3 HP Sophomores Earn Medals at Illinois Top Times Meet

Highland Park had 3 qualifiers to the Illinois Top Times Meet hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University. All 3 of the student-athletes for the Giants are sophomores. Nate Wehner (3200 meter run), Lukaas Nales (400 meter dash), and Doug Anderson (400 meter dash). With only one seeded as someone that would medal, this trio went into the meet with a goal of bringing home 3 medals (top 8 finish). 

Wehner raced in the 3200 meter run after a long delay before his race began. He got out well, just behind the leaders. A lap or so before the 1600, the top 2 runners started to pull away. Wehner stayed with the chase pack for the next several laps. In the final few laps, he fell off pace a little and ended up taking 8th place in 9:34.86. Despite being seeded 15th in the race, Wehner had a gutsy performance to earn a medal. His time is the new HP sophomore indoor record. It is also the 6th fastest indoor 3200 meter time run in HP history. 

In the 400 meter dash, Anderson raced first in heat number two. He got out well and fought for the inside position coming through the first lap. During the 2nd lap, Anderson pulled away to win his heat in a personal best time of :52.33. Nales was in heat number 4 (the fastest heat). He got out pretty well and battled at the back of the pack through the first lap. Down the final stretch he was able to stay ahead of one runner and push hard to get by another runner right before the finish line. He finished in :52.09. In the final results, Nales took 5th place and Anderson was 7th to both earn medals. They were seeded 6th and 15th in the event and both outperformed where they were expected to finish. Nales ran the 5th fastest indoor 400 time in HP history. Anderson's time is the 7th fastest indoor 400 time in HP history. 

What an incredible experience for these talented and extremely hard working sophomores. They were the top sophomores in their events. All three came home with medals and performances they can be very proud of. More big things to come for these guys and their teammates this outdoor season.