CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

On Saturday, April 8, 2006, the Mustangs traveled to familiar surroundings, to their home track, located in River Park, for the 6th Annual Mather Invitational. The meet featured 20 schools, including, Evanston, Lincoln Park, St. Patrick, Mather, Foreman, Schurz, South Shore, Seton Academy, Lane Tech, Curie, Chicago Vocational, Prosser, CICS, Chicago Vocational, Calumet, Steinmetz, Dunbar, and Payton, among others. A special thanks to Mather Head Coach Dale Devinney for running an outstanding meet with Hi-tek laser scoring, video cameras for the finish, and providing the athletes with engraved Track and Field Medals. In the 3200m run, Patrick O'Connor was spiked at the start of the race, and the spike went through his shoe, sock, and skin, causing blood to flow out of his foot with every step during the race. O'Connor showed incredible mental toughness and determination that would rival distance legend Steve Prefontaine. Despite the condition of his foot, Patrick O'Connor not only stayed in the race, but with the lead pack, lap after lap, in a race that included Mather's Carlos Hernandez, Lane Tech's Joel Wojcik, St.Patrick's Joe Lill and St.Patrick's Brian McKenna. With 300m to go, Wojcik and O'Connor broke away from the lead pack, with each athlete matching each others kick to the finish stride for stride. As the athletes crossed the finish line, it appeared both athletes crossed the line at the same time, and the cameras had to be checked for a photo finish. O'Connor was determined to be the winner, with a personal best 3200m time of 10:28. The Mustangs Preston Buehrer also ran an outstanding 3200m race, and was one of the top Sophomores in the meet, and outkicked Payton Senior Nick Chevas to the finish with an outstanding time of 11:23.6. After the race, O'Connor received immediate Medical attention from Mens Head Coach Jon Gordon with the use of a first aide kit, and a bandage over his wounded foot. As the day progressed it became even more appearent by the condition of his foot, that O'Connor ran the 3200m race on pure "Guts". He was visibly limping, and had to be scratched from the remainder of the Meet. The Mustangs are hopeful the injury will heal over the weekend. In the Discus, Benjamin Garcia threw a personal best 81'03. John Ko threw an outstaning 67'06. In the Shot Put, Benjamin Garcia threw a personal best 32'00.50. John Ko also threw a personal best 30'04.75. In the Triple Jump, Albert Lin jumped an outstanding 33.01.75. In the Long Jump, Lin jumped an outstanding 16'05.50. Freshman Sammy Caronagan jumped a personal best 12'07. In the High Jump, Freshman Eric Nelson tied for 5th place, earning a Medal, with a jump of 5'06. On Nelson's first jump he injuried his back, but stayed in the competition to secure vital points for the Mustangs. Nelson had an outstanding jump on his final attempt at 5'08, and just barely tapped the bar on the way down. In the 4x800m Relay, Brandon Cooper (2:18.36), Santino Merino (2:39.16), Bobby Ziegler (2:29.78), and Joey Paquette (2:22.70) placed 7th overall. In the 110m Hurdles, Albert Lin placed 8th overall with a time of 22.33. Freshman Sammy Caronangan ran an outstanding time of 22.97. In the 100m Dash, Benjamin Garcia ran an outstanding time of 13:09. Freshman Sam Vergara ran a personal best time of 15.35. In the 4x100m Relay, Simon Vecchioni (12.99), Sammy Caronagan (14.35), Santino Merino (13.90), and Sam Vergara (14.11), placed 10th overall with a total time of 55.35. In the 800m run, Joey Paquette ran an outstanding time of 2:27. In the 4x200m Relay, Irfan Hussain (28.59), Erik Flores (28.28), Simon Vecchioni (28.62), and Santino Merino (28.08), scored for the Mustangs, by placing 8th overall with a total time of 1:53.57. In the 400m run, Erik Flores ran a personal best time of 61.32. In the 300m Hurdles, Eric Nelson ran a personal best time of 51.42, and Albert Lin made a nice recovery after hitting his trail leg on the final hurdle to run a personal best time of 55.61. In the open Mile, the race was open to all athletes ages 14 - 72. David Parks, Father of Anna Parks, came out of the stands to lead the Mustangs with an outstanding time of 5:33. Parks was a 4:35 Miler in High school in Washington,D.C. Adam Swiatlowski ran a time of 5:56. Shaheed Ghogha ran an outstanding time of 5:58. James Casper-Shipp ran a time of 6:04. Brad Eben ran a time of 6:05. Irfan Hussain ran a time of 6:28. Freshman John Ko ran an outstanding time of 6:30. Freshman Sprinter Nathan Michaelson medaled by running a personal best time of 6:41. Faraz Khan ran a time of 6:52. Freshman Jake Leshuler ran a personal best time of 7:07. Aamir Khan ran a time of 7:37. In the Varsity 1600m, Bobby Ziegler replaced the injuried Patrick O'Connor, and scored for the Mustangs by placing 8th overall with an outstanding time of 5:13. Preston Buehrer also ran an outstanding time of 5:21.5, and was the second fastest Sophomore in the meet. In the 200m Dash, Santino Merino ran a time of 27.89. In the 4x400m Relay, Benjamin Garcia ran a personal best 59.30 on the first leg of the relay, Joey Paquette ran a 66.72 on the second leg of the relay, Sam Vergara ran a 66.13 on the third leg of the relay, and Preston Buehrer anchored the Mustangs with an outstanding time of 63.54 seconds, to place 8th overall, with a time of 4:15.69. VARSITY POINTS SCORED 1. Patrick O'Connor 10 2. Eric Nelson 3.50 3. Bobby Ziegler 1.50 4. Albert Lin 1.00 5. Joey Paquette 0.75 6. Santino Merino 0.75 7. Brandon Cooper 0.50 8. Preston Buehrer 0.25 9. Benjamin Garcia 0.25 10.Sam Vergara 0.25 11.Simon Vecchioni 0.25 12.Erik Flores 0.25 13.Irfan Hussain 0.25 SEASON MENS VARSITY POINT LEADERS (7 MEETS): 1. Daniel Kittaka 60.75 2. Patrick O'Connor 45.75 3. Joseph Terdik 25.25 4. Eric Nelson 24.75 5. Chris Zysko 18.00 6. Preston Buehrer 13.50 7. Bobby Ziegler 6.50 8. Joey Paquette 6.25 9. Wemi Jemine 3.00 10. Brandon Cooper 2.75 11. Manraj Bains 2.50 12. Erik Flores 2.25 13. Albert Lin 2.00 14. Tuan Lee 2.00 15. Geoffrey Edwards 1.50 16. Nick Florence 1.50 17. Benjamin Garcia 1.25 18. Eric Ullrich 1.25 19. Jonathan Kittaka 1.25 20. Jose Choto 1.00 21. Sam Vergara 0.75 22. Santino Merino 0.75 23. Tom Skawski 0.75 24. Aamir Khan 0.75 25. Christian Okoye 0.50 26. Ryne Tobin 0.50 27. Simon Vecchioni 0.25 28. Irfan Hussain 0.25