Boys track and field: Wheaton Warrenville South runs away with DuKane conference title

BATAVIA — Following the results of the boys DuKane indoor track and field conference championships, Wheaton Warrenville South coach Rob Harvey went over to talk to Batavia coach and fellow North Central College alum Dennis Piron.

The longtime friends discussed things from the performance of their kids to their similar coaching philosophies. But more than anything, Harvey wanted to tell Piron how tough it was to secure the conference title against the Bulldogs.

In Harvey’s second season at the helm, the Tigers won the conference title after scoring 126 points and stopped the Bulldogs from claiming their third straight DuKane indoor championship Saturday.

“With Batavia being the flagship program of the conference, it’s insane to come into their building and win a conference championship,” Harvey said. “We have a huge amount of respect for Coach Piron and all the Batavia people.”

It took a team effort for the Tigers to win their first conference title since 2019. They recorded a scorer in each event for the first time in two years and had 10 or more points in six different events, all of which were on the track.

“We challenged our kids a few weeks ago to try and score in every event,” Harvey said. “It really shows our depth and team.”

Senior Da’jion Riley (55-meter sprint, 6.46 seconds), junior Amari Williams (55 hurdles, 7.92), junior Josiah Narayanan (3,200, 9:28.80) and the 4x200 relay team (1:33.46) all had wins on the day.

Batavia went on to take second with 116.5 points, but it took some work to make it close. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 21.5 points during the meet, but some clutch performances in the latter half, including four wins in the final six events, closed the gap and secured the silver.

“If you do your best in the conference meet, you can’t really feel too bad about the outcome,” Piron said. “To be right there at the end competing to win the conference, that’s our goal every year.”

One of those key performances for Batavia came from junior Thomas Woodard who, along with junior Cole Howland, secured a 1-2 finish in the 400 after crossing the line in 52.09.

“It feels great that I’m scoring for the team and helping us place in conference,” Woodard said. “Obviously not getting first sucks, but it’s OK. It just feels good to help my team and hopefully bring us to the top next year.”

Another top performer for the Bulldogs was junior Felipe Wickler, who won the 800 in 1:59.73 and, along with Woodard, helped secure a win in the 4x400 in 3:33.23.

“It was kind of unexpected,” Wickler said. “I had a rough week last week, and I was way off my personal record. I knew what I had to fix from last week, and it was a great feeling to figure it out.”

Lake Park rounded out the podium with 81.5 points. The Lancers received 52.5 of their points from field events, highlighted by a one-two finish from senior Adrian Przestrzelski and junior Joe Juliano in the high jump, with both jumping 6 feet. Senior Armand Voloder also got a gold after winning the shot put with a throw of 55-4.

St. Charles North was fourth after scoring 77 points. The North Stars had two wins on the day, with the 4x800 relay taking the gold in 8:25.63 and junior Nathan McLoughlin setting a new school record in the pole vault after jumping 15-4.

St. Charles East placed fifth with 60 points. The Saints mainly relied on their distance team, with 31 of their points coming from the 4x800, 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Junior Greyson Ellensohn had the team’s only win, in the 1,600 after running it in 4:24.84.

Geneva finished in sixth with 42.33 points. Despite not getting a win on the day, the Vikings had two runner-up performances in the 4x800 relay and pole vault.

Wheaton North grabbed seventh with 41 points. Junior Matthew Beamer had the only win for the Falcons after securing the gold in the triple jump with a leap of 20-3.

Glenbard North rounded out the teams with 40.66 points. The Panthers’ best finish came in the 55 hurdles, where junior Jeremiah Williams took second place in 8.12 seconds.