and they feel like they could do some things down there," Laurel Wilson, the Evanston pole vault and hurdles coach, said. "Last year, the guys were a little flat going in; this year these guys are more up-tempo and upbeat."

Athletes in eight events are going to State from Evanston. Three relay teams—the 4x100 meter team of Ramon Hayes, Daren Gardner, Demonte Hill and Reggie Murphy, the 4x400 quartet of Hayes, Pat Klamm, Hill and Carl Klamm and 4x200 squad of Daren Gardner, Hayes, Hill and Murphy—are all headed to State

Murphy will also be competing in the 100 after winning first place, Carl Klamm and Josh Montgomery will be competing in the 800, Hill will be in the long jump and Lawrence Northern will take part in the high jump.

Glenbrook South Reaches State in Seven Events

Glenbrook South will compete in seven events. Those athletes include 4x100 relay members David Harris, Ose Ilenikhena, Sean Alexander and Malcolm Engel. Luke Pilliod will participate in both the 110 and 300 hurdles.

Titans Austin Dickholtz and Malcolm Engel will return to State after running neck-and-neck in the 400, with Dickholtz grabbing first at 49.55 and Engel right behind at 49.64. Ilenikhena will also competing in the long jump and the high jump, after winning first and second respectively.

New Trier High School will be competing in three events. The 4x800 relay squad of Ted Oh, Charlie Kupets, Connor Trapp and Pat O'Reilly will be racing. Peter Cotsirilos will compete in the 1600 after taking first in while Taylor Alarcon got first in his event, crushing the competition going 46.00.5 in the triple jump.

Deerfield Sends Three Athletes in Four Events

Deerfield High School athletes will compete in four events with Alex Gold earning berths in two. He will run the 3200 after winning first in his race, as well as the 1600 after scoring a qualifying time with a fourth place finish. Dominic Dibenedetto will participate in the men shot put after placing second while Donald Middlebrook will take part in the pole vault. 

Highland Park will be represented in four events. Jonah Hanig will be running the 3200 after he grabbed second place as well as the 1,600. Angel Estrada will join him. Andrew Sledd will run in the 100 meter dash after a photo finish second place as the top two runners ran 10.98. 

Niles West will compete in seven events including Yandiel Cardenas and George Webb in the 800, Matt Henry in the 300 hurdles, Dennis Gargovic in the both shot put and in the discus. The 4x400 relay team, made up of Jackson Denley, Cardenas, Webb and Justin Atwall, will be running at State, as will the 4x200 Meter Relay squad of Anthony Underwood, Brandon Costantino, Jackson Denley and Jimmy Holbrook after their 2nd place finish.

Two Maine West Runners Qualify

Maine West will be represented by two athletes at state, both in the 800 Meter Run —Alex Gasca and Richard Leon.

Maine South will also be represented by two athletes—John Hadar in the 200 and Joey Yonkoff in the Pole Vault.

Notre Dame will have two athletes at the State Finals—Tim O'Hara in the 200 and Nick Bargione in the discus.

Niles North and Loyola Academy will be represented by one athlete each. Viking Michah Beller will run the 1600 and Rambler Kendall Grady will participate in the triple jump.

Patch will feature stories about some of these individual athletes in the next few days. A complete list of the results can be found on the Illinois High School Association website.