HP Competes at Meet Hosted by New Trier

New Trier hosted a meet with several schools with an adjusted schedule to get the meet in before it got dark since their track does not have lights. The meet had no relays and a different order of events. There was a little rain and some  wind, but overall solid conditions for a track & field meet.

Field Event Highlights:

In the throws, the Giants had a handful of personal best marks in each event. In shot put, Dmitry Derbedyenyev (Sr.) led the way with a season best toss of 43’9.25”. Devin Symonette (Jr.) also had an outdoor best throw of 37’8.5”. Rodrigo Sanchez (Jr.) had a just over 1 foot personal best of 33’8.5”. Alexandros Drosos (Jr.) was just over his best mark with a 33’4.75” toss. Henry Flory (Fr.) had a personal best of 27’7.5”. Zach Shapiro (So.), Leo Buss (Fr.), and Tanner Grant (Sr.) each threw personal best marks going 25’6.75”, 24’10.5”, and 19’8.75”. In the discus, Jacob Both (Fr.) led the way with a toss of 91’2”. Daniel Derbedyenyev (Fr.) threw his best of 84’5”. Alex Knight (Sr.) had a big season best throw of 83’4”. Sanchez came back with another big PR by throwing 75’7”. This was nearly a 10 foot improvement. Buss was near his best mark with a 67’5” throw and Grant got another best mark with a throw of 39’10”. 

Charlie Ludington (Jr.) competed in his first meet of the season and had an impressive showing. In the long jump, he jumped 19’4.25” to set the top mark for the team this season. He also got 37’10.75” to lead the way in the triple jump. Tyler Rosenthal (Sr.) also got a personal best in the triple jump with a 37’5.75” mark. Preston Reed (Fr.) was near his best mark with a 15’3” jump and Luca Ritchie (Fr.) was also near his best at 13’3.5”.

Ludington also competed in the pole vault for the first time and cleared 7’5.75”. Will Redmond (So.) cleared 6’11.75”.

Track Event Highlights:

The first event on the track was the 800 meter run. HP only had Lowell Redmond in this event. He ran a personal best 2:19.43 to gu sub 2:20 for the first time. 

In the 100 meter dash, the team was led by Damian Zuno (Sr.) in 12.36. Connor Edelstein (Sr.) raced in his first 100 meter race and ran 12.81. Eric Rojas (Jr.) was near his best time with a 13.19. Nityananda Amin (Fr.) and Jude White (Fr.) both ran their best times of 13.47 and 14.01. Reed ran 14.03 for the event. Ethan Glovsky (So.) and Josh Alberts (Fr.) raced the 100 for the first time this season in 14.11 and 14.86.

Logan Liu (So.) led the way for the Giants in the 1600 meter run with a 5:06.00. Abel Reese had a strong finish in a near personal best 5:16.41. Other PRs were run by Robby Mendoza (Jr.) in 5:43.94 and Joaquin Rivera (Fr.) at 6:15.89. Maksar Oyurskiy (Fr.) was near his best time with a 6:31.43.

The FAT times got messed up by the timing system in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles. Lachlan Knapp (Jr.), Robert Oboza (Sr.), and Russell Czerwinski (Sr.) finished in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th with times somewhere in the 43s. Luke Byrnes (Jr.) in the other heat ran a personal best :53.91.

In the 200 meter dash, the team was led by Eddy Picazo (Sr.) in :25.49. Hayden Tortora (So.) was just behind him in :25.59. Zuno ran a :25.78 while Ben Kerch (Sr.) was the only other Giant under 26 in :25.92. The next 4 sprinters for HP all raced to their best times. This included Rojas (:27.40), Will Redmond (So.) (:27.60), Glovsky (:27.63), and Amin (:28.01). 

Since the meet did not have a 4X400 meter relay at the end, they ran the 400 last. HP was led by Oboza in :53.5 for 2nd place. Czerwinski raced to a solid :56.11. Gabriel Jackson (Fr.) was next in :57.02. Abel Reese (Fr.) had an incredible breakthrough race in the 400. After his strong finish in the 1600, he topped that by running down 2 of his teammates in the final stretch to run :58.45. His previous best from indoors was 1:06.2! Yonatan Garfinkel (Sr.) ran :58.49 for the event. Reed and Liu both ran sub 60 for the first time this season in :59.21 and :59.99. Lowell Redmond came back with another PR in 1:01.33. Pedraza also ran his best time, going 1:02.05. 

This meet produced some quality performances and efforts for the Giants. Still much work is left to be done as the season progresses and the opportunities to compete become less and less. 

Giant of the Meet Nominations:

Charlie Ludington - 1st meet did 3 events: LJ 19’4.25”, TJ 37’10.75”, and PV 7’5.75”.

Maksar Oyurskiy - Being a great teammate by helping and supporting others while staying focused to run his events (1600 and 400) and do well.

Abel Reese - 2 great finishes. 1600 to run near his PR and incredible final stretch in the 400 for a huge PR of :58.45.

Rodrigo Sanchez - PR in both throws with a 75’7” mark in discus and 33’8.5” in the shot put.

Giant of the Meet:

Abel Reese