HP Competes at GBN and Produces Many Strong Performances

The Giants competed in a meet vs. Glenbrook North and Marist at the GBN fieldhouse. For many it was their first high school track & field meet. This was a nice opportunity to see where we are starting this season and in which areas we need to focus on improving. 

Field Event Highlights:

Junior newcomer Russell Czerwinski led the way for HP in the high jump at 5’4”. Senior Christian Billetdeaux and junior Nolan Schott were tied at 5’2”. This was an indoor personal best for Billetdeaux. 

Three HP pole vaulters cleared 8’0”. Senior Enrique Lipezker (2022 indoor best was 7’2”) along with sophomores Gavin Flory (2022 indoor best was 7’6”) and Dylan Dominguez (2022 indoor best was 7’2”). Senior Diego Alvarez cleared 7’6”. His personal best last year outdoors was 6’11”. This was a solid start for the vaulters despite not having an indoor vault pit to practice on at HPHS.

The Giants have had great energy this season with one of the largest squads the team has had. They were led by senior Caden Hellrung with a 35’7.5” throw. First year junior Alex Knight had a mark of 32’4.5”. The next furthest throw was from freshman Max Sukenik. He consistently threw over 30 feet and got a best of 30’11.25”. Sophomore newcomer Braxton Peterson had a really good series of throws and ended up with a best of 30’3.75”. Here were the rest of the results for the HP throwers that got marks:

The long jumpers had a solid start to the season. They were led by sophomore Lincoln Seidman with an 18’9.25”. This is a great starting jump and is an over 7” personal best from last year outdoors. Junior Oliver Baterdene got a mark of 17’7.5” which is about a 3 inch personal best to start the season. Sophomores Eli Perkins (17’2.75”) and Quentin Kelley (16’10.75”) both finished with a mark that was about one foot ahead of where their 2022 indoor personal bests were. Junior Tyler Rosenthal was a bit off on his jump but was still at 15’4.25”. Three freshmen long jumped for the first time ever and each got a starting point to work on improving from. 

The triple jump had a small crew jumping. They were led by Perkins with a 34’10.5” jump. This is well ahead of his indoor best of 28’7.25” from last year. Freshman Will Redmond got a jump of 27’3.25”. 

Track Event Highlights:

The first event on the track for the Giants was the 55 meter high hurdles. The team was led by Dominguez in 9.1. Not far behind him was Czerwinski in 9.6. Baterdene ran a 10.0 while sophomore Mateo Diaz hurdled for the first time to finish in 10.4. This is a nice hurdle crew that can develop nicely into a high performance group at big meets. 

In the 50 meter dash, HP had 24 competitors. They were led by senior Paul Eam in 6.1. Eam has had a fantastic start to the indoor season. Seidman, Flory, and junior Ethan Seligman all finished in 6.6. Last year at this meet Flory ran 7.3. Junior Eddy Picazo, Alvarez, and senior Finn Davis each crossed the line in 6.7. For Alvarez, this was a nice improvement from the 7.0 he ran here last year. Sophomores Perkins and Tyler DePaolo both ran 6.9. Sophomore Eric Rojas raced in his first high school track & field meet and came through in 7.0. The top freshman for HP was Finn Nunez in 7.2. Also running 7.2 were sophomore Julian Chroman (last year he ran 7.8 here) and senior newcomer Alex Labedz. Freshman Hayden Tortora and sophomore Lachlan Knapp crossed the line in 7.3. Diaz finished in 7.4 while freshmen Ethan Glovsky and Spencer Pedraza came across in 7.6. Freshmen Lucas Hoobler and Sam Goldfeder ran 7.7 followed by sophomore Thomas Jones and freshmen Matthew Nielsen in 7.8. Will Redmond and William Sheahen ran 8.2 in their first meet as freshmen. 

Senior Noah Jackson was the top HP finisher for the 800 meter run despite getting boxed in the back at the start. He ran 2:10.1. Juniors Zach Coren and Robert Oboza were not far behind at 2:11.6 and 2:13.3. Sophomore Usiel Rodriguez was next to finish in 2:15.9.  Junior Connor Edelstein was too far back at 2:25.5, but will improve as his training progresses. The rest of the HP 800 runners were all freshmen. They were led by Daniel Doyle in 2:26.9. Logan Liu had a time not too far behind Doyle with a 2:28.1. Gal Raviv was 2:33.7 with Truman Evans at 2:42.0 (with a tough kick) and David Miller at 2:47.1.

The varsity 4X160 meter relay (Rosenthal, junior Zach Liss, Billetdeaux, and Picazo) ran a solid 1:21.7. This is just .3 off what the team ran last year. The frosh relay (DePaolo, sophomore Lachlan Knapp, Flory, and Seidman) ran well despite some hand-off miscues. 

Junior Doug Anderson continued his fast start to the season with a :52.5 in the 400 meter dash. Last year he ran :53.8 at this meet. Quentin Kelley also ran sub 60 with a :58.9. Davis came through in 1:02.5 and Nunez was the fastest HP freshmen in the event, running 1:05.3. Chroman ran 1:06.6 while Pedraza ran 1:14.1. Jones came through the line in 1:18.8.

HP had 8 runners in the 55 meter low hurdles. They were led by Dominguez in 8.8. Czerwinski was right behind him in 8.9. This was a good start for the team’s top two hurdlers. Baterdene and Oboza ran 9.3 and 9.8. Last year the team only had two hurdlers at sub 10 seconds. Knapp (10.0), Eam (10.2), Rosenthal (10.2), and Diaz (10.3) all ran well in their first high school hurdle races. 

Every HP runner that competed in the 1600 meter run came across in a personal best. Sophomore Brian Hatoum led the way in winning the event with a perfectly executed race plan and big kick. He ran 4:38.4 for a big personal best! Last year his best indoor time for the event was 5:36. Hatoum’s hard work continues to pay off. The next two HP runners were freshmen. Henry Gamson had a great race to finish in 5:16.9. His previous best was 5:41. Josh Brown also had a nice improvement going from 5:34 for his timed mile to 5:23.7. Senior Ramey Heimgartner fought hard to get under 6 minutes with a 5:59.9. Freshman Lowell Redmond ran his beginning of the season timed mile in 6:50. At GBN he ran 6:04.5. Look for him to be sub 6 the next time he runs the 1600. Senior Marco Schulze ran really well and had a good finish to run 7:01.8. His timed mile earlier this season was 8:43. 

After having only 3 guys sub 27 last year at this meet in the 200 meter dash, the Giants had 7 guys under. They were led by Eam at :24.3. The next HP finisher was Billetdeaux at :25.6. His indoor personal best was :27.3 last year. Picazo also improved from his :26.47 indoor best last year to :26.1 at GBN. Alvarez has had a great start to the season, working hard to get an over 2 second improvement going from :28.7 last year to :26.2. Rosenthal ran :26.4 to improve by .3 since last indoor season. Liss also improved from last year indoors and ran .21 faster to finish in :26.4. Quentin Kelley went from a :27.5 best last year to :26.7 at GBN. Seligman ran well going from an outdoor personal best of :28.4 to :27.4. The next fastest time for HP of the meet was Perkins at :28.1 which was one second faster than indoors last year. The rest of the HP sprinters were all first year team members. They ran nice starting times for the season. The coaches are excited to see how much they can improve their times with hard work the remainder of the season.

This year the throwers have shown tremendous energy. That excitement was on display in the throwers 4X160 relay. The Giants had two relays. Hellrung, Denham, Hightower, and Knight finished in 1:37.5. Not far behind them was the team of Sukenik, Sanchez, Peterson, and Vazquez at 1:41.3. 

The final event was the 4X400 meter relay. The first heat had the fastest team from the 3 competing schools. Coren led off in a :57.6 to put HP in 2nd behind host school GBN. Jackson was the next leg in :57.2 to keep the Giants in 2nd. Oboza closed on the leader a bit with a :57.7. The anchor was Anderson and he quickly closed the gap on the leader and passed him. The GBN runner tried to pass Anderson back, but he refused to let him. Anderson crossed the line in first with an impressive :51.7 split. The team’s final time was 3:44.0. HP had 3 other relays. The runners on the second HP relay team each improved significantly from their indoor 400 personal bests from last season. Hatoum (1:03.7 to :57.2), Rodriguez (1:03.7 to :58.6), Baterdene (1:03.0 to :59.9), and Edelstein (1:01.4 to :59.3). Their final time was 3:54.4. The other two teams consisted of all freshmen. They competed well and produced some solid times for their first high school track & field meet.

The meet was a positive start for the Giants. There were many bright spots and hopes for future success. The coaches were excited to see so much improvement by the returning athletes and some good potential in the newcomers. With focus, commitment, and hard work, this team has the opportunity to be very successful this season and in seasons to come.

The nominations for Giant of The Meet included:

Christian Billetdeaux - 3 events, tied indoor HJ best at 5'2", strong leg in 4X160, improved indoor 200 time from 27.3-25.6.

Gavin Flory - 3 events with big improvement from last year: 50m 7.3 to 6.6, PV 6'6" at this meet to 8'0", and impressive leg on F/S 4X160.

Doug Anderson - Won the 400 in :52.5 (:53.8 at this meet last year) and anchored the winning 4X400 with an outstanding :51.7 split.

Max Sukenik - Top freshmen SP thrower for HP with consistent throws getting a best of 30'11" and led off one of the throwers 4X160 relays. 

Russell Czerwinski - First high school track & field meet, top HP high jumper at 5'4", 9.6 for the 55HH, and 8.9 for 55LH.

Brian Hatoum - Gutsy 1600m race to win in 4:38.4 to go sub 4:50 for the first time (last year was 5:36 indoors) and big PR in the 4X400 with a :57.2 lead-off split (last year indoors was 1:03.7). 

Eli Perkins - 4 events, tied 50 PR, 200 went from 29.1 last year to 28.1 this year, TJ indoors went from 28'4" to 34'10", and LJ indoors went from 16'1" to 17'2".

Braxton Peterson - Great energy for the throwers, went over 30' in first ever high school track & field meet (30'3.75"), ran strong leg in throwers 4X160 relay.

Lincoln Seidman - Tied 50m PR at 6.6, led the team in the LJ with an over 7" PR of 18'9.25". 

Giant of The Meet:

Brian Hatoum