Giants Compete Against GBN and Marist In First Indoor Meet

HP competed in their first indoor track & field meet since the 2020 indoor season got cut short due to the pandemic. The Giants had a meet at Glenbrook North High School against GBN and Marist. The team was excited to finally have a meet after a few weeks training together.

Here are some of the highlights:

The Giants had a big crew competing in the Long Jump with 6 student-athletes jumping over 16 feet. The team was led by junior Darius Robinson with an 18’5.25” (5.62m) jump. Senior Peter Soutsos jumped a personal best 17’11”. Sophomores Malachi Calliste, Tyler Rosenthal, and Ethan Love were at 17’5.75”(5.33m), 17’5.5”(5.32m), and 17’3.5”(5.27). Freshman Eli Perkins had an impressive 16’1.75”(4.92m) jump. The jumpers have some great potential this season.

In the triple jump, Soutsos led the way with a personal best 37’3.25”(11.36m). Robinson was at 35’4.5”(10.78m) while Love got 34’3.5”(10.45m).

Calliste cleared 5’0” in the High Jump. Newcomer Christian Billetdeaux cleared 4’6” despite a sore hip/tight IT Band. This will be an event the team will need more student-athletes to try competing in.

All three student-athletes in the Pole Vault cleared a height despite never having been able to practice pole vaulting over a bar before the meet. Freshmen Gavin Flory and Adam Slavin cleared 6’6”. Freshman Lincoln Seidman cleared 6’0”. 

The Shot Put is another event that the team needs more depth in. Those that did throw, had a good first meet. The team was led by sophomore Dmitry Derbedyenyev at 37’2.75”(11.35m). Robinson was next with a throw of 37’1”(11.3m). Sophomore Larry Jenkins was at 34’3”(10.44m). Juniors Colin Chase and newcomer Gabe Goldstein threw 33’8.75”(10.28m) and 26’9.75”(8.17m). 

On the track, the Giants had many strong performances:

In the 55 Meter High Hurdles Soutsos started off the season with a victory. He ran 8.3 while junior Finn Davis ran 10.0. A good start for our top two hurdlers, but the team needs much more depth and some freshmen in the hurdles. 

Highland Park had 22 student-athletes compete in the 50 Meter Dash. The team showed some solid early season speed. Calliste led the way with a 6.2 to take 2nd place. This was .2 off the HPHS sophomore record. Taking 3rd place was Darius Robinson in 6.3. Lincoln Seidman was the top freshman and ran a 6.6. Rosenthal crossed the line in 6.7 while sophomores Ethan Love and Eddy Picazo were at 6.8 followed by Oliver Baterdene and Zachary Liss in 6.9. Freshman Eli Perkins has shown great improvement in a short time this season as he also ran sub 7 with a 6.9. The remainder of the HP sprinters that raced the 50 were between 7 and 8 seconds. These are good times to start the season. The times will drop as they continue to put in the work throughout the season. 

The next race on the track was the 800 Meter Run. The Giants went 1-2 as junior Noah Jackson ran 2:11.8 and senior Alex Brown ran 2:16.6. Sophomore Zach Coren worked very hard this winter and had a big personal best, running 2:18.0. Sophomore Connor Edelstein also ran his best time in 2:26.4. Senior Ethan Nicolaz-Davidson had his best race. He was competitive and battled tough during the race to finish in 3:02.1. This was a big personal best. Senior Marco Schulze ran in his first 800 meter race and did very well as he crossed the line in 3:30.6. Look for all of these 800 runners to have much faster times as the season progresses. 

The Giants had two 4X160 Meter Relay teams competing. Calliste led off the first team to a fast start. There was a bit of trouble on the first handoff, but Liss ran a solid 2nd leg for the team. Baterdene got around the track well for the 3rd leg as he handed off to sophomore Lukaas Nales to finish off the relay. The team ran 1:21.4. The other relay had all freshmen. Seidmen got this relay team out fast as well. He handed off to Tyler Depaolo for a strong 2nd leg. Gavin Flory ran well for the 3rd leg and Tommy Huyler got the baton to the finish in 1:28.7 for the team. It will be fun to see how fast these relay teams get this season. 

Sophomore Doug Anderson had a good start to his season with a :53.8 in the 400 Meter Dash. This was .7 off the HPHS sophomore record. Senior RJ Guhl ran well and finished in :57.2. Junior Enrique Lipezker raced to a 1:05.7 while senior Joshua Longo ran 1:06.8. Junior thrower Colin Chase ran 1:08.2 as junior Geoff Buck ran in his first track & field meet ever with a time of 1:08.9. 

In the 55 Meter Low Hurdles, Soutsos ran 8.0, Davis 9.4, and Baterdene 10.2. Solid times for all 3 as they continue to work on their speed.

In the 1600 Meter Run, sophomore Barak Goldstein fell off the leader’s pace to cross the line in 4:54.8. Junior Angel Zeferino battled to a 5:00.9. Freshman Usiel Rodriguez had a strong race with a big kick as he finished in 5:16.8. Senior Ted Zinox had a great first race of the season, running a time of 5:26.4.

The Giants had 20 student-athletes competing in the 200 Meter Dash. Lukaas Nales ran a fast 24.4 and missed the HPHS sophomore record by .3. Guhl ran 26.3 and Rosenthal crossed the line in 26.7. Baterdene ran a 27.5 while Quentin Kelley led the way for the freshmen also with a 27.5. Liss was another HP sprinter that finished in 27.5. The sprinters are showing that there will be some good competition amongst teammates for spots for meet  line-ups. Flory had the second fastest freshman time for the team with a 28.0. The next bunch of sprinters for HP showed solid potential as all were on their second or third event of the meet.

The final event on the track was the always exciting 4X400 Meter Relay. The entire team showed great enthusiasm and support as they loudly cheered on their teammates in the relay. Anderson continued his fast day with a :54.0 leadoff leg. Barak Goldstein battled tough to a :58.7 split. Coren had another big PR on the day with a :58.7 (first time sub 60). Jackson closed it out, holding off GBN with a :56.9 split. The team ran 3:48.2. A second 4X400 also competed for HP. Zeferino ran :1:04.2, Brown 1:01.6, Rodriguez 1:05.5, and Edelstein 1:01.4 (a big PR) for a total time of 4:12.7. 

The meet was a nice start for the team. It displayed some of the team’s strengths, but also showed where the team needs significant improvement. The Giants will look to get better by focusing on the process while working to get better.

Each meet the coaching staff recognizes a Giant of The Meet (or sometimes more than one). This can be a difficult choice as many team members display the attributes it takes to be a Giant of the Meet. 

The nominations for this meet included:

Peter Soutsos - 4 events with PRs in all of them (55HH, 55LH, TJ, and LJ)

Zach Coren - his tremendous off season work ethic led to two big PRs in the 800 and his 4X400 split

Eli Perkins - has worked extremely hard to improve and has a great attitude (#2 frosh in 50m, #1 frosh in the LJ, and ran a strong 200m)

Tyler Rosenthal - 3rd for the team in the 200, 4th for the team in the LJ, 4th for the team in the 50m; all with PRs

Ethan Nicolaz-Davidson - huge PR in the 800 and ran his most competitive race

Darius Robinson - 4 events while being #1 for the team in the LJ and # 2 for the team in the TJ, 50m, and SP

Dmitry Derbedyenyev - a nearly 5 foot PR in the Shot Put

Giant of The Meet: Eli Perkins