Czerwinski Sets High Jump School Record and Varsity Wins Team Championship at Rolling Meadows Classic

The Giants competed at the Rolling Meadows Classic Track & Field Invite. The meet included 9 teams and fantastic competition for the team. The team was focused on continuing to improve and prepare for the final stretch of the season.

Field Event Highlights:

The biggest highlight of the meet came in the varsity high jump competition. Russell Czerwinski (Sr.) came in at a higher starting height than in previous meets. This paid off as he beat one of his rivals with an incredible jump over the bar at 6’6.75”! This won the event and set a new HP school record. The old record was 6’6” that was set in 2003. Czerwinski continues to work his way into becoming one of the top high jumpers in the state.

In the varsity pole vault, Yonatan Garfinkel (Sr.) was near his best height as he got over the bar at 8’6”. Will Redmond (So.) took 6th place in the frosh-soph competition. He matched his personal best with a clearance over 8’0”.

Dmitry Derbedyenyev (Sr.) finished in 2nd place for both throws on the varsity level. In the discus he threw a big personal best of 134’2”. For the shot put, he threw 44’5.25”. Braxten Peterson (Jr.) also had a discus PR with a toss of 107’5”. For frosh-soph in the discus, Max Sukenik (So.) threw 104’0” and Constantine Soutsos (So.) got a mark of 97’7”. Alex Knight (Sr.) threw 37’8.5” after having to run over from finishing the long jump. Jacob Both (Fr.) took 4th in the frosh-soph shot put with a throw of 36’7.5”. Sukenik was at 30’8.25” in the event.

Knight was able to earn 4th place in the varsity long jump with an 18’11.75” jump. Charlie Ludington (Jr.) jumped 17’8.25” for the event. On frosh-soph, William Sheahen (So.) got a personal best mark of 15’8.25”. Elliott Schraub (Fr.) jumped 15’7.5” in the long jump.

In the varsity triple jump, Czerwinski took 3rd place with an outdoor best mark of 41’3”. Lincoln Seidman (Jr.) got a mark of 34’5.5”. Sheahen jumped 31’6.5” in the frosh-soph competition while Matthew Nielsen (So.) jumped a personal best 30’6.5”. This was Nielsen’s first time over 30 feet.

Track Event Highlights:

The HP frosh-soph 4X800 meter relay team was hoping to get the track events started well for the team with a fast time. Henry Gamson (So.) led off with a 2:07.3 personal best and handed off the baton in 2nd place. Truman Evans (So.) ran right around his best time with a 2:10.0 split and the team closing in on the lead. Daniel Doyle (So.) was next and made an aggressive move to catch and pass the team in the lead. Doyle split a personal best 2:09.4 to give the team the lead going into the final handoff. Lucas Hoobler (So.) was the anchor and was well in front as he equalled his best time with a 2:10.9. The team won the relay with a time of 8:37.74. The varsity team took 5th place in 8:51.21. Usiel Rodriguez (Jr.) led off in 2:08.5. Garfinkel ran a 2:15.3 split before handing off to Luke Rhoads (Sr.) for a 2:10.3 split. Finally, Connor Edelstein stepped up to run the anchor leg in a 2:16.9.  

Both varsity and frosh-soph 4X100 meter relay teams placed in their respective races. The frosh-soph team of Mishkin Filstrup (Fr.), Hayden Tortora (So.), Jonathan Blidee (Fr.), and Jayden Corchado (Fr.) ran :46.62 for 4th place. On varsity, the team consisted of Lachlan Knapp (Jr.), Damian Zuno (Sr.), Eddy Picazo (Sr.), and Tyler Rosenthal (Sr.). This quartet ran a varsity season best time of :45.92 to get 5th place. 

In the 3200 meter run, all 4 HP competitors ran personal best times. On frosh soph, Josh Brown (So.) ran 10:35.23 and Logan Liu (So.) ran 10:44.27. This was Liu’s first 3200 of the season. On varsity, Luke Byrnes (Jr.) ran 11:57.16 to go sub 12 for the first time and Robby Mendoza (Jr.) ran 12:36.83. 

In the frosh-soph 110 meter high hurdles, Schraub ran near his best time with a 19.82. For varsity, Oliver Baterdene (Sr.) also ran near his best with an 18.22 and Mateo Diaz (Jr.) raced to a 20.38 finish. 

In the 100 meter dash, Filstrup and Corchado placed 4th and 7th on frosh-soph, racing from the slower heat. Filstrup ran a personal best 11.88 to go under 12 seconds for the first time. Corchado ran his best time of 12.09. On varsity, Zuno got under 12 seconds for the first time with FAT timing. He ran an 11.83 for the sprint. Picazo also ran his fastest time as he ran 12.38. 

Lowell Redmond (So.) and Spencer Pedraza (So.) ran nearly identical times despite being in different heats. Redmond ran 2:21.69 and Pedraza was 2:21.73. The varsity race got out fast and Robert Oboza (Sr.) and Zach Coren (Sr.) were right with the lead pack. Oboza made a big move in the 2nd lap and Coren chased him. Both HP distance runners came across the line with big PRs as they each broke 2 minutes for the first time. Oboza took 2nd place in 1:59.52 while Coren passed another runner right at the finish to take 3rd in 1:59.98. This is an incredible accomplishment for these two runners and is the result of a lot of hard work and commitment. 

The varsity 4X200 meter relay matched the 4X100 finishing place by taking 5th. The team of Picazo, Zuno, Ben Kerch (Sr.), and Rosenthal ran a season best 1:38.63.

Gal Raviv (So.) and Gabriel Jackson (Fr.) ran :56.93 and :57.47 in the frosh-soph 400 meter dash. Lukaas Nales (Sr.) won the varsity 400 meter dash in a time of :50.53. Quentin Kelley (Jr.) ran an open 400 best time of :54.00. 

In the frosh-soph 300 intermediate hurdles, Schraub ran a :50.71 while Preston Reed (Fr.) ran a personal best :52.97. For the varsity it was Knapp running :42.83 for 5th place and Czerwinski at :43.03 to take 6th place. Both varsity hurdlers were near their best times. 

Logan Liu (So.) battled tough in the frosh-soph 1600 meter run with a strong finish and time of 4:56.26. Joaquin Martinez (Fr.) also raced strong as he got a personal best of 5:37.81. The varsity race was set up to be a fast race. Barak Goldstein (Sr.) and Nate Wehner (Sr.) were with the lead pack from the start. Eventually, the pack came down to 3 runners in the final lap. Both Wehner and Goldstein made big moves. In the end, the runner from Fremd got by them as Goldstein took 2nd and Wehner was 3rd. Their times were 4:24.05 and 4:24.11 which makes them the 9th and 10th fastest outdoor 1600 runners in HP history. They also picked up important team points in a close team battle. 

Filstrup finished up a busy week by taking 3rd place on frosh-soph in the 200 meter dash with a time of :24.12. On varsity, Kelley and Kerch both ran personal best times. Kelley crossed the line in :23.86 and Kerch finished in :24.98. This was a first time sub 24 for Kelley and first time under 25 for Kerch. 

The frosh-soph 4X400 meter relay team ran a season best 3:42.95 to take 2nd place in the event. The team consisted of Jackson (:57.2), Evans (:54.5), Doyle (:55.5), and Raviv (:55.6). The varsity team was in a tight team battle with Fremd and Saint Charles North, so this relay was important. The team needed someone to sub in last minute. Czerwinski answered the call and ran an incredible lead-off of :53.3 to put HP right in the mix. Coren split a :52.2 to get close to the leader. Then, it was a special moment for HP. Doug Anderson (Sr.) was racing in his first meet since getting injured early season at an indoor meet. Anderson sprinted right to the lead and ran a solid :51.7 to hand off to Nales in the lead. Nales was able to put it away with :49.9. The team ran a season best 3:27.25 for the victory. 

The varsity ended up winning the meet with 93 points. Fremd had 90 points and St. Charles North had 89. It was a tremendous team effort with every competitor being important. This was a great confidence builder for the varsity team. The frosh-soph were unable to match their success from the New Trier Frosh-Soph Invite on Tuesday, but still had some strong performances. More to come from this team in the final weeks of the season.   

Giant of the Meet Nominations:

Frosh-Soph:

Daniel Doyle - 2 great PR relay legs putting the team in great position. 2:09.4 on 1st place 4X800 and :55.5 on 2nd place 4X400.

Logan Liu - Strong double. 3200 PR 10:44.27 and came back with a near PR in 1600 at 4:56.26.

Will Redmond - Consistent performance at each meet to equal his PR in the PV at 8’0” to earn 6th place.

Varsity:

Russell Czerwinski - 4 events: 1st in HJ with new school record of 6’6.75”, 3rd in TJ with outdoor PR 41’3”, 6th in 300IH at :43.03, and stepped up to lead off the 1st place 4X400 in :53.3.

Dmitry Derbedyenyev - 2nd in the SP 44’5.25” and 2nd in the discus with PR 134’2”.

Quentin Kelley - PR in 400 :54.00 and PR in 200 :23.86 (first time sub 24).

Eddy Picazo - 3 events: 4X100, 4X200, and 100m with season best times in all 3. 

Lukaas Nales - 1st in the 400 meter dash and anchored the winning 4X400 with a :49.9 split.

Damian Zuno - 100 PR 11.83, 4X100 and 4X200 season best times, and always prepared and focused. 

Doug Anderson - First race back after being injured since early in the season. :51.7 split on winning 4X400 and gave the team the lead. 

Giants of the Meet:

Frosh-Soph: Logan Liu

Varsity: Russell Czerwinski