Big team, big hopes for Marian Hurricanes track

The Marian Central Catholic High School boys track and field team entered the season with depth and balance, according to new head coach Jon Lakemacher. Lakemacher, who coached track at Harrison School, Wonder Lake, for five years, is pleased with the mix of talent on his team of 34 members and believes the team can compete in all events.

“The boys team is pretty deep all the way around,” Lakemacher said. “We have a good mix in terms of sprints and distance. We are very solid in all events. We are going to be excellent in a few of them, but I think all around, we are going to be able to score points in almost every event.”

Even with a very balanced roster, Lakemacher singled out junior Matt Yuk, calling him “an excellent high jumper.”

According Lakemacher, the toughest meet of the year for the ’Canes already occurred. On April 3, they competed against Wheaton Academy and seven-time defending conference champion Marmion Academy, Aurora. The ’Canes finished with 67 points, just behind Marmion’s 84 points. The 4-by-100- and 4-by-400-meter relay teams finished first. Freshman Jordan Niemeyer won the long jump, triple jump and 100-meter dash. 

“The boys did amazing,” Lakemacher said. “It was a great team effort.”

The ’Canes are led by three team captains — seniors Tommy Frederick and Ty Balduf and junior Danny McConville.

McConville, who competes in the 4-by-400 relay, 4-by-800 relay, 300 hurdles and the long jump, said he is impressed with the talent on the team this year.

“We are 10 times better than last year,” McConville said. “We brought in a ton of athletic talent from the school. We should have a couple of kids go to state.”

McConville said his goals for the team this year are simple.

“Our goal this year is to do better than last year,” McConville said. “Last year was rock bottom for us. We want to win meets,  and we want to send some people to state.”

In order to accomplish the goals, McConville said the team “has to have good determination.”

Lakemacher said he believes the team has a bright future with a lot of talented youth.

“We have a great group of freshmen,” Lakemacher said. “We are a very young team with some very talented individuals.”

The Suburban Christian Conference meet will be Wednesday, May 9, at Marmion.

The rest of the roster includes seniors Jim Catarello and Kyle Thompson; juniors Danny Edwards and Nick Foley; sophomores Timothy Bryan, Alex Cetera, Mark Haller, Mike Hanlon, Charles Heintzelman, Anthony Fitzpatrick, Brett Olson, Jack Rhodes, Sammy Rita, Ryan Wray and Allen Young; and freshmen Chris Curnutt, Scott Girolamo, Sam Gulbrandson, Connor Hull, Eric Iftner, Isaac Jimenez, Mike Lyons, Jacob Dehne, Jordan Peterson, Gus Siebert, Sebastian Soliz, Bryce Struttman, Pat Sullivan and Michael Velazquez.