York wins 10 of 17 events to win team title

By Michael Newman

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Elmhurst, Ill --- It is usually the case in a track meet that the closest races that are contested are the sprint events. It was the exact opposite in the distance crazy West Suburban – Silver Conference Meet Friday evening at York High School. Four of the top five teams in the state meet last fall were from this conference. So it was no surprise that the focus of this meet would be the distance events.

The 4 x 800 Meter Relay, the first final of the evening, gave a glimpse of the excitement that was to come. York’s Matt Plowman gave his team at the first exchange running a 1:59.3 opening split. Lyons Township, Hinsdale Central, and Downers Grove North were all two seconds back. Downers North’s Jack Diamond gave his team the lead passing York’s Nathan Mroz in the final 100 meters. The race had opened up with Lyons Township and York tenths of a second behind the Trojans. The third leg gave Lyons Township the lead. Henry Hostetler ran a 2:01.5 split giving the Lions more than a two second lead over the two teams. With Hostetler handing off the baton to Alex Lima, it looked like the race was over.

The final 800 Meters brought the capacity crowd to their feet. Lima had built up a ten meter lead, but Downers North had ace half miler Tony Zea anchoring. York had an ace of their own in Alex Bashqawi. The two worked together to get closer to Lima. It worked. With 300 Meters to go, the duo had caught up to the lead. Zea had the lead for the next 200 meters. When it got to the bell lap, it was anyone’s race. Lima zipped by Zea on the first turn with Bashqawai content to let the two go at it waiting for his moment to strike. With 100 meters to go, Bashqawai passed Zea with his sights on Lima. Bashqawai went to the outside of Lane 2 as he came down the home stretch. Lima saw Bashqawai out of the corner of his eye in the final 10 meters. By the time he reacted, it was too late. Lima lost his balance as he crossed the finish knocking into the York runner as they crossed the line. The 1:55.1 anchor for Bashqawi gave York a season’s best time of 8:00.50. Lyons Township finished two tenths of a second back. Downers North finished third (8:01.56).

The 800 Meter Run was just as close. Plowman was coming back from the relay. Waiting for him was a fresh Ryan Clevenger (North HS, Downers Grove). Clevenger took the lead in the first 100 meters of the race and started to push the pace. Plowman was half a second behind at the 400 as Clevenger went through in 58.1. It was clear at this point that one of these two athletes would win the race as they pulled away from the pack. Clevenger went by the bell lap at 1:27.3 with Plowman still in pursuit. Clevenger sprinted down the back stretch but Plowman was finally starting to make some ground. They came out of the final curve together as Plowman looked for any opportunity to pass the Downers junior on the outside. Side by side the two sprinted towards the finish line. Plowman just edged by Clevenger as they crossed the finish line. The margin of victory was only three hundredths of a second (1:56.61 – 1:56.64).

It was just as close in the 600 Meter Run. Alex Lima had finished ahead of Tony Zea at the end of the 4 x 800 Meter Relay. The tables turned just slightly in this race. Zea edged Lima at the line to win by one hundredth of a second (1:25.12 – 1:25.13).

Perhaps the best tactical race of the evening was the 1600 Meter Run. The pace was a rollercoaster for the first 80 meters going 32 – 35 – 33 – 34 to get to 2:14 at the half. Ryan Clevenger had the lead with his teammate Zack Smith just off his shoulder. Another 67 second 400 showed that this race was going to end up to the runner with the best kick. Alex Bashqawi was again waiting for the right moment to go. With two laps to go, Clevenger looked to the right just to make sure Smith was right on his shoulder. He was as he moved right on Clevenger’s right side. The two were feeding off of each other’s energy. They were also forming a purple wall that the York runner was behind. If Bashqawi were to go, he would have to use more energy to swing ahead on the outside. The two started to move away on the final lap. Bashqawi made his move, but it looked like it was a little too late. Clevenger showed a little speed of his own able to hold off the surging York runner. It was Clevenger’s first conference title. The margin of victory was only a quarter of a second (4:24.04 – 4:24.29). Smith finished just behind in third.

The only race that was not dramatic was the 3200 Meter Run. Billy Magnesen (Central HS, Hinsdale) let Kyle Mattes (York HS, Elmhurst) take care of the pacing duties as the two passed the 1600 alone in 4:41. When the next 400 dropped off to 73 seconds, Magnesen figured it was time to go. He threw in a 71 second next two laps to open up a gap on Mattes. The margin of victory was 8 seconds as Magnesen claimed the conference title in that event. (9:26.98 – 9:35.12).

York has been embarrassed the past couple of years at the state meet leaving Charleston with only single digit scores. If Friday’s meet was any indication, the Dukes could be in contention for a trophy. York won 10 of 17 events to win the team championship with 169 ½ points. Oak Park River Forest was next with 82 points.

Part of the success of York came from multiple wins by Jarvis Hill and Reid Smith. Hill looked convincing in winning both the 55 Meter High and Low Hurdles. He also anchored York’s 4 x 2 and 4 x 4 relays to wins. In the York’s win in the 4 x 200 Meter Relay, they established a new record in the event of 1:31.96. That time is currently the fifth best in the state. It just missed the school indoor record by nine hundredths of a second of the team from 2009. That quartet went on to finish second at the national championships that year.

Smith gave the team wins in the Pole Vault and the Long Jump. He won the Pole Vault with a clearance of 13-6. He trailed in the Long Jump after the preliminary round. In his first jump of the finals, he soared to a personal best of 21-10 ¾ to win the event. Smith was not as fortunate in the High Jump. Both Smith and Chris Wright-Madison (Oak Park-River Forest HS) had cleared 6-6 but the Oak Park senior was ahead on fewer misses. Smith missed on his third attempt. It was a different story for Wright-Madison as he cleared the bar on his final attempt. His clearance of 6-8 set a new Field House record.

Even though the distance races had close finishes, the award for the race that had to go to the photo was the 55 Meter Dash. Josh Farrar (York HS, Elmhurst) and Derrick Roberts (Central HS, Hinsdale) crossed the line in identical times (6.68). Farrar was awarded the win as he finished two thousandth of a second ahead of Roberts. Farrar came back later in the evening to win the 200 Meter Dash (22.98).

Other event winners included Nkemjika Nwosu (Central HS, Hinsdale) in the Triple Jump, Paul Selman (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) in the 400 Meter dash, and Nick Janicki (North HS, Downers Grove) in the Shot Put.