Anderson is Sectional Champ in the 400 and 200; Giants Get 6 Individual State Qualifying Performances and a State Qualifying Relay

After winning the CSL North Conference Meet, the Highland Park boys track & field team looked to carry that momentum into the IHSA 3A Sectional meet at Deerfield High School. The Giants were hoping to make history with one of the best track & field teams HP has ever had. They were striving to have numerous State Qualifiers and be competitive as a team. 

 Field Event Highlights:

In the shot put, Larry Jenkins finished in 8th place throwing near his personal best. He had a best mark of 47’10.75”. Fellow junior Dmitry Derbedyenyev finished in 10th place. He threw a huge personal best of 45’1”. This was nearly a 3 foot personal best. 

In the discus, Derbedyenyev threw 118’7” to take 13th place. Caden Hellrung threw 109’10” for 19th place. 

Luke Crawford jumped 18’0.5” in the long jump. Eli Perkins got a mark of 17’5.25”. The coaches hope these two athletes will be back next year to build on their Sectional experience.

Quentin Kelley was able to jump 37’10.5” to just miss his personal best in the triple jump.

In the high jump, Russell Czerwinski completed his first track & field season taking 7th place. He cleared a personal best 5’10.75”. He is determined to get well over 6 feet next season. 

Highland Park got personal best performances by both competitors in the pole vault. Gavin Flory capped off his season by clearing 11’8” to take 6th place. He was the best sophomore vaulter in the competition. Enrique Lipezker cleared 11’2.25” to take 8th place to finish out his HP track & field career. 

This was a solid day for the Giants in the field events with most of them not being seniors. The future looks bright for HP in the field events. 

Track Event Highlights:

The 4X800 meter relay ran well and took 7th place in 8:24.20. Junior Robert Oboza led off in a personal best 2:03.3. He handed off to fellow junior Zach Coren who also ran a personal best. He split a 2:04.5 before handing off to sophomore Usiel Rodriguez. He faded a bit at the end of his leg to run a solid 2:09.9. Senior Alex Bradshaw anchored the relay with a 2:06.4.

The HP sprinters have been running fast times in the final meets of the season, which continued at Sectionals. The 4X100 meter relay team of juniors Asher Stern, Eddy Picazo and seniors Christian Billetdeaux and Paul Eam ran a season best time of :45.37. 

The 3200 meter run produced the first State Qualifiers of the night for the Giants. Junior Nate Wehner and sophomore Brian Hatoum worked together with Ben Crane of New Trier to pull away from the rest of the field. It was a great battle for the trio of runners. Crane won the race in 9:21.62. Wehner ran an outdoor personal best time of 9:23.58 for 2nd place. Hatoum just missed his best time to take 3rd place in 9:24.93. Both HP runners qualified for their first track & field State Meet. 

Juniors Oliver Baterdene and Russell Czerwinski ran 18.38 and 18.74 in the 110 meter high hurdles. Both athletes will be back next year looking to bring those times down.

Eam and Stern got two more personal best performances on the night. Eam ran an 11.46 while Stern crossed the line in 11.81. That was Stern’s first time sub 12. 

Junior Barak Goldstein ran a tough race, but made an aggressive move a bit early in the 800 meter run. He was still able to run 1:57.67 and take 5th place. His time qualified him for the State Meet. Senior Noah Jackson gave a great effort and ran a personal best 2:01.14 to finish his HP career on a high note.

The 4X200 meter relay produced another sprint relay season best time. The team was led off by senior Diego Alvarez. Stern ran the 2nd leg and Picazo was on the 3rd. Billetdeaux ran the anchor. The team ran a 1:35.24. 

The Giants looked to keep the success rolling in the 400 meter dash. Juniors Doug Anderson and Lukaas Nales both ran sub 50 to take 1st and 3rd and each qualify for the State Meet. Anderson won the race in :49.24. Nales was 3rd with a :49.72. The Giants are up to 5 State Qualifiers!

Sophomore Lachlan Knapp ran a personal best :43.66 in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles. He was the second fastest sophomore in the race.  Baterdene ran a solid :45.58 to complete his season.

Hatoum and Wehner came back to both try to qualify for the State Meet in the 1600 meter run. Hatoum ran very well and battled with a runner from New Trier for the second qualifying spot. Hatoum ended up running a 4:25.26 and finished in 3rd place just barely missing qualifying for the State Meet. Wehner had an off race and crossed the line in 4:32.68. 

Two more sprint personal best performances came in the 200 meter dash. Anderson won his second race of the night with a personal best :22.15 to qualify for the State Meet in a second event. Billetdeaux got his third personal best of the night with a :23.98. This was his first time running under 24 seconds. 

The 4X400 meter relay team for HP was led off by Oboza with a personal best split of :53.5. Goldstein ran a strong :52.4 on the second leg. Nales ran a strong :49.8 split. Finally, a tired Anderson split a :50.6 to help the Giants take 5th. The team ran 3:26.48 for a season best time. They qualified for State with this time and just missed the Highland Park All-Time Top 10 List in this event.

This was a special night for the Highland Park Giants! The team ended up in 6th place. They were just 9 points out of 3rd place. HP ended up with 6 individual State Qualifiers and 1 relay. The following crew will head to Eastern Illinois University to make their mark at the IHSA 3A State Track & Field Meet.

Nate Wehner - 3200 meter run

Brian Hatoum - 3200 meter run

Barak Goldstein - 800 meter run

Doug Anderson - 400 meter dash and 200 meter dash

Lukaas Nales - 400 meter dash

Robert Oboza, Barak Goldstein, Lukaas Nales, and Doug Anderson - 4X400 meter relay

The nominations for Giant of the Meet included:

Doug Anderson - 1st in the 400 and 200, also 5th on the 4X400 to qualify for State in 3 events.

Robert Oboza - Ran two great lead-off legs for the 4X800 and 4X400. Both splits were PRs 2:03.3 and :53.5. 4X400 qualified for State.

Asher Stern - 100 PR and first time sub 12 with an 11.81. Was on the 4X100 and 4X200 that both ran season best times. 

Barak Goldstein - Qualified for the State Meet in the 800 with a 5th place finish and ran a PR split in the 4X400 to help the relay also qualify for the State Meet.

Gavin Flory - Earned the only field event medal for HP. PR 11’8” for 6th place in the pole vault.

Enrique Lipezker - 8th place in the pole vault to end his career with a personal best 11’2.25”.

Russell Czerwinski - PR of 5’10.75” in the HJ to just miss earning a medal. Showed great character in helping others prepare for their event and clean up the HJ area after the competition. 

Brian Hatoum - 3rd place in the 3200 to qualify for the State Meet and 3rd in the 1600 to just miss making State. 9:24.93 and 4:25.26 double. 

Giant of the Meets:

Asher Stern, Barak Goldstein, and Enrique Lipezker