The 2000 Mustang Boys Track & Field Team had its best dual meet season in many years. The team's strength was again in the pole vault, hurdles, and sprints but also had great improvements in the jumping events. The Mustangs opened the Varsity season with an undefeated 8-0 indoor record by beating West Chicago, Glenbrook North, Oswego, Argo, Elgin, Larkin, Barrington and Maine West. The Varsity finished fourth at the MSL Indoor Conference meet. The Mustangs had or shared four meet championships Abe Jones won the 55 M High Hurdles, 55 M Dash and 400 M Dash, tying meet records in the 55 Dash and 55 Highs. The 4 x 150M Relay of Abe Jones, Mike Naymola, Jon Trapani and Chris Johnson tied for first and during the season broke the RMHS indoor record for the event (1:12.1). Jon Trapani finished second in both the 55 Meter High Hurdles and the 55 Meter Intermediate Hurdles. and At the Illinois Prep Top Times Meet in Champaign-Urbana, Abe was the 55 Meter High Hurdle Champion and finished 2nd in the 400 Meter Dash. In addition, Don Viken finished 5th in the Pole Vault. Jon Trapani was also competed in the meet in the 55 Meter High Hurdles
The Frosh/Soph finished 6th at the F/S Indoor Invitational. Highlights of the meet were: Justin Powers was1st in the 3200 Run and 4th in the1600 Run; Dave Viken was 2nd in the Pole Vault; AJ Upadhyaya was 2nd in the 55 High Hurdles and 5th 55 Intermediate Hurdles; Tim Piergalski was 5th in the 3200 Run, and Matt Brown was 5th in the 800 Run.
The Varsity Mustangs continued their winning ways once the outdoor season began after Spring Break by compiling a 4 win 1 loss record and tying Prospect and Buffalo Grove for the Eastern Division Title, the first since 1982. The Mustangs beat Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove, Hersey and Wheeling, but lost its only dual meet to Prospect. Team members continually rose to the challenges laid before them, and kept their sights upon winning the division title throughout the season.
The Frosh/Soph unfortunately did not win an outdoor dual meet, but many of its top athletes competed at the varsity level for dual meets. The Frosh/Soph finished 6th at the MSL Conference meet at the end of the season. Many strong performances were given by the Frosh/Soph and many improvements were made throughout the season. Some highlights from the conference meet were: Justin Powers was 1st in the 3200 run; Dave Viken was1st in the Pole Vault; Mike Koralik, Steve Miles, Dan Raleigh and Tim Piergalski were 2nd in the 3200 Relay and AJ Upadhyaya was 4th in the110 M High Hurdles
The Mustangs finished 6th at the west Aurora Invitational, 3rd at the Willowbrook Invitational, 3rd Mustang Classic. At the Varsity Conference meet, the varsity Mustangs placed eleventh. Finally, the Mustangs finished a 11th at the IHSA Sectional Meet, qualifying two individuals in three events to the IHSA State Track and Field Meet. Don Viken qualified in the Pole Vault by clearing 13'-6". Jones followed by winning both the 110 Meter High Hurdles in a state best 13.8 and 300 Intermediate Hurdles in 38.5. Chris Johnson Placed 5th in the 200 Dash, as did Russ Antrim in the Triple Jump and Jon Trapani in the 300 Intermediate Hurdles.
During the 2000 Track & Field season the following RMHS school records were broken:
Indoor
Abe Jones 55 M Dash 6.4 School and fieldhouse record
Abe Jones 55 M High Hurdles 7.4 School and fieldhouse record
Abe Jones 55 M Int. Hurdles 7.3 School and fieldhouse record
Abe Jones 400 M Dash 49.9 School record
Outdoor
Justin Powers 3200 M Run 9:57.3 Sophomore Record
- 2nd Place IHSA Class AA State Meet
- IHSA Class AA State Champion
Abe Jones 100 M Dash 10.6 Junior and Overall Record
- 4th Place (Tied) IHSA Class AA State Meet
The coaching staff believes that we need to refocus our efforts upon recruiting for next season if we are to maintain or improve upon our current success. This will involve a total team effort!
Finally on a sad note, we must say goodbye to Assistant Coach Dave Froehlich from the Track and Field and Cross Country Programs as he takes on the role of Boys Athletic Director next year. His efforts have been tremendous over the years and have spanned both the Boys and the Girls programs at RMHS. His involvement, encouragement and dedication have been appreciated by both the coaching staff and the athletes that he has coached. We wish him the best in his future athletic responsibilities here at RMHS!