North Central College once again is the site the annual DVC boys track and field indoor championships. Some of the stars of previous conference meets are back including Naperville Central discus state champion Maverick Ohle. Neuqua Valley looks to take home the DVC plaque for a second consecutive season. This highlight is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.
Nick Pennington soars on the pole vault
Neuqua Valley senior Nick Pennington won the pole vault in 2023 and enters as the favorite this year. The Wildcat clears 15′ 0.25 feet on his first attempt to move into the top of the leaderboard.
Naperville Central sophomore Henry Kane looks to equal that height and in his final attempt he makes it cleanly over the bar. He’s unable to make the next height, but that sets a new PR while teammate Jordan Hanford finishes in third.
Nick Pennington not leaving much room for drama in this event as he also clears 15′ 6.25 on his first attempt to win the pole vault title for the Wildcats.
Continuing on in the field events, Naperville North senior Carson Marlar sprints down the runway in the long jump and launches himself 22.047 feet. That’s good for second place in the event.
The winner is Neuqua Valley sophomore Daniel Robinson, who impresses the onlookers with a leap of 22.63 feet give the blue and gold another first place finish.
Naperville Central scores huge points in the shot put
Over to the shot put where Naperville Central literally shows off the strength of the team. Freshman Ben Blank shows impressive ability in his DVC championship debut with a heave of 46.29 feet to finish in third place. He also finishes in fifth place in the triple jump.
Another Redhawk making some noise in the event is junior Jason Figg who finishes as the runner up with a toss of 47.14 feet, adding to the team point total.
Waubonsie Valley had some great showings in the field events. Junior Patrick Cassidy finished in fifth place in the shot put. Junior Santana Watson wins the triple jump while senior Austin Gianino takes first in the high jump.
Senior Maverick Ohle, who is the defending state champion in the discus, shows that he can handle the shot put as well. The Redhawk who recently committed to Ohio University to play football wins the event at 53.60 feet.
The Redhawks keep rolling as the track events begin
Time to run over to the track as the 4X800 meter relay starts things off. Naperville Central makes easy work of this race as Foster Shelbert starts things off, followed by teammates Jack Graham, Tim Chan and Patrick Clune. The Redhawks win by over ten seconds ahead of Neuqua Valley in second and Metea Valley in third.
Neuqua Valley builds a lead
The two longest races start things off back to back as the 3200 meters is next. Neuqua Valley All-State senior Zac Close is near the front to no surprise. Jack Robertz from Naperville North, Nick Kamp, Tyler Browning and Manuel Najera are all in the top five for Naperville Central. Close turns on the afterburners and cruises to a first place finish at 9:18, nearly a full thirty seconds ahead of Browning who finishes second. Kamp and Najera finish in third and fourth with Robertz in fifth.
Let’s speed things up with some sprinting. After Adam Allen from DeKalb wins the 60 meter hurdles, Daniel Robinson picks up another win in the 60 meter dash. Fellow Wildcat Alexander Knight is the runner up with Daniel Pere from Metea Valley in third.
Stretching things back out to the 800 meters where Austin McInturf from Waubonsie Valley takes the early lead. Down the stretch, a pair of Redhawks pull in front as Patrick Clune takes the win just ahead of teammate Julian Brozek. Metea Valley senior Rameez Abrar with a great effort to work his way into third place. Jack Cole from Neuqua Valley takes fourth.
Naperville Central and Neuqua fight to the finish
After Neuqua Valley wins the 4X200 meter relay, we move to the 400 meters where it’s pretty much all Wildcats and Redhawks in the top four. Edward Mason from Neuqua Valley crosses the line in first, just ahead of Bode Smith and Foster Shelbert from Central. Madhan Manikandswamy from Neuqua takes fourth.
Just a few races left as we hit the 1600 meters. Metea Valley senior Austin Brown takes the early lead but nobody really makes a big push nearly halfway into the race. With a few laps to go, Zac Close gets out in front with Jack Graham from Central and Jacob Barraza from DeKalb. In the final 60 meters, Austin Brown is able to retake the lead and glide across the line for the win. Graham, Barraza, and Close go two, three, four. Waubonsie Valley senior Zach Self finishes fifth with a new PR.
The 4X400 decides the champion
Braylen Anderson from DeKalb wins the 200 meters, while Daniel Robinson and Miles Miskel from Neuqua take second and third to put the Wildcats in first by a point and a half heading into the final race, the 4X400 meter relay. So if Naperville Central finishes ahead of Neuqua, the Redhawks will win the indoor title. To no surprise, despite early challenges from Naperville North, Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley, it’s a race between Central and Neuqua for first place. Foster Shelbert helps the Redhakws hold onto the lead entering the final handoff as the third leg behind Patrick Clune and Nick Kamp as he gives the baton to Bode Smith for the final laps.
It’s just like the finish of the 400 meter race with Smith going down the stretch against Edward Mason from Neuqua, but this time Smith is able to reach the finish line for the Redhawks victory. Naperville Central wins the 2024 DVC indoor track and field championship by half a point, 164.5 to 164 over Neuqua Valley. What a thrilling way to cap off the indoor season.
Full results can be found on athletic.net.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
