DGN at Proviso West Invite

Downers Grove North senior Tony Zea went after a good time in the 800-meter run at the prestigious 49th annual Proviso West Invitational Saturday, Feb. 22, wearing his usual purple headband for the race.

”It’s the magic, the same one since sophomore year,” Zea said. “(Freshman year) it was white, and then we changed to purple uniforms. (My) first race I was just trying it for fun and I liked the feel of it so I just kept it going.”

As for Zea’s times, they’re changing and all for the better. Zea not only won the 800 but did so in an indoor school-record 1:56.28 fully automatic time.

Senior Zack Smith also won the 3,200 (9:35.60) for the Trojans, who finished fourth in the 14-team field with 49 points. York (102 points) won the meet for the first time since 2009 with 2012 champion Neuqua Valley (96) and 2013 champion Lake Park (82.33) second and third.

The Trojans finished just ahead of West Suburban Conference Silver Division rival Lyons Township (5th, 48). Other Silver teams in the field were Hinsdale Central (8th, 30.33) and Proviso West (10th, 25).

Junior Ryan Clevenger was second in the mile (4:25.87) and senior Eric Wisz (12 feet-6 inches in pole vault) and sophomore Zack Hogan (40-11 1/2 in triple jump) were third, all with personal bests. Juniors Nick Janicki (44-5 in shot) and Jack Diamond (600 in 1:28.14) both were fourth, and senior Charles Creamer was sixth in the 55 (6.75).

Zea broke the school record of 1:57.3 manual time set by Brian Gray in 1997 and topped his previous indoor best of 1:57.8. It’s also the second-fastest 800 indoor time this season, according to DyeStat Illinois, behind Danville senior Johnny Leverenz’s 1:54.09 that same day in Kentucky.

”I was hoping mid-1:58s. That was my goal. I just blew it out of the water,” Zea said.

Zea won the 600 in the Feb. 14 season opener on Hinsdale Central’s 160-meter track. In this race, he trailed Downers Grove South senior Jacob Amiri (1:58.15) most of the race but then surged past him during the final lap to win by 1.87 seconds.

”(Amiri) did a great job. I was just worried for the kick at the end,” Zea said.

”(A 56-second first lap was) a little fast. I was a little worried about that, but I kept on running. (The last lap) didn’t go as fast so I just kind of took charge from there. (Amiri) still had a great first three laps, though. I wouldn’t be as fast without him this race. It was really nice having him there.”

Zea is hoping his good fortune continue all the way to his first state meet. At the 2013 Downers North Class 3A Sectional, Zea was fourth in the 800 (1:57.89) to miss advancing automatically with a top-two finish. He also just missed advancing on time by missing the 1:57.24 qualifying standard.

Amiri, the only non-senior to beat Zea, was second in that race (1:55.81).

”I’m pretty sure he destroyed (Gray’s indoor school record). It’s fantastic,” said Downers North distance coach John Sipple moments after Zea’s victory.

“We’re starting off a lot better than we did last year in the 800 so I’m pretty happy about that. The 800 was a little bit of a nemesis for us last year. We’re starting to come out pretty solid so we’ll see how it pans out the rest of the way.”

Smith had a good start in his season debut. Smith led the 3,200 most of the way and won by 5.26 seconds over York senior Kyle Mattes (9:40.86), who stayed within striking distance most of the way.

”I kind of knew I wanted to get out and just try to lead it from the beginning,” Smith said. “I was able to hang on for the whole race and Kyle ran really well behind me. I knew he was there the whole time so he made it really fun.”

Smith is coming off an all-state, third-place showing at the 3A state cross country meet Nov. 9, where the Trojans finished a program-best second as a team to Hinsdale Central.

Smith was the only all-state, top-25 finisher in Saturday’s 3,200. Mattes was 44th as the No. 3 finisher for the fifth-place Dukes. The only Hinsdale Central runner from its state lineup was junior and No. 6 team finisher Matt McBrien (60th), who was fifth Saturday (9:50.51). Third-place Neuqua junior Dan Weiss (9:45.12) was 66th at state.

”It was a really exciting cross country season. It seems like a really long break in between so definitely it’s really good to break out and get a race under my belt,” Smith said.

Smith said he sat out the Little Four Invite after dealing with a slight Achilles injury throughout January. He compared his current fitness level to when he ran the team’s 2-mile time trial for cross country on the Downers North track in mid-August.

Last season, Smith set the indoor school record with a 9:19.66.

”I wanted to ease back into it and didn’t want to run on the 160 track (at Hinsdale Central),” Smith said. “I felt like I was in pretty similar shape (to mid-August) with not having as much training dealing with an injury. I was thinking (I’d finish in) right around 9:35.”

In the mile, Clevenger led most of the way, but he contended with Hinsdale Central senior standout Billy Magnesen tailing him. Just before the gun sounded to signify the final lap, Magnesen burst past Clevenger and went on to win (4:24.02) by 1.85 seconds over Clevenger.

”We went out really slow and I didn’t want it to really be slow so I took the initiative to go and speeding up that second lap,” Clevenger said.

“By that point, (Magnesen) was just feeding off the back of me and there was just not much I could do about that. He was waiting for his move. I had a feeling it was coming. Every lap, I tried to move on the backstretch, but that didn’t work out that well. I did the best I could so I’m pretty happy with it.”

Clevenger was seventh at the state cross country meet as the third-highest finishing non-senior. Magnesen was ninth, three seconds behind Clevenger, and a 2013 state track qualifier in the 3,200.

This was only the second true mile that Clevenger had ever run. He was roughly three second from what he ran after last track season in mid-June at the Midwest Distance Gala.

”I’m taking a pretty positive attitude out of it. It was still 4:25, which is still pretty good for me,” Clevenger said. “Even though I got second, it’s still a great race, though.”

In triple jump, Hogan was encouraged that he achieved a personal best and took third behind two seniors – Neuqua’s Austin Parks (43-6) and Hinsdale Central’s Nkemjika Nwosu (42-9). Two more seniors were fourth and fifth.

Still, if not for his last of four attempts, Hogan would have finished in the low 40s and in seventh place.

”The first three jumps I was kind of struggling because my second phase wasn’t long enough so I had to stretch it out and get a little bit more speed to it,” Hogan said.

”I tend to be more bouncy coming down the runway on that (last) one so on my second phase, I could get a little more hop to it so I could get better extension.”

Hogan now is seeking 43 feet in triple jump, which has a state-qualifying mark of 44-10. With the way his freshman season ended, it might happen.

At the sophomore Silver Meet, Hogan swept titles in triple jump (39-5), long jump (20-11) and high jump (6-0) all with then personal bests. He competed at sectionals but did not place higher than ninth in any event.

“I thought the (long) jump I did was bad and when they called it out (20-11), I was totally surprised. I was just like, ‘What?’ I thought it was a mistake at first,” Hogan said.

”I surprised myself. It was pure will power and effort. That’s all that is. Honestly, just knowing that was my last chance to do it that year really drove me. You don’t want to lose that feeling. It’s like in football, that last game. You can’t get it back for another year so you have to give it your best.”

In 2013, Wisz took seventh at sectionals in pole vault with a then personal-best 12-3. Wisz exceeded that Saturday on his second try after a somewhat disappointing 12-0 in the opener.

”They have a nice track (at Proviso West). I like jumping here. You can use spikes and everything so it’s good,” Wisz said.

”I was happy with my sectional finish as a (personal record). I jumped over the summer, just working on form and everything, the technical side. (And) I’ve been lifting in the offseason.

Wisz ran cross country for two seasons but began to focus on pole vault after being introduced to the event as a freshman. Wisz praised the facilities in the Downers North fieldhouse but he cannot train with spiked shoes and, because of scheduling conflicts with other sports, he’s always not able to practice as often as he wants. The state qualifying standard is 13-9.

”I’d really, really like to have 13-0 (next),” Wisz said. “I’ve had some good looks at it. I’ve had the height a few times but I’ve either come down on it or hit on my way up, just with the placement of the bungee (cord in practice). I had some good jumps there today so that’s definitely something I can see myself doing soon.”

On the frosh-soph level, the Trojans were 12th with two points. Their lone points came from sophomore Anthony Giordano, who was fifth in the 55 (6.98), just .08 from second place.

-- by Bill Stone