DGN at Mustang Relays

Junior Ryan Clevenger was battling a tough field as the anchor of Downers Grove North’s 3,200-meter relay at the 11th annual Mustang Relays Monday, March 10 at North Central College.

His other foe was the large computerized clock at the finish.

While the Trojans were in line for at least a top-three finish, seniors Tony Zea and Zack Smith, junior Jack Diamond and Clevenger also were seeking to break the indoor school record of 8:00.0 from 1996.

”I was looking at (the finish line clock) constantly, especially after each lap, just to see if we were on pace. It all turned out great,” Clevenger said.

”When I was on the wall over there (waiting), first of all, I got a little worried. I kept my mentality that this is our day. We’re going to let it happen for us. This is what we’re going to do. With about a lap to go, (our time) was at about 7:20ish and I knew we had to be 7:30 or better. Then, rounding the bend, I saw 7:49 and my eyes got really big. I’m like, ‘Wow. This is going to be a fast one.’ ”

The Trojans easily left the past behind as their fully-automatic time was 7:55.87 earned second place to Lane Tech’s meet-record and indoor school-record 7:54.21 with Lyons Township third in 8:01.44.  To watch a video of the race click here. 

Image: Record setting 4x800m - from left to right Tony Zea (Sr), Jack Diamond (Jr), Zack Smith (Sr), and Ryan Clevenger (Jr)

The Trojans’ 1,600 relay Zea, seniors Jack McGinnis and Andrew Adams and Clevenger of was 21st (3:36.70) and the 800 relay of seniors Charles Creamer, Jazz Charrier, sophomore Anthony Giordano and McGinnis was 23rd (1:36.28).

The annual meet only features boys and girls races in the three relay events on one of the premier indoor tracks in the Chicago area.

”Obviously, that 4-by-800 was something special so it was nice to get those four guys together,” Downers North head coach Eric Buhot said. “That’s the nice thing about this meet. Sometimes we might concentrate on some of the individual events, but this is a nice opportunity to use your four best guys together, roll them out there.

”Anthony Giordano, a sophomore, in that 4-by-400 ran a great leg, his best split ever (23.3). That was phenomenal. The 4-by-400 was OK. A couple of pretty good performances, a couple of OK performances, but it was a good day.”

The 3,200 relay is already the second indoor school record to fall this season. Zea’s winning 800 time of 1:56.28 FAT at the Proviso West Invite Feb. 22 beat the 1:57.3 by Brian Gray in 1997. Gray, also part of the 2006 indoor 3,200 relay record, went on to help the relay take an all-state eighth at the 2007 state meet in May.

”I feel like this is a better record (than my 800) because this record we just destroyed. I beat (the 800) by a second but this one we beat by five,” Zea said. “I’m hoping this one doesn’t fall for a while. I can’t see this one falling for the near future. A big one definitely, and at a meet like this. The atmosphere here is amazing.”

Based on results by DyeStat Illinois, the top seven finishers in Monday’s 3,200 relay own the seven fastest times in the state this indoor season. The Trojans also beat the previous invite record of 7:59.48 set by LT in 2011.

The Trojans made it happen collectively. Zea led off in 1:58.9 while the other three runners each had personal bests – Smith (1:59.9), Diamond (2:00.1) and Clevenger (1:56.8).

”It’s really special to be a part of it with it being such an old record and so many teams since that record’s been set have gone after that and not been able to get it. For us to do it today was pretty special, especially with this group being so close together,” Smith said.

”No better place for a PR. I’ve been stuck just above that 2:00 barrier for a while so getting under that was nice. In my other races so far, not too many super impressive times compared to the ones I ran last season so it’s definitely nice to come out and get my first PR of the season.”

At the Class 3A state cross country meet Nov. 9, Smith, Clevenger and Diamond were part of the Trojans’ second-place team finish, the highest in program history, with Smith (3rd) and Clevenger (7th) earning all-state honors. Zea plays soccer in the fall.

Monster time drops by Clevenger and Diamond proved to be the difference Monday.

On the third leg, Diamond cut three seconds off his PR to give Clevenger the baton in second place, just a shade behind Lane Tech. While senior anchor David Schmieg, 45th at the state cross country meet, ran a 1:56.7 split for the Indians, Clevenger beat his previous best split by a whopping six seconds.

”The only guy who didn’t PR was Zea, but he still ran pretty well because he got us in good position and it was so crowded, a lot of pushing and shoving,” Downers North distance coach John Sipple said.

“The goal was to break the school record – absolutely. We’ve been talking about it for a while. We were really hoping, ‘It’s your opportunity to make history in your own little word and stuff.’ Those opportunities only come along every once in a while.”

At the Proviso West Invite, Lane (8:01.96) won the 3,200 relay by 7.37 seconds over Lake Park. Downers North was 10th (8:54.22) at the invite but with four different runners (Joe Carter, Adams, Sam Ronan and McGinnis).

The runners used Monday focused on individual events at Proviso West. Zea and Clevenger also were part of the seventh-place 1,600 relay (3:38.49).

”Coming in, we knew that we were capable of that (record time Monday). We knew we were going to run sub-8:00 or we were hoping for it,” Diamond said. “We were glad that we executed that like we planned. None of us ran out of our minds either so we can improve on that by a lot. It’s a nice step going forward.”

Whether the foursome unites again outdoors remains to be seen. Zea and Diamond were mainstays on the 3,200 relay last year, but Smith and Clevenger focused more on individual events and probably will again this year.

Smith was an all-state third in the 1,600 (4:14.49) at state track after setting the indoor 3,200 school record of 9:19.66. Clevenger, who worked his way back from health issues, just missed also qualifying for state in the 1,600 on time, as did Zea in the 800.

The performance certainly shows the Trojans’ capabilities after finishing fifth in the 3,200 relay at the 2013 sectional (8:29.95) with Zea, Diamond and two seniors.

”We have a lot of deep guys and hopefully some interchangeable parts,” Diamond said. “There are guys who run with us in workouts, Zac Christensen (from the state cross country lineup) and Joe Carter. We’re figuring if we’re feeling this fit, they’re the same amount of fitness so they’ll be able to run fast times as well.”

The 1,600 relay also enjoyed strong performances, including personal-best splits by Adams (54.6) and another from Clevenger (53.3), after Zea led off in 52.1.

Image:  Sipkes of the 4x400m relay team

Adams was coming off personal records in the 400 and triple jump Feb. 27 at Wheaton North. He was encouraged by Monday’s 400 split, especially considering that he didn’t compete in an earlier event.

”I kind of just laid down for three hours. Whenever a North team ran, I got up and cheered but it was hard trying to stay loose during the waiting time,” Adams said.

”I feel under the weather but I guess I put that in the back of my mind and just went out and tried to PR. I knew this meet was probably going to be one of the biggest ones we were going to have this indoor season. It was my first time being here so I just wanted to come in here and give it my best and that PR really showed it.”

McGinnis probably would have run faster (56.2), but he made a rare appearance earlier with the 800 relay. McGinnis believes he was added to the relay so that Zea wouldn’t have to race all three events.

”I don’t know actually. I wanted to do a little better (in the 800 relay), but I think it’s pretty good for the first one in a while – (since) eighth grade,” McGinnis said. “That’s what really got me (for the 1,600 relay), all of the standing around, but that’s really it.”

While perhaps out of his element, McGinnis provided an 25.0 anchor split for the 800 relay after consistent times from Creamer (23.5), Charrier (23.8) and Giordano (23.3), who was making his varsity debut.

“We just pulled (McGinnis) from the distance squad. He hasn’t done one workout with the sprinters. We were just seeing that he can do,” Buhot said. “He ran a 25.0, which is pretty good for anyone, especially for a distance guy. He plugged in nicely, filled a hole.”

”(McGinnis) did great. He ran pretty well,” Creamer added. “He stepped up for a long-distance runner and to be put in the sprinter group. If I tried to do the same with his (group), I won’t do as well as he did.”

Creamer is the only varsity returnee for the sprint crew on Monday’s 800 relay. Charrier returns to the team after missing last season for academic reasons.

”We just have to get back to the track and work on a few things and be better when it comes to conference and outdoors,” Creamer said. “This is our first time being together so there should be a few errors we should work on. If you look on the bright side, that just leaves more for us to improve on. It’s always trying to get better, just getting that team chemistry together on our handoffs and not being so tentative in ourselves.”

Charrier said he was disappointed that he bobbled the baton on the final straightway but feels ready to have a strong senior year.

”I’m still trying to get it back. It’s going to come sooner than later,” Charrier said.

“It’s just about handoffs and getting a lead. We had a good game plan but we couldn’t execute it the best. At least we tried to do our best but hopefully we’ll get better by conference. It’s a beautiful track. It felt great, a smooth track. Around the straightaway, I thought I was going to be tired. I think I held it up, got a nice handoff to (Giordano). I wasn’t as tired as I thought I would be.”

-- by Bill Stone