Date posted online

Date posted online: Saturday, May 27, 2006
Scratches still give Smoot the itch
T.F. North junior anxious to return to state
BY KEN KARRSON
kkarrson@nwitimes.com
219.933.3232

BOYS TRACK | STATE NOTES

CHARLESTON | Three scratches and you're out.

It's enough to have brought many jumpers to tears, or raised their frustration level to full boil. So what was Willie Smoot's reaction after just such a performance in Friday afternoon's state long jump prelims at O'Brien Stadium?

The T.F. North junior wore the look of a winner, and in one sense he could certainly be classified as such. Smoot, who also made it downstate in the triple jump, and hurdler Willie Knox became the first two Meteors to reach Charleston in more than a decade.

"I feel like, by us doing it this year, I think we can start a strong tradition at T.F. North and get the track team back on the right track," Smoot said. "For me, the sense of nervousness is not going to be there (next time) because now I know what it's all about. It's kind of different, but it's a good experience."

So, too, was the Meteors' residence in the SICA South Silver, which Smoot cited as good preparation for what lay ahead.

"Every meet pushed you to your best," he said. "There was no time for slacking off."

Routine business: Throwers have different ways to kill time between attempts.

Homewood-Flossmoor's Mike Schallmo has one of the more unique-looking routines.

Before stepping into the circle in Charleston, the senior could be seen going through a series of ballet-like steps, then shooting his arm and empty hand skyward. Although it may have appeared a bit strange to anyone unfamiliar with the event, Schallmo said it's standard practice for him.

"When you get to this point in the season and you start throwing better, you just focus on different things," he said. "What you saw was hip placement. I was just making sure my chest is up and my hips are pointed up and I'm lifting the shot. It does really make a difference."

The results bore that out -- Schallmo reached today's finals in both the shot put and discus. He ranks No. 1 in the latter after throwing 178-4.

Saving his best: Seeing as how he entered the prelims with the state's best long jump at sectionals, Thornton's Brandon McCallister could have been disappointed with the 22-5 leap he posted as his best effort on Friday.

He wasn't. In fact, the shorter jump was all part of the plan.

"(It was) just enough to make the finals," McCallister said. "I wanted to do smaller jumps, then get them when they're slipping. They're all going out hard the first day. I'm saving mine for the best (time)."

It's a guy thing: Marian Catholic sophomore pole vaulter Mitchell Erickson didn't qualify for today's finals, but he's happy about one thing he was able to accomplish during the season.

Erickson finally outdid fellow Spartan Melissa Gergel, who went 12-6 and took second at last week's girls state meet.

"She was beating me last year -- she got 12 feet and I got 11 feet," said Erickson, who credited Gergel with helping him become interested in the pole vault.

"That was a little motivation. I got 14 feet this year at conference and sectionals."

Still the ones: Not too many track records set in the 1970s are still standing.

One, set by Thornton's 3,200 relay team in 1976, still is.

The Wildcats, who are best known for their sprinters and jumpers, qualified for the 3,200 in this year's meet, too, but narrowly missed making the finals field. A member of the current quartet, junior Erik Perez, is surprised his Thornton predecessors remain the standard bearers after three decades.

"That's an amazing record," he said. "I don't think it's ever going to be broken."