West Aurora boys win Oswego Invite title

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West Aurora's Elawrence Langston competes in the shot put at the Oswego Invitational. | Mary Beth Nolan~For Sun-Times Media

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OSWEGO — With Mother Nature providing some timely cooperation at Ken Pickerill Field Friday night, the Oswego Invitational was a much welcomed event for several area track and field athletes.

While mild temperatures and a dry track enabled many participants to turn in personal best times, the West Aurora Blackhawks made it clear early they would be the front-runners. The Blackhawks took home the first-place trophy tallying 218 points.

Oswego earned second place with 128 points, and Aurora Central Catholic was third scoring 103 points. Streamwood (41), Addison Trail (34) and East Aurora (31) followed.

West Aurora claimed the top three spots in four of the six field events, and Oswego swept the four relay races. Elawrence Langston took first place in both the shot put and the discus for the Blackhawks. His toss of 53-9 in the shot put was 2-11 further than teammate Alex Chollet’s heave.

Langston threw the discus 143-11 while teammate Lijah Spears went 142-06. Mike Reyes grabbed third place (132-1) for West Aurora, and Spears was third in the shot put at 45-7.

“We’ve worked really hard and today was a great day to throw,” Langston said. “I was pumped. I scratched my last throw of 55-3, but I still did pretty well.

“It’s time to shut up and put up,” Langston continued. “It’s been a hard season from slowly progressing to hitting the brick wall and regressing. I’m think I’m back to where I need to be. I’ve got to keep pushing.”

West Aurora coach Courtney Lamb was pleased with all facets of his team. Marcus Waller outran all competitors in the 400-meter dash and also won the 110-meter hurdles. Matt Muth was first in the 1600-meter run and Vontrel Hawkins crossed the finish line first in the 800-meter run, while Steven Taylor earned first place in the 300-meter hurdles.

The Blackhawks took the first three spots in both the pole vault and the long jump. George Malina cleared 12-6½ in the pole vault followed by Eddie Sak (12-6¼) and Royce Golembeck (12-6). Jonny Gosong jumped 19-11 to win the long jump, while teammates Greg Roache (19-9½) and Kenny Hine (19-3½) were second and third, respectively. Demarlon Rayford won the high jump when he went over 6-feet.

“That’s been the story of our season; we’re a very well rounded team,” Lamb said. “We’re going to score points in a lot of different events. And it’s fun because we can go from event to event.

“We can look at field events, distance events, sprints, jumps; it doesn’t matter because we’re going to score points in it,” Lamb added. “And that makes it fun. The guys are supporting each other and I think that is going to make us tough here in the next couple of weeks.”

Oswego coach Jeff Edwards was equally pleased. The Panthers relay team of Nick Thompson, Julian Mendez, Ryan Hodges and Brandon Lang was first in both the 400 and the 800, and Lang nipped ACC sophomore Joe Fese in the 200-meter dash. Lang also finished second in the 100-meter dash.

“(Fese) had a great start and it was tough to make that up, but once we got out of the curve I was right there,” Lang said of the 200. “It was all heart from there. I just kept pushing.”

Oswego’s Eric Zweep, Jake Massey, Darion Browning and Matt Schimek claimed the 1,600 relay, while Adam Lowry, Nick Couch, Christian Bartell and Caleb Beck won the 3,200 relay. Zach Kingsbury outdistanced the crowd in the 3,200-meter run, winning the race in 9:42.35 which was a 1:01 ahead of second place.

“Our kids just ran phenomenal,” Edwards said. “I can’t ask for anything more. To be right there with a team like Aurora West and some of the other teams says a lot.

“Brandon just seems to be getting stronger as the season goes,” Edwards added. “Brandon has grown up so much and he is starting to peak. He’s a great leader on and off the track and he doesn’t quit.”

ACC’s Mike and Joe Reuland helped pace the Chargers. Mike was second in the 110-meter hurdles, while Joe was third. Joe finished ahead of his brother in the 300-meter hurdles when he was second. Mike placed third. The Chargers’ 1600-meter team of the Reuland brothers, Zach Flint and Alex Duncan placed second. Fese, Flint, Steven Amoni and Luis Hizo were third in the 400 and the 800. Matt Meyers finished second in the 800-meter run.

“For us to come here and compete well against these teams says a lot about our kids,” ACC coach Troy Kerber said. “All our kids are coming along pretty well and making progress.”