Szamlewski soars toward state

Runners compete in the 3,200-meter run Friday during the IHSA Class 3A Huntley Boys Track and Field Sectional. (Lauren M. Anderson - landerson@nwherald.com)

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HUNTLEY – Corey Szamlewski has been breaking the McHenry school record in the pole vault throughout the season.

Friday at the IHSA Class 3A Huntley Sectional, Szamlewski did it again, going 15 feet to win the event and advance to next weekend’s state meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Huntley’s Evan Ofenloch and Ryan Sheehan each tied for second nearly 3 feet behind Szamlewski, jumping 12-3.

“I felt good and had a lot of adrenaline going,” Szamlewski said. “I have been trying to go 15 feet all season, and I finally got it.” Szamlewski added that he now has better goals in mind.

“I really want to get to 15-6,” he said. “I’m getting new poles on Tuesday, so that will help.”

McHenry coach Dave D’Angelo said Szamlewski has been working with smaller poles in practice.

“Last year, he jumped really well but struggled at the end of the year, so this year in practice, we have been using shorter poles to work on technique,” D’Angelo said.

Szamlewski added another state appearance in helping the Warriors’ 4x100 meter team to a second-place finish. McHenry (64) finished third as a team, and Huntley (58) finished fourth. Jacobs (43) was fifth, and Dundee-Crown took seventh (35). Crystal Lake South (26) finished 10th, with Cary-Grove (20) in 12th.

Huntley’s Marcus Popenfoose continued his domination of the discus and shot put. Popenfoose won the shot put by nearly 9 feet against McHenry’s Jake Howe with a throw of 61-1 ½. Popenfoose then added another discus sectional title with a 185-3 throw to beat his nearest competitor by nearly 36 feet.

Cary-Grove’s Anthony Golowich finished third in the high jump with a height of 6-6.

On the track, Dundee-Crown’s Nathan Prom won the 800 meters in a time of 1:55.54, defeating Jacobs’ Joey Cieniewicz by 0.36 of a second. Prom added a second-place finish in the 1,600 meters (4:24.64). Crystal Lake South’s 4x800 team of John Ryan, Jason Liuzzi, David Lundine and Matt Biederwolf won the event to qualify for the state meet. Liuzzi and Biederwolf also qualified in the 4x400 with Kenny King and Alex Allmandinger.

Jacobs’ Danny Trevor nearly pulled off a double victory, winning the 300 intermediate hurdles (38.95) and finishing in second in the 110 high hurdles (14.51). McHenry’s Carey Nolan won the 200 (22.29) after finishing second in the triple jump (42-11).

Dundee-Crown's 4x800 team of Nate Kirchhoff, Jon Clark, Ryan Smith and Mike Wiechmann was second, less than a half-second behind South, to qualify.