Editor’s note: Correction to Bo Breed’s grade level has been made post-publication; Breed was misidentified as a sophomore.
After an initial delay, Sat. Feb. 14 saw the first OH boys’ track’s first meet at Hononegah Community High School, and the team started the season off strong with many great performances.
Within team events, OH managed to take home first in both the 4×200 Relay and the 4×800 Relay. In singles competition, OH senior Dylan Johnson placed third in the 200 meters, OH junior Jezhiah Sprinkle was right behind him, taking fourth place; Sprinkle also took second in the 60-meter hurdles. OH junior Bo Breed took fifth in the 1600 meter race.
“It’s good to be back running and just getting back into the swing of things,” said OH senior Jack Wandoloski,” [and it] keeps my hopes high for the season.”
With many members of the team making big waves with their accomplishments in past years, such as record holders like junior Dontrell Young, Sprinkle, Breed, and Johnson, there was an abundance of anticipation built up for this season. With said anticipation came expectations, putting a lot of pressure on the boys to perform well at this meet.
“You can’t let the pressure get to you, otherwise you won’t perform, so you just gotta ignore the pressure,” said junior OH track athlete Jake Walsh.
Without counting OH, ten schools from around the state came to compete at Hononegah Community High School (HCHS), with high-ranking state athletes along with them. Even with athletes such as Palatine senior Alexander Krieg, Hononegah junior Chase Cutler, HCHS senior Coen Lee, HCHS junior Joey Smoody, and Roselle senior Rodrigo Gonzalez, OH managed to take first in two events and top five in many others.
“I feel we performed pretty good for our first meet of the season,” said Wandoloski, “and I know we’ll get better throughout.”
A great start means OH needs to keep the pace, and if past seasons are anything to look back at, they will continue with another strong appearance at the Lakes Invite in Antioch this Sat., Feb. 28.
“Even with us missing some of our teammates and some mess-ups, we did pretty well for a first meet, and we are only going to get better and better,” said Walsh.
Hi! My name is Anthony Martel, I am a Senior at Oswego High School and this is my first year being apart of the 42Fifty staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
