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The 2023 boys track and field season is underway. Here are previews of teams in the Kane County Chronicle coverage area.
Batavia
Coach: Dennis Piron
Top athletes: Gabriel Benkers, sr., pole vault; Alec Crum, sr., jumps; Quintin Lowe, sr., sprints, middle distance, distance; Ben Matthews, sr., sprints, hurdles; Eric Perkins, sr., sprints, jumps; Wes White, sr., sprints; Nathan Whitwell, so., sprints; Ryan Whitwell, sr., sprints.
Worth noting: Batavia reached the summit of excellence last year by capturing the Class 3A state championship. Every direct contributor to the Bulldogs’ state championship in Charleston graduated, but the cupboard is far from bare. “We still feel like we’re one of the top programs in the state,” Piron said. “We’ll see what happens when we get [outdoors] on the track.” The Bulldogs had an exceptional indoor season as Crum swept all three jumps and White bested the fields in the two shortest sprints in their one-sided DuKane Conference championship.
Burlington Central
Coach: Mike Schmidt
Top athletes: Grayson Burton, jr., sprints, pole vault; Leighton Dietz, sr., sprints, middle distance; Jack Freeman, sr., throws; Adam Hinkleman, jr., middle distance; Joey Kowall, jr., sprints; Ryan Kreis, jr., distance; Faroq Kusi, sr., sprints; Nolan Milas, sr., sprints.
Worth noting: Burlington Central has been remarkably consistent as a mid-size school for the past two-plus decades. “We have a really long streak of 23 years of winning an indoor-outdoor conference championship or a sectional,” Schmidt said. “It’s going to be tough [to maintain the streak] this year. Our best bet is probably the sectional.” The Rockets have excelled with their interchangeable 400 and 800 runners in recent years. Central once again is a legitimate all-state contender in the 1,600 and 3,200 relays as a result.
Geneva
Coach: Gale Gross
Top athletes: Jackson Avery, jr., sprints, hurdles; Karl Gattinger, sr., sprints; Jackson Hubeck, sr., throws; Genel Jaffer, sr., sprints; Jack Kuehl, sr., sprints, middle distance; Anthony Ross, sr., distance; Anthony Warcup, sr., middle distance.
Worth noting: Geneva is still feeling the effects of the pandemic. “COVID wiped us out,” Gross said. “Last year was the first time in a long time that we didn’t have any state qualifiers.” Gross cites Warcup, Kuehl and Jaffer as his most promising athletes this spring. The Vikings will look to improve upon their seventh-place finish in the DuKane Conference indoor meet by showing progress at their two benchmark outdoor competitions: the Kane County meet and the league championship.
Kaneland
Coach: Andy Drendel
Top athletes: Logan Ehlers, jr., sprints, jumps; Brayden Farmer, sr., pole vault; Jake Gagne, sr., sprints; Aric Johnson, jr., sprints, jumps; Evan Nosek, so., distance; Chris Ruchaj, sr., sprints; David Valkanov, jr., distance.
Worth noting: After a brief foray in Class 3A, Kaneland has been reclassified to 2A for a second consecutive year. The Knights consistently have shown the wherewithal to compete against larger area schools as evidenced by their admirable finishes at the Kane County meet over the past decade-plus. Kaneland will have a slightly different dynamic this spring. “The core of our team is juniors and sophomores,” Drendel said. “We cover more events this year. In the invites, we’ll be competitive.” Valkanov had a splendid indoor season, capped by a seventh-place finish at the Top Times meet in Bloomington.
Marmion
Coach: Dan Thorpe
Top athletes: Ryan Anderson, jr., pole vault; Jonah Augustyn, jr., sprints, jumps; Connor Carlson, jr., distance; Will Dimitrov, sr., sprints, hurdles; Robert Gramley, jr., distance; Mitchell Gratz, sr., sprints, middle distance; Grayson Stewart, jr., sprints, middle distance.
Worth noting: Marmion will rely heavily on its three Class 2A returning state qualifiers – Gratz, Carlson and Anderson. “They are training hard,” Thorpe said of his team. “We had 29 PRs – personal records [during indoor season] – so that shows they have been putting in the work.” Carlson also has state cross country experience. Anderson will seek another state finals berth in the pole vault. The Cadets will look to be in the upper half of the always competitive Chicago Catholic League.
St. Charles East
Coach: Tim Wolf
Top athletes: Adrian Ahahtl, jr., distance; Charles Bolsoni, jr., sprints; Josh Evans, sr., sprints; Mitch Garcia, sr., middle distance, distance; Matt Hall, sr., sprints, hurdles; Jed Wilson, jr., middle distance, distance.
Worth noting: Garcia will seek to appropriate the distance legacy Micah Wilson bequeathed the program. Wilson won individual state championships in both cross country and the 3,200 run in track before embarking upon the first year of his career at Wisconsin-Madison. Garcia concluded the indoor season by placing fourth at the Top Times’ metric 2-mile. At the other end of the spectrum, Evans’ performance at the DuKane Conference indoor championship offered compelling testimony the senior will be one of the top sprinters in the league.
St. Charles North
Coach: Kevin Harrington
Top athletes: Ayodele Bateye, jr., sprints; Hunter Liszka, jr., sprints; Nathan McLoughlin, sr., pole vault; Robert Messina, jr., sprints; Bryce Thomas, sr., sprints, hurdles; Henry Warsaw, sr., throws.
Worth noting: It will be a collective effort for the St. Charles North sprinters to compensate for the graduation of West Point recruit Josh Duncan. The quartet of Thomas, Liszka, Bateye and Messina accepted the challenge during the North Stars’ indoor season. Warsaw also has the task of replacing a mainstay in the North Stars’ arsenal with the departure of another West Point commitment, Paolo Gennarelli. Warsaw enters the outdoor season with eyes on state-qualifying marks in the shot put after his runner-up indoor DuKane Conference performance.
St. Francis
Coach: Mike Prizy
Top athletes: Sam Andrzejewski, sr., middle distance, distance; Michael Coco, fr., distance; Charles Coyle, jr., middle distance, distance; James Keegan, jr., middle distance, distance; Nolan Kiley, fr., distance; Gavin Mueller, fr., throws; Ben Sanchez, sr., sprints, jumps.
Worth noting: The Spartans’ track teams share fundamental similarities. “As with the girls, the boys are a distance dominant team,” Prizy said. “An early season leader is a name familiar to cross country but new to track in Coyle.” Sanchez had the same distinction last year as a junior newcomer. Much will be expected of Sanchez in the horizontal jumps. Smaller private schools frequently do not have the luxury of grooming underclassmen on the lower levels. Mueller already has shown his varsity mettle with an indoor shot put invitational championship. Prizy expects the ninth grader to develop as quickly in the discus as well.