Victory, but no record

McHenry's Corey Szamlewski cleared 15 feet in pole vault Saturday at the IHSA Boys Track and Field State Meet in Charleston. Szamlewski took second place. (Clark Brooks _ For the Northwest Herald)

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That one monster discus throw that Huntley senior Marcus Popenfoose longed to unleash never materialized.

Popenfoose said he had a small problem with his release point. The wind conditions, slightly from left to right, were not favorable, either. So Popenfoose left Charleston on Saturday without the meet’s best throw in any class, and without a state meet record, but with something he never before had in his decorated career – a state championship medal.

Popenfoose won the Class 3A discus at the IHSA Boys Track and Field State Meet at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium. He also was runner-up in the shot put for the second consecutive year, giving him six state medals in his career and Huntley’s only boys state track and field title in school history.

“I was a little disappointed in the distances, but what I ultimately set my goal for, as a freshman, was to win a state title,” Popenfoose said. “I felt I could have gone a lot farther without the little mental mistakes.”

Popenfoose won the discus with a throw of 189 feet, 3 inches, almost 10 feet farther than Lake Park’s Jermaine Kline (179-9). Kline won the shot put with a 61-101⁄2 effort. Popenfoose was second at 61-11⁄2.

Two other area athletes were runners-up in Class 3A. Dundee-Crown’s Nathan Prom took second in the 800-meter run and McHenry’s Corey Szamlewski was second in the pole vault.

Also in Class 3A, Jacobs’ Danny Trevor grabbed sixth in the 300 intermediate hurdles. In Class 1A, Harvard’s Coty Kramer was ninth in the 200 for the second consecutive year.

In Class 2A, Crystal Lake Central and Richmond-Burton each had three medal performances. Central’s 4x800 relay team of Ryan Alvarez, Chris Alvarez, Paul Dunteman and Mike Bondi ran 7:51.14 and took fourth. Ryan Alvarez then was third in the 1,600 in a career-best 4:19.53, and Bondi took third in the 800 in 1:58.24.

R-B’s Kyle Wismer took fifth in the 400, Ian Sanchez was sixth in the 1,600 and Matt Marzahl was sixth in the high jump.

Woodstock’s Phil Meyer was fourth in the Class 2A 3,200, and Mike Kremske was seventh in the 800. Prairie Ridge’s Kerry Kohlbacher was sixth in the 400, and Marengo’s Joe Janssen was ninth in the 800.

Prom passed six runners in the final 200 of the Class 3A 800 to grab second in 1:53.66, his career-best time.

“I’m so shocked. That’s amazing,” Prom said. “I came into this race just wanting to medal. I’m shocked right now.”

Szamlewski switched poles after his first few jumps, but made a speedy transition to hit 15-0 for the second time in two weeks. Lake Park’s Zach Ziemek also made 15-0, but edged Szamlewski on fewer misses. Szamlewski thought he had the height to make 15-3.

“My left quadriceps was just a little sore and I wasn’t getting enough penetration into the pit,” Szamlewski said. “This is a great day. It’s great to do this as a junior.”

Central’s 4x800 relay knocked 11 seconds off its qualifying time, then Alvarez and Bondi both came back to win individual medals.

“I thought we all ran really well [in the 4x800],” Bondi said. “We all ran our best times.”

The Tigers ran Eric Loria with the group in Friday’s preliminaries and won their heat. Central coaches planned all along to substitute Dunteman for the finals.

Alvarez, who will run at NCAA Division I Oral Roberts, looked totally spent after his 1,600 race. It was a contrasting finish to his cross country season, where he had a subpar race at the state meet.

“I prayed through the whole race I was hurting so bad,” Alvarez said. “I feel really good. I learned a lot from that defeat [at cross country]. I came back here and, praise God, because He blessed me today.”