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Titans Chase The Pack At Indoor Conference

March 20, 2012 By

(Journal Online)  Even though the record temperatures tempt the track and field athletes to get outside, they still have to compete indoors.

Last week the Glenbrook South boys and girls teams capped off their indoor seasons at the Central Suburban League-South indoor conference meet.

Girls

The Lady Titans competed with a tough pack from New Trier, Niles West and Maine South. The difference between 1st and 3rd was only 10 points.

But Glenbrook South maintained for a solid 4th place out of the six competing teams in Glenview last Thursday.

“Overall it was highly competitive, but everyone was doing their best,” said GBS coach Fred Kocian.

New Trier was crowned champion with 113 points followed by Niles West (105), Maine South (103), Glenbrook South (68), Waukegan (59) and Evanston (12).

Leading the way for the Lady Titans was senior Danielle Devito. The distance runner scored major points for the team in the 2-mile run going toe-to-toe with her former cross country foes.

Three of the event’s top six finishers placed in the top 30 at state cross country in November, including Devito.

Devito placed 3rd in 11:14, which is about 40 seconds faster from her time last year, Kocian said.

She raced 18 laps in a close pace behind New Trier’s Jessica Ackerman (1st, 11:06) and Maine South’s Emily Leonard (2nd, 11:09). At cross country state, Leonard placed 6th (17:00) and Ackerman in 11th (17:11) on the 3-mile course.

Ackerman’s sister, Courtney, was the star of the 1-mile run placing 1st in 4:58 breaking the Glenbrook South fieldhouse record.

Maine South’s Megan Lemersal placed 2nd (5:11.70), New Trier’s Mimi Smith in 3rd (5:12.70), followed by Leonard in 4th (5:22.10) and Devito in 5th (5:32.10). The top four finishers in the 1-mile all placed in the top 10 in November.

Also scoring points for the team was returning state qualifier and sectional-champ Danielle Yapur. The sophomore has been battling sickness and leg pains, but placed 4th in the 400-meter dash in 1:04.40. Maine South’s Emma Ropski took 1st in 1:03.50.

Yapur performed up to par in the long jump placing 2nd clearing 16-feet, 4-inches. Teammate Anastasia Athas placed 3rd in 16’1.5.”

Athas went on to place 2nd in the triple jump reaching a 34 foot, 3-inch distance, which is farther than she reached all of last year.

Also in the field scoring for the team was Tina Brkovic who placed 2nd throwing 29’10.5.” Teammate Jessica Galemore placed 4th throwing 29’6.5.”

A strong performance came from the 4×800 meter relay with Shannon Carroll, Yapur, Melissa Bastanipour and Nikki Wells placing 3rd in 10:31.70.

“Their time was the best of the season and one of the best in the last four to five years,” Kocian said.

Boys

The Titans had close finishes and strong performances at Evanston last Friday. The team knew Evanston was a fierce opponent––the Wildkits were later crowned indoor conference champ with 163 points.

But GBS was close to finishing as runner up. New Trier touched them out with 93.5 points and the Titans finished 3rd with 90.

“For us it was just another invite. We were in a good position and Evanston ran away,” said GBS coach Kurt Hasenstein.

Running with the pack was Titan senior Sam Stanek in the 800 meter run.

The marquee event featured Maine South’s Michal Filipczak who placed 2nd at state last year in the event.

“That last lap was the race of the night,” Hasenstein said.

New Trier’s Leland Later broke through finishing 1st in 1:58.60, Filipczak in 2nd (1:58.80) with Evanston’s Aaron Mann in 3rd (2:02.90) and Stanek in 4th (2:04.60).

The Titans picked up some more points with sophomore David O’Gara in the 2-mile run. He set the sophomore school record with his 3rd place finish in 10:02.60.

Senior Max Leonard surprised some competitors in the shot put. He was seeded 4th but broke through to place 2nd throwing 47-feet, 11-inches.

Scoring the most points for the team though was Ose llenikhena with his 2nd place in the high jump (6’2”) and 3rd in the long jump (20’4.5”).

One of the team’s best performances came in the 4-lap relay. Marsean Hood, Yassine Taib, Ben Thompson and Malcolm Engel placed 2nd in 1:16.40.

“It’s about as fast as we ever ran it,” Hasenstein said.

Evanston beat them by one second finishing in 1:15.10.

Also scoring for the team were: Eric Finzer’s 3rd place finish in the pole vault (10’6”), Hood with a personal record in the 200 meter dash (3rd, 23.8), Austin Dickholtz tying his best time in the 400 meter dash (3rd, 53.8) and Gus Shipp placing 2nd in the high hurdles (7.66).

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Glenbrook South hurdlers have high potential

March 20, 2012 By

(Glenview Announcements)  Luke Pilliod didn’t compete for the varsity Friday, and Gus Shipp’s hamstring seized up on him at the CSL South indoor meet at Evanston.

Nonetheless, the Glenbrook South pair will give the Titans one of the best 1-2 hurdling combinations around. Add Marcus Thompson and Stephen Lee, and coach Kurt Hasenstein has a deep roster of hurdlers to work with this spring.

“We are blessed,” he said.

Shipp took second in the 60-yard high hurdles to Evanston’s Xavier Levy with his 7.66, but the senior pulled up before crossing the finish line. Hasenstein kept his star hurdler out of the other event as a precaution.

“He hit too many hurdles, nearly all of them,” the coach said. “That knocked him off balance. He then leaned hard at the end and strained his hamstring.

“While this meet is a benchmark to see where you are, nobody remembers what you do in March.”

Meanwhile, Pilliod continued to excel on the lower levels. The sophomore hurdler was in on seven freshman records last season, and Hasenstein sees even more improvement in the future. Pilliod placed fifth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at last season’s outdoor sectional.

“He’s a kid who will contribute,” the coach said. “He was pretty impressive last year, and he’s one to keep an eye on this year. I will run him between the sophomore and varsity levels this season. I still need to let him have some fun.”

Despite not grabbing any firsts at Evanston, the Titans took third place with 90 points. The host Wildkits won nine events and earned their fifth consecutive indoor conference championship with 163 points.

“I tell our teams at the beginning of the season that our goal is to always be in the top half of the conference, which is very competitive,” Hasenstein said. “I would be disappointed if we were not.”

Osi Ilenikhena boasted one of the better meets for the Titans. The jumper was second in the high jump at 6-feet-2 and third in the long jump at 20-4 1/2.

Max Leonard also was a runner-up, taking second in the shot put at 47-11.

The Titans 4-lap relay of Marsean Hood, Caleb Hill, Ben Thompson and Malcolm Engel ran its second-best time of the indoor season at 1:16.4 to place second.

The junior Engel is in his first season with the track team after giving up baseball.

“He’s been a welcomed addition,” Hasenstein said. “Once we get outdoors, there will be more things for him to do. He’s a good 200 runner, and I’d love to try him in the 400. He’s still learning the sport.”

Glenbrook South starts its outdoor season April 7 at Schaumburg’s invitational.

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Titans top Spartans at annual dual meet

March 2, 2012 By

(Glenview Lantern)  With new names coming in seemingly every day and lineups’ being shuffled more than a deck of cards, it’s hard to get a read on the indoor track season in February.

Still, district rivals Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South both have positive things to look forward to in the final two weeks of the indoor season.

The Spartans hosted the Titans on Wednesday, Feb. 29, for their annual indoor dual meet. The Titans came out on top, showing that they still have the upper hand in the track and field portion of the rivalry.

The Titans were fresh off a victory at the eight-team Fenton Invite on Feb. 25, the team’s first scored meet of the indoor season, so most of their varsity lineup received a shake-up.

GBS coach Kurt Hasenstein didn’t want to take away from the importance of competing against North.

“For years we didn’t score this meet, and Coach [Matt] Purdy, when he was the head coach, and I thought it was very important that we put a little more emphasis on the meet so the kids didn’t treat it as a social event,” Hasenstein said. “A lot of these kids went to junior high together.

“We’ve been real strong in track, and it was an incentive for them to show, ‘Hey here’s our neighboring school that’s doing a lot better, what are we going to do to work hard and get up to their level?’”

First-year North coach Scott Lasky, a 2004 grad and former track athlete for the Spartans, understands that his team has some ground to gain on its rivals.

“We’re still working at stuff,” Lasky said. “This is our third meet now. I saw a lot of good things, a lot of potential. We still are having new kids coming out, so obviously they haven’t had that much practice.”

As both teams receive athletes from recently finished winter seasons, the full lineups will begin to be realized.

GBS’s Ose Ilenikhena is among that group of athletes. Ilenikhena, the Titans’ best high jumper, just completed the varsity basketball season.

Among the standouts on Wednesday were GBN’s Adam Goldsher, who took first in triple jump in his first time competing in the event at a meet, and GBS’s Gus Shipp, who has won every hurdles races he’s entered so far this year.

Both coaches are excited about the younger levels coming up.

“The lower-level kids I thought were really pumped up for this meet,” Hasenstein said. “Our varsity is coming off an invite win, so this is not a huge meet of emphasis for them.”

“A lot of potential there, a lot of kids doing good things,” Lasky said. “The majority of our team is freshmen.”

The indoor season culminates with the conference meets for both coming on March 16. The Titans hope to figure in the top half of the Central Suburban League South, while Lasky is aiming for improvement on last year’s sixth-place finish in the CSL North meet, which the Spartans will host this year.

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GBS Six-Straight Classic Champion

February 28, 2012 By

(Journal Online) Glenbrook South’s ‘Titan’ title remains intact. Over the weekend the Titans reigned supreme winning the 36th annual Jim Spivey Classic for the sixth consecutive year.

“It’s been a good meet for us especially for the 21 years I’ve been here as head coach,” said Glenbrook South coach Kurt Hasenstein.

Glenbrook South finished 1st with 166 points among the eight competing teams at Fenton high school in Bensenville. The other competing Journal-area team was Buffalo Grove finishing in 2nd with 113 points.

The invite is named in honor of Spivey, a 1978 Fenton graduate, a two time NCAA track and field champion for Indiana University and a 1987 World Championship bronze medalist for the International Association of Athletics Federations.

He was also an Olympic runner and his 3:35.55 finish in the 1500 meter run in 1992 is still the fastest run by an American in the Olympic final.

Spivey was present for Saturday’s invite and presented awards.

Glenbrook South senior Sam Stanek was star struck when Spivey handed him his medal for winning the 880 yard run. The event just so happened to be Spivey’s when he was in high school.

“Sam is usually a come from behind runner, but he’s changed this year where he’s realizing he has to go out hard immediately,” Hasenstein.

Stanek finished in 2:09 with Buffalo Grove’s Ryan Degelman finishing as runner up by a chest length (2:09.1).

The rest of the Titan distance runners went toe-to-toe with the state qualifying cross country Bison runners.

In the 3200 meter run Buffalo Grove sophomore Steve Salvano took 1st in 10:07.2, but Glenbrook South sophomore David O’Gara was hot in his tail placing 2nd in 10:10.

In the 1600 meter run Buffalo Grove senior Dan Roe took 1st in 4:45, but Glenbrook South senior Brad Berg was a body length away placing 2nd in 4:49.1.

In the field events the Titans were unmatched by the Bison.

Titan senior Gus Shipp took 1st place finishes in the 50-yard high hurdles (6.6 seconds), 50-yard intermediate hurdles (6.6) and placed 3rd in the high jump elevating to 5 feet 10 inches.

Junior teammate Stephen Lee took 2nd in the high jump reaching a 6’2” height. He also placed 2nd in the long jump with a 17’9” distance.

Titan senior Max Leonard took 1st in the shot put throwing 46 feet 5 inches, which already surpasses his personal record last year of 43’7.”

What’s working well for the senior is the new spinning technique, which will really elevate his discus throwing when outdoor season comes, Hasenstein said.

The Titans 4×100 relay with Marsean Hood, Ben Thompson, Yassine Taib and Malcolm Engel placed 1st in 1:02, a full second ahead of Buffalo Grove’s (1:03.6).

The Titans’ 12 lap relay finished a whole six seconds ahead of Buffalo Grove’s. Luke Pilliod, Yvonne Kangrga, Austin Dickholtz and Taib placed 1st in 3:31.6 and Buffalo Grove in 2nd (3:36.5).

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Another year, another Fenton Invite title for GBS – Double winner Shipp leads Titans to sixth straight crown at meet

February 27, 2012 By

(CSL Online)  When it comes to the Fenton Invitational, the Glenbrook South boys indoor track team is tough to beat.

The Titans cruised to their sixth straight Fenton Invite championship Saturday, topping the eight-team field with 166 team points. Buffalo Grove finished second with 113.

Gus Shipp won the 50-meter high hurdles (6.6 seconds) and the 50 intermediate hurdles (6.6), while Sam Stanek won the 880-yard run (2:09) and Max Leonard finished first in the shot put (46 feet-5 inches).

GBS also won the four-lap relay (1:02) and 12-lap relay (3:31.6).

Second-place finishers for the Titans were Stephen Lee in the high jump (6-2) and long jump (17-9), Austin Dickholtz in the 440-yard dash (57.2), Luke Pilliod in the 50 intermediate hurdles (6.7), Brad Berg in the one-mile run (4:49.1) and David O’Gara in the two-mile run (10:10.0).

GBS’ third-place finishers were Pilliod in the 50 high hurdles (7.2), Shipp in the high jump (5-10), Marsean Hood in the triple jump (37-1/2), Mike Piron in pole vault (10-0), the two-mile relay (9:13.4) and eight-lap relay (2:16.3).

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Titans boys track and field team finds strength in numbers

February 23, 2012 By

(Glenview Lantern)  There’s no shortage of spring sports at the high school level.

With baseball, volleyball and lacrosse splitting the interest of males athletes at Glenbrook South, it’s not easy for any one team to gain a substantial amount of depth.

But the Titans boys track and field team was able to do just that.

Carrying nearly 120 athletes on the roster, the Titans have been able to enter the 2012 season with athletes eager to compete, a trait coach Kurt Hasenstein recognizes as winning half the battle.

“We’re getting extra points because some of the other teams don’t have hurdlers or they don’t have jumper,” he said. “Kids don’t want to be on teams that aren’t doing well. Its more fun to be on a successful team.”

Hasenstein, a physical education teach at GBS, does his best to recruit for his team.

He’s aware that athletes may switch to different sports as the spring season progresses, but said he is always welcome to letting anyone give the sport a chance.

“At least you’ll know what we’re about,” he said. “And if you don’t make it [in other sports] you can come back. It’s a win-win for the kids. To me, it’s very important. I just want kids to have a good experience.”

Of the near 120 student athletes on the roster, about 75 are underclassmen and around 45 are freshman.

But as important as it may be to fill a roster with younger, up-and-comers, the Titans will continue to rely heavily on experience as the year goes on.

Senior Gus Shipp is one of the top returning hurdlers in the conference and figures to be among the elite come the postseason.

Sam Stanek, an all-conference cross country runner, brings a winning mindset to the team, as does Ose Ilenikhena, a GBS football player who has had success with long jump in the past.

Hasenstein said that while he considers the depth of the team to be extremely important, having experienced athletes is what allows teams to achieve consistent success.

“They just have a different confidence level,” he said. “They’ve been there and done that before. They’re not really nervous. They’re out there to compete. And they set the tone for the younger kids, too.”

Unlike in year’s past, GBS doesn’t have a strong presence among returning sprinters.

Short sprint may cause somewhat of a problem for the team, but Hasenstein said he and the team hopes that, because of their strength in other areas, the Titans will be able to finish in the top half of the Central Suburban League South conference.

“It’s a competitive league and we want to make sure we’re able to compete,” he said. “If we finish in the top half, we think that’s a pretty solid performance for our team.”

Girls track and field

If the indoor season carries any weight, the Glenbrook South girls track and field team could be in store for a successful season.

Danielle DeVito, a state qualifying cross-country runner, has already shaved 14 seconds off of her school record 3200 meter run time, and Anastasia Athas is achieving the best triple jump distances of her career.

While coach Fred Kocain was hesitant to invest to heavily into his team’s indoor success, he did say that the Titans’ early success could go a long

way.

“It’s important because you get good confidence” he said. “Sometimes doing well early just makes you hungry to keep improving throughout the season.”

Typically, the indoor season allows coaches to develop a solid understanding of their team, helping them figure out who will compete in which events come the outdoor season.

There has been no shortage of names sticking out for Kocain.

Sophomore Danielle Yapor returns after qualifying for state in the 400 last season, Melissa Bastanipour has made a successful switch to the 800 and has also performed well on hurdles and Jessica Galemore has consistently produced in the shot put.

But it’s the jumpers that have stolen the show.

Outside of Athas’ improvments, Mary Anderson and Gina Lathrop have also done well enough for Kocain to consider long and triple jumps to be among the strong points of his

team.

“For our school, having three jumpers jumping over 16 feet is good,” he said. “This, more than any other year, I see the jumps coach working with them and working through a lot of it earlier on.”

It’s no coincidence that the Titans are excelling with their jumps.

Kocian made concentrated effort to shift some of his better sprinters towards the events, but it didn’t come without an expense.

While the girls may have a better chance to qualify for state with their newfound skills, it may leave the team short on experienced sprinters.

“With sprints, either you have the speed or you don’t,” Kocian said. “You can’t take a person that is just naturally slow and make them fast. That takes a heck of a lot of

work.”

Like so many times before, much of the focus may land on DeVito.

Having already cut down on her state-qualifying 3200 time from last season, and with a new-found confidence after signing on to run at Bradley University, the sky could be the limit for her success.

“The longer the race, the closer she is at being better and better,” Kocian said.

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Strickland Just Misses Cutoff

June 3, 2011 By

(Journal Online) The boys competed last weekend at EIU. Glenbrook South’s lone qualifier was senior John Strickland. He placed 2nd in the long jump at sectionals next to Prospect’s elite Nick Batcha.

Strickland did not make it past Friday’s preliminaries. He jumped 21’5.75″ placing 3rd, just missing the cutoff. Batcha jumped just ahead of him in 2nd by 21’8.5.”

Loyola qualified three individuals but had a hard time getting out of the gate, too.

Jeff Toraason was crowned sectional champion in the high jump, but didn’t make the cutoff for Saturday’s finals.

Todd Ford placed 4th at sectionals in the 1600-meter run. He also didn’t make the cutoff. He placed 9th in the first heat of the prelims in 4:31.72.

William Hague was the lone surviving Rambler to compete in Saturday’s finals. He placed 28th in the 3200-meter run in 9:43.36.

Girls

The girls competed at EIU on May 21. Glenbrook South had two girls qualify with one advancing to the finals.

Senior Danielle DeVito placed 13th in 11:14.98 in the 3200-meter run, dropping eight seconds off her sectional time for a personal record.

Freshman Danielle Yapor qualified in the 400-meter dash, but didn’t make it past preliminaries. She finished 6th in the third heat in 1:00.87.

Loyola had a hard time advancing out of preliminaries as well. Both Katie Simons and Stacey Weaver placed 4th in their heat with a height of nine feet in the pole vault, but it wasn’t enough to advance.

Michelle Ricolcol did not survive preliminaries in the triple jump. She placed 7th in the second heat in 33’11.25.”

Bridget Doyle achieved no height in the high jump, not advancing to the finals.

Jackie McDonnell and Rachel Price couldn’t find the speed in the 800-meter run to advance. They finished in 2:18.14 and 2:17.77 respectively.

No Shortage Of Highlights In Another Strong Titan Season

 

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Strickland Looking For All-State Honors

May 23, 2011 By

(Glenview Patch) Boys Track: John Strickland was the only Glenbrook South athlete to qualify for the state championships after last week’s IHSA Class 3A Skokie Sectional.

After missing last year’s state championship meet in the long jump, John Strickland is looking to make the most of the opportunity this season.

Although Strickland’s sectional mark of 22 feet qualified him in the bottom-third in the long jump, his personal best on the season (22-9.5) would rank him in the top 6.

“John’s first jump was a foul, but we thought it was close to the 23-foot range,” Glenbrook South coach Kurt Hasenstein said. “After that he had to take a ‘safe’ jump to ensure he made the finals so we moved his step back to get one in.

“The rest of the day he never really had the same ‘pop’ in his legs like he did on the first jump.”

After a week of practice, the hope is for Strickland to come through with a personal best and potentially break into the top nine in the finals.

“John has a great chance to make all-state if he jumps to his potential,” Hasenstein said. “Hopefully with some good practice this week he will be ready to go and get that 23-foot jump we’ve been reaching for all year.”

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Boys Track Takes Team Title In Titan Invitational

May 10, 2011 By

(Glenview Patch) It wasn’t a sectional championship or even a conference championship, but Glenbrook South coach Kurt Hasenstein said winning last weekend’s John Davis Titan Invitational at home was one of the best moments in his 20-year coaching career.

With a number of athletes setting personal records and a couple surprising performances, Glenbrook South (108 points) edged Niles North (104) to win the team title in a 12-team field.

“Everything was clicking,” Hasenstein said. “We gathered underneath the scoreboard on the 10th anniversary of [former GBS track coach John Davis] being gone and after announcing the final scores, the kids broke into the school fight song.”

Glenbrook South had four individual winners, including three champions in field events. Kyle Kwasniewski (100 and Pole Vault) Conner Freedman (400), John Strickland (Long Jump) and Max Leonard (Discus) were the individual champions.

Sam Stanek, dropped five seconds off his PR in the 800 (1:57.8), placing second to New Trier’s Tommy King. Leonard’s discus throw was 10 feet longer than his previous best.

Glenbrook South will now prepare for the CSL Championships. The Titans took third place at the indoor championships in March behind Evanston and Maine South.

“Evanston ran away with it indoors,” Hasenstein said. “I think if we had the kind of meet that we had Friday we could challenge for it. We’re just going to need those same kinds of performances.”

 

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Titans Keep Pace At CSL-South Indoor Meets

March 21, 2011 By

(Journal Online) The Central Suburban South is stacked with such heavyweights as New Trier and Maine South, but Glenbrook South’s girls, ripe with young talent, placed 4th with 71 points at last week’s indoor track conference meet.

South hosted the meet on Thursday, but it was Maine South that took the title, their first, finishing with 112 points.

“It was a close, nail biting battle,” said Glenbrook South coach Fred Kocian.

The Titans barely missed 2nd place New Trier (88 points) and 3rd place Niles West (82).

Freshman Danielle Yapor put points on the board. She placed 1st in the 400-meter dash (1:02.2) and 2nd in the long jump (16’3.75″) achieving a freshman record. She also placed 4th in the 50 and 200-meter dash.

The 200-meter dash kept the crowd on edge. Yapor held a sizable lead, but dropped to second and teammate Mary Anderson in 4th place.

With one lap to go Yapor got a second wind and sprinted past a Trevian to take 1st place in 1:01.6. Anderson then passed the Trevian on the turn to finish 2nd in 1:02.6.

Sophomore Klaudia Kukulka placed 1st in the pole vault (8 feet) with teammate Haley Mooney behind in 3rd (7’0.5″).

Also providing the Titans points was Antonikka Smith placing 3rd in shot put throwing 33 feet 11.5 inches.

“We had a real good balance between the field and track events,” Kocian said.

The Titan girls finish their indoor season this week and begin training outdoors during spring break next week.

Boys

The Titan boys managed to place 3rd with 90 points at Evanston last Friday.

Evanston won the conference title with 126 points and Maine South in 2nd (109).

Placing big for Glenbrook South was junior Kyle Kwasniewski. The Titan placed 1st in the 50-yard dash (5.3 seconds), 2nd in the pole vault (12 feet) and 3rd in the 220-yard dash (23.3 seconds).

Junior John Strickland stepped up in the long jump to place 1st (22’2.5″) and 4th in the triple jump (41’7″).

Gus Shipp leapt over hurdles and the high bar to place big for the Titans. The sophomore placed 2nd in the 60-yard high hurdles (7.5 seconds), 3rd in the low (7.1), and 5th in the high jump (5’10″).

Teammate Max Pompilus took 2nd in the high jump in 6 feet, just missing Evanston’s top guy by two inches.

The Titans begin their outdoor season next week.

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