High school boys track and field: 2019 season team previews

Field events abbreviations: High jump (HJ), long jump (LJ), triple jump (TJ), pole vault (PV), shot put (SP)

FOX VALLEY CONFERENCE

Cary-Grove

Coach: Layne Holter (25th season)

Last year's finish: Sixth in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Jason Petko, sr. (throws); Max Caesar, jr. (distances); Derek Warren, sr. (distances); David Aulert, sr., (HJ); Ethan Carlson, jr. (sprints); Anthony LaMantia, so. (sprints); A.J. Lewis, sr. (hurdles, sprints)

Top new athletes: Shawn Atwood, fr. (LF, sprints); Ian Barnes, fr. (distances); Justin Freeman, fr. (LJ, sprints); Jonathan Gaskill, fr. (hurdles); Kyle Gothier, sr. (sprints)

Noteworthy: Petko finished a strong indoor season Saturday by taking fifth place in the Class 3A shot put at the Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Championships, the unofficial indoor state meet. He finished seventh in discus at last year's Class 3A outdoor state meet. … Caesar had a standout season in cross country and should be one of the area's top distance runners.

Crystal Lake Central

Coach: Brian Seaver (19th season)

Last year's finish: Eighth in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Keegan Smalley, sr. (distances); Jack Munn, sr. (throws); D.C. Smith, sr. (hurdles); D.J. Ulrich, jr. (PV); Jake Atkinson, sr. (sprints); Owen Mize, jr. (middle distances); Peyton Falco, so. (sprints, LJ); Joey Berg, sr. (sprints); Austin May, so. (distances); Nick Camacho, sr. (distances)

Top new athletes: William Martin, fr. (sprints); Daniel Hamill, fr. (middle distances)

Noteworthy: Seaver believes the Tigers have more depth, which should help them climb higher in the FVC Meet this season. … Ulrich was a Class 3A state qualifier in the pole vault and is looking to bring home a state medal this year. … Smalley, a Class 2A All-Stater in cross country, leads a 4x800-meter relay team that qualified for the Illinois Prep Top Times meet.

Crystal Lake South

Coach: Nick Willhoit (fourth season)

Last year's finish: Fourth in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Matt Reall, sr. (jumps, sprints); Zach Borgert, sr. (sprints); Dylan Law, jr. (hurdles); Matt Brown, so. (distances); Dan Sage, jr. (sprints); Jace Langguth, jr. (sprints); Gabe Wisler, so. (throws); Clayton Pfeifer, sr. (distances); Jacque Vallier, jr. (throws); Hugo Prado, so. (middle distances)

Top new athletes: Alex Cabrera, fr. (sprints); Ethan Demirow, fr. (jumps, sprints); Justin Kowalak, fr. (sprints); David Welte-Hart, fr. (sprints); Colin Rennhak, fr. (distances)

Noteworthy: Borgert was FVC runner-up in the 200 and took third in the 100 last season and returns to anchor a strong group in the sprints. … Willhoit likes the way things are developing with his distance runners and throwers.

Dundee-Crown

Coach: Matt D'Angelo (third season)

Last year's finish: Second in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Adam Swanson, sr. (middle distances, distances); Dylan Becker, sr. (sprints, jumps); Meante Foster, sr. (sprints); Jason Miller, jr. (sprints); Jack Michalski, sr. (jumps, hurdles); Trevor Fed, jr. (sprints, jumps); Lucas Janikowski, sr. (distances); Kristian Boado, sr. (throws); Noah Conner, sr. (jumps); Jack Searles, jr. (middle distances); Mark Jensen, sr. (distances)

Top new athletes: Alex Miller, jr. (sprints); Sebastian Waz, so. (PV); Shanquan Watson, so. (sprints, jumps)

Noteworthy: Swanson anchored the Chargers' 4x800 team that took third place in last year's Class 3A state meet. He is the only returning member of that team. … Becker, Foster and Jason Miller placed in sprint races at the FVC Meet. … "Hopefully, as the season progresses, our guys will embrace the philosophy that there are no shortcuts to high-level success," D'Angelo said. "We had some success on the state level last year, and we want to build off of that and have multiple state medalists this May."

Hampshire

Coach: Joe Watzlawick (seventh season)

Last year's finish: Ninth in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Tommy Croissant, sr. (PV); Ryan Higgins, jr. (LJ, TJ); Jonah Varvara, sr. (sprints); Isai Morales, so. (middle distances); Anthony Poett, sr. (sprints)

Top new athletes: Cam Reedy, sr. (sprints)

Noteworthy: Reedy missed last season with an injury and won the 400 meters at the recent FVC indoor meet. Varvara was third in the FVC 400 outdoors last year. … Watzlawick hopes the Whip-Purs' largest roster in some time will translate to helping them improve. "We are just looking to keep improving and get better every meet," he said.

Huntley

Coach: Chris Maxedon (first season)

Last year's finish: FVC champion

Top returning athletes: Michael Benner, sr. (PV); Jadon Conroy, sr. (distances); Ronel Noll, sr. (sprints); Alex Pitrone, sr. (throws); Jeremy Roe, sr. (distances); Chris Simek, sr. (middle distances); Zach Tepper, sr. (sprints); Zach Fitzgerald, jr. (jumps); Ian Geisler, jr. (distances); Josh Guyer, jr. (jumps); Antonio Passarelli, jr. (sprints)

Top new athletes: Paul Kerber, so. (sprints); Brad Walker, so. (throws); Matthew Alpert, so. (PV); Anthony Lorenzo, fr. (middle distances); Evan Gronewold, fr. (sprints); Jake Leonard, fr. (sprints)

Noteworthy: The Red Raiders return eight athletes who qualified for the Class 3A state meet. Passarelli, Noll and Tepper took seventh in the 4x100 relay with Eric Mooney, who graduated. … Geisler was the Northwest Herald Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year after taking 17th in the Class 3A state meet in November. … Benner cleared 13 feet to win the pole vault at the FVC indoor meet. … Maxedon was an assistant who worked with the throwers under former coach Jim Rolando, who stepped down after 13 years. Huntley has won four consecutive FVC championships.

Jacobs

Coach: Jason Borhart (17th season)

Last year's finish: Third in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Zach Albrecht, sr. (distances); Brett Bognar, sr. (distances); Brandon Cole, sr. (distances); Mark Lemke, sr. (distances); Tommy Subaric, sr. (hurdles); Connor Frank, so. (jumps, hurdles)

Top new athletes: Josh Hill, sr. (sprints); Evan Ludlum, sr. (distances); Nick Agenlian, jr. (sprints); Jacob Mobeck, jr. (sprints); Szymon Czyz, so. (sprints); Daniel Sanders, so. (middle distances); Andrew Doetsch, fr. (distances)

Noteworthy: The 4x800 team that won the FVC and qualified for the Class 3A state meet returns intact (Albrecht, Bognar, Lemke and Cole). … Lemke had an outstanding cross country season and will run at Illinois-Chicago. Albrecht set the McHenry County Meet 1,600 record last year and will run at Bradley. … Subaric won the FVC 110 high hurdles and was second to teammate Jermaine Maedglin-Ferguson in the 300 intermediates. He qualified for state in both races.

McHenry

Coach: Dennis Hutchinson (sixth season)

Last year's finish: Fifth in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Jessi Garcia, jr. (distances); Dylan Jensen, jr. (distances); Garrett Byrd, jr. (sprints); Tyler Thomas, jr. (sprints); Andy Maye, sr. (jumps); Blake Weisenberger, sr. (throws); Chris Parrish, jr. (hurdles); Kyle Dutkiewicz, sr. (middle distances).

Top new athletes: Joey Collis, fr. (sprints, jumps); Jason Connor, jr. (sprints); Logan Lucas, so. (sprints); Carlos Montes, so. (distances).

Noteworthy: The Warriors had two Class 3A state runners-up – Brian Keyes (discus) and Maki Mohr (high jump) – graduate. Keyes now throws at Illinois. … Garcia won the 3,200 at the FVC indoor meet.

Prairie Ridge

Coach: Judd Shutt (16th season)

Last year's finish: 7th in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Grant Jensen, sr. (middle distances); Ethan Baker, sr. (middle distances); Jared Zuniga, jr. (middle distances); Jackson Willis, sr. (sprints); Paul Anderson, sr. (sprints); Mike Eschweiler, jr. (hurdles); Adrian Rendon, jr. (hurdles); Ryan Fist, jr. (hurdles); Drew Gende, sr. (TJ); Drew Fryer, jr. (TJ)

Top new athletes: Will Powell, so. (sprints, PV); Luke Kim, so. (middle distances); Zack Jensen, so. (sprints)

Noteworthy: Grant Jensen has qualified for the Class 3A state meet in the 800 for three consecutive years. He took third in that race last year and will run at Illinois.

Kishwaukee River Conference

Harvard

Coach: Dennis Eisele (19th season)

Last year's finish: Seventh in KRC Meet

Top returning athletes: Reid Stricker, sr. (middle distances); Daniel Mercado, sr. (middle distances); Jason Pichardo, sr. (distances); Gerardo Mercado, jr. (sprints).

Top new athletes: Adam Davis, so. (sprints); Zach Isonhart, so. (middle distances); J.J. Lich, jr. (middle distances); Jahkari Miller, sr. (jumps, sprints); Aldo Popaca, so. (throws); Javan Rodgers, jr. (jumps); Manny Santiago, sr. (sprints).

Noteworthy: The Hornets have only 14 returning athletes, so the bulk of this team is new. … Eisele believes Harvard's strength will lie in the longer races.

Johnsburg

Coach: Chris Setzler (19th season).

Last year's finish: Sixth in KRC Meet.

Top returning athletes: Chris Tobin, sr. (sprints); Tyler Prouty, sr. (throws); Brady Conway, sr. (sprints, PV); Blake Radtke, jr. (sprints); Angel Martin, jr. (wheelchair throws, sprints); Gavin Boal, so. (middle distances); Brad Wizceb, so. (sprints); Dawson Peter, so. (throws).

Top new athletes: Jake McKinney, jr. (sprints); Josh Peschke, so. (jumps, sprints); Kyle Rasper, fr. (middle distances); Forest Hull, fr. (sprints).

Noteworthy: Martin is tied with former distance runner Matt Stelmasek for the most state-meet medals in their careers with five. He should pass that this season when he competes in the wheelchair discus and shot put, along with a couple of sprints.

Marengo

Coach: Brad Wignes (fourth season)

Last year's finish: Second in FVC Meet

Top returning athletes: Finn Schirmer, jr. (sprints, hurdles); Aaron Shepard, sr. (HJ, sprints); Colton Ervin, sr. (sprints); Cole Davis, so. (sprints, jumps); Zac Brandt, sr. (sprints); Michael Jennett, so. (hurdles, middle distances); Robert Lopez, jr. (distances); Aaron Moehrlin, so. (distances); Tyler Mirtl, so. (jumps, sprints); Luke Chaffin, so. (distances)

Top new athletes: Zach Secor, so. (distances); Mario Lopez, fr. (middle distances); Mason Feldt, so. (throws); Evan Shepard, fr. (jumps, middle distances); Preston Bailey, fr. (middle distances)

Noteworthy: The Indians lost some big contributors to graduation in Blaine Borhart, Jadon Kozin and Alex Leonard, but Class 2A state medalists Schirmer and Aaron Shepard return. Schirmer was Northwest Herald Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year after winning three medals, and Shepard took fifth in the high jump. … After finishing second at the Richmond-Burton Sectional, Marengo has high hopes again this season.

Richmond-Burton

Coach: Lauren Hencier (fifth season)

Last year's finish: Third in KRC Meet

Top returning athletes: Kyle Curran, sr. (throws); Mike Kaufman, sr. (sprints); Jack Langlois, sr. (sprints); Nick Legnaioli, so. (sprints, hurdles); Thomas Koschak, sr. (distances); Matteo Acosta, so. (hurdles, sprints).

Top new athletes: Steven Stientjes, jr. (sprints); Jack Verdoni, fr. (sprints); Josh Leslie, so. (jumps).

Noteworthy: The Rockets will miss the points they relied on from jumpers Reed Marshall and Kevin Powers, both of whom made the triple jump finals at the Class 2A state meet. Marshall took fourth. … Kaufman has been one of the KRC's top sprinters the past two years, and Curran won the KRC discus and took fifth in shot put last year.

Woodstock

Coach: Robert Mickey (third season)

Last year's finish: Fifth in KRC Meet

Top returning athletes: Julio Arellano (distances); Aidan Schleutermann (sprints, middle distances); Ethan Patterson (HJ); Adrian Fernandez (sprints); Diego Cruz (distances); Dan Berkebile (distances)

Top new athletes: Ki Norgard (LJ, TJ, sprints); Tim Maidment (TJ, sprints); Chris Crenshaw (HJ, LJ, TJ); Max Hodory (sprints, middle distances); Javier Garay-Vasquez (sprints)

Noteworthy: The Blue Streaks are a young team, and Mickey is excited about having 64 athletes on the roster. … Arellano had a good cross country season and took seventh in the Class 2A 3,200 at the Illinois Prep Top Times meet Saturday.

Woodstock North

Coach: John Fredericks (ninth season)

Last year's finish: Fourth in KRC Meet

Top returning athletes: Elijah Pena, jr. (TJ, hurdles); Luke Duenas, sr. (sprints, LJ); Keith Webb, sr. (sprints); Aiden Filetti, jr (sprints); Dakota Sandberg, jr. (hurdles, jumps); Austin Zieman, jr. (sprints, LJ); Colin Zinn, jr. (sprints); Brandon Walker, so. (sprints)

Top new athletes: Jorge Aragon, so. (distances); Frank Dudzik, fr. (distances); Dane Williams, jr. (sprints)

Noteworthy: Pena was second in the McHenry County Meet triple jump last year and won that event in the KRC Meet. … There are several returning sprinters from the Thunder's two state-qualifying sprint relay teams, although Joe Grove, who graduated, will be missed.

East Suburban Catholic Conference

Marian Central

Coach: Jacob Tonkin (first season)

Last year's finish: Eighth in ESCC Meet

Top returning athletes: Ryan Jones, jr. (distances); John Klaus, jr. (sprints); Nathan Bucci, so. (LJ, sprints); Patrick Kelly, sr. (sprints); Ryan Conlon, so. (LJ, sprints); Robert Sbarounis, jr. (TJ, middle distances); Brogan Pivnicka, jr. (HJ, sprints); Peter Walsdorf, so. (distances); Griffin Dahm, so. (LJ, sprints).

Top new athletes: Bryce Radcliffe, sr. (HJ, sprints); Harrison Stanko, jr. (sprints); Jakub Baranski, jr. (sprints); Chris Atadero, so. (distances).

Noteworthy: Jones and Walsdorf had standout cross country seasons. Jones finished as a Class 2A All-Stater. … Tonkin thinks some of the upperclassmen will help the Hurricanes put together stronger sprint relays.

Northeastern Athletic Conference

Alden-Hebron

Coach: Jacob Behrens (third season)

Last year's finish: 10th in NAC Meet

Top returning athletes: Tomi Mor, sr. (TJ, LJ); Austin Stephens, so. (throws)

Top new athletes: Zach Herring, jr. (throws); A.J. Medina, fr. (LJ, sprints)

Noteworthy: There are good senior leaders for a young group. With lower numbers, the Giants will focus more on field events.