Bartlett/Elgin Invite- 4/13/24
Cormick Buti
4/18/2024
On Saturday April 13th, 2024 the Glenbrook North Spartans competed at the Bartlett/Elgin Invitational hosted at Elgin High School. The first event of the day was the Frosh/Soph level 4x800 meter relay. Ray Zenimoto (Fr) led off this relay taking out the race with a blistering pace and dropped the competition within the first 200 meters. Zenimoto battled his second lap, definitely regretting his pace early on, but still managed to hand off in the lead, running a 10 second PR at 2:11. With the baton next was Jackson Hirsch (So) who managed to push himself and hold the lead running a 2:23, which is over a 10 second PR. Hirsch then handed off to Jack Reynolds (Fr) who, still in the lead, pushed himself knowing very well the other teams were closing fast. Reynolds ran a PR at 2:21 before he handed off to Nathan Lydon (So). Lydon anchored the relay and finished in third place with a split of 2:26 and an overall time of 9:20.4.
Following that was the Varsity 4x800 meter relay. This relay was led off by Ben Gricius (Jr) who started them out strong and ran a new 8 second PR of 2:11. Gricius then handed off to Ben Vishnevsky (Sr) for the relay’s second leg. Vishnevsky battled and kept the relay in solid position with a split of 2:14 and a solid 9 second PR. Sam Vishnevsky (Jr) got the baton next and ran a solid PR and split of 2:16.9 before handing it off to anchor leg, Ryan Quinlan (Jr). Quinlan pushed in the final 800 of the relay and came through with a solid 2:15 season PR and an overall time of 8:58,4 which placed the relay in 5th.
Next up was the Frosh/Soph 3200 meter run in which Maxim Djits (So) and Nico Grady (Fr) competed for Glenbrook North. Both athletes ran tough races with the lead pack for most of the race. During the second mile Grady fell off the lead pack by a bit and the leaders pulled away from Djits. But in the end, after strong finishes from both, Djits finished in 4th, with a 10 second PR breaking 11 for the first time at 10:58.6 and Grady finished not too far behind in 6th place, with a solid 5 second PR for himself at a time of 11:10.8.
Following the Frosh/Soph was the Varsity 3200 meter in which Spartans Matthew Rubin (Sr) and Tucker Roth (Jr) represented Glenbrook North in that race. Going up against some tough competition, Rubin got a great start going out with the lead pack and Roth a little bit behind at the front of the chase pack. Going through the 1600m mark Rubin came in around 4:56 which is actually a 1600 PR for him. He was still in good positioning and Roth was still not too far behind. Both Rubin and Roth battled during their second mile and both finished with strong kicks. Rubin came through in 5th place, almost breaking 10 with a time of 10:04.2 which was a huge 12 second PR. And Roth finished in 9th with a nice PR of his own at 10:42.6.
The next event up was the Frosh/Soph 800 meter. The gun went off and Sam Epstein (Fr) and Brady Kalo (So) got out strong right with the front pack, Epstein a little bit more to the front and Kalo a few steps behind him. Both athletes settled into good positions after the first 200 and kept it until there was about 300 to go. With 300 to go Kalo started to move up on Epstein who responded with a surge of his own. Kalo stayed right behind Epstein until the last 100 where Epstein put a few meters on him for a 5th place finish in a time of 2:14.8. Kalo finished not too far behind in 7th with a little 2 second PR to 2:16.2
Next was the Varsity level of the 800 meter in which Cormick Buti (Jr) and Joseph Considine (Sr) raced against some tough competition. Immediately after the gun went off Buti fell into the back of the pack and Considine trailed a few steps behind. As they went through the first lap, the gap between the lead back with Buti at the rear and Considine chasing them grew. And as they went into the second lap there was a sizable gap between the two Spartans. On the last lap Buti struggled to hang on to the guys in front of him as Considine tried to start to close the gap. Both athletes ran tough races and Buti finished in 10th with a new PR of 2:09.1 and Considine was in 11th with a 2:13.6.
Nearing the end of the meet, Naoto Majoros (Fr) and Evan Bueno (So) took to the track for the Frosh/Soph 1600 meter. Both got out to good starts and worked together to move up past much of their competition. As they ran many of their teammates cheered them on knowing very well this could be the race they both broke 5. But unfortunately it was not the day for that. With a powerful kick, Majoros surged ahead of Bueno and finished with a 5:00.22 in 7th place. Bueno finished not too far behind in 8th with a time of 5:02.4. Both ran impressive races and small PRs getting them within easy reach of sub 5.
The final distance event of the evening was the Varsity 1600m. Following the gun, John Ihrke (Sr) immediately went to the lead and a bit behind him, in the middle of the pack, was Hayato Majoros (Jr). Ihrke pushed the pace with a couple guys right on his tail during the middle laps while Majoros fought for positioning amongst the chase pack. But as they went into the last lap, Irhke flipped gears and dropped the guy who had been right on his heels. Majoros, who was still with the main group, continued to work to try and get around them. Ihrke closed in an impressive 61 or 62 second last lap to win the race with a time of 4:23.8 and Majoros had a strong kick and got 7th with a 4:47.1.
It was a great day for competition and nearly everybody on the distance side PRed in their race. The Frosh/Soph team placed 1st out of 14 teams and Varsity placed 3rd out of 15.
Spartan Of The Meet- Asher Panfil (So)