Boys Track: Geneva’s Pete Archibald holds off rival in 800
| Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media |
Updated: May 18, 2012 11:40PM
Superman and the Flash raced only three times in DC comic books, but there will be a fourth race in the 800 meters between Geneva’s Pete Archibald and St. Charles East’s Jake Mazanke, and it will be at Charleston in the state meet next week after they staged an epic third 800-meter duel Friday night at the Class 3A St. Charles North Sectional with Archibald winning for the second time.
Archibald’s inspired victory, in a time of 1:53.91, highlighted the Vikings’ effort on a night when they finished second to Bartlett (94) as a team with 62 points and earned four berths at state.
Archibald held off Mazanke (1:54.04) down the stretch after both stayed back through a lap and a quarter.
“He’s insanely good in the 400 meters so he’s definitely got that speed and I’m in the mile and stuff and like that, so I’ve got some endurance there,” Archibald said. “We went out relatively slow for our pace in, I think 59 (seconds). I figured that last lap he had that 400 speed and would be closing fast with that.”
But Archibald hung on, as both runners advanced to state — the second time Archibald has made it. A defeat had a lot to do with Archibald running well, as did inspiration he drew from a teammate’s injury.
The Geneva 3,200-meter relay team had led up until the final lap but missed qualifying for state by .15 seconds.
“Definitely that built up some anger and some drive to compete in the 800,” Archibald said. “And then one of my teammates, Mike Bianchina, went down in the 3,200 (with a leg injury) and they had to take him off in an ambulance. It happened right by me and it was one of the most painful things I’ve ever seen. I wanted to win this on his account.”
Geneva’s other two state qualifiers are Ben Rogers and Kyle McNeil. Rogers took second in the long jump at 22 feet, 4 3/4 inches, a quarter inch better than his previous best, then won the triple jump in a personal best 46-1. McNeil placed second in the discus, a whopping 7 feet, 4 inches better than his seed distance at 157-5.
When it came to exceeding bests, no one stood taller than Marmion high jumper Peter Stefanski. He hit the standard he’s been shooting for all year by clearing 7 feet for a win over St. Charles North’s Oshay Hodges. Stefanski ticked the bar on his third try at the height, but it held.
“I mis-hit it my first time at the height, but all I had to worry about was my leg kick on that (final) one so I was just trying to correct that for my third jump,” Stefanski said. “I’m pretty satisfied.
“I thought I could get 7 feet ever since I hit 6-10. It was no surprise that it was going to come. It’s an awesome feeling.”
Marmion’s Jake Ruddy won the long jump at 22-7 1/4 to advance, while the Cadets’ 3,200 relay team of David Blaha, Chris Burrows, Matt Choice, and Nolan Dickson came from behind on Dickson’s anchor leg to win in 7:58.32, a full 16.08 seconds better than their seed.
“This wasn’t the four that we had established,” Burrows said. “We saw the seed times and we thought we could do some damage with this group so we put our fastest four together.
Metea Valley had the most area qualifiers with four individuals and its second-place 1,600 relay team of Tre’sean Mackey, Alan Williams, Aaron Laskey, and William King (3:20.9). The Mustangs tied for second with 62 points.
Joseph Stewart held seed and won the 3,200 (9:15.2) with his brother, Matt also qualifying by beating state standard in third (9:28.16). And 300-meter hurdler Benjamin Hulett took second (39.58) to advance.
The Mustangs junior Colin Yorke was the surprise winner of the meet in the 1,600. With six runners owning better seed times, he ran a 4:27.07, 6.27 seconds better than his previous best.
“The first couple laps everyone was bunched all together and in the third lap everyone started to move,” Yorke said. “I decided to go with them. At that point I realized what I had in me. I was trying to get the time for state. I had no idea I could win it.”
Batavia’s two state qualifiers were Jake Pollack in third in the high jump (6-5), and pole vaulter Brandon Clabough, who broke the school record when he cleared 15 feet for an upset victory over Schaumburg’s Andrew Selep.
“I went to a bigger pole today — 15 feet instead of 14-6 — and it really made a difference,” Clabough said. “My goal starting the year was 14-7, so now I’m looking to push it even higher.”
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