Neuqua continues dominant stretch

Neuqua continues dominant stretch Waubonsie Valley's James Davenport competes in the high jump Wednesday at the Upstate Eight indoor track meet at St. Charles. (Mary Beth Nolan/For Sun-Times Media) March 18, 2010By TOM STRONG For Sun-Times Media ST. CHARLES -- Its record of dominance is now at eight consecutive years and counting. In a meet that could have been run outside in balmy conditions at St. Charles East on Wednesday, Neuqua Valley ran away from the pack again. The Wildcats won seven events and totaled 126.5 team points. Lake Park was second with 97.5, and Waubonsie Valley was a close third at 89. East Aurora finished seventh with 28 points. Miguel Gonzalez of Waubonsie Valley was a double-winner by taking both 55-meter hurdles races. He won the highs in 7.98 seconds and the lows at 7.65. "The surface was pretty slick, so I didn't get a good start. My teammates kind of hyped me up and I was ready to go in the finals," Gonzalez said of the low hurdles. Danny Tucker was the Warriors' other individual champ, winning the 55-meter dash in 6.72 seconds. On the opposite end of the sprints, Neuqua's Carlton Folster nipped Lake Park's Luke Nally to post a victory in the 3,200 meters with a time of 9:49.27. Nally passed Folster with about three laps remaining, but the Wildcat pushed back strongly for the win. "Our plan was to go out, set the pace, and work together to hopefully run some fast times going for the Illinois prep top times qualifying of 9:43," Folster said. Aaron Beattie won the 1,600 for Neuqua Valley with a time of 4:28.41 as the Wildcats continued piling up points. Teammate David Wing finished second by only a one-second margin. "I don't think I ran a mile all indoor season. I was a little unfamiliar with the pace," Beattie said. "I wanted to be a little conservative and focus on finishing strong." Other individual winners for the Wildcats were Aryan Avant in the 400 meters and Jamere Morrison in the 200. Avant finished in 52.97 seconds, and Morrison posted a time of 23.55. Neuqua's 4 x 800, 4 x 160, and 4 x 400 relay teams each defeated the field to contribute to the conference crown. East Aurora's Dimitri Bouchee was the Tomcats individual star of the night by running second to Gonzalez in both hurdle races. Not a bad finish for a runner who just learned the three-step technique. "I just learned the three-step for the hurdles," said Bouchee. "That really helped with my speed. I really just started back with the hurdles this year." "I'm really happy with this team because we asked them to do some things in different places," said Neuqua Valley coach Mike Kennedy. "It wasn't necessarily our typical lineup." http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/sports/highschools/2109564,2_2_AU18_UEC_S1-100318.article