Announcement
Steven Kataba, Justin Washington, Brandon Banas, and Garret Barch BREAK SCHOOL RECORD in 4x160m Relay! 1:20.9! Tom Frejowski SECOND in the 400m Dash!
On Saturday, March 7, 2015, the Northside Varsity Men traveled to Maine East High School for the 49th Annual Blue Demon Invitational. It was the Mustangs second appearance in Northside history at the Blue Demon Invitational.
Former All State 800m runner, and Head Coach of the Maine East Track & Field Team, Scott Schultes, invited Northside to be a part of the 49th Annual Blue Demon Invitational. The meet is limited to ten Teams, and Northside accepted the invitation to be a part of a great indoor meet.
Maine East has a long history of hosting the best Track meets in the Central Suburban league. The competition is always outstanding. They have also hosted Indoor Pentathlons at the start of every indoor track season. The Track is 160m and allows athletes to use 1/8 Pyramid spikes. Maine East also features upper deck stadium seating.
The 49th Annual Blue Demon Invitational featured Deerfield, Glenbard East, Leyden, Maine West, New Trier, Northside, Schaumburg, Northridge, Vernon Hills, and host Maine East.
Entries were limited to two athletes per event in the Varsity division. The meet featured four Sophomore-Freshman events, the Shot Put, 4x800m Relay, 4x160m Relay, and 4x400m Relay.
Medals were awarded to the top six athletes or Relays in each event.
Individual events and relays were scored on the following point scale: 10-8-6-4-2-1.
Northside had a BIG day in ALL of the relays.
First, the Varsity 4x160m Relay BROKE the SCHOOL RECORD with an official time of 1:20.90. Northside Junior Steven Kataba ran a 19.51 160m split on the first leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Justin Washington. Northside Junior Justin Washington ran a 19.94 160m split on the second leg of the relay, and made a good exchange to Brandon Banas. Northside Sophomore Brandon Banas ran a 21.10 160m split on the third leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Garret Barch. Northside Junior Garret Barch anchored Northside to the MEDAL stand with an impressive 19.94 160m split for an official time of 1:20.90.
Steven Kataba, Justin Washington, Brandon Banas, and Garret Barch were awarded MEDALS for finishing sixth overall in the 4x160m Relay. Northside posted victories over Deerfield, Maine East, Northridge, and Schaumburg in the 4x160m Relay.
Less than a week ago, Niles North beat Northside in the 4x160m Relay by almost two seconds with a 1:21. That changed dramatically on Saturday at the Maine East Invitational.
Steven Kataba, Justin Washington, Brandon Banas, and Garret Barch broke the school record with a 1:20.90, and will be honored in practice on Monday. Steven Kataba, Justin Washington, Brandon Banas, and Garret Barch will receive watermelons for breaking the school record in the 4x160m Relay.
The next goal for the Northside sprinters will be to break the school record in the 4x200m Relay at the Indoor City Championships and/or during the outdoor season. The 4x200m Relay record (1:36.50, 2010 Spartan Relays) is held by Nathaniel Agharese, Hunter Speese, Neal Capapas, and Mac Melto.
Northside has strong depth in the sprints this year, including Senior Gabriel Jiminez-Ekhman, Junior Philip Wdowiak, Sophomore Jacob Cosby, Sophomore Josh Borgwardt, and Freshman phenoms Nick Brown, and Carel Jones.
