Boys track: DeKalb competing in seven events, Sycamore, Kaneland 10 at IHSA state meet

Even though he finished seventh, the state cross country meet last November didn’t go how DeKalb senior Riley Newport envisioned it.

When Newport heads to Charleston for the state track meet Friday to compete in the 4x400 relay and the 1,600, DeKalb coach Jeff Saurbaugh said he will definitely be motivated, especially after an illness, in part, kept him out of a full slate of events at the sectional last week.

“But it helps that he’s going into Friday with a chip on his shoulder.”

—  Jeff Saurbaugh, DeKalb boys track and field coach

“We scratched him from the two-mile so he could focus on the 1,600,” Saurbaugh said. “We wanted him to place, so we just went with the 1,600, and he was sick last week as well. That was part of the reason we scratched him. But it helps that he’s going into Friday with a chip on his shoulder.”

Newport has seven entries competing in the state finals. In Class 2A, sectional champions Kaneland has 10 entries, including the top-seeded high jumper in sophomore Freddy Hassan – the only 2A competitor who went over 2 meters at sectionals. Sycamore also has 10 entries while Genoa-Kingston, which hosted the 2A sectional, Kaneland and Sycamore each has one entry.

In Class 1A, Indian Creek has one entry and Hinckley-Big Rock has two.

Class 1A preliminaries begin Thursday while the upper two classes begin Friday. All finals are Saturday. The top 12 in the 100, 200, 400 and field events advance to Saturday while the top nine in other events qualify for the finals.

For the Barbs, Newport is seeded fifth in the 1,600 (4:16.93), with Jacob Barraza 10th (4:19.78). Barraza and Newport also are on the sectional champion 4x400, whose 3:25.29 sectional time is outside of the top 12.

Also for DeKalb, Andrew Tumminaro is seeded fifth in the pole vault (4.53). Ethan McCarter reached state in the long jump (6.53), and the Barbs also will compete in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Saurbaugh said he’s very optimistic that the relays, although seeded outside the qualifying positions, have a good chance to be running Saturday.

“I feel really confident with all three relays,” Saurbaugh said. “The 4x4, I feel really good about. As long as we’re good with our handoffs, the 4x1 and the 4x2 have a good shot to make it to Saturday.”

Caden Emmert is seeded fourth for the Spartans in the 800 (1:57.25) and Aidan Wyzard is fourth in the long jump (6.76).

Wyzard also is competing in the 100 (11.13), Pierce Reinhard qualified in the 200 (22.89) and the long jump (6.56), Matthew Rangel is seeded with a 53.12 in the 400, Corey Goff qualified in the 1,600 (4:29.67), Vince Brito is seeded with a 15.76 in the 110 hurdles and Niholas Zurko will compete in the triple jump (12.81).

Sycamore coach Matthew Kosecki said athletes like Reinhard and Wyzard were in multiple events, focused more on qualifying than on seeding.

“We had some good spots, Emmert is high in the 800,” Kosecki said. “Reinhard was in four events at sectional and was just focused on punching his ticket. He did that on his first jump so he wasn’t worried about his seed. Aidan is one of those kids that’s been improving every week for the last month, and he’s seeded fourth after the sectional.”

Rangel, Emmert, Will Donahoe and Eli Crome also qualified in the 4x400 relay with a 3:28.82 sectional time. Kosecki said between weather and health issues, he feels the relay hasn’t shown what it’s capable of this year, something he said he expects to change Friday.

“They have not had a meet where everyone is fresh and there have been good conditions,” Kosecki said. “They were fresh for the sectional, but by the time they were running it was pretty cold. The times we wish we could show should be there for state.”

For Kaneland, Jake Gagne is seeded 12th in the 100 (10.99). David Valkanov (9:36.36) and Evan Nosek (9:36.45) are seeded in the top nine in the 3,200. Hassan, a sophomore, comes with a 2.01 to lead the high jump seeding. Brayden Farmer is seeded fourth in the pole vault (4.27).

Brett Larsen is seeded at a 14.66 for the Knights in the shot put, while Brady Betustak qualified for the discus (44.92). Ryan Spence qualified for the high jump (1.85) and the Knights also will compete in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Aaron Acosta was the lone G-K qualifier, seeded with a 42.35 in the discus.

In Class 1A, Hinckley-Big Rock’s Alex Casanas is seeded with a 1.75 in the high jump and Jake Juneau is seeded with a 51.67 in the 400. Both are outside of the top 12, but Juneau is within 0.23 seconds of a top 12 time.

Ben Parnow was the lone Indian Creek qualifier, making state in the discus (39.12).