Bulldogs unable to medal at boys state track meet

The Highland boys track team completed its season over the weekend with competitors in three events at the IHSA state track finals. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs were unable to medal in any of the events.

Up first for Highland was pole vaulter Seby Wolf. Wolf, who had set the school record in the event with a 13-foot vault at the Lincoln Sectional a week ago, had no trouble clearing the bar at both 12 feet and 12 feet, 6 inches. At that point, Wolf was called to run in the 4 x 100 relay, and the interruption seemed to affect the senior vaulter. After competing in the relay, Wolf missed all three attempts at 13 feet and bowed out of the competition. It took a jump of 13-3 to qualify for Saturday's finals.

"Seby was looking good early on and seemed to have a good rhythm going," Bulldog track coach Bob Vance said. "When he came back from the relay, he was pretty pumped up, and he just couldn't get his approach steps right at 13 feet. He's the best vaulter in school history, but it's tough to make the finals at state. There were 23 vaulters that made 13 feet or higher in our class (2A) in qualifying for state. Sixteen feet won it, and it took 13 feet, 9 inches just to place."

The 4 x 100 relay team of Mason Geiger, Wolf, Chase DeProw, and Noah Schmitt also tasted disappointment at state with a time of 44.13 in its preliminary race.

"I thought we had a legitimate chance to qualify for the finals, but our exchanges were just a little off, and that's enough to keep you out of the money at state," Vance said. "These guys, along with Ivan Orozco, are the second-fastest sprint relay team in school history and the only group to qualify twice, but you only have one chance to do it at state, and you have to be near perfection to advance."

The only HHS sprint relay team to place at state was the 2015 unit of Brendan Sands, Logan Geiger, Gage Geiger, and Sam Teipe.

"Those guys set our school record of 42.85 and were only able to take seventh at state," Vance said. "It shows you how tough it is."

Sophomore Nick Hanratty was able to run on Saturday, as there are no prelims in his event, the 3,200. Hanratty, racing in the first of two sections of the 3,200, put himself in good position at the halfway point with a 1,600-meter time of 4:58. Unfortunately, at that point, the Bulldog distance runner began to fade and eventually dropped to seventh place in his section and 18th overall, finishing with a time of 10:29.82.

"Nick came a long way this year," Vance said. "He improved by nearly a minute this year, reaching a season best of 10:13 at the MVC conference meet, but he's probably another year of training away from being a true contender at state. I like how he tried to run with the leaders. He's learned a lot about racing this year, and about himself."

This story was originally published May 28, 2018 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Bulldogs unable to medal at boys state track meet."