CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

 On Saturday, February 12, 2011, the Northside Varsity Men Track & Field Team traveled to Bloom High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois for the Lonnell Poole Invitational.

 The Lonnell Poole Invitational included, among others, Bartlett, Bloom High School, Jefferson, Thornton Fractional North, Argo, Hill crest, St. Ignatius, Crete-Monee, Northside College Prep, Shepard, and Orr.

 In 2010, the Northside Varsity Men scored only 12 points at the Lonnell Poole Invitational. That changed dramatically on Saturday.

 Bloom High School featured a 150 meters indoor track, complete with a High Jump Pit, Long Jump / Triple Jump Pit, and a Shot Put area. 

 The oldest school record at Northside is in the Long Jump. It has been held since 2003, by Leron Mitchell with a jump of 19'2.5.

 On the very first jump of 2011 Indoor Track & Field season, Northside Junior Josh Williams BROKE THE SCHOOL RECORD with a personal best jump of 19'4!!! Josh Williams will be honored in practice on Monday with a Watermelon for breaking the school record in the Long Jump!

 In the Triple Jump, Josh Williams jumped an outstanidng 38'04 to place eighth overall.

 In the Shot Put, Northside Senior Damian Azubuike threw an outstanding 35'03. Northside Senior Luke Kotowski threw a personal best 30'07.50!

 In the High Jump, Northside Junior Mac Melto and Northside Junior Josh Williams tied for sixth place with an outstanding jump of 5'4.

 In the 55m Dash Prelims, Northside Junior Mac Melto ran an outstanding time of 6.91. Northside Senior Luke Kotowski ran an outstanding time of 7.78.

 In the 3200m run, distance runners were required to run 21.3 laps on a 150m indoor track. St. Ignatius Jack Cross won the 3200m run with an outstanding time of 10:02.59. Northside Senior Charlie Mesimore finished in fourth place to secure vital points for the TEAM, with an outstanding time of 10:35.01. Mesimore also ran the second fastest time in Northside history on the 150m Track at the Lonnell Poole Invitational. Charlie Mesimore ran the first 50m in 7 seconds, and then ran 150m splits of 29 (1), 29 (2), 30 (3), 28 (4), 29 (5), 28 (6), 30 (7), 29 (8),  29 (9), 28 (10), 30 (11), 29 (12), 30 (13), 31 (14), 31 (15), 30 (16), 33 (17), 32 (18), 33 (19), 28 (20), and then ran the final 150 meters in 32 seconds for an outstanding time of 10:35.01. Northside Sophomore Brendan Kelly finished in tenth place with a time of 13:16.50.

 In the 800m run, Northside Senior Wesley Laytham WON it with an outstanding time of 2:05.78. A year ago, Wesley Laytham ran a 2:11 in his first meet. In 2011, Laytam ran 6 seconds faster than his first meet in 2010, with an outstanding time of 2:05.78! Laytham was the only CPS Class AAA individual state qualifer in the 800m run in 2010, and is already six seconds ahead of last year. Wesley Laytham was awarded a Medal for placing first overall. Bloom's Nick Anderson finished in second place with an outstanding time of 2:06.91. St. Ignatius Andrew Reardon finished in third place with an outstanding time of 2:09.97. Bartlett Joasfat Gonzalez finished in fourth place with a time of 2:11.13. Bartlet Nasir Almansri finished in fifth place with a time of 2:11.78. Bloom's Stephan Riley completed the scoring with a time of 2:12.81. Northside Junior Dan Graham ran an outstanding time of 2:20.41 to place ninth overall.

 In the 400m run, Northside Junior Mac Melto ran an outstanding race against Thronton Fractional North's Denzel Washington. Mac Melto finished in third palce overall with an outstanding time of 54.50! Mac Melto was awarded a Medal for placing third overall. Northside Senior Andres Del Gado ran an outstanding time of 66.71 to place 17th overall.

 In the 1600m run, Northside Senior Erik Zuehlke placed sixth overall to secure vital points for the Mustangs with an outstanding time of 5:02.91. Erik Zuehlke ran the first 100m in 14 seconds, and than ran 150m splits of 28 (1), 25 (2), 29 (3), 29 (4), 30 (5), 30 (6), 31 (7), 29 (8), 29 (9), and then ran the final 150 meters in 28.91 seconds for an outstanding time of 5:02.91.

 In the 4x400m Relay, Northside Junior Mac Melto ran the first leg of the relay in 56.45 seconds, and made a perfect exchange to Junior Dan Graham. Dan Graham ran the second leg of the relay in 60.55 seconds, and then made a perfect exchange to Senior Charlie Mesimore. Charlie Mesimore ran the third leg of the relay in 59.96 seconds, and made a perfect exchange to Senior Wesley Laytham. Wesley Laytham anchored the Mustangs to 5th place overall with a 57.89 400m split for a total time of 3:54.85. St. Ignatius finished in sixth place to complete the scoring with a time of 3:56.86.

VARSITY POINTS SCORED AT LONNELL POOLE INVITATIONAL 

1. Wesley Laytham                            10.50 

2. Mac Melto                                      7.00 

3. Charlie Mesimore                            4.50 

4. Erik Zuehlke                                    1.00 

5. Josh Williams                                  0.50