Eagles up to the task in regular season, Seniors paving the way

Friday, May 21 2021 - Distance Night in Palatine - Andrew Niser


With a delayed start to the season resulting from a modified IHSA schedule due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Eagles have wasted no time this spring in making up lost ground.  Showing success at both the varsity and frosh-soph levels early on, a bevy of all-time top-ten marks and school records have already been posted going into the final weeks of the regular season.

Leading the way so far has been the senior quartet of Luke Benes, Andy Niser, Michael Rizk and Michael Sommese who have all contributed personal best marks to guide the team at early season meets.  

Benes' and Sommese’s senior campaigns have been highlighted thus far by pairs of ‘PR’ marks in the 1600m and 3200m, clocking 4:29/9:49 and 4:33/9:44, respectively. The duo also both earned spots earlier this year at the prestigious Distance Night in Palatine for the first time. On the mid-distance side, Rizk has continued to fill the void to lead the Eagles in those events with career best runs in the 400m and 800m, posting relay splits of :53.2 and 2:02.3. 
 
Meanwhile, Niser has continued building off a resume he started in the fall amongst the state’s best in cross country, putting his name near the top of Illinois state leaderboards on the oval as well. The Vanderbilt commit has so far notched personal bests and times that place him all-time “top-ten” in Jones history for both the 1600 and 3200, with times of 4:22 and 9:27. 

Not be outdone, the Eagles have also been boosted by a strong contingent of frosh-soph Eagles throughout the spring. Freshman newcomer Andrew Nelson has broken the all-time freshman record at Jones in the 400m and 800m, as well as being part of a 1600m relay team alongside sophomores Daniel Leonard, Matthew DeSantis and Esteban Medina that combined to ellipse the previous sophomore school record. Dev Dassani has also vaulted onto the top-10 all-time list for the sophomore 3200m, as the sophomore continues putting his own mark on the season.