Danny Kilrea was one of more than a dozen Lyons athletes in April to travel to California to participate in one of the country’s top meets, the Arcadia Invitational.
Kilrea, one of the top high school distance runners in Illinois, said the trip not only allowed the competitors to see how they stacked up against elite competition but also provided motivation for younger Lions athletes who didn’t go west.
“It was a motivating factor for those that didn’t go,” he said. “Now they want to get there next year.”
The Lyons boys track team hopes the dividends of that trip are being shown now. At its home sectional meet Friday, Lyons had a 202-point output that was the most for any Class 3A sectional champion last week by 24 points. Lyons athletes won six of the 13 individual events at the sectional and all four of the relay races.
Lyons will have 12 individual entrants and all four relay teams in the field at the Class 3A state meet, which is Friday and Saturday at Eastern Illinois in Charleston.
Kilrea qualified for the 3,200 meters and 1,600, while junior Patrick Kane joined him in the 3,200 and senior Vince Zona advanced in the 1,600.
“I have an excited feeling in my bones to be doing both events,” said Kilrea, who took eighth in the 3,200 last year. “I’m definitely a lot more mentally ready right now. I raced in California and New York this year and faced some of the best competitors in the country. I just need to take what I’ve learned and apply it.”
Senior Thomas Saggau qualified for state in the long jump and triple jump after he set another personal record in the triple jump with a jump of 47 feet, 4.5 inches, topping his record he set at the West Suburban Silver meet.
Lyons went 1-2 in the pole vault as senior Austin Iturralde and junior Joe Kriekmeier both cleared 13-1 to qualify for state.
Seniors Antwane Thigpen (100 meters) and Alex Lynch (800) will wrap their careers at state, joined by junior Griffin Vizgirda (400) and sophomore Xavier Armand (300 hurdles).
“Weather affected most sectionals, so it will be an interesting state meet,” Lyons coach Mike Danner said. “We expect to perform at a high level.”
Red Devils qualify three relays
After an extreme drop in temperature from a cold front during their May 18 sectional meet at Lockport, Alex Ritz and the Hinsdale Central boys track and field team heated up.
The senior had missed his chance at qualifying for the Class 3A state meet in both of his individual hurdles events in excruciating fashion, with his third-place finishes one spot from a trip to Charleston.
Ritz finished his anchor leg strong in the meet’s final 4×400-meter relay, clinching a win with teammates Luke Skokna, Sam Fathizadeh and Andrew Denos.
“It’s really gratifying that he’s going to get to go to state,” Hinsdale Central coach Noah Lawrence said of Ritz. “It’s a fun, eclectic group of kids that came together.”
Their time of 3:22.74 was the school’s best 4×400 relay time in more than a decade, Lawrence said, and edged Downers Grove North (3:22.77) by three-hundreths of a second. It was also the fifth-best qualifying time in Class 3A.
Hinsdale Central’s 4×200 and 4×800 relays also qualified for state with second-place sectional finishes.
Junior Cullen Fitzgerald, who won the sectional high jump at 6 feet, 5 inches, will compete at state for the second year.
Senior Blake Evertsen, who ran a leg of the Red Devils’ 4×800 relay, qualified for state as an individual for the third straight year by finishing fourth in the 1,600 meters at sectionals. Evertsen, who earned a state medal last season by finishing sixth in the 3,200 meters, shortened his workload from the 3,200 to the 1,600 this year.
“We don’t have much of a history of success in track and field,” Lawrence said. “That’s something we’re trying to establish.”
Anderson leads Hornets in triple jump
Hinsdale South senior D.J. Anderson became a two-time state qualifier in the triple jump by winning the event at the Class 3A Lockport Sectional. His leap of 47 feet, 10 inches was a personal best and came a week after a 43-7.25 jump in the West Suburban Gold meet.
In the week leading up to sectionals, Hornets coaches worked him to refine his technique.
“He’s been fairly consistent before that, but he came back the next week at practice and worked on a few things,” Hinsdale South coach Dean Norman said. “We felt like we had him back to where he was.”
Anderson, who won a state medal as a junior as part of the Hornets’ ninth-place 4×400 relay, will be limited to the triple jump in Charleston this year.
Hinsdale South senior Alek Cirjakovic also qualified for state in the high jump; he was second at the sectional meet with a height of 6 feet, 3.5 inches.
Both seniors will compete in prelims on Friday and then drive nearly three hours back to Hinsdale South for graduation. They hope for a return trip to Charleston for the finals on Saturday.
Matt Schoch is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
