Like a broken record

Huntley's Marcus Popenfoose won the IHSA Class 3A state title in the discus and finished second in the shot put at this year's state meet. Popenfoose, the 2010 Northwest Herald Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, will continue his throwing career at Auburn University in the fall. (Travis Haughton - thaughton@nwherald.com)

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Huntley boys track and field coach Jim Rolando might have found the most appropriate way to describe Marcus Popenfoose’s ability to throw.

“It was an art form,” Rolando said. “He made everything look really easy.”

Popenfoose finished his illustrious high school career last month at the IHSA Boys State Track and Field Meet hoping for the meet record in the discus. He settled for the one thing that had eluded him, a Class 3A state title in the discus, to go with his second-place finish in the shot put.

Huntley assistant coach Chris Maxedon, who works with the Red Raiders’ throwers, said Popenfoose owns discus and shot put records at every meet which Huntley competed except state.

For his dominance, Popenfoose again is the Northwest Herald Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, becoming the third repeat winner.

Jacobs’ Evan Jager (2006, 2007) and Marengo’s Bryan Medynskyj (1994, 1995) are the other two athletes to take the honor twice.

“It’s definitely cool for my name to be on those [records] at meets,” Popenfoose said. “I hoped to set the mark high enough that it would be there for a while and that whoever breaks them really has to throw well. My goal was to set those records as high as I could.”

Popenfoose, who will throw at Auburn, ended his career with six medals, including his one first and three seconds. He was a clutch performer who thrived on competition and in front of big crowds.

“I felt like I had a good senior year,” Popenfoose said. “I was disappointed because I set my goals a lot higher, and there were some things I didn’t do correctly to get in that position.”

Popenfoose threw his career best 202 feet, 4 inches at the Crystal Lake Central Invitational. He also hit 60 feet-plus in the shot put in the final three weeks of the season, after struggling earlier with fouls. When Popenfoose slowed down his approach through the shot put ring, he didn’t foul and notched his season’s best throws.

Rolando appreciated Popenfoose’s ability to analyze what he’s doing.

“Nobody works harder than Marcus,” Rolando said. “He’s very smart about his craft and he was never afraid to ask questions and change things.”

Rolando admits that he can get long-winded when telling a story. So when he recently was filling out Popenfoose’s nomination for Gatorade Player of the Year/ESPN RISE magazine, Rolando felt he could have written a whole volume.

“He’s the consummate teammate,” Rolando said. “His focus was what he had to get done, but he was always a positive team member for everyone else, always willing to hold someone’s blocks or something else.”