CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

 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.

 In the Varsity 4x400m Relay, Northside WON their heat, and came within 3 seconds of winning the event. The Northside Varsity Men also ran their fastest Indoor 4x400m Relay of the season!

 In Team history, the 2015 Maine East Invitational was the fastest Northside Indoor 4x400m Relay at a regular season meet. Northside has only run faster indoors than the 2015 Maine East Invitational, at the CPS Indoor Championships in  2014, 2012, and 2011. The relay will be even stronger on a 200m Track at the 2015 CPS Indoor Championships.

 Northside Captain Malcolm Grba gave the Mustangs the lead in the Varsity 4x400m Relay by running an impressive 55.74 400m split on the first leg of the relay, and making a perfect exchange to Brandon Banas. Northside Sophomore Brandon Banas ran an outstanding 57.28 400m split on the second leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Danny Rosen. Northside Junior Danny Rosen ran an outstanding 57.12 400m split on the third leg of the relay, and made a perfect exchange to Tom Frejowski. Northside Senior Tom Frejowski anchored Northside to first place in their heat, and fifth place overall, with an impressive 55.39 400m split for an official time of 3:46.10. Malcolm Grba, Brandon Banas, Danny Rosen, and Tom Frejowski were awarded MEDALS in the 4x400m Relay.

 Deerfield won the event with a 3:43.20 in the second heat of the 4x400m Relay. Northside posted victories in the 4x400m Relay over Vernon Hills, Leyden, Maine West, Northridge, and Schuamburg.

 Northside has strong depth in the 400m this year, including Junior Steven Kataba, Junior Philip Wdowiak, Senior Porter Abbey, Senior Max McCoy, and Junior Brendan Powers.

 Twenty-three different athletes have competed in the 4x800m Relay for Northside this season. Only 4 athletes will be chosen to represent Northside in the 4x800m Relay at the Indoor City Championships.

 At Maine East, some athletes took a major step forward towards securing a spot in the Indoor City Championships. At the same time, some athletes took a major step backwards.

 The Northside Varsity 4x800m relay won their heat, and reached the MEDAL stand at the Maine East Blue Demon Invitational with an official time of 9:22.60. Northside was within 4 seconds of Schaumburg (9:18.0).

 In the Varsity 4x800m Relay, Northside Sophomore Alex Ortiz ran an impressive 2:18.61 800m split on the first leg of the relay, to put the Mustangs in the lead in the first heat of the 4x800m Relay. Northside Junior Brendan Powers ran a personal best 2:19.63 800m split on the second leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Sergio Soto. Brendan Powers can do it all. He is a great sprinter, and middle distance runner. He has run in the 4x160m, 4x400m, and 4x800m relays this season, and he is also within 1'0 of the school record for Pole Vault! On the third leg of the 4x800m Relay, Northside Sophomore Sergio Soto ran a 2:21.12 800m split, and made a good exchange to Max McCoy. Northside Senior Max McCoy ran a 2:23.01 800m split to anchor Northside to first place in their heat, and fifth place overall with an official time of 9:22.60.

 Alex Ortiz, Brendan Powers, Sergio Soto, and Max McCoy were awarded MEDALS for finishing in 5th place overall, and posted victories in the 4x800m Relay over Leyden, Glenbard East, Maine West, Northridge, and Maine East.

 In the first heat of the Varsity 800m run, Northside Sophomore Alex Ortiz dropped 4.42 seconds with a personal best 800m time of 2:14.19. Ortiz is having a BIG year, and has also run a 4:52.3 1600m this season.

 In the second heat of the Varsity 400m Dash, Northside Senior Max McCoy won his heat, and ran a personal best 400m time of 57.80. McCoy has also run a 2:14.78 800m split this season.