Frosh-Soph Take 3rd At CSL North Championships

The Highland Park High School Boys Frosh-Soph Track & Field Team finished well behind very good teams from Niles North (2nd) and Glenbrook North (1st).   Both of those teams put up very impressive scores with multiple guys from their respective teams scoring in most of the events.   Our young athletes realize that they need to get better by outdoor conference and over the next few years if they are going to be able to compete with teams of the caliber of NN and GBN.    We definitely have things we can improve on this season and each individual must put in the work this spring to make himself better.   We need everyone on the team to make a commitment to being better.   

Despite the 3rd place team finish we still had several highlights:

To begin with, the field events were very strong for our competitors.   This means we really need to be able to produce a 1-2 punch that can both score points.   We did not have that in this meet, but we our looking for guys to step up into those roles come outdoors.   

High Jump:  Sophomore Jessi Redd cleared 5'4" for 4th place

Shot Put:  Sophomore Sheridan Clayborne had a 37'7" throw to take 4th

Pole Vault:  Freshmen Jared Levine got over 8'6" for 4th place

Triple Jump: Freshmen Dondi Penick picked up a 3rd place with a 37'1.75"

In the track events, we again need more events in which two guys score points and some top two finishes (our 4X400 meter relay was the only event to be in the top 2).   

4X800 Meter Relay:   We had four freshmen on this relay and they never really got into the race.   Our second leg, Charlie Skurie, was the only member of the really that really attacked the first 400 when he got the baton.   The team was not able to duplicate the outstanding performance they had earlier in the week at the Frosh CSL Meet.  They ended up 5th in 10:18.1.

3200 Meter Run:  Freshmen Jonathan Rosenfeld tried to hang with the leaders, but lost contact shortly after the mile and was able to cruise at the end for 3rd place (11:26.5).   Freshmen Matthew Drummond battled with two Deerfield kids for points and was able to get a 6th place (11:42.1).

55 Meter High Hurdles:  Frehsmen Zev Motew took 4th in 8.5.   

50 Meter Dash:  Sophomore Mark Gilling took 4th in 6.4.

800 Meter Run:  Sophomore Daniel Arias battled tough to get a 6th place (2:21.9).  

4X160 Relay:  The Giants took 3rd place (1:20.7) with NN and GBN ahead of us.  

400 Meter Dash:  Sophomore Max Zavell (:58.1) took 4th place.

55 Meter Low Hurdles:  Motew once again got a 4th place (8.3).

1600 Meter Run:   Late in the race, Rosenfeld was in 6th place when he really started to close the gap on 5th.   After he flew by him, he went after the next kid who was from DF.   He was closing fast but was running out of time to catch the kid.   On the back stretch Rosenfeld made a big burst and came up to the DF kid on the curve.   The DF runner looked to his right and saw him and tried to make a move to hold him off, but Rosenfeld found an extra gear and pulled in front of him for 4th place (5:01.9).  

200 Meter Run:  Gilling got us some more points taking 3rd (25.1), but like most events, it was GBN and NN ahead of us.  

4X400 Meter Relay:   Motew led off with a strong :57.7 to get us into 2nd place.  Penick did a nice job battling during his leg (:59.7) as he handed off to freshmen Josh Drummond.   Drummond (1:00.3) did a great job controlling himself early and then going by the guys that went out too aggressively.   He handed off to Rosenfeld who got passed, but responded and fought back into the back stretch of the final lap going after NN for 2nd place.   Off the final curve Rosenfeld got by him with another gutsy finish (1:00.0).  The 4X400 was 2nd in 3:57.5 with GBN winning.