Niles North Dan Horyn Invite Highlights

Highland Park competed in the Niles North Dan Horyn Invite on a windy evening. The team had numerous breakthrough performances as they continue to progress towards being at their best at the end of the season.

Field Event Highlights:

The HP throwers had a very successful day at the meet. Dmitry Derbedyenyev (Sr.) continued having a strong start to the outdoor season with 2 personal best marks. In the shot put he took 3rd place with a toss of 44’10.25” and 6th in the discus throwing 122’7”. Braxten Peterson (Jr.) had an over 5 foot PR in the discus with a throw of 105’5”. Devin Symonette (Jr.) also had an outdoor best throw of 38’0”. On frosh-soph, Jacob Both (Fr.) won another invite in the shot put with a personal best throw near 40 feet. He threw 39’9.25”. Ismael Vazquez (So.) took 7th on frosh-soph with a toss of 36’5.75”. Max Sukenik had the biggest improvement of the day as he threw an over 12 foot personal best of 121’10” to take 3rd on frosh-soph in the discus. Constantine Soutsos (So.) also had a big PR as he threw 117’6” and finished in 4th place. 

The long jumpers also had a fantastic meet with all 4 jumpers getting personal best marks. On varsity, Charlie Ludington (Jr.) jumped 19’6.75” to take 4th place. Alex Knight (Sr.) jumped over 18 feet for the first time as he hit 19’1.5”. On frosh-soph, Elliott Schraub (Fr.) got a mark of 15’8.25”. Preston Reed (Fr.) also jumped well as he just missed 15 feet by going 14’11.25”. 

In the triple jump, Russell Czerwinski (Sr.) took 3rd place with a leap of 41’1”. Ludington got another PR with a mark of 36’11.5”. William Sheahen (So.) continued to improve this season as he got a big personal best jump of 33’2.5”. Luca Ritchie (Fr.) was near his best mark as he hit 28’5.75”. 

Gavin Flory (Jr.) placed 3rd in the varsity pole vault. He cleared 11’3” as he was working through making some changes to his vaulting. Yonatan Garfinkel (Sr.) cleared 8’3”. On frosh-soph, Will Redmond cleared 7’6” to tie for 5th place.

Czerwinski cleared a personal best 6’4.75” to take 1st place in the high jump. This is #3 all-time at HPHS for the outdoor high jump. Jude White (Fr.) cleared 4’7” on frosh-soph.

Track Event Highlights:

In the 4X800 meter relay, the frosh-soph team placed 4th in 9:25.04. The team consisted of 4 sophomores that each ran a personal best 800 split: Logan Liu (2:16.4), David Miller (2:21.4), Joey Naftzger (2:27.0), and Spencer Pedraza (2:20.3). The varsity team did not have any PR splits, but they battled tough to finish in 2nd place with a time of 8:41.74. The team consisted of Robert Oboza (Sr.), Henry Gamson (So.), Lucas Hoobler (So.), and Usiel Rodriguez (Jr.). 

The varsity 4X100 meter relay team of Lachlan Knapp (Jr.), Damian Zuno (Sr.), Eddy Picazo (Sr.), and Tyler Rosenthal (Sr.) ran a season best :46.67. They finished in 4th place. 

In the frosh-soph 3200 meter run, Josh Brown (So.) ran a personal best 10:39.86 to finish in 3rd place. Lowell Redmond (So.) ran his best time by over 30 seconds with an 11:30.98. 

Schraub ran a personal best 20.01 in the 100 meter high hurdles. 

In the 100 meter dash, Mishkin Filstrup (Fr.) nearly ran his fastest time as he crossed the line in 12.10. Both ran a personal best time of 12.41. On varsity, Zuno ran his best time with a 12.01 while Eric Rojas (Jr.) raced to his fastest time as well in 12.87.

In the frosh-soph 800 meter run, Truman Evans (So.) ran 2:11.74 to take 4th place. Makenna Duggan (Fr.) raced his first 800 of the year in 2:35.55. In the varsity competition, Zach Coren (Sr.) ran 2:04.26 to end up in 3rd place despite a slower race for him. Luke Byrnes (Jr.) raced to a 2:30.20 personal best. 

The varsity 4X200 meter relay ran a season best 1:38.63.  The team included Picazo, Quentin Kelley (Jr.), Oliver Baterdene (Sr.), and Rosenthal. 

The frosh-soph 400 meter dash was a big event for HP. Gabriel Jackson (Fr.) ran a personal best :56.17 from the slower heat. Gal Raviv (So.) ran :56.18 in the faster heat. The two HP sprinters ended up taking 1st and 2nd overall! On varsity Conner Edelstein (Sr.) ran a personal best time of :56.59.

Schraub and Reed both ran personal best times in the frosh-soph 300 intermediate hurdles. Schraub finished in 6th place. On varsity, Knapp took 4th place in the event with a time of :43.24. Oboza was 7th in :43.91 for the event.

In the frosh-soph 1600 meter run Liu and Abel Reese (Fr.) got out very well. As he did in the last meet, Reese was able to find another gear at the end and sprinted to a huge 16 second personal best. He broke 5 minutes for the first time and ran 4:59.39 to take 6th place! Liu ran well in his second race of the night as he finished in 5:00.51 to finish in 7th. Luke Rhoads (Sr.) ran a great race on varsity. He battled tough and finished in a personal best with a time of 4:45.04.

Filstrup capped off his night with a :24.48 in the frosh-soph 200 meter dash. His time earned him 2nd place in the event. On varsity, Connor Edelstein (Sr.) ran under 26 seconds for the first time. He finished in :25.92. Ben Kerch (Sr.) had a tremendous start but unfortunately fell just before the line, taking away what would have been a personal best.

The frosh-soph 4X400 meter relay team ran a 3:48.63 to win the event. The team included Jackson (:57.0), Raviv (:56.6), Hayden Tortora (So.) :58.5, and Evans (:56.3). On varsity, the team came in a close 2nd place with a time of 3:35.09. Kelley led off in :55.2. Coren ran a :53.2 for the 2nd leg. Czerwinski tied his best time in :54.0. Oboza ran the anchor and almost caught the team in 1st as he ran a personal best :52.5. 

Frosh-Soph had a solid showing at this meet to take 3rd place overall. With several key people missing, the varsity ended up taking 6th place as a team. The coaches are looking to get as much of the entire roster back healthy and ready to compete in the next few weeks. Still much to accomplish for the Giants both individually and collectively as a team. 

Giant of the Meet Nominations:

Frosh-Soph:

Max Sukenik - Massive PR in discus from 109’2” to 121’10” for 3rd place on FS.

Elliott Schraub - 3 events and 3 PRs: LJ 15’8.25”, 110HH :20.01, and 300IH 48.82 (6th place). 

Abel Reese - Big breakthrough in the 1600 to run 4:59.39.

Gal Raviv - 2nd in 400m at :56.18 and came back with :56.6 split on 1st place 4X400.

Gabriel Jackson - Won the 400m from the slower heat with a PR time of :56.17 and led off the 1st place 4X400 with a :57.0.

William Sheahen - TJ PR of 33’2.5”.

Varsity:

Russell Czerwinski - 1st HJ PR 6’4.75” #3 all-time at HP, 3rd TJ 41’1”, and :54.0 split on 2nd place 4X400. 

Luke Rhoads - Big PR in gutsy 1600m race 4:45.04.

Alex Knight - PR in LJ going over 19 feet with a 19’1.5”.

Giants of the Meet:

Frosh-Soph - Gabriel jackson

Varsity - Luke Rhoads