By Eric Bridges
Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted Friday, June 01, 2007

Reflecting back on the boys track and field season, it was one of many outstanding individual performances, as well as one providing a glimpse of the future potential of several teams.

Four teams had athletes place in the top five in the state last weekend in Charleston, and two other teams possess junior and sophomore classes that could provide plenty of excitement next season.

Marmion’s David Grange, St. Charles East’s Alex Jackson, West Aurora’s Jawon Jackson and Kaneland’s Sam Kranz all placed in the top five at state last weekend, and all four showed their potential early in their track careers.

Grange went to the state meet his last three years of high school and decided to run both the 1,600 and 3,200 in his final year. He finished fifth in both races, running new personal best times in each race, and will now continue his running career at Iona University.

“When I look at all of the hard work that these guys put in to run both races (1,600 and 3,200), I’m pretty proud to be part of that group,” Grange said. “I think what I’ll remember most is my will power. If you try hard and hold on, you’re probably going to do it (win). When I look back at what I did here and in cross country (fifth), I’m very proud of my accomplishment.”

St. Charles East’s Alex Jackson prepares for the 400-meter prelims at state. (Ed Lee/Daily Herald)

Alex Jackson also ran at the state meet three years, missing it his sophomore year. However, not making it prompted Jackson to work at his craft continuously, watching film on his competitors as well as his own races.

Jackson was sixth a year ago at Charleston and immediately after the race was already focused on his senior season. He entered the final two weeks of the season having only run a sub-49 second 400 one time, but true to form Jackson continued to improve.

After being edged at the Upstate Eight Conference meet by Lake Park’s Willie Clark, Jackson ran a 48.23 to win the sectional, a 48.50 in the state preliminaries, and 47.66 in the state finals to finish third.

“A couple of years ago that time (47.66) would have probably been a state championship time,” Saints coach Ben Provencher said. “But that field is great and he’s been watching those guys, and obviously he can run with them.”

Jackson was never satisfied and constantly looked to improve his race, but now that he’s headed to the Naval Academy to continue his running career next year, he can look back and feel he ran his best race when it counted the most.

“There were some great athletes down here,” Jackson said. “I’m happy with how my running career at St. Charles East went, and I’m satisfied for once. I love these guys and I’m going to miss them the most.”

Perhaps the one athlete who improved the most was Kaneland’s Sam Kranz, who now owns the school’s pole vault record at every level.

As a sophomore Kranz cleared 14-3 at the sectional, but didn’t advance to the finals. His junior year he finished third in the state and set a new personal best of 15-6 at the time.

Kranz then took off, literally, clearing 16 feet by the end of the indoor season, and setting a new school record of 16-5 at the Western Sun Conference meet in Sycamore.

Kranz placed fourth in the state this year after clearing 16 feet. The Oklahoma-bound pole vaulter was hoping for better results, but he’s now looking forward to vaulting in the future.

“It’s been a great journey and I’ve had a great time,” Kranz said. “Every PR (personal record) is just as special as the last one. My whole career has been fun, but I’m not going to look at it like it’s over. I’m still going to be pole vaulting. It’s just one continuous path straight through college and then wherever that takes me.”

Jawon Jackson ran on West Aurora’s 1,600 relay team that finished sixth in the state a year ago and eighth this year, and completed his senior running season by placing fifth in the 400 in a new personal best time of 48.79.

“Everybody wants to win the race, but I feel real good about this though,” Jackson said. “We were trying to break the school record in the 1,600 (relay), but came up short. But that’s OK; the rest of these guys will be back next year and can take another shot at it.”

While Grange, Jackson, Jackson and Kranz all had previous state experience, this year marked the first time down for several athletes.

Geneva’s Alex Raver (high jump and triple jump), Matt Bowman (1,600), and sophomore Andrew Nelson (1,600) made it down for their first time, as did Kaneland’s Justin Lee (pole vault) and junior Phil Christensen (discus), and St. Charles East’s Keenan Sellers (200).

The Vikings weren’t able to get anyone into the finals, but coach Gale Gross complimented his team on their effort.

“We’re very happy with how the kids did,” Gross said. “We had some fabulous times today and broke school records in the 1,600 and 3,200 relays. The kids did everything they could, unfortunately it just wasn’t enough. They gave it all they had and that’s all we ask, and that’s all these guys have done all year.”

St. Charles North sophomore Maxwell Clink (800), Zach Johnson (3,200), and James Wood (400) all qualified for their first time. Wood was the first North Stars sprinter to make it down.

“My goal was to break 50 (seconds) this year,” Wood said. “It was just great to get down here. Our distance guys definitely give North the name, and sprints will follow. It won’t take much time because we have some good young guys coming up.”

St. Charles North’s Chris DeSilva ran at the state meet a year ago, but didn’t make it to finals. The junior finished eighth in a time of 4:16.73, and is looking forward to next year.

“No matter how fast I am, there’s always going to be a lot of guys to compete with, so I’m going to have to work harder this off-season,” DeSilva said. “Hopefully, I’ll just keep getting faster.”

Two schools that are also looking forward to next year are Batavia and West Aurora because they might just have the best crop of underclassmen in the area.

Batavia sophomore J.R. Kabba got his first state experience in the 400, and also ran on two of their relay teams. In fact, the Bulldogs did not even have a senior on their state 1,600 relay team of freshman Eric Brown, Kabba, and juniors Javaris Covington and Kenny Herrmann, leaving coach Dennis Piron very optimistic for next season.

“We’re very proud of these kids and this is something that you have to experience in person and they all got that experience this year,” Piron said. “We have a lot of young guys and we have an awful lot of momentum heading into next year.”

The Blackhawks sent three relays and five individuals downstate this year, and four of those athletes were non-seniors. Sophomore Josh Zinzer ran the open 200 and ran on two relays, and fellow sophomores Alex Tovar and Steve McMullen contributed to the success of the relays as well.

In the field events, juniors Juan Perez (shot put), Colton Winston (triple jump) and Joel Vincent (long jump) earned a taste of state and bring a lot of promise to the Blackhawks next season.

No area school sent more athletes to Charleston this year than Aurora Central Catholic. Eight individuals made the trip downstate this year, many earning their first experience.

Junior Steven Bohr ran at O’Brien Stadium for the second straight year in both the 200 and 400, and junior Nick Puscas (100), sophomore Anthony Kelley (high jump) and sophomore Max Gilbert (1,600) give the Chargers another strong class returning in 2008.