HP VARSITY WINS CSL NORTH INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP!

The CSL North Invite took place at Niles West High School, hosted by Niles North. Highland Park went into this meet with confidence after varsity won the Deerfield Dual. The Giants knew it would be a tough battle with Deerfield, Niles North, and especially Vernon Hills. 

Field Event Highlights:

As always, the field events would be important for HP to get off to a good start in the meet. 

Shot Put

On frosh-soph, sophomore Braxton Peterson threw a one foot personal best of 35’4.5” to take 6th place. Max Sukenik  was the only freshman in the field and took 9th place with a mark of 33’4.75”. 

Junior Larry Jenkins and senior Caden Hellrung took 4th and 6th. Jenkins threw 42’5.5” and Hellrung got 39’3.75”. Both throwers know they need to be even more focused and dedicated to the training going into outdoors, so they can help the Giants get even more points in the throws. 

Pole Vault

The varsity pole vaulters came up big for the Giants. They were expected to get a 6th place finish. Instead, senior Enrique Lipezker took 4th place and sophomore Gavin Flory was 5th. These were important points as both vaulters cleared huge personal bests. Lipezker went from 8’8” to 9’8” while Flory went from 8’8” to 9’2”. The coaches are looking for these two hard working vaulters to get over 10 feet during the outdoor season.

Long Jump

HP had two sophomore jumpers placed on frosh-soph. Charlie Ludington tied for 3rd (got 4th on 2nd best jump) with a nearly one foot personal best jump of 17’2.75”. Only 2 inches behind Lundington tied for 5th place (got 6th on 2nd best jump) was Eli Perkins.  

On varsity, the Giants got a 3rd place finish from senior DJ Robinson. He jumped 19’ 0.75”. Sophomore Lincoln Seidman got 8th place with a jump of 17’9.75”. 

Triple Jump

The triple jump was the best scoring event for HP on frosh-soph. The Giants took 1st and 2nd place. Perkins won the event by equalling his personal best of 36’5.75”. Ludington was 2nd going from his previous best of 31’4.75” to 36’ 0”! That gave the team 18 points.  

Robinson earned 4th place with a 37’4” jump. Sophomore Quentin Kelley took 8th with a jump of 35’9.25”. The varsity will need more points in the horizontal jumps during the outdoor season if the team is going to have a chance to win the CSL North.

High Jump

Lundington tied for 3rd in the high jump in his first competition in this event. He cleared 4’11”.

On varsity, juniors Russell Czerwinski and Nolan Schott placed 3rd and 5th. These were some solid points for the team. Czerwinski cleared 5’8” and Schott got over 5’2”. Hopefully, at the outdoor championship they can each place higher. 

Track Event Highlights:

On paper, the Giants knew that they could do very well on the track and have a chance to win the meet on varsity. They looked to get off to a good start early on the track.

4X800 Meter Relay

The frosh-soph 4X800 relay team for HP consisted of four freshmen. Truman Evans (2:36.5) led off. Carter Ramirez (2:38.3) ran next. David Miller (2:48.9), returning from illness, ran third. Logan Liu ended up being able to just cruise (to save himself for the 1600 later) because the team was not close to the next team in front of them and were over a lap ahead of the team behind them. The Giants ended up in 5th place running 10:54.68.

Junior Robert Oboza led off the varsity 4X800. With only two laps left, another runner came up on his outside and accidentally knocked the baton out of his hand. Oboza picked it up, but lost several seconds to his competitors. He ran 2:12.8 as he handed off to sophomore Usiel Rodriguez. He got the team the lead back running a 2:12.3. Rodriguez handed off to senior Angel Zeferino. He ran a 2:14.7 as Deerfield moved into first place. Junior Zach Coren got the baton for the final leg and quickly chased down the Deerfield anchor leg. He went by and stayed in front with a 2:06.4 split and a final winning time of 8:46.36. Despite some challenges, the relay team got the job done to earn 10 points. 

3200 Meter Run

The frosh-soph field in the 3200 was small as HP freshmen Josh Brown (11:08.29) and Henry Gamson (11:11.41) took 3rd and 4th place. Look for big things to come from these two hard workers this outdoor season.

On varsity, junior Nate Wehner and sophomore Brian Hatoum were the top two seeds. From the beginning, Hatoum took control of the race with Wehner right with him to help pace his teammate to sub 9:40. The HP duo pulled away from the field and during the second mile, Wehner took the lead to pull Hatoum to a fast time. Wehner crossed the line in 9:38.42 and Hatoum finished in a personal best 9:39.82. They went 1-2 and lapped the entire field. These were huge points for the team. 

55 Meter High Hurdles

Sophomores Lachlan Knapp and Mateo Diaz placed 3rd and 5th in the high hurdles on the frosh-soph level. Knapp ran an impressive 8.95. Diaz ran well and finished in 10.26. 

On varsity, sophomore Dylan Dominguez took 3rd place in a personal best 8.8. Czerwinski just missed scoring as he took 7th in 9.23.  

50 Meter Dash

In the frosh-soph competition both HP runners ran personal best FAT times. Sophomore Eric Rojas ran 6.98 and Francisco Nunez ran 7.07.  These two have made great progress this indoor season and will look to get even faster during the outdoor season.

Seniors Paul Eam and Christian Billetdeaux raced to 4th and 9th place in a tight race. Eam ran 6.32 and Billetdeaux crossed the line in 6.45. Moving to the 100 meters outdoors should help HP earn more points in the event.

800 Meter Run

Freshmen Gal Raviv and Lowell Redmond raced the frosh-soph 800 meter run. Raviv finished in 8th place with a time of 2:31.18. In Redmond’s first 800 race ofd the season he took 11th in 2:32.76.

On varsity, the HP distance runners were looking for another 1-2 finish. Junior Barak Goldstein and senior Noah Jackson got out fast behind a runner from Maine West. By the second lap, the Giants moved into the top two spots. Goldstein pulled away to win in 2:01.91. Jackson held off a runner from Vernon Hills to take 2nd and run a big indoor personal best 2:03.77. Another 1-2 finish for HP!

4X160 Meter Relay

The HP frosh-soph 4X160 team had sophomore Tyler DePaolo as their usual lead-off leg. He got out well and gave the baton to Knapp. He got the baton to freshman Hayden Tortora for the 3rd leg. The anchor was Rojas. They all battled tough and ran a 1:26.36 for 5th place. 

Varsity got to the lead into the first exchange as Eam ran a great lap. Billetdeaux continued his strong racing on the second leg. Kelley was the 3rd leg and kept the team in 3rd place. Junior Zach Liss was the anchor leg and ran well to help the team run a season best 1:17.15. The team ended up taking 2nd place due to a Vernon Hills DQ because of interference. The Giant’s time was just over one second off the all-time HP list for this event. 

400 Meter Dash

This was another event in which HP had a good chance of two guys scoring in the top six. Ludington raced to a personal best :59.40 and took 2nd place. Nunez also ran a personal best with a 1:01.78 and took 6th place.   

On varsity, the school was close between Highland Park and Vernon Hills. The Giants knew that they needed big points in a few of the next couple events to put the meet away and earn the championship. The 400 was one that they had to keep pace with Vernon Hills. Junior Doug Anderson dominated the race and won in :52.81. Coren battled past a Deerfield kid to take an important 4th place in :56.44. With VH hills taking 2nd and 3rd, the points evened out with HP’s 1st and 4th helping the Giants maintain their lead.  

55 Meter Low Hurdles

Knapp and Diaz both placed again in this hurdle event. Knapp ran 8.85 for 4th place and Diaz crossed the line in 9.40 for 6th place. 

Dominguez placed 5th with an 8.31 while Oboza ran 8.58 but did not score. A hurdler from VH took 2nd, so they gained a few points. 

1600 Meter Run

Logan Liu took a risk and got out hard in the first 400 of the frosh-soph 1600. It paid off as he ran an aggressive race to cross the line in 3rd place. He ran a huge personal best time of 5:03.40. His previous best was 5:15.3. Brown came back from the 3200 and ran a personal best 5:17.45 to take 6th place. 

Wehner and Goldstein looked to make it a sweep for the distance runners by going 1-2 in the varsity 1600. They got out to the front and Wehner controlled the race. Goldstein started to fade back a bit as a runner from Niles North tried to challenge Wehner for the lead. Wehner wouldn’t have it and kept up the pace. Goldstein made a tremendous comeback as he got past the Niles North runner to take 2nd place behind Wehner. They ran 4:31.09 and 4:32.49 and they embraced after the 1-2 finish and completed the distance sweep at the meet. Making it even more exciting was the fact that Vernon Hills did not score in this event. 

200 Meter Dash

DePaolo came back with a personal best :26.83 and just missed scoring to finish in 7th place. Knapp ran :27.10 to take 8th and compete in his fourth event. 

Anderson came back with another impressive race to win the 200 in :23.01 and earn a new school record. Despite being in the slower heat based on times that other teams entered for their athletes, Eam raced to 3rd place and just missed 2nd place. His time of :23.79 makes it onto the HP all-time list for this event. 

4X400 Meter Relay

Nunez led off the 4X400 with a 1:03.2. Brown then ran a 1:03.2. The next leg was Tortora in 1:06.9 and Liu anchored in 1:02.7. The team ran a season best frosh-soph time of 4:16.30 and took 5th place. 

All four runners on the HP 4X400 were on their 2nd or 3rd event of the night. They battled tough to finish 2nd in 3:45.63. The team consisted of Oboza (:56.3), Jackson (:55.4), Coren (:57.9), and Wehner (:55.7). 

What an incredible meet. All HP athletes competed at a high level and gave their best efforts for the team. The frosh-soph battled to a 4th place finish and were not far out of 3rd place. The varsity won the CSL North Championship 151 to 124 over a very good Vernon Hills team. This was the first time HP has won this meet since 2014. It was a wonderful team effort that included the team winning 6 events and sweeping the distance races. It also was highlighted by several guys stepping up to score points where they were not expected to score points based on previous results. The team did what it took to win a championship. Now the target is on HP. It is more important than ever to trust the process, do what is expected, work hard, and take care of all the extra details needed to be successful. This team could win the outdoor championship if everyone is on the same page and does the work needed to progress. Go Giants!  

The nominations for Giant of the Meet included:

Frosh-Soph:

Logan Liu - Took a risk in 1600 to run huge PR 5:03.40 for 3rd place, also ran anchor on 4X800 and 4X400.

Charlie Ludington - 4 events, HJ 4’11” tied for 3rd, TJ PR of 36’ to take 2nd, LJ PR 17’2.75” tied for 3rd, and 400 2nd in :59.40.

Lachlan Knapp - Placed in both hurdle races, 3rd in HH 8.95, 4th in LH 8.85, 8th in 200, and ran on the 5th place 4X160.

Braxton Peterson - 6th in the SP with 1 foot PR of 35’4.5”.

Varsity:

Zach Coren - Tremendous anchor leg 2:06.4 to help 4X800 get 1st, 4th in the 400 in :56.44, 3rd leg on 2nd place 4X400.

Doug Anderson - 1st in 400 :52.81 and 1st in 200 :23.01 (school record).

Enrique Lipezker - Huge PR in the PV 8’8” to 9’8” to take 4th place.

Nate Wehner - 1st in 3200 in 9:38.42 to help pace teammate to sub 9:40, 1st in 1600 in 4:31.09 controlling the race from start to finish, insisted on running on the 2nd place 4X400 (:55.7). 

Paul Eam - 4th in the 50m 6.32 PR, great lead-off leg for 2nd place 4X160, 3rd in the 200 from the slow heat in PR :23.79 for 7th all-time at HP.

Barak Goldstein - 1st in the 800 meter run 2:01.91 and run gutsy 1600 to take 2nd in a PR 4:32.49.

Noah Jackson - 2nd in 800 with big indoor PR 2:03.77 and ran :55.4 on 2nd leg of 4X400 that took 2nd.

Brian Hatoum - Ran an incredible 9:39.82 for the 3200 meter run with a previous best of 9:50.82.

Giant of the Meet:

Frosh-Soph - Lachlan Knapp

Varsity - Zach Coren, Paul Eam, and Nate Wehner