Wheeling HS Boys Track 2005

5/20/05 - Sectional Meet @ Palatine - The sectional meet went well for the Varsity. We had two state qualifiers in Nick Bledseo in the Shot and Discus, and Robert Kamentsev in the Triple Jump.

5/14/05 F/S MSL Conference Meet @ Wheeling The Frosh-soph Cats finished a strong 4th place on saturday. All 4 relays placed 4x800m Relay - 5th, 4x100m Relay 5th, 4x400 Relay 5th place. Individually, we had one conference champion in Tyler Austin winning the long jump in a season best 20' 4", followed very closely by Pat Splon with a jump of 19' 7" who finished 3rd and PR by over 18". Tyler also finished 2nd in the High Jump in 5'11". In the 3200m Run Mike Meier ran 10:09 to finish 2nd from the slow heat. Chris Mata also finished 2nd in the Discus just 3 inches short of first place. Alex Sicard followed Chris with a 4th place finish in the DIscus. In the Hurdles Dan Diaz ran to a couple of 3rd place finished running a season best 16.4 in the 110mH. H. and 42.7 in the 300m I. Hurdles. Phil Rifkin ran to a 3rd place finish in the 200m Dash. Ken Diedrich finished 7th in the mile, Ryan Neville ran to a season best 55.0 to place 8th in the 400m Run, Al Chery jumped 5' 8" for the first time to place 5th in the High Jump. The future looks bright for the wildcats.

5/13/05 - MSL Conference Meet @ Schaumburg - The varsity finished 8th with 42 points. Place winners where Bernard Gajos 3rd in the 800m Run 1:58.5, Troy Keith 7th in the 100m Dash 11.3, Lurano Lightburne 4th in the 400m Dash, 1600m Relay 5th in a season best 3:30.1 (Bernard Gajos, Derrick Moy, Abel Rangel and Lurano Lightburne) In the Field Events - Robert Kamentsev finished 7th with a 5' 11" jump. Abel Rangel finished 4th with a PR of 20' 10.5", Robert Kamentsev improved his triple jump best to 44' 3" and finished 3rd, and Nick Bledsoe threw a PR 166' 7" and finished 2nd in the discus and followed that up with a 5th place finish in the Shot put. As you can tell we are very strong in the field events, we need to gain some strength in the running events.

5/6/05 - Titan Inv. - Our final tune up before the conference meet had us finishing a respectable 5th place. The 4x100m Relay final put it together running a season best 44.3 with Abel Rangel, Arthur Norwood, Troy Keith and Lurano Lightburne. Troy Keith came back and finished 5th in the 100m dash in 11.3. Lurano Lightburne continued to be Mr. Consistant running 50.7 and finished 2nd place, just two tenths out of first. Freshman Abel Rangel continued to develop in the Long jump finishing 3rd in 20' .5" and then came back and jumped a season best 40' 5.5" in the triple jump. Finally, Nick Bledsoe starting living up to his big shoes by winning both the discus (156' 0" and shot put (52' 10.5) both season bests.

4/30/05 - Palatine Relays - The High Jumpers came back on saturday and finished 2nd to Fremd and improved their height total to 17' 11" Kamentsev, Austin and Keith all jumped over 5'11 with Kamentsev coming oh so close to clearing 6'3". Bernard Gajos ran to a 5th place finish in the 800m with a season best 2:00.7 He also came back 45 minutes later to help the Distance Medley finish 4th in the 16 team invitational. Also on the relay were Derrick Moy who ran the 1200m, Mike Austin the 400m and Mike Meier who ran the 1600 in 4:41. The Frosh-soph Discus crew finished an impressive 3rd, again only two feet out of 1st place. Bledsoe, Mata and Sicard continue to improve.

4/29/05 - McHenry Relays - The Cats finished a close 4th place at this years McHenry Relays. We finished with 39 points to Dundee-Crowns 50 and Hoffman Estates 50.5. We had many good performances. Two sophomores and a freshman finished 3rd only 2 feet behind the winners in the Discus. Nick Bledsoe, Chris Mata and Alex Sicard finshed with a total distance of 372' 11". Which included Bledsoe season best of 156' 7" In the Shot Put, Bledsoe, Sicard and Jim Fina teamed to finish 3rd also. In the High Jump, Robert Kamentsev, Tyler Austin and Troy Keith jumped a total height of 17' 4" to win the High Jump. In the running events one of our highlights included the performance of a freshman, 2 sophomores and a senior in the 4 mile relay. They finished 2nd place behind Hoffman Estates in a time of 19:15. Three of the four ran personal bests including Mike Meier who ran a 4:41, Kevin Smith 4:47, Ken Diedrich 4:51. That was our track highlight, otherwise lots of 4th and 5th places.

4/26/05 - Dual @ Buffalo Grove - The wildcats gave BG a run, but came up a little short. More importantly we have several improvments, that will allow us to be more competitve in our upcoming meets. Both our 4x100m Relay and 4x200m relay ran season bests. The return of Troy Keith has helped the sprints. Justin Apuli made a big jump in the long jump jumping 19' 11" a 6 inch person best.

4/23/05 - Streamwood Inv. - Canceled because of weather. It will not be rescheduled.

4/19/05 - Dual @ Hoffman Estates - The cats came up short as a team, Hoffman ouscoring us 99-49. We continue to see improvement as the season moves on. We continue to try athletes in new events to see how they can help us develop.

4/16/05 - Bartlett Inv. - The Bartlett Inv. was a springboard for the rest of our season last year. This year again we had great weather, and great performances. The varsity finished 7th out of 16 teams, and the Frosh-Soph won the meet with 95.5 points, outdistancing Deerfield for 2nd place. On the varsity level, we had many great performances including Robert Kamentsev 43' 8" Triple jump which ranks him 3rd in school history. Robert also finished 4th in the High Jump, and helped the 4x400m relay finish 3rd in a season best 3:33.3 Also on the relay were Lurano Lightburne, Bernard Gajos and Derrick Moy. Bernard and Derrick finished 2nd and 3rd in the open 800m running season bests 2:01.7 and 2:02. Nick Bledsoe finished 3rd in both the shot and discus throwing a season best 152' 11" in the discus.

On the frosh-soph level there were many solid performances, Tyler Austin won the High Jump in a career best 6' 0". Along with Tyler we had a 1st place finish by the 4x400m Relay team of Dan Diaz, Norbert Gajos, Abel Rangel and Tyler Austin in a season best 3:44.5. Other notable finishes included, Dan Diaz 3rd in both the 300m I. Hurdles, and 110m Hurdles, Norbert Gajos 2nd in the 800m run, Chris Mata 2nd in the Discus, Mike Meier 2nd in the 1600m Run, 2nd place - 3200m Relay team of Kevin Smith, Ken Diedrich, Mike Meier, and Eric Crabbe and finally the 4x200m Relay team finished 3rd with Abel Rangel, Edris Rashidi, Ryan Neville, and Pat Splon.

4/12/05 - Tri with Elk Grove @ Hersey - Hersey won the meet with 84 points to Wheeling 69, and Elk Grove 28. We competed very well against Hersey, but being short sprinters hurt us again as we got shut out of the spring relays. We continue to have strength in our field events, as well outdistanced both teams there. The distances are getting stronger but we are counting on too many sophomores to become varsity athletes too soon. The sprint talent is there, as demonstrated by Lurano Lightburnes area gest 50.7 in the 400m Dash. Lurano has continued to step up in the absence of several key sprinters.

4/13/05 - Barrington Frosh Inv. - 3rd place finish - This years group of freshman continue to enjoy success by finishing 3rd at this years Barrington Inv. The freshman were led by Abel Rangel who won the 400m Dash, and finished 2nd in the Long Jump and Triple Jump. Other place

4/5/05 Dual meet vs. Barrington - The outdoor season got off to a rough start with several sprinters missing due to injuries and poor choices. So short-handed Barrington outdistanced us 91-59.

3/24/05 - Romeoville Inv. - This meet is our only chance to race on a 200m track. For many of the distance guys this is what they have been waiting for all indoor season. We did have several new records set at the meet. The first was Nick Bledsoe continuing to improve throwing 51' 6" in the shot put. The 3200m relay team of Derrick Moy, Mike Meier, Norbert Gajos and Jose Bonilla ran 8:42.9 to set a new F/S 3200m Relay record. Also, Abel Rangel set a new freshman 400m Record running 55.6.

3/22/05 - Dual @ Glenbard North - The dual meet @ Glenbard North is a fun meet for us, gives kids chances to race events they normally don't do. Other athletes get the chance to finish the indoor season with season bests. The team scores were Glenbard North 94 Wheeling 40 on the varsity level, and the Frosh-Soph tied with both teams scoring 65.

3/18/05 - MSL Varsity Indoor Inv. @ Wheeling - The varsity had a great performance on friday night, finishing 3rd, but only 8 pts out of first place. There were many outstanding efforts including several records. The first belongs to Arthur Norwood who set the school record in the 55m of 6.3, he then followed that up with a win in hte 200m Dash in 24.0. Arthur rounded out his day with a 2nd place finish in the triple jump. Robert Kamentsev followed up Arthurs efforts by winning the High Jump with a Personal Best 6' 1" jump, that set the school sophomore record. He also finished 4th in the triple jump. David Arteaga competed in his first meet of the season and won the Long Jump in 20' 3". Jori Brown finished 2nd in the 200m in 24.6, giving the CATs a 1-2 finish and 18 big points. Bernard Gajos and Nick Bledsoe earned 3rd place finishes, in the 800m Run and Shot Put respectively. Lurano Lightburne, finished 4th in a great time of 53.7 on our smaller track. Abel Rangel finished 6th in the Long Jump, while Steve Barshak finished 6th in the 55m H. Hurdles. Our 4x400m Relay team ran a season best and finished 5th, included Abel Rangel, Robert Kamentsev, Lurano Lightburne, and Mike Austin. Finally our 4-lap relay finished 4th place, included Jori Brown, David Arteaga, Fred Arteaga and Ed Tellez.

3/12 F/S MSL Indoor Inv @ Rolling Meadows - Another solid performance by the Frosh-Soph group this weekend. The boys finished 2nd behind a very talented Barrington team. We were not at 100%, we continue to struggle with illness in the distances, and the turnabout dance on friday night too it's toll a little . Robert Kamentsev continues to be consistent in the triple jump winning this weekend in 41' 3", along with his 2nd Place in the High Jump - 5' 10". Dan Diaz had a good weekend finishing 2nd in both the High's and Intermediates. Able Rangel and Tyler Austin placed 2nd and 3rd in the Long Jump. As you can tell we are now scoring in the field events, a weakness we have had in the past. Our 4-Lap relay continues to be consistent finishing 2nd behind a meet record time from Barrington. The relay consisted of Phil Rifkin, Edris Rashidi, Dan Diaz and Tyler Austin. The distances have been helped by some strong freshman, in the 3200m Run Ken Diedrich placed 5th, and Jose Bonilla placed 6th both running personal bests. The 3200m Relay team of Derrick Moy, Norbert Gajos, Tony Segura and Kevin Smith finished a strong 3rd place.

3/5 - The week ended in a positive way with the Varsity winning the 15 team Maine East Inv. Two Team titles in one week not bad!! The Cats had many great performances, as we begin to see what kind of team we will have this season. Arthur Norwood won the 50 yd Dash, and Long Jump. Jori Brown won the 400m Dash, and the F/S 4x800m Relay of Kevin Smith, Mike Meier, Norbert Gajos, and Fransisco Perez captured first place in the varsity meet. We had many solid 2005 debuts, including Bernard Gajos - 3rd in the 800m run, Robert Kamentsev 3rd in High Jump and Triple Jump, Tyler Austin 4th in the High Jump, Lurano Lightburne 3rd in the 400m Dash. On Friday Night the rest of the team ran a dual vs. Mundelein. The meet turned into a one level non scoring meet. We had many solid performances, but still are fighting the flu and injury bug early in the season.

This week has been a busy one for us. The freshman competed in the District 214 meet, and walked away with a 1st Place trophy. The freshman are off to a great start this season. We are still adding athletes to our team, as winter sports have just completed. In the next week or so we should have all of our athletes out and can begin to determine what kind of a depth we will have this season.

We have been short handed in the first few meets. At Maine East we only had 5 varsity athletes compete, because of a school trip, and athletes still competing in other sports. At the Wildcat Inv., we finished a respectable 4th place, with many Frosh-soph athletes stepping up to contribute.

Take a look at it and start setting some goals. Click here to view the IHSA State Qualifying standards. For some of you it's time to start setting some higher goals!!