CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

 On Saturday, March 31, 2012, the Northside Varsity Men traveled to Palatine, Illinois for the St. Viator Inviational at Harper College.

 The meet featured Christian Liberty, Gurien, Immaculate Conception, Montini, Northside College Prep, Perspectives Calumet (2nd in CPS Outdoor Conference Championships in 2011), and host St. Viator. 

 The St. Viator Invitational was scored on the following point scale for individual events: 10-8-6-4-2-1 and 10-8-6-4-2 for Relays. Gold Medals were awarded for first place. Silver Medals were awarded for second place. Bronze Medals were awarded for third place. 

 Northside had a limited roster, with several athletes training in Europe this week in preparation for the Deerfield Warrior Invitational on Tuesday, April 10, 2012. Hurdlers Lucien Fitzpatrick and Joel Deleon, and thrower Alexander Pilski were training in France. Freshman Porter Abbey, Sophomore Nate Mendez, Junior Nick Hill, and Sophomore Patrick Andrade are also training in Europe.

 The depth and strength of the Mustangs showed at the St. Viator Invitational. Several athletes were given the opportunity to compete in place of the athletes training in Europe, and the new additions to the Varsity squad thrived at the St.Viator Invitational.

 Northside had a record of 5-1 on the day, and now has a season record of 64-15! It is the best record in the history of the program.

 In Varsity Shot Put, Northside Senior Fabian Lara threw 32'0. Northside Junior Ify Nduwku threw 29'9.5. Northside Sophomore Louie Koll threw 27'4.

 In the Sophomore-Freshman Shot Put, Northside Freshman Ari Perlmutter won it with a throw of 32'4.

 In the Varsity High Jump, Northside Sophomore Louie Koll finished in fifth place with a jump of 5'4. Northside Junior Ify Nduwku jumped a personal best 5'2.

 In the Sophomore-Freshman High Jump, Northside Freshman Ari Perlmutter won it with a leap of 5'2.

 In the Varsity Long Jump, Northside Senior Josh Williams finished in SECOND place with a jump of 17'11.25. Josh Williams was awarded a silver medal for finishing in second place. A year ago, Williams jumped 17'6.5 at the same meet. 

 In the Varsity Triple Jump, Northside Senior Josh Williams finished in THIRD place with a jump of 34'10.25. Josh Williams was awarded a bronze medal for finishing in third place. Northside Sophomore Louie Koll finished in fifth place with a jump of 32'4.

 In the Sophomore-Freshman Triple Jump, Northside Freshman Matt Osborne won it with a jump of 32'0.

 In the 4x800m Relay, St. Viator won it with an official time of 8:28.70. Northside came from behind to finish in SECOND place with an official time of 9:13.92 on the strength of Captain Pat Duffy outstanding anchor leg of the 4x800m relay. Montini finished in third place with an official time of 9:16.90. Perspectives Calumet finished in fourth place with an official time of 9:51.90. 

 Northside Junior Patrick Brennan ran a 2:16.22 800m split on the first leg of the relay, and made a perfect exchange to Freshman Max McCoy. Max McCoy dropped 6 seconds (2:29) and ran a personal best 2:23.86 800m split on the second leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Sophomore Robert Szmurlo. Robert Szmurlo ran a 2:21.58 800m split on the third leg of the relay, and made a perfect exchange to Senior Pat Duffy. Northside was in third place when Duffy received the baton. Captain Pat Duffy anchored the Mustangs to SECOND place with a 2:12.26 800m split for an official time of 9:13.92. Patrick Brennan, Max McCoy, Robert Szmurlo, and Pat Duffy were awarded Silver Medals for finishing in second place.

 In the 4x100m Relay, Northside Junior Raymond Siddiqi ran a 13.01 100m split on the first leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Sophomore Jay Yu. Jay ran a 14.35 100m split on the second leg of the relay, and made a good exchange to Senior Fabian Lara. Fabian Lara ran a 11.31 100m split on the third leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Junior Ify Nduwku. Ify Nduwku anchored the Mustangs to fourth place with a 14.53 100m split for an official time of 58.10.

 In the 3200m run, St. Viator Brey won it with an outstanding time of 10:27.3. Northside Sophomore Cesar Rufino ran the first mile in 5:18, and then ran the final mile in 5:32 to finish in SECOND place with a personal best time of 10:50.10. Cesar Rufino dropped 28 seconds (11:18) from the Eric Nelson Track & Field Classic. Rufino is also closing in on Erik Zuehlke (10:27) on the Northside 3200m run All Time list. A Montini runner finished in third place with an official time of 11:07. Christian Liberty runners finished in fourth (11:27.4), and fifth (11:28.3), respectively. A St.Viator runner finished in sixth place to complete the scoring with an official time of 11:35.70.

 In the Sophomore-Freshman 3200m run, Northside Freshman Jack O'Donnell ran a 13:15.82 at the Chicago Public League Cross Country Freshman two miles Championships in October 2011. Jack O'Donnell had a huge day for the Mustangs at the St. Viator Invitational. O'Donnell broke both his mile and 3200m personal records in the same race! Jack O'Donnell ran the first mile in a personal best time of 5:38, and then ran the second mile in 6:11 for a personal best 3200m time of 11:49.56. Freshman Jack O'Donnell dropped one minute and 26 seconds (13:15.82) for a personal best time of 11:49.56 to finish in SECOND place in the Sophomore 3200m run. O'Donnell was also within 14 seconds (11:35.70) of the sixth place Varsity runner. Jack O'Donnell will be training in Mexico next week, and the Mustangs look forward to his next race.

 In the Varsity 110m High Hurdles Final, Northside Sophomore Stefan Roeseller dropped 0.31 of a second (20.63) to finish in fourth place and score vital points for the Mustangs with a personal best time of 20.32. Northside Sophomore Walter Johnson-Geis finished in seventh place with an official time of 22.01.

 In the Varsity 100m Dash Final, Northside Senior Mac Melto WON it with an outstanding time of 10.90. A year ago, Melto ran a 11.32 in the finals. Mac Melto dropped 0.42 of a second in one year! Mac Melto was awarded a Gold Medal for finishing in first place, and was also given the rest of the day off by Northside Sprints Coach Mark Morgan. Northside Junior Nathaniel Agharese finished in THIRD place with an outstanding time of 11.08. A year ago, Agharese ran a 11.38 in the finals. Nathaniel Agharese dropped 0.30 of a second in one year! Nathaniel Agharese was awarded a Bronze Medal for finishing in third place. Northside scored 16 points in the 100m dash! St. Viator Coach Wayne Edelman said it was a priviledge to see Melto and Agharese run.

 In the Sophomore-Freshman 100m Dash, Northside Freshman Calvin Kuhnen finished in third place with an outstanding time of 14.02.

 In the Varsity 800m run, a St. Viator athlete won it with an official time of 2:06.50. Northside Senior Ezra Edgerton finished in SECOND place with an outstanding time of 2:06.90. Ezra Edgerton was awarded a Silver medal for finishing in second place. Northside Senior Dan Graham finished in THIRD place with an official time of 2:09.60. Dan Graham was awarded a Bronze Medal for finishing in third place. Northside scored 14 points in the 800m run!

 In the Sophomore-Freshman 800m run, Northside Freshman Connor Fulton dropped 5 seconds (2:33) for a personal best time of 2:28.4 to WIN it! Connor Fulton ran the first 400m in 71 seconds, and then ran the final 400m in 77 seconds for a personal best time of 2:28.4.

 In the 4x200m Relay, Northside Sophomore Jay Yu ran a 27.70 200m split on the first leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Sophomore Robert Szmurlo. Robert Szmurlo ran a 27.40 200m split on the second leg of the relay, and made a perfect exchange to Sophomore Louie Koll. Louie Koll ran a 25.63 200m split on the third leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Senior Fabian Lara. Fabian Lara anchored the Mustangs to fourth place with a 25.59 200m split for a time of 1:46.32.

 In the Varsity 400m run, Northside Senior Pat Duffy finished in fourth place with an official time of 58.07.

 In the Sophomore-Freshman 400m run, Northside Freshman Ari Perlmutter finished in SECOND place with a personal best time of 60.84.

 In the Varsity 300m Hurdles, Northside Sophomore Stefan Roeseller finished in THIRD place with a personal best time of 49.88. Stefan Roeseller was awarded a Bronze Medal for finishing in third place.

 In the Varsity 1600m run, Northside Junior Patrick Brennan ran the first 800m in 2:23, and then ran an EVEN split of 2:23 for a personal best time of 4:46.50 to finish in third place. Patrick Brennan was awarded a Bronze medal for finishing in third place. Brennan also passed Alumni legend Patrick O'Connor (4:48) on the Northside 1600m All time list. Brennan is now within two seconds of Alumni legend Cooper Eben on the Northside 1600m All time list. Brennan is also within 16 seconds of the automatic qualifying time for the IHSA State Championships! Northside Junior Raymond Siddiqi finished in fifth place with a personal best time of 5:09.90. A Christian Liberty runner completed the scoring by finishing in sixth place with a 5:17.80. 

 In the Sophomore-Freshman 1600m run, Northside Freshman Adrian Black won it with a personal best time of 5:17.90.

 The 200m Dash featured a strong field with Illinois Prep Top Times qualifiers Lonnie Washington and Spencer Williams, among others.

 In the Varsity 200m Dash, Northside Junior Nathaniel Agharese WON it with an official time of 22.87. Nathaniel Agharese was awarded a Gold Medal for winning the 200m dash.

 In the Sophomore-Freshman 200m Dash, Northside Freshman Connor Fulton finished in second place with a time of 28.60.

 In the Varsity "A" 4x400m Relay, Perspectives Calumet won it with an official time of 3:40.10. Northside Senior Dan Graham ran the first 400m in 56.00, and made a nice exchange to Senior Josh Williams. Josh Williams ran a 57.10 400m split on the second leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Junior Patrick Brennan. Patrick Brennan ran a 57.60 400m split on the third leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Senior Ezra Edgerton. Ezra Edgerton anchored the Mustangs to SECOND place with an impressive 53.00 400m split for an official time of 3:43.90. Dan Graham, Josh Williams, Patrick Brennan, and Ezra Edgerton were awarded Silver Medals for finishing in second place.

 In the Varsity "B" 4x400m Relay, Northside Sophomore Cesar Rufino ran a 60.10 400m split on the first leg of the relay. Northside Sophomore Stefan Roeseller ran a 66.35 400m split on the second leg of the relay. Northside Sophomore Robert Szmurlo ran a 62.16 400m split on the third leg of the relay. Northside Senior Fabian Lara anchored the Mustangs with a 63.50 400m split for an official time of 4:12.11.

 After a big win over Perspectives Calumet, and St. Viator, the Northside Mustangs will travel to Skokie, Illinois on Saturday, April 7, 2012 for the Paul Gans Varsity Invitational, and the Fred Zeedyk Sophomore-Freshman Invitational! The Paul Gans and Fred Zeedyk Invitationals feature Niles West, Mather, Antoch, Fenwick, Plainfield East, Yorkville, Metea Valley, Rich Central, Huntley, and Urbana.

VARSITY POINTS SCORED AT ST. VIATOR INVITATIONAL 

1. Josh Williams                                      16.00

1. Nathaniel Agharese                             16.00 

2. Mac Melto                                         10.00

2. Ezra Edgerton                                     10.00

2. Patirck Brennan                                  10.00

3. Dan Graham                                        8.00

3. Stefan Roeseller                                   8.00

3. Cesar Rufino                                        8.00

4. Pat Duffy                                             6.00

5. Louie Koll                                           5.00

6. Robert Szmurlo                                   3.00

7. Raymond Siddiqi                                 2.50

8. Max McCoy                                       2.00

9. Fabian Lara                                        1.50

9. Jay Yu                                                1.50

10. Ify Nduwku                                      0.50

VARSITY SEASON POINTS SCORED TOTAL (10 MEETS) 

1. Mac Melto                                        155.25 

4. Dan Graham                                       58.50

SOPHOMORE-FRESHMAN POINTS SCORED AT ST. VIATOR INVITATIONAL 

1. Ari Perlmutter                                    28.00

2. Connor Fulton                                   18.00

3. Adrian Black                                     10.00 

3. Matt Osborne                                   10.00

4. Jack O'Donnell                                   8.00

5. Calvin Kuhnen                                    6.00

SOPHOMORE-FRESHMAN SEASON POINTS SCORED TOTAL (4 MEETS) 

3. Connor Fulton                                    34.00 

9. Walter Johnson-Geis                          17.00

10. Calvin Kuhnen                                  15.00

11. Max McCoy                                     14.50 

 For sheer drama, the 2012 Illinois Prep Top Times, the "Indoor State Meet", may have topped anything ever seen in the last ten years in Illinois, or maybe ever. It was a fantastic meet from start to finish.

 On Friday, March 23, 2012, Northside Head Coach Jon Gordon and Northside Senior Mac Melto traveled to the 2012 Illinois Prep Top Times, the "Indoor State Meet", in Bloomington, Illinois. Northside Sprints Coach Mark Morgan and nephew Patrick Morgan (member of State Champion York Cross Country Team, and a Team that finished second at Nike Nationals) met Gordon and Melto at Eastland Suites in Bloomington, Illinois.

 A special thanks to Northside Principal Barry Rodgers and Athletic Director Andrew Mayer for outstanding hotel accomadations. The hotel suites were complete with a kitchen, full size refrigerator, stove, King size beds, living room, fireplace, balcony, 32' Television, and a second floor loft, which contained an additional bedroom, King size bed, and a second bathroom.

 After checking-in at the hotel, Northside Head Coach Jon Gordon, Sprints Coach Mark Morgan, former State Champion Patrick Morgan, and Northside Senior Mac Melto departed for Olive Garden. Melto had a pre-meet dinner of Spaghetti and Meatballs, and ice water.

 After dinner, the Northside Coaching Staff took Mac Melto to a local grocery store to stock up his hotel suite refrigerator with bottled water, and trail mix for an evening snack.

 On Saturday, March 24, 2012, Northside departed at 9 am, from Eastland Suites to the Shirek Center Indoor Track & Field Stadium at Illinois Wesleyan University. The energy in the stadium was electric, with a sold-out stadium crowd filled to its capacity, with people standing in the upper deck just to get a glimpse of the meet. The stadium featured a digital screen, showing the results of all the events throughout the meet, and a play-by-play announcer, who gave live commentary on every event that took place.

 Mac Melto received his race numbers upon arrival, and was placed in a large turf room adjacent to the stadium to put away belongings, and set up a Team Camp. Right next to the turf room, a special gymnasium was used for event check-in, and to run warm-ups. The athletes had access to the stands on the main floor, that were roped off from the Track.

 Mac Melto had one of the largest cheering sections at the meet, which included his parents, Bud and Crystal Melto, and Northside Girls Team Captain Lisa Wendt. Lisa Wendt took a train from Chicago to Bloomington to see Mac Melto compete at the 2012 Illinois Prep Top Times.

 Lane Tech Coach Tony Jones was one of the first coaches to greet Mac Melto, and wish him good luck. Jones College Prep Coach Andrew Adelman and Jamieson Dale were also cheering for Mac Melto. In Chicago, the entire Northside Track & Field TEAM was watching the 55m Dash Finals and the 400m run on a live webcast. Bob Geiger (former DePaul Track Alumni), Kris Roof (former DePaul Track Alumni), David Timlin, and members of the Lane Tech 4x800m relay also congratulated Mac Melto after the 400m run. A special thanks to everyone for their support.

 Northside witnessed an incredible Track meet throughout the day, as they waited for the 55m Dash prelims, 55m Dash Finals, and the 400m run.

 A week ago, Mac Melto won the Chicago Public League 55m Indoor title to qualify for Illinois Prep Top Times in the 55m dash.

 In the 55m prelims, Mac Melto had seven to eight runners seeded ahead of him. Mac Melto surprised everyone by placing 3rd in his heat, and sixth overall to advance to the 55m Finals!

 In the 55m Finals, Mac Melto dropped .03 of a second from the prelims to the finals, to finish in FOURTH place overall with an outstanding time of 6.61. Melto was seeded sixth after the prelims, and improved by two places in the finals to finish fourth! Melto was awarded a MEDAL for placing fourth overall in the 55m Dash! It was the highest any athlete in the history of Northside College Prep placed at Illinois Prep Top Times! The best was yet to come.

 After being honored on the medal stand for his fourth place performance in the 55m dash, Mac Melto had to change back into his spikes, and warm-up for the 400m run.

 In Class 3A, a 50.72 won the 400m run. The Class 2A record for the Indoor 400m run was held by DJ Zahn of Morton high school with a 50.70.

 In the 400m run, Chicago Northside Senior Mac Melto took the lead with a 23.60 200m split, and then ran a 25.65 in the final 200 meters to WIN the Indoor 400m Title with a 49.25! Mac Melto also BROKE the Class 2A Indoor 400m record with a 49.25! It was the fastest 400m time in ALL three classes in the meet! Mac Melto is also the first athlete in the history of Northside College Prep to win an individual title at Illinois Prep Top Times! Mac Melto will be awarded a Watermelon at practice on monday for breaking the Class 2A Indoor 400m record!

  In 2012, Melto showed incredible fitness, and energy after the race. Melto gave a high five to Northside Sprints Coach Mark Morgan, and then another high five to Northside Head Coach Jon Gordon after winning the 400m run! He was fully recovered in a matter of seconds, and was able to do an interview with Mike Clark of the Chicago Sun-Times right after the race, and then do a second interview with Michael Newman of ESPN Rise, before he even went to get a drink of water. His incredible endurance and strength will have a major impact for the Northside 4x400m Relay at the Outdoor State Championships. 

 In a nice ceremony following the 400m run, Mac Melto was honored on the Medal stand with a trophy for winning the Illinois Prep Top Times 400m run!

 Mac Melto scored a total of 15 points in the 400m run and the 55m dash! Mac Melto also ran the fastest 400m time in Illinois this year!

 Mac Melto was also named the Class 2A Athlete of the meet, and received a towering glass trophy from Illinois Prep Top Times.

 After the meet, Bud and Crystal Melto treated the Northside Track & Field Coaching Staff to dinner, before returning to Chicago. A special thanks to the Melto family for dinner. 

 Mac Melto will be honored again at Northside, and the entire Northside Track & Field Team will be provided with Gatorade at practice on Monday to celebrate Northside's first indoor state champion in the 400m run!, a Class 2A Indoor record in the 400m run!, a 55m dash Illinois Prep Top Times Medalist!, and the Class 2A Athlete of the meet!!

VARSITY SEASON POINTS SCORED TOTAL (9 MEETS) 

1. Mac Melto                                        145.25 

4. Dan Graham                                       50.50

 WIN = What's Important Now?

Mac Melto featured in ESPN Rise: http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/track-and-xc/post/_/id/2620/iptt-class-2a-boys-melto-steps-over-the-edge-to-win-400-athlete-of-meet

Mac Melto featured in the Chicago Sun-Times (P.50A) at: http://yourseason.suntimes.com/home/11515384-390/boys-tracks-malachy-schrobilgen-tumbles-to-victory-in-1600-mac-melto-wins-400.html

Video of Class 2A 400m run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohXyj0IQOwU&feature=autoplay&list=UUKTArJYnnmSu0gem8RIoE5w&lf=plcp&playnext=1