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"It really killed me," Olenek said. "It was hard to get back up, losing all that time. It really brought my morale down. But I tried to stay vigilant. I'm better now." It doesn't get any better than this. Olenek won the 100-meter dash, and took second in the 200. Fellow Geneva senior Jacob Uhlmann swept the throwing events, leading the Vikings to the championship of the 101st Kane County boys track meet on Friday at West Aurora – their first outright title since 1945. Geneva, which shared the title with Kaneland in 2012, finished with 124 points, edging four-time defending champion Batavia (121). Kaneland (65) was fourth and St. Charles East (58) sixth. "It's a big shock to us, a big surprise," Olenek said. "This is the greatest feeling." (Mary Beth)
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Olenek, seeded fourth in the 100, surprised with a season-best 11.19-second time to repeat as county champion in the event. "I didn't expect it," Olenek said. "I haven't been doing good in a while. It was hard to get back." Later he came back to run a 22.75 200 for second place, but place wasn't his top priority. "My goal was just to beat Batavia," Olenek said. Olenek is an inspiration to Geneva senior Ben Calusinski, himself second in the 3,200 (9:40.73). "Even when he was injured, he came to practice every day," Calusinski said. "It inspired me a lot to see him on the bike every day. He was doing the best he could to maintain. It's insane. People don't understand what he's done behind the scenes to get here." While Olenek starred on the track, much of Geneva's heavy lifting was done in the weights. Uhlmann (52 feet, 5 inches) and Frank Martin (52-4.5) were top two in the shot put, with Uhlmann also taking the discus (145-8) title. "It's the epitome of four years of hard work and dedication," said Uhlmann, who plans to throw collegiately at Augustana. "I'm proud of myself and proud of my team, coming from the underdog position. It's the the right time." Uhlmann made the finals at sectionals last year – but nothing topped this achievement. "It's hard to put into words the energy I feel," Uhlmann said. "Pulling this off, it's crazy. If we looked at just the numbers, I didn't think it would be possible. But if we looked down deep inside, yes, we thought it was possible to win this." Also for Geneva, Onyi Ukaobasi took second in the 110 hurdles (15.10) and 300 hurdles (39.45). (Mary Beth)
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Batavia shone brightest in the middle distance races. The 800-meter run was the latest friendly duel between Bulldogs' juniors Damian Rodriguez and Joseph Knanishu. Rodriguez pulled ahead in the second lap, beating out his teammate 1:56.92-1:58.09, both personal bests. "Every race, yeah, we've been with each other head-to-head. We flip back and forth, it's neck and neck," Rodriguez said. "We pretty much have the same strategy. We want to get out on the first 400 and then it's whoever can finish better." (Mary Beth)
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Rodriguez and Knanishu later teamed up for Batavia's second-place 1,600 relay, but the competitive fire burns even with friends. "I wanted to beat him," Rodriguez said. "I don't like to lose." Batavia's Trevor Tousana (50.03) and Julian Davis (50.50), went one-two in the 400, then ran legs on the 1,600 relay. The Bulldogs also got a second and third from Christopher Levario (4:19.59) and Adam Kennedy (4:22.40) in the 1,600. (Mary Beth)
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Batavia did not run its 3,200 relay, a race dominated by St. Charles East. The foursome of Bennett Melone, Luke Schildmeyer, Mitch Gansemer and Charles Murphy (7:59.42) beat runner-up Marmion by nearly five seconds. The time puts St. Charles East second in Class 3A this outdoor season, according to Athletic.net. "We were hoping to race the Batavia guys; they didn't run it," Melone said. "To be able to break 8 minutes with little to no competition is really good, really satisfying." Later, East's Zach Loomis came from behind to win the 3,200 (9:39.53). Melone already has May 25 circled on his calendar. "Our main goal is that state meet; all year we've talked about it," said Melone, part of the team that was close to six seconds off state qualifying last year. "We're not satisfied with just getting there." (Mary Beth)
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Burlington Central's Connor Wagner is likewise determined to make a push toward Charleston. Wagner, a senior, fell on a hurdle in the 300-meter preliminaries at state last year. He was a member of the Rockets' Class 2A runner-up 1,600 relay team. On Friday he swept the 110 high hurdles (14.91 seconds) and 300 low hurdles (38.99), both personal bests, then ran leadoff in Burlington Central's 1,600 relay that edged Batavia 3:25.61-3:25.74. "Today I tried something new with my starts," Wagner said. "Usually I do 22 steps to the first hurdle, and I decided to do 21. It worked out well. Kaneland's best finish was Colton Doll, second in the long jump (21-5.75). Marmion's Andrew Saloga (14-6) won the pole vault. (Mary Beth)
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Kaneland's Colton Doll hits the pit while competing in long jump at the 101st Kane County Boys Track Meet Friday May 3 at West Aurora High School. (Mary Beth)
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St. Charles North's Gilbert Braglia makes a pole vault attempt at the 101st Kane County Boys Track Meet Friday May 3 at West Aurora High School. (Mary Beth)