Tucker Thompson Wins Shot Put As Varsity Team Takes 3rd At CSL North Indoor Championship

Highland Park finished in 3rd place at the CSL North Indoor Championships.   The team had many strong performances and looks to continue to improve this outdoor season.  

The Giants only win came in the Shot Put.   Senior Tucker Thompson finished off an impressive indoor season with a personal best throw of 47’11.25” to take 1st place.   In the Triple Jump junior DJ Penick had his best jump of the season with a leap of 40’11” to take 2nd place.  Junior Bobby McCraren was another field event guy that had a big personal best as he cleared 11’0” in the Pole Vault to take 4th place.  Junior Nick Kirsch was able to get 6th place in the Long Jump with a mark of 17’7.75”.   The team knows it must get more points in the field events to win a championship.   HP has the athletes to do that, but they need to stay focused, work hard, and execute their events in the big meets.

On the track, the distance runners were hoping to score a bit more points, but still had some highlights.   In the 800 Meter Run, sophomore Fitz Laurie took 3rd (2:05.07) as junior Jonathan Rosenfeld was 5th (2:09.11).  Neither runner was satisfied with their races and are looking to have big breakthroughs this outdoor season.   Senior Brett Davidson run a gutsy race in the 1600 Meter Run.   He led most of the race, had to avoid a pole vault pole that fell into the track, and was nearly tripped by another runner, but was still able to stay focused and race with grit.  He ended up taking 3rd place in 4:37.58.   Freshmen Jose Reyes battled tough in this race and was able to run a personal best 4:42.72 for 5th place. He broke the HPHS Freshmen Indoor 1600 Meter Run Record which was set in 1976!  The 4X800 Meter Run took 3rd place and sophomore Alec Glazier picked up a 6th place in the 3200 Meter Run.

Zev Motew placed in both hurdle events as he continues to improve each meet.  In the 55 Meter High Hurdles, he took 3rd place in 7.96.  This makes the all-time top 10 list for HPHS in this event.   In the 55 Meter Low Hurdles, Motew finished in 4th place running 7.90.  

The 4X160 Meter Relay had another good showing as they had superb hand-offs and ran tough.   The team of sophomore Michael Menaker, juniors Ben Davis and Penick, and senior Mark Gilling took 3rd place in 1:18.65.  Gilling and Davis also came back in the 200 Meter Dash to take 4th (24.80) and 6th (25.39).

The 4X400 Meter Relay had their best time of the season, but needs to get much faster this outdoor season.  They took 4th place in 3:46.06 (Rosenfeld 56.7, Laurie 56.8, junior Ari Weisenthal 57.7 (he also took 6th in the 400 Meter Dash-58.47), and Motew 54.7).

As the outdoor season adds more events to the lineup, it will test the depth of this team.   This also opens more opportunities for athletes on the team to have an impact and help HP be a better team this outdoor season and into future seasons.   This is a crucial time for every Giant to stay focused on and off the track.