Announcement
Northside Distance Medley Relay upsets Lane Tech! Eric Nelson throws Discus 112'5! and breaks School and Meet Record with 6'5.5 High Jump!
The 2008 Windy City Classic Relays included the most talented field ever assemled for a meet in Chicago thanks to the sponsorship efforts of Elzie Higginbottom and Dr. Conrad W. Worrill, and the support of Mayor Richard M. Daley. The meet featured some of the best high school teams in the Midwest including Detroit, Michigan Track powerhouse, Mumford High School, East St.Louis Flyers, Roosevelt (IN), Wallace (IN), West High School (IN), Cass High School, Bloom Township, Lane Tech, Morgan Park, Northside College Prep, North Chicago Warhawks, De La Salle, Dunbar, North Lawndale, Lincoln Park, South Shore, North Lawndale, Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Fenger.
One of the sponsors of the Meet was Elzie Higginbottom, the owner of Eastlake Management Corporation. Higginbottom ran for Bloom Township High School, and was State Champion in the 400m run. After a successful collegiate career, he also became a star in the world of real estate, and his company, East Lake Management Corporation currently employs over 500 people. He credits Track and Field for his success in the world of business and economics, and donated thousands of dollars to make the 2008 Windy City Classic Relays the most competive meet in Chicago, and to give each athlete a special experience, including "goody bags" for all participants filled with Track and Field items.
Elzie Higginbottom and Dr. Conrad W. Worrill are the founders of "Friends of Track and Field", an organization with a mission of providing each Chicago Public School Track athlete the opportunity, motivation, and inspiration to reach his or her full potential by encouraging them to develop endurance, speed, strength, discipline, and self-esteem that will prove to enchance their overall academic development and career success.
On Friday evening, Willie Williams (in 1956, broke Jesse Owens' World record in the 100m Dash), addressed the Mustangs and all teams in attendance at a pre-meet banquet held at Kennedy King College. The athletes and coaches were provided with a fully catered meal, and honored guests included Dorothy Dawson, the President of USA Track and Field, and Sean Harden, the executive assistant to Mayor Richard M. Daley, among others.
Willie Williams told the athletes that after losing a race to his sister, he joined the Track Team, because he wanted to learn how to become fast enough to beat her in a race. One day, Olympic legend Jesse Owens came to his school. After meeting Jesse Owens, he rushed home after practice to tell his mother, that he learned the secret from Owens, and that he will never lose another race. His mother asked him, how come he will never lose another race? Willie Williams told his Mother that Jesse Owens told him that if he listened to his coaches, teachers, and parents, he would never lose. Willie Williams followed that formula and went on to break Jesse Owens world record in the 100m dash.
On Saturday morning, after a night of inspirational stories from past Olympians and Olympic hopefuls, the Northside Varsity Men traveled to Hanson Stadium for the 2008 Windy City Classic Relays.
Unfortunately, Albert Lin, Jerry Tran, Brandon Teng, and Roldan Alegre, without any notification to the Northside Coaching staff, did not show up to the bus or the meet, so the Mustangs were forced to scratch several events while over 60 Northside athletes were at home on Saturday who have liked to have had the opportunity to run in their place and experience the Windy City Classic Relays. As a result, the Mustangs had several athletes compete in four relays to help the Team, and it paid off, as the Mustangs placed sixth overall in a very talented field of Teams. Individual Events and Relays were scored 10-8-6-4-2-1. Bloom Township, alma matter of Elzie Higginbottom, won the 2008 Windy City Classic Relays, with 98 points. Lane Tech finished in second place with 65 points. Detroit Mumford finished in third with 64 points. De La Salle finished in fourth with 60 points. Morgan Park finished in fifth place with 56 points. Northside finished in sixth place with 41 points and posted victories, among others, over Lincoln Park (21), Harlan (20), Hyde Park (20), Kenwood (20), Fenger (18), North Lawndale (7), North Chicago Warhawks (4), and South Shore (2).
In the Discus, there was over 24 throwers in the competition, and Northside Junior Eric Nelson, on his final throw, threw a personal best 112'5 to place sixth overall. Eric Nelson was awarded a Medal for placing sixth overall. Eric Nelson improved by over 9'0 in the Discus! Lane Tech's Laken Tomlinson finished in seventh place with a throw of 110'8.50. Bloom Township's Shawntan Smith finished in 8th place with an outstanding throw of 103'9. De La Salle's Sean Graves finished in 9th place with a throw of 101'2.50. North Lawndale's Latrell Hasell finished in 10th place with a throw of 99'1.50. Kenwood's Keith Ross finished in 11th place with a throw of 94'3.50. Dunbar's John Price finished in 12th place with a throw of 89'2.50. Northside Junior John Ko finished in 13th place with a throw of 86'8.50. However, John Ko had an amazing final throw that barely went foul, and looks ready for big things to happen at the upcoming Deerfield Track & Field Classic.
In the Shot Put, Northside Junior Eric Nelson placed sixth overall with an outstanding throw of 42'4. Eric Nelson was awarded a medal for placing sixth overall. Junior John Ko threw the shot put 32'0.
In the High Jump, the Mustangs had a special day. Northside Junior Wemi Jemine tied for third place overall with a jump of 5'8, and made three outstanding attempts at 5'10. Wemi Jemine was awarded a Medal for placing third overall. Northside Captain Eric Nelson BROKE THE SCHOOL RECORD and the MEET RECORD with a jump of 6'5.5. Eric Nelson was awarded a Medal for placing first overall. The combination of Nelson, Jemine, Lin, and Speese could contend for the Spartan Relays High Jump Title against Glenbrook South, and York, among others, on Friday, April 25, 2008.
In the Long Jump, Northside Junior Martin Melto placed 18th overall with a jump of 16'9.75.
In the 800 Medley Relay, the Mustangs placed 11th overall, Northside Sophomore Neal Capapas and Junior Wemi Jemine ran the 100m legs of the relay. Senior Erik Flores ran a 25.66 200m split on the third leg of the relay, and Senior Preston Buehrer anchored the Mustangs with a 60.97 400m split for a total time of 1:52.09.
In the 4x800m Relay, Detroit Mumford High School won it with a 8:06.45. Northside medaled by placing sixth overall with a 9:00.07 4x800m Relay. Junior Brandon Cooper ran a 2:13 800m split on the first leg of the Relay. Junior Simon Vecchioni ran a 2:16 800m split on the second leg of the Relay. Freshman Charlie Mesimore ran a 2:16 800m split on the third leg of the Relay, and made a nice exchange to Freshman Wesley Laytham. Wesley Laytham anchored the Mustangs to sixth place overall with a 2:15 800m split, for a total time of 9:00. Brandon Cooper, Simon Vecchioni, Charlie Mesimore, and Wesley Laytham were awarded a Medal for placing sixth overall.
Although the Mustangs were up at 6 am on Friday, April 18, 2008, practicing hand-offs for the Freshman 4x100m Relay, it had to be scratched due to an injury to Freshman Miles Austrevich.
Last Wednesday at New Trier, the Northside Varsity 4x100m Relay broke the school record with 48.68. Could it happen again at the Windy City Classic Relays? Yes! In the 4x100m Relay. the Northside Mustangs BROKE THE SCHOOL RECORD for the second time in a week with a new school record time of 48.14. Junior Martin Melto ran a 12.27 100m split on the first leg of the Relay. Junior Wemi Jemine ran a 11.10 100m split on the second leg of the Relay. Senior Erik Flores ran a 12.68 100m split on the third leg of the Relay. Sophomore Neal Capapas ran a 12.59 100m split to anchor the Mustangs to a new school record of 48.14.
In the 3200m run, Lane Tech's Fernando Arroyo won it with an outstanding time of 10:17. Northside Sophomore Cuitlahuac Pineda Youniss placed second overall with an outstanding time of 10:27 (5:10/5:17). Junior Jonathan Kittaka placed third overall with a PERSONAL BEST time of 10:30 (5:12/5:18). Lane Tech's Eduardo Sanchez placed fourth overall with an outstanding time of 10:42. Lincoln Park's Henry Mattingly placed fifth overall with a time of 10:48. Bloom Township's Justin Gertz placed sixth overall with a time of 10:49.
In the 4x200m Relay, Junior Martin Melto ran a 26.30 200m split on the first leg of the relay. Junior Simon Vecchioni ran a 26.31 200m split on the second leg of the relay. Sophomore Neal Capapas ran a 25.94 200m split on the third leg of the relay. Senior Erik Flores ran a 25.81 200m split to anchor the Mustangs to a time of 1:44.36.
The Mustangs had to scratch the Hurdle Shuttle Relay, due to Roldan Alegre and Albert Lin not showing up to the meet. Morgan Park won the Hurdle Shuttle Relay with an outstanding time of 1:04.61.
In the Distance Medley Relay, Detroit Mumford High School won it with an outstanding time of 11:25.52. Northside upset Lane Tech (11:45.74) at the finish to place second overall with an outstanding time of 11:45.34! Northside Sophomore Cooper Eben ran the first 400m of the 1200m leg in 70 seconds, and then ran a 74 for a 2:24 800m split, and then ran a 72 400m split for a personal best 1200m time of 3:36. Sophomore Cooper Eben made a nice exchange to Junior Brandon Cooper. Brandon Cooper ran a 55.48 400m split on the 400m leg of the Relay, and made a nice exchange to Junior Simon Vecchioni. Simon Vecchioni ran a 2:14.41 800m split on the 800m leg of the Relay, and made a nice exchange to Junior Jonathan Kittaka. Jonathan Kittaka ran a 73 400m split, then ran a 75 400m split, then ran a 80 400m split, and was 100m behind Lane Tech, going into the final lap of the Distance Medley Relay, and then ran the final 400m in 73 seconds for a 5:01 Mile to pass Lane Tech (11:45.74) at the line with a total time of 11:45.34! Cooper Eben, Brandon Cooper, Simon Vecchioni, and Jonathan Kittaka were awarded Medal for placing second overall!
In the Sprint Medley Relay, Junior Martin Melto ran a 25.83 200m split on the first leg of the Relay. Junior Nathan Michaelson ran a 28.78 200m split on the second leg of the Relay. Freshman Luis Gaytan ran a 67.19 400m split on the third leg of the Relay. Sophomore Andrew Czyszczon ran a 2:31.62 800m split to anchor the Mustangs to a time of 4:33.42.
In the Mile, Sophomore Cuitlahuac Pineda Youniss placed sixth overall with an outstanding time of 4:53 (2:26/2:27). Cuitlahuac Pineda Youniss was awarded a medal for placing sixth overall. Freshman Wesley Laytham placed seventh overall with an outstanding time of 4:58 (2:32/2:26).
In the 4x400m Relay, Senior Erik Flores ran a 61.27 400m split on the first leg of the relay. Sophomore Neal Capapas ran a 56.34 400m split on the second leg of the relay. Junior Simon Vecchioni ran a 59.81 400m split on the third leg of the relay. Junior Jonathan Kittaka anchored the Mustangs with a 59.94 400m split for a total time of 3:57.36.
The Mustangs will travel to Deerfield, Illinois for a co-ed Meet against the Deerfield Warriors on Monday, April 21, 2008. All members of the Northside Track & Field Team will be competing in the meet.
VARSITY POINTS SCORED1. Eric Nelson 12.00
2. Cuitlahuac Pineda Youniss 9.00
3. Jonathan Kittaka 8.00
4. Wemi Jemine 5.00
5. Simon Vecchioni 2.25
5. Brandon Cooper 2.25
6. Cooper Eben 2.00
7. Charlie Mesimore 0.25
7. Wesley Laytham 0.25
VARSITY SEASON POINT LEADERS (14 Meets)
1. Eric Nelson 138.50
2. Cuitlahuac Pineda Youniss 81.75
3. Cooper Eben 57.25
4. Jonathan Kittaka 49.00
5. Wemi Jemine 44.00
6. Albert Lin 37.00
7. Santino Merino 35.25
8. Wesley Laytham 29.25
9. Simon Vecchioni 26.25
10. Hersch Perlmutter 23.0011. Brandon Cooper 22.75
12. Charlie Mesimore 17.75
13. Erik Flores 14.50
14. Hunter Speese 14.00
15. Jiasong Yang 13.25
16. Martin Melto 12.00
17. Brian Chhun 11.00
18. Andrew Czyszczon 9.50
19. John Ko 8.00
20. Vinh Nguyen 6.50
21. Neal Capapas 5.75
22. Miles Austrevich 5.50
23. Preston Buehrer 4.00
24. Alex Aparicio 2.50
25. Adam Swiatlowski 2.00
25. Benjamin Garcia 2.00
25. Spencer Rosenfeld 2.00
25. Brandon Teng 2.00
26. Noel Lopez 1.50
27. Brad Eben 1.25
27. Brandon Quach 1.25
28. Nathan Michaelson 1.00
28. Ted Kalaw 1.00
29. Jerry Tran 0.75
30. Rafael Confino 0.50
30. Gus Hernandez 0.50
31. Dan Kosmala 0.25
31. John Konow 0.25
