BELLEVILLE - A light drizzle can provide a mental block before a race for many track athletes.
Sugar River sophomore Dennis Haak isn't the typical runner. On Thursday, he had no reservations about running in weather more suited for fishing and football. Haak played a pivotal role in leading the Raiders to a Sugar River Invite title by winning both the 1,600-meter (4 minutes, 55.3 seconds) and the 3,200 (11:01.4) runs.
The Raiders had a 1-2 finish in the 1,600 as Travis Beutler took second (5:01.3).
"We definitely always push each other," Haak said. "It's nice having Travis around. It's someone to always compete with and make you better.
"I don't run my best in warm weather. It's usually the chilliest weather when I do my best."
Sugar River senior Tory Boley won the 100 (:12.0) and the shot put (41 feet). The Raiders swept the top two spots in both the 400 and 800 relays. In the 400 relay, Boley, Nick Davis, Erik Ellenberger and Alex Courtney won with a time of (:49.2).
"It feels really good to get back into it," Boley said. "It's not the fastest time yet."
Boley said the goal was to win every event and relay.
"As a team, our goal was to get enough points to win."
Mission accomplished.
Sugar River senior Jeremy McDermott won the 110 hurdles (:16.1) by edging Brodhead-Juda senior Ryan Miller (:16.8).
Junior Brendan Pittman took first in the 300 hurdles (:44.6), second in the long jump (18 feet, 3 inches) and third in the 110 hurdles (:17.9). The Raiders swept the top three spots in the 300 hurdles, with McDermott taking second (:45.4) and junior Brian Anderson finishing third (:45.4).
Sugar River senior Matt Christen won the high jump over Albany's Jacob Short with a jump of 5-2. Short finished second (5-0).
The Raiders' 800 relay team of Kelvin Pryor, Davis, Boley and Courtney finished first with a time of (1:41.2). The Sugar River 1,600 relay team edged Albany for first by about two seconds with a time of 3:51.3.
"If we win, that's great, but that's not our priority," Sugar River coach Dan Schettler said. "This meet is just learning what our kids can do."
Albany junior Tyler Conley edged Beutler by a half-second to win the 800 with a time of 2:14.5.
"I tried to stay with him because Beutler is a great runner and I thought hopefully I could out-kick him and I did," Conley said.
The Comets' 3,200 relay team that featured Conley, Short and Jake Lincicum finished first with a time of 9:27.2, which was about 28 seconds faster than the Raiders.
Albany looks poised for another state run in the 3,200 relay.
"From cross country, pretty much any four we put in there, we can compete any day," Lincicum said. "We will see. It's early."
Lincicum took first in the long jump with a leap of (38-4 1/2) to beat Christen for the individual title. Lincicum just edged Brodhead's Miller to win the 400 (:55.0) by two-tenths of a second.
Lincicum had his best triple jump (39-2) at the sectional last year.
"It's almost there for this early," he said. "I missed state last year by a half an inch. I just want to get to state in the triple jump."
Albany senior Nick Patchen won the discus with a throw of (118-4), just ahead of Sugar River's Colton Crye.
"We were kind of using it as a workout," Albany coach Tony Brewer said.
Pecatonica-Argyle sophomore Charlie Rubio finished third in the 100 (:12.7). The Vikings received third-place finishes from their 400 and 3,200 relay teams.
Brodhead-Juda, which finished third, was running without 10 varsity athletes who were on a Show Choir Trip.
"We couldn't put the relays together because of the Show Choir," Brodhead-Juda boys track coach Steve Wallace said.
Brodhead senior Vinny Mazzarisi won the 200 (:25.0) and took second in the 100 (:12.5), just a half-second away from Boley's winning time.
"He's lifted a lot and is really strong," Wallace said. "He's a competitor. He always wants to put the best relays together and is always making suggestions that I can't always do for him because we have other events."
Mitch Wiesenberg took first in the pole vault with a vault of 11-0, ahead of Albany's Josh Krueger (9-6). Brodhead-Juda AFS exchange student Jack Silvestri finished second in the shot put (41-0).
The first meet for Silvestri may be his last.
"He's thinking about playing baseball now. For him to go out there and to never have done it before and throw 41-0, that's pretty good," Wallace said.
Sugar River sophomore Dennis Haak isn't the typical runner. On Thursday, he had no reservations about running in weather more suited for fishing and football. Haak played a pivotal role in leading the Raiders to a Sugar River Invite title by winning both the 1,600-meter (4 minutes, 55.3 seconds) and the 3,200 (11:01.4) runs.
The Raiders had a 1-2 finish in the 1,600 as Travis Beutler took second (5:01.3).
"We definitely always push each other," Haak said. "It's nice having Travis around. It's someone to always compete with and make you better.
"I don't run my best in warm weather. It's usually the chilliest weather when I do my best."
Sugar River senior Tory Boley won the 100 (:12.0) and the shot put (41 feet). The Raiders swept the top two spots in both the 400 and 800 relays. In the 400 relay, Boley, Nick Davis, Erik Ellenberger and Alex Courtney won with a time of (:49.2).
"It feels really good to get back into it," Boley said. "It's not the fastest time yet."
Boley said the goal was to win every event and relay.
"As a team, our goal was to get enough points to win."
Mission accomplished.
Sugar River senior Jeremy McDermott won the 110 hurdles (:16.1) by edging Brodhead-Juda senior Ryan Miller (:16.8).
Junior Brendan Pittman took first in the 300 hurdles (:44.6), second in the long jump (18 feet, 3 inches) and third in the 110 hurdles (:17.9). The Raiders swept the top three spots in the 300 hurdles, with McDermott taking second (:45.4) and junior Brian Anderson finishing third (:45.4).
Sugar River senior Matt Christen won the high jump over Albany's Jacob Short with a jump of 5-2. Short finished second (5-0).
The Raiders' 800 relay team of Kelvin Pryor, Davis, Boley and Courtney finished first with a time of (1:41.2). The Sugar River 1,600 relay team edged Albany for first by about two seconds with a time of 3:51.3.
"If we win, that's great, but that's not our priority," Sugar River coach Dan Schettler said. "This meet is just learning what our kids can do."
Albany junior Tyler Conley edged Beutler by a half-second to win the 800 with a time of 2:14.5.
"I tried to stay with him because Beutler is a great runner and I thought hopefully I could out-kick him and I did," Conley said.
The Comets' 3,200 relay team that featured Conley, Short and Jake Lincicum finished first with a time of 9:27.2, which was about 28 seconds faster than the Raiders.
Albany looks poised for another state run in the 3,200 relay.
"From cross country, pretty much any four we put in there, we can compete any day," Lincicum said. "We will see. It's early."
Lincicum took first in the long jump with a leap of (38-4 1/2) to beat Christen for the individual title. Lincicum just edged Brodhead's Miller to win the 400 (:55.0) by two-tenths of a second.
Lincicum had his best triple jump (39-2) at the sectional last year.
"It's almost there for this early," he said. "I missed state last year by a half an inch. I just want to get to state in the triple jump."
Albany senior Nick Patchen won the discus with a throw of (118-4), just ahead of Sugar River's Colton Crye.
"We were kind of using it as a workout," Albany coach Tony Brewer said.
Pecatonica-Argyle sophomore Charlie Rubio finished third in the 100 (:12.7). The Vikings received third-place finishes from their 400 and 3,200 relay teams.
Brodhead-Juda, which finished third, was running without 10 varsity athletes who were on a Show Choir Trip.
"We couldn't put the relays together because of the Show Choir," Brodhead-Juda boys track coach Steve Wallace said.
Brodhead senior Vinny Mazzarisi won the 200 (:25.0) and took second in the 100 (:12.5), just a half-second away from Boley's winning time.
"He's lifted a lot and is really strong," Wallace said. "He's a competitor. He always wants to put the best relays together and is always making suggestions that I can't always do for him because we have other events."
Mitch Wiesenberg took first in the pole vault with a vault of 11-0, ahead of Albany's Josh Krueger (9-6). Brodhead-Juda AFS exchange student Jack Silvestri finished second in the shot put (41-0).
The first meet for Silvestri may be his last.
"He's thinking about playing baseball now. For him to go out there and to never have done it before and throw 41-0, that's pretty good," Wallace said.
