HP Looking To Bounce Back

In the past two varsity invites Highland Park did not have very strong team performances. As a team the Giants underperformed in many areas. That being said the team still had several note worthy performances at both the Spartan Relays and the Lake County Invite.

 Spartan Relays:

The only two victories at the meet came in the Pole Vault (Eddie Smoliak 13'3”, Alec Deer 12'6”, Aaron Strauss 10'6”, and Sean Knapp 10'6”) and the Throwers 4X100 Meter Relay (Doug Kirsch, Ben Kessler, Smoliak, and Kelshawn Shields)

Results

Lake County Invite:

This invite has 20 teams that compete so earning a medal in this meet is a difficult task.

The Giants had a few top finishers that earned medals.

Results

4X800 Meter Relay: (Ben Casey, Griffin, Bojan, Jeremy Bloom, and Angel Estrada) Despite running 8:09.19 for third place and running the 8^th fastest outdoor 4X800 time in HP history, the team was disappointed with this performance. The expectations have been high this season for this relay and they have yet to show that they can run to that level. The season is coming to the final stretch and it is time for this quartet of runners to show that they have what it takes not only physically, but also mentally to run a state qualifying time.

Sophomore Ryan Kroizere did extremely well in both hurdle races. In the 110 High Hurdles he ran a 15.12 to make it to the finals. In the finals he ran 15.32 to finish in 5^th place. In the 300 IM Hurdles he ran a 40.89 to take 4^th place.

The highlight of the meet was the Giants one event champion. Junior Eddie Smoliak cleared a personal best 14'0” to win the Pole Vault. This is an outstanding vault. His hard work and consistent strong performances have him hoping to earn a trip to the State Meet this year.  

Alec Deer tied for 6^th place in the Pole Vault with a 12'0” clearance.