Giants Compete at GBN

The Giants competed at Glenbrook North HS against GBN and Wheeling. This was the first meet of the season for most of the team. GBN has a 160 meter track in which competitors are not allowed to wear spikes. 

Field Event Highlights

Shot Put: HP was led by Devin Symonette (Sr.) with a throw of 38’11.25”. Alexandros Drosos (Sr.) had another strong showing well ahead of last season as he threw 36’7”. Braxten Peterson (Sr.) improved his performance from the first meet with a toss of 36’3.5”. Leo Buss (So.) had a big day with a massive personal best throw of 32’8.25”. This is over 7 feet further than his best throw from the outdoor season last year. There were several other strong showings from the Giant throwers in their first meet. 

High Jump: Lincoln Seidman (Sr.) led the way clearing 5’2” in the HJ. Jude White (So.) and Danylo Mykolyshyn (Fr.) both cleared 5’0”. Wil Nguyen (Fr.) got over 4’10”. 

Long Jump: Seidman also led the way in the LJ with a 17’11.25” mark. Ari Rosenthal (So.) jumped 16’8.5” to get a mark near his personal best. Reece Maletsky (Fr.) had a strong first meet of his high school career with a 16’3”. Preston Reed (So.) got a personal best 15’9”.   

Triple Jump: Jude White (So.) had the farthest triple jump mark for HP with a 33’3.5”. Ari Rosenthal (So.) got a personal best 33’1.75”. Daniel Nielsen (Fr.) got 26’5” in his first meet. 

Track Event Highlights

55 Meter High Hurdles: Mateo Diaz (Sr.) ran a personal best time of 9.2 for the event. Elliot Schraub (So.) also ran well with a time of 9.5.

50 Meter Dash: Hayden Tortora (Jr.) led the way in the 50 with a personal best 6.5. HP had 6 additional sprints under 7 seconds. Tyler DePaolo (Sr.) and Benjamin Holtschulte (Jr.) both ran 6.6. Nityananda Amin (Jr.) ran under 7 for the first time in his career with a 6.7. Luis Ramirez-Huicochea (Sr.) also crossed the line in 6.7. Reece Maletsky (Fr.) had the top HP time for a freshman with a 6.8. Alejandro Jauregui (Sr.) wrapped up the sub 7s with a 6.9 personal best. 

800 Meter Run: Logan Liu (Jr.) raced to a personal best 2:16.3 to lead the way for the Giants. Lowell Redmond (Jr.) was next near his personal best in 2:21.1. The next 3 HP runners all got personal best times: Spencer Pedraza (Jr.) 2:21.5, Luke Byrnes (Sr.) 2:22.9, and Joey Naftzger (Jr.) 2:23.4. Three freshmen also raced the 800 and did well. Caleb Haggarty ran 2:26.3, Shea Jackson got 2:28.3, and Charlie Szot crossed the line in 2:29.0. 

4X160 Meter Relay: HP had 2 relay teams in this event. They were able to get the baton around the track and gave some good efforts. DePaolo, Amin, Jauregui, and Seidman raced to a 1:24.8. Schraub, Reed, Anthony Greco (So.), and Tejas Hegde (Fr.) ran a 1:29.9. 

400 Meter Dash: Gabriel Jackson (So.) led the way for the Giants running the same time he did at Lakes with a :57.2. Tortora improved his indoor personal best of :59.1 last year to :57.2 at this meet. Gal Raviv (Jr.) raced to a :58.2 while Benjamin Holtschulte crossed in 1:00.5. Vasco Leite (So.) had a big personal best with a 1:02.5, improving from his previous best of 1:08.2.

55 Meter Low Hurdles: Mateo Diaz (Sr.) came back and led the team in the low hurdles. He ran a personal best of 9.3. Elliot Schraub (So.) ran the same time of 9.3. His previous best was 10.7. Lincoln Seidman (Sr.) and Wil Nguyen (Fr.) were both sub 11 with a 10.2 and 10.8. 

1600 Meter Run: HP only had two athletes racing in the 1600. Henry Gamson (Jr.) raced to a personal best finishing in 2nd place with a time of 4:42.7. Lucas Hoobler (Jr.) raced to a solid 4:51.6.  

200 Meter Dash: Luis Ramirez-Huicochea (Sr.) had the fastest time for the HP sprinters. He crossed the line in :27.8. Mateo Diaz (Sr.) had another personal best in his third event of the day. He ran a :27.9 with his previous best being :29.1. Freshmen Wil Nguyen and Reece Maletsky both raced well with identical times of :27.9. Will Redmond (Jr.) got a personal best with a :28.2. Alejandro Jauregui (Sr.) also raced in the 28s with a :28.3. Freshmen Carson Beall and Thomas Carpentier were the only other Giants running sub 30 with a :29.1 and :29.7. 

4X400 Meter Relay: The Giants had three 4X400s compete at the meet. The fastest team ran a 3:59.9. Gabriel Jackson (So.) :58.1, Henry Gamson (Jr.) :59.1, Logan Liu (Jr.) 1:01.5, and Hayden Tortora (Jr.) 1:01.4. 

This meet gave many athletes on the team a first opportunity to compete this season. Many took advantage of that and had strong performances. The coaches will look to continue to develop the talent of the team as they prescribe the training needed to be successful. More improvement will come with commitment and hard work.    

Giant of The Meet Nominations:

Lincoln Seidman - 4 Events - navigating going between multiple events. LJ, HJ, 4X160, and 55LH.

Will Redmond - Big PV PR 8’11.75” and a PR in the 200 :28.5 to :28.2. 

Jude White - TJ 33’3.5”, LJ 15’1.5”, and HJ 5’0”.

Henry Gamson - Strong 1600m race with PR of 4:42.7 and also raced in the 4X400 with a PR :59.1. 

Gabriel Jackson - Tough racing in the 400m with a :57.2 and the n:58.1 lead-off leg of 4X400 despite not feeling well after the 400. 

Mateo Diaz - 3 Events and 3 PRs - 55HH 9.9 to 9.2, 55LH 9.9 to 9.3, and 200m :29.1 to :27.9. 

Leo Buss - Huge PR in the SP with an over 7 foot improvement to get 32’8.25”.

Giant of the Meet: Mateo Diaz