CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

On Saturday, April 7, 2007, the Northside Varsity Men Track and Field Team traveled to River Park Track on North Park University Campus for the 7th Annual Mather Invitational. The conditions included 20 degrees weather and a few snow flurries. The Long Jump and Triple Jump were canceled because the sand pit was frozen. During the winter, the Mustangs are without an indoor track, and spend a lot of time training in difficult conditions at River Park and were well prepared for the unseasonable weather. As a result, the Mustangs had one of their best meets of the season in the toughest conditions. In 2006, the Northside Men placed 11th at the Mather Invitational. In 2007, the Northside Men finished in fourth place, within 2 points of the Third Place Trophy. The Mustangs jump from 11th place to 4th place in one year was by far the most improved Team in the meet. Mather High School won the meet. Lane Tech finished in second. Marshal finished in third with 56 points. NORTHSIDE COLLEGE PREP finished in fourth with 54 points, and posted victories over Walter Payton (38 points), Prosser (37 points), Lincoln Park (36 points), South Shore (36 points), CICS (27 points), Clemente (24 points), Julian (22 points), Steinmetz (8 points), Seton Academy (4 points), Urban Prep (3 points), Foreman (1 point), Von Steunben (1 point), and others (0 points). Medals were awarded to the top six athletes in each event, and the scoring scale used was 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. In the open mile, Northside Alumni Daniel Kittaka earned a Medal with an outstanding time of 5:03. Daniel Kittaka went through 400m in 69 seconds, and was at 2:25 for 800 meters, 3:42 for 1200 meters, and 5:03 (2:25/2:38) for the Mile. Junior Harold Jaffe ran an outstanding time of 5:36 (2:43/2:53). Senior Joey Paquette ran an outstanding time of 6:03 (2:53/3:10). Freshman Andrew Czyszczon ran an outstanding time of 6:10 (2:46/3:24). Freshman James Rey ran a time of 6:16 (3:00/3:16). Junior Faraz Khan ran a time of 6:17 (3:05/3:12). Freshman Peter Wilk had raced no distance longer than 400m prior to the race, and ran an outstanding time of 6:18 (3:04/3:14). In the High Jump, Marshall Senior Maurice Blanton won it with a jump of 6'0. Northside Captain Eric Nelson placed third overall, and tied his personal best with a jump of 5'10. Nelson also scored for the Mustangs in the Shot Put and Discus. Eric Nelson was awarded a Medal for placing third overall in the High Jump. In the Shot Put, Eric Nelson placed seventh overall with an outstanding throw of 36'5.25. Senior Robert Garcia placed 19th with a throw of 27'11. In the Discus, Eric Nelson placed seventh overall with a personal best throw of 81'11. Preston Buehrer placed ninth overall with a personal best throw of 76'01, and came within 2'0 of scoring in four events in one meet. In the 4x800m Relay, Preson Buehrer ran a 2:21 800m split (64/77) on the first leg of the Relay, and made a nice exchange to Sophomore Simon Vecchioni. Vecchioni ran a 2:32 800m split (67/85) on the second leg of the relay. Junior Erik Flores ran a 2:32 800m split on the third leg of the relay. Harold Jaffe anchored the Mustangs to fifth place overall, with a 2:31 800m split (68/83), for a total time of 9:56. Preston Bueher, Simon Vecchioni, Erik Flores, and Harold Jaffe were awarded Medals for placing fifth overall. In the 4x100m Relay, Senior Geoff Edwards lead off with a 12.16 100m split, and made a nice exchange to Junior Santino Merino. Merino ran an outstanding 12.34 100m split, and made a nice exchange to Sophomore Brian Chhun. Brian Chhun ran an outstanding 12.76 100m split and made a nice exchange to Jose Choto. Junior Jose Choto anchored the Mustangs to ninth overall, with a 12.60 100m split, and a NEW SCHOOL RECORD of 50.46! The previous school record was 50.47, and was set in 2003, and had lasted for four years. In the 3200m run, Mather Senior Carlos Hernandez won it with a time of 10:31.40. Lane Tech Senior Joel Wojcik placed second with a time of 10:37.80. Northside Sophomore Jonathan Kittaka finished in third place overall with an outstanding time of 10:38 (5:07/5:31). Lane Tech Sophomore Fernando Arroyo placed fourth with a time of 10:49. Mather Senior Darko Golub placed fifth with a time of 10:51. Lincoln Park Junior Derek Schnake finished sixth with a time of 10:56. Northside Freshman Cuitlahuac Pineda finished seventh with a personal best time of 11:28 (5:37/5:51). Pineda dropped 3 seconds off his personal best time. Clemente Sophomore Thomas Gray-Cole completed the scoring by placing eighth. Jonathan Kittaka was awarded a Medal for placing third overall. In the 110m Hurdles, Junior Santino Merino placed eighth overall to score vital points for the Mustangs with an outstanding time of 21.93. Freshman Andrew Czyszczon placed tenth overall with a time of 24.52. In the 100m Dash, Northside Captain Preston Buehrer placed 4th overall with a personal best time of 12.31. Buehrer is now within .17 of a second of Jonathan Miller's 2003 school record (12.14). In the 800m run, Freshman Cuitlahuac Pineda placed eigth overall with an outstanding time of 2:24.91. (67/77) Sophomore Simon Vecchioni placed 17th overall with a time of 2:31 (72/79). In the 4x200m Relay, Erik Flores ran a 26.43 200m split on the first leg of the relay. Santino Merino ran a 26.71 200m split on the second leg of the relay. Freshman Neal Capapas ran a 27.13 200m split on the third leg of the relay. Junior Jose Choto anchored the Mustangs to seventh overall with a 26.66 200m split, for a total time of 1:46.93. In the 400m run, Senior Geoff Edwards BROKE THE SCHOOL RECORD with a personal best time of 55.61 to place third overall. Edwards was awarded a Medal for placing third overall. In the 300m Hurdles, Junior Santino Merino placed 11th overall with an outstanding time of 51.83. Freshman Andrew Czyszczon placed 15th overall with an outstanding time of 60.76. In the Mile, Mather Senior Carlos Hernandez won it with a time of 4:55.16. Lincoln Park Junior Derek Schnake finished in second with a time of 4:58.33. Mather Senior Darko Golub finished in third with a time of 5:01.47. Northside Sophomore Jonathan Kittaka finished in fourth with a time of 5:01.73. Kittaka went through 400m in 67 seconds, and was at 2:22 at the 800m, and went through 1200m in 3:45, and finished with a time of 5:01 (67/75/83/76). Jonathan Kittaka was awarded a Medal for placing fourth overall. Lane Tech Senior Joel Wojcik finished in fifth place with a time of 5:07. Lincoln Park Junior Henry Mattingly finished in sixth place with a time of 5:08. Northside Junior Preston Buehrer finished in seventh place with a time of 5:14. Buehrer went through 400m in 69 seconds, and was at 2:30 at 800m, and went through 1200m in 3:55, and finished with a time of 5:14 (69/81/85/79). Clemente Sophomore Thomas Gray-Cole completed the scoring by placing eighth overall. In the 200m, Geoff Edwards placed fourth overall with an outstanding time of 24.52. Jose Choto placed seventh overall with an outstanding time of 25.61. Geoff Edwards was awarded a Medal for placing fourth overall. In the 4x400m Relay, Freshman Neal Capapas lead off with a 60.15 400m split. Brian Chhun ran a 60.26 400m split on the second leg of the 4x400m relay. Erik Flores ran a 60.20 400m split on the third leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Sophomore Simon Vecchioni. Simon Vecchioni anchored the Mustangs to sixth overall with a 62.76 400m split, for a total time of 4:03.37. Neal Capapas, Brian Chhun, Erik Flores, and Simon Vecchioni were awarded Medals for placing sixth overall. VARSITY POINTS SCORED AT MATHER INVITATIONAL 1. Geoff Edwards 11.00 2. Jonathan Kittaka 11.00 3. Eric Nelson 10.00 4. Preston Buehrer 8.00 5. Cuitlahuac Pineda 3.00 6. Jose Choto 2.50 7. Erik Flores 2.25 8. Simon Vecchioni 1.75 9. Santino Merino 1.50 10. Neal Capapas 1.25 11. Harold Jaffe 1.00 12. Brian Chhun 0.75 VARSITY POINTS SEASON LEADERS (9 Meets) 1. Geoff Edwards 42.00 2. Jonathan Kittaka 36.00 3. Preston Buehrer 31.00 4. Eric Nelson 20.00 5. Patrick O'Connor 19.75 6. Albert Lin 17.00 7. Jose Choto 14.75 8. John Holler 11.25 9. Benjamin Garcia 11.00 10.Santino Merino 10.75 11.Cuitlahuac Pineda 9.25 12.Simon Vecchioni 8.50 13.Erik Flores 8.00 14.Martin Melto 7.75 15.Hunter Speese 5.50 16.Brian Chhun 5.25 17.Wemi Jemine 5.00 18.Neal Capapas 4.25 18.Harold Jaffe 4.25 19.Vinh Nguyen 2.50 20.Darrel Johnson 1.50 20.Robert Garcia 1.50 21.Nick Ruff 1.00 21.Faraz Khan 1.00 21.Adam Swiatlowski 1.00 22.Peter Wilk 0.75 23.Omer Aba-Omer 0.50 The above athletes have earned a Varsity letter this season by scoring at the Varsity level.