DGS Distance Track Preview

It is the end of January, the weather is terrible, but the track season is in full swing!  After back-to-back winters that were mild to say the least, this one has been a little rough on the dedicated distance runners of Illinois that are trudging through the snow to get those early season miles in. It’ll be interesting to see the effect the winter has on times around the state, particularly in the early going.

As coach of the DGS distance runners, I couldn’t be more excited to get things going this year.  Our competition schedule opens up in less than two weeks and is an Illinois distance coaches dream.  We’ll open up on the 11^th of February at York against the Dukes who everyone knows are a perennial powerhouse both in IL and nationally. Four days later, we get to race at Hindale Central against not only the state champs from CC, but the runner-up in the Trojans from DGN.  A week after that, we’ll host a triangular with Neuqua Valley and Sandburg, followed by the prestigious Proviso West Invitational where we’ll get to see most of those top tier distance programs again along with a number of other top teams.

Despite the buzz saw of an opening schedule, the DGS distance crew will be ready to step up to the competition. We return just about everyone from last years Sectional roster only having to replace a couple legs on the 4x8. We had a young team a year ago and actually still will this winter and spring.  In CC we had 4 sophomores in our top 7 and at the end of the season, only one senior.  Those sophomores re-wrote our freshmen top 10 lists last year over and over again and will now be counted on to not just compete, but score major points at the varsity level.

Leading DGS this year will be senior Jacob Amiri. Amiri was a 1:55/4:30 guy last spring with 51 sec. 400 speed.  He’s coming off his first full season of CC where he ran an impressive 15:07 3 mile PR. Those PRs from track will all drop, probably none more than his 1600 time now that he’s more accustomed to the longer racing.  He should be able to compete with the state’s best in either of the mid-distance races and may even test the waters of the 3200 a couple times.  He won the 800 last year in the WSC Gold meet and should be a major contributor again as DGS aims for their 6^th consecutive team title. He’ll be off to study and compete at the University of Chicago next fall.

Another senior leader for DGS is David Fish. Fish had his CC season come to an abrupt end with a stress fracture, but is back up and running and ready to have an exceptional track campaign.  He was looking fit in CC running 15:25 very early in the season so I don’t expect it to take long for him to improve on his personal best of 9:49 in the 3200. He’ll be a dual threat focusing on the 1600/3200… expect him to surprise some people in both. He’s got his eyes set on some individual and team conference titles, as well as a trip to Charleston at the end of May.

Junior Ethan Kirk is another to keep an eye on. He is due for a huge breakthrough soon. He ran an impressive PR in the 1600 in a TT after the CC season in cold windy conditions.  He was 4:38 at that point, so he’ll certainly have his eyes set on the qualifying times for both the 1600 and 3200 this spring.

Another senior that should contribute consistently is Jason Shaughnessy.  He had a decent junior year running 2:12/4:59, but that was after taking the previous summer and fall off.  This year he is coming in fit and focused on having a great senior season.  He’ll be a critical piece of our 3200 relay this spring.

Junior Drew Heneghan is one of our top returners in the 800, but will need to greatly improve if we want to get our 4x8 back to where it was a couple years ago when were used to getting a relay down to state. He has the talent to run under 2 minutes in the 800 and could also add depth to our group of solid 1600 runners.

Our sophomore group is back for their second year of track… one where we typically see some significant improvements from freshman year.  If that’s the case, then watch out as these athletes could prove to be as good as any sophomore group in the state.  It is not at all out of the question to think that we could have as many as 6 sophomore sub 10 minutes in the 3200 and under 4:40 in the 1600.  Here is the stable of super sophs and their repective PRs from last year:

Jack LaLonde: 4:43/9:56 – was our number 2 in CC this fall

Max O’Meara: 4:42/10:08 – missed all of CC, but ran those times after playing bball last fall

Peter Fish: 2:11/4:43/10:20 – played soccer in the fall

Joey Eterno: 2:13/4:47/10:20 – top 5 runner in CC

Will Heatherington: 2:08/4:59 – speed guy that will be on V 4x8 this year

Austin Rutkowski: 4:54/10:34 – top 7 in CC

Alan Zhou: 4:57/10:37 – top 7 CC

Some other sophomores that could step up this year are Zach Scheffel who was a top 12 guy in CC and newcomer Brandon Hutton that has shown some big-time speed already.

The talent doesn’t stop there as we have a few freshmen that should make their presence known this spring as well. WSC Gold Freshmen CC champ Jacob Bullard will take to the oval for the first time this year.  He proved in the fall that he has the guts to push himself to the limit.  With that said, sub-5 and sub-10:30 could be on the horizon.  Jake Lackner was another of the top Frosh in the conference in the fall. He too has the potential to post some very solid times.  Finally, Grant Lester will have his share of opportunities to win races this spring. He began and ended his CC season at LT Invite with an eye-popping 17:00 3 mile debut.  Regrettably, a stress fracture came along with it and his season ended sadly 17 minutes after it began.  Brother of former Mustang captain and 3200m conference champ, Jeff Lester, Grant has the potential to equal his brother’s high school PRs… perhaps as early as May!

We always have a number of pleasant surprises along the way.  Some other Mustangs that could have breakout seasons and contribute on the varsity level include: Timmy Arnold, Danny Annese, Steven Rotunno, Grant Johnson, and a number of others.

DGS will also be competing in the sub-5 challenge, proposed by Coach Noah Lawrence of Hindale Central.  The challenge is simple; see what team can get the most athletes under the 5 minute 1600m barrier.  Like all challenges in running, it’s not just about competing against other schools, but to better our own performances.  Regardless of how we stack up against other schools, we should finish this year with the greatest number of 4:xx runners in DGS history!

As aforementioned, DGS is looking for it’s 6^th consecutive WSC Gold title.  This is no easy task for a number of reasons.  There are 6 other teams in this conference that are hungry to lift that plaque in May.  Also, while we return most of our distance crew from last year, our losses in the sprints and jumps are truly irreplaceable. All-state sprinter Odell McFarland and all-state hurdler Jalen Lewis are now competing at GVSU and ISU respectively.  We have a lot of talented young sprinters that will be tested early on and need to step up. We know, however, when conference rolls around the distance crew will have the onus of scoring major points to bring home that trophy. 

That certainly won’t be easy with the number of other talented distance runners in the WSC Gold…

Morton will likely be the toughest team-wise opponent in the distance races.  They and DGS finished CC as Co-Champions, but Morton also scored 15 points in the JV race showing that their depth of Juniors and Seniors goes far beyond 7 runners. They’ll be led by #1 man in CC and top returner in the 3200, Mateo Hernandez.  Joining Mateo will be a number of talented runners that will make the Mustangs of Morton formidable in all the distance events: Chris Zavala, Aaron Ruiz, Eduardo Martinez, Andrew Paplaczyk, and the Loris twins Robert and Ryan

Willowbrook could be extremely tough if CC standouts Jim Funteas and Anthony Acitelli take to the oval this spring. Funteas has been the runner-up in CC the past two seasons and has shown a kick that makes me think he’ll be extremely tough on the track.

Addison Trail brings some talent to the distance races as well led by 5^th place finisher in CC, Luis Miranda. Luis Eugenio should help the Blazers as well.  Last but not least is last years 800m runner-up and state qualifier Juan Valdez.  He’ll be looking to challenge for the gold this year in conference and should make some noise down in Charleston.

Proviso East, although lately much more of a sprint orientated team will be represented by a talented senior in Doug Redd. 

Leyden had a very solid pack during the CC season that presuming they’ve had a solid off-season should mix it up in all the events 800 and up.  Alan Prado, Mati Skelazek, Josh Pitts, and Danny Vilchez should lead the way for the Eagles.

Last but not least is Hinsdale South. Vicente Perez and Roman Drabchuk will likely be the top competitors for the Hornets in the mid-distance races while Ryan Cusick and Joe Eilbert may concentrate on the 3200.

We at DGS certainly have our work cut out for us this spring, but should be up to the challenge.  12 days and counting to the first meet… LETS GO MUSTANGS!!!