CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

On Saturday, March 11, 2006, in front of a packed stadium at Proviso West High School, the top Freshman and Sophomore athletes selected from 75 Chicago Public High Schools competed in the CPS Indoor Freshman-Sophomore Track and Field Championships. One year ago, in the same meet, the only event the Mustangs scored a point in was the Mile. This year the Mustangs scored in 86% of the events, and have officially emerged has one of the top Track and Field Teams in the City of Chicago. The 4x800m Relay set the tone early for the meet, and created energy throughout the Team. The Mustangs were ranked 7th in Chicago going into the Meet, and with a 10:34.56 4x800m performance at Fenton were not considered contenders. However, prior to the race, every athlete on the 4x800m Relay committed themselves to running within 4 seconds of their 400m PR on the first 400m of the race and it paid off. Freshman Brandon Cooper dropped 8 seconds off his PR, and ran a personal best time of 2:19 on the first leg of the 4x800m Relay. It was the second fastest time run by a Mustang this season. As Brandon handed off the baton to Sophomore Santino Merino, several opposing coaches jaws dropped as the Mustangs were in the lead. Santino Merino came to the meet not knowing if he was even going to run in the meet, because he was designated as an alternate when the entries were submitted. Sophomore Erik Flores, a 2:28 800m runner did not make it to the bus, and Merino was told upon arrival at the Meet that he would be running in place of Flores in the 4x800m Relay. At Fenton, Merino, ran a 2:40.61 800m PR, and being asked to subsitute for a 2:28 800m runner was a tall order. Merino came to the meet ready and prepared to race. Merino showed incredible mental toughness and dropped 12 seconds off his personal best time, and ran a 2:28.93 800m PR, and is now a permenant member of the 4x800m Relay Team. Merino handed off the baton to Freshman Simon Vecchioni and it was now clear the Mustangs were about to pull off an upset and finish among the Top 3 in the City of Chicago. On the third leg, Simon Vecchioni dropped 14 seconds from the Fenton Classic, and ran a personal best time of 2:31.58. Vecchioni handed off the baton to Sophomore Eric Ullrich to anchor the relay. On the Final leg, Eric Ullrich dropped 11 seconds off his personal best time, and secured Third place in the Chicago for the Mustangs with an outstanding time of 2:28.45! In less than four days, the same athletes went from a 10:34.56 4x800m Relay time at the Fenton Classic to a 9:49.03 4x800m Relay at the CPS Freshman-Sophomore Indoor Championships, representing a combined 45 second time drop!!! The 9:49.03 4x800m Relay was also faster than the Varsity 4x800m Relay Team at Fenton, and the second fastest 4x800m Relay by the Mustangs on any level this season. In the Shot Put, Freshman John Ko threw an outstanding 29.5! Sophomore Preston Buehrer threw a personal best 26'8.5. University of Chicago Throwers Coach Lee Slick officiated the Meet and told several great stories about Shot Put Olympic legend Brian Oldfield. In the High Jump, Freshman Wemi Jemine improved from a personal best 5'2 to 5'6 to place 3rd overall in Chicago! Freshman Eric Nelson jumped a personal best 5'10 to tie for First place and came extremly close to 6'0 in his final attempt. Nelson won the tie breaker by having the least amount of misses in the Competition, and is the 2006 CPS Indoor High Jump Champion!!! In the Long Jump, Freshman Albert Lin jumped a personal best 16'9 to place 6th overall in Chicago! In the 4x200m Relay, Eric Nelson ran a personal best 27.11 200m split on the first leg of the Relay. Sophomore Jerry Tran ran a 29.10 split on the second leg of the relay. Sophomore Brian Chhun ran a 30.70 200m split on the third leg of the Relay. Sophomore Jose Choto ran a personal best 25.00 200m split on the final leg of the relay to anchor the relay to an Outstanding 4x200m Relay time of 1:50.91. The Mustangs placed in the top 6 in the 4x200m Relay, but official results will not be released by the CPS until this evening. In the Mile, the one-two punch of Freshman Jonathan Kittaka, and Sophomore Preston Buehrer placed 1st and 2nd in the second heat of the Mile. Jonathan Kittaka dropped 10 seconds off his personal best time, for a personal record of 5:19. Preston Buehrer dropped 7 seconds, for a personal record of 5:21. Kittaka and Buehrer placed 4th and 5th overall in Chicago!! Jose Choto 25 second 200m split in the 4x200m Relay represented a 1.70 second drop off his personal best time and is the fastest 200m time by a Mustang this season! However, Choto felt light headed after the race and was unable to compete in the 4x400m Relay. Designated alternate Santino Merino took his place in the 4x400m Relay and once again rose to the occassion. On the first leg of the 4x400m Relay, Freshman Benjamin Garcia ran a personal best 61.67. Sophomore Santino Merino dropped 3 seconds off his personal best, running a 63 second leg of the 4x400m Relay. Freshman Sam Vergara dropped 2.41 seconds off his personal best running a 64.78 on the Third leg of the 4x400m Relay. Eric Nelson anchored the relay with a personal best 61.55 on the Final leg of the 4x400m relay for an outstanding Team time of 4:11. The Mustangs placed in the top 6 in the 4x400m Relay, but again official results will not be released by the CPS until this evening. The CPS Freshman-Sophomore Indoor Championships was by far the Mustangs best meet of the season. Freshman-Sophomore CPS All-Star Athletes are restricted to competing in Relays in the Varsity CPS Indoor Championships on Sunday, March 19, 2006. However, several Freshman-Sophomore CPS All-Star Athletes will have a dramatic impact on the Varsity roster in the 4x800m, 4x200m, 4x400m Relays. The Northside Freshman-Sophomore Track and Field Team has one more Indoor Championship meet before they start Outdoor Track and Field Season. On Tuesday, March 21, 2006, the Northside Freshman-Sophomore Team will take on 7 of the best Freshman-Sophomore squads in the State at the Fenton "Ostberg" Indoor Invitational. The meet will feature the "Jim Nichols 800m run" and the "Emil Ostberg 200m run" in honor of said All-American Athletes. Plaques will be awarded to the first 5 places in individual events and the first 4 places in relays. The Meet will features 16 Events, and Northside will have two entries per individual event, and one Relay in the 4x135 yards Relay, 4x800m Relay, 4x270 yards Relay, and 4x405 yards Relay. Northside is also within striking distance of several Fenton "Ostberg" Indoor Invitational Field House records. Athletes not selected in either of the remaining Indoor Meets will have a 400m/800m Powerade Time Trial on Friday, March 17, 2006, and the Throwers will also have Shot Put Powerade Trial on Friday, March 17, 2006. Any athlete that runs or throws a "PR" will be awarded a jug of Powerade at the Time Trial.

On Tuesday, March 7, 2006, the Northside College Prep posted victories against Luther North, Gordon Tech, CICS Northtown, and Taft High School at the Maine South Classic. The following are the Team scores: Maine South 102, Northside College Prep 69, Luther North 36, Gordon Tech 26, CICS Northtown 18, and Taft 2. Kelly Varney won the High Jump (4'6) and the 50 LH (8.8). Jennifer Kane won the 200m Dash with an outstanding time of 30.40. Anna Parks placed second in the 800m run. Julie Bujinowski placed 2nd in the 400m Dash. Rachel Kittaka and Maruja Yoshimura placed 2nd and 5th respectively in the 2 Mile run. Kittaka and Yoshimura also placed 3rd and 4th respective in the Mile run. The following are the Varisty points totals for the Maine South Classic: 1. Kelly Varney 18 2. Rachel Kittaka 10 3. Jennifer Kane 9 4. 4x400m Relay 8 5. Anna Parks 6 6. Julie Bujinowski 6 7. 4x800m Relay 4 7. Adoara Achufusi 4 8. Maruja Yoshimura 3 9. Chynna Moerlien 1

On March 7, 2006, the Sophomore-Freshman Northside Track and Field Team upset Fenton to improve their combined season record to 20-4!. The meet started with the 4x800m Relay, and the Mustangs did not score a point on either the Sophomore-Freshman Team or Varsity Team in the 4x800m Relay. It quickly began too look like it would be a difficult day against Track and Field powerhouse, Fenton High School. However, Jose Choto, Jerry Tran, Kyle Diep, and Hiro Joho quickly changed the momentum with a dramatic 4x135 Yard Relay (1:08.5) victory over Fenton (1:09.1). Freshman Jonathan Kittaka then won the 3200m run with an outstanding time of 11:50.2. Sophomore Brad Eben placed 2nd overall in the 3200m run with a time of 13:15.22. Freshman Benjamin Garcia placed 4th in the Shot Put with a throw of 29'0. Albert Lin (16'6), and Wemi Jemine (16'5) placed 3rd and 4th respectively in the Long Jump. Lin also placed second in the Triple Jump (31'10). The Mustangs swept the High Jump, lead by Wemi Jemine (5'2), Eric Ullrich (5'0), Benjamin Garcia (4'10), Craig Melhuse (4'8), and Jerry Tran (4'8). Jose Choto placed 2nd in the 200m Dash with an outstanding time of 26.7. The Mustangs edged Fenton by two points to secure the victory. Several members of the Sophomore-Freshman Track and Field Team will participate in a CPS All Star Meet on Saturday, March 11, 2006, and the entire team will return to action for the Sophomore-Freshman Championships on March 21, 2006. The following is a list of individal Point leaders for the Fenton Classic: 1. Jose Choto 9.25 2. Wemi Jemine 6.00 3. Albert Lin 5.00 3. Jonathan Kittaka 5.00 4. Benjamin Garcia 3.00 4. Eric Ullrich 3.00 5. Kyle Diep 2.50 6. Jerry Tran 1.75 7. Sam Vergara 1.25 7. Hiro Joho 1.25 7. Sammy Caronongan 1.25 7. Christian Okoye 1.25 7. John Ko 1.25 7. Walid Mohammad 1.25 7. Simon Vecchioni 1.25 7. Spencer Rosenfeld 1.25 8. Brad Eben 1.00 9. Craig Melhuse 0.50

On March 7, 2006, the Varsity Mens Track and Field Team traveled to Bensenville, Illinois to take on Conant High School, and the legendary Track and Field Powerhouse, Fenton High School at Bison Stadium. Bison stadium is covered with banners displaying the Bisons streak of consecutive appearances in the IHSA State Cross Country and Track Championships. Fenton is well knowing for their distance runners, including Olympic legend Jim Spivey. Fenton started off the meet with a impressive 9:07.4 4x800m Relay victory. However, the momentum Fenton built up in the 4x800m Relay quickly shifted after the Northside College Prep Freshman-Sophomore 4x135 Yard Relay (Jose Choto, Jerry Tran, Kyle Diep, and Hiro Joho) had a dramatic upset victory over an undefeated and heavly favored Fenton 4x135 Yard Relay Team by 0.6 of a second!!! It was by far our best Sprint Relay of the season (1:08.5). The Varsity followed with a 2nd place finish in the Varsity 4x135 Relay (Manraj Bains, Aamir Khan, Tom Skawski, and Tuan Lee) (1:16.3). Next, on the same track, that Olympian Jim Spivey set many Illinois indoor Track records, the Mustangs swept the 3200m run, lead by Senior Daniel Kittaka, who won the 3200m run with a season best time of 10:52.8. Junior Patrick O'Connor placed 2nd with a time of 11:18.9. Sophomore Preston Buehrer placed third with a time of 12:04.5. Junior Joey Paquette placed 4th with a time of 12:21.6. Freshman Eric Nelson had a major impact in his first Varsity Track and Field Meet, by placing 2nd in the High Jump with a Jump of 5'8, Fourth in the Triple Jump with a jump of 35'10, and helped the Varsity 4x400m Relay finish 2nd overall. Senior Joseph Terdik placed 4th in the 800m run (2:33) and the High Jump with a jump of 5'0. Sophomore Eric Flores placed 3rd in the 400m run with an outstanding time of 63.6. Senior Bobby Ziegler set personal records and improved dramatically in both the long jump (15'2.5) and Triple Jump (30'4.5). The Mustangs scored 30 points in the Fenton Classic, and came within 18 points of Fenton despite not competing in several events. The following are the Individual Point Leaders for the Fenton Classic: 1. Daniel Kittaka 6.25 2. Eric Nelson 4.75 3. Patrick O'Connor 3.75 4. Preston Buehrer 2.75 4. Joseph Terdik 2.75 5. Joey Paquette 2.25 6. Eric Flores 2.00 6. Tuan Lee 2.00 6. Manraj Bains 2.00 7. Tom Skawski 0.75 7. Aamir Khan 0.75 SEASON VARSITY POINT LEADERS (3 MEETS): 1. Daniel Kittaka 30.75 2. Patrick O'Connor 10.75 2. Preston Buehrer 10.75 3. Joseph Terdik 7.75 4. Eric Nelson 4.75 5. Joey Paquette 4.25 6. Bobby Ziegler 4.00 7. Manraj Bains 2.50 8. Eik Flores 2.00 9. Tuan Lee 2.00 10. Nick Florence 1.50 11. Tom Skawski 0.75 12. Aamir Khan 0.75 13. Ryne Tobin 0.50 The Northside College Prep Varsity Track and Field Team will compete next in the CPS Indoor City Championships on Sunday, March 19, 2006.

On March 11, 2006, the Chicago Public Schools are hosting an ALL STAR Track and Field Meet for Freshman - Sophomore athletes at Proviso West High School. Ribbons will be awarded to the top 6 performers per event. The Proviso West Track is 200m, six lanes, rubber surface and 1/8" pyramid spikes will be allowed on this surface. The meet will feature only 4 running events: 4x800m Relay, 4x200m Relay, One Mile Run, and the 4x400m Relay. The meet will also feature only 3 Field Events: High Jump, Long Jump, and Shot Put. To be selected for this meet in an individual event, you must have competed in a meet this season, and be in compliance will all CPS eligibility requirements (Players Card / Physical). The following athletes have been selected to represent Northside College Prep: Salom Aboni Alt. 4x200m Relay Adoara Achufusi Shot Put, 4x200m Relay Preston Buehrer Mile (5:28), Shot Put (26'7.5) Jose Choto 4x200m / 4x400m Brian Chhun 4x200m Brandon Cooper 4x800m Alex Custer 4x800m Erik Flores 4x800m Benjamin Garcia 4x400m Amina Jambo Shot Put Wemi Jemine High Jump (4'8) Jennifer Kane 4x200m / Alt. 4x400m Jonathan Kittaka Mile (5:32) Rachel Kittaka Mile (6:27) / 4x800m Relay John Ko Shot Put (29'6.5) Albert Lin Long Jump (15'11.5) Santino Merino Alt. 4x800, Alt. 4x200, Alt. 4x400 Eric Nelson 4x200m / 4x400m / High Jump (5'8) Anna Parks 4x800m / 4x400m Julia Shimada Mile (6:58) Jerry Tran 4x200m Maria Torres Long Jump / 4x200m / 4x400m Eric Ullrich 4x800m Simon Vecchioni 4x800m Kelly Varney High Jump / 4x200m / 4x400m Sam Vergara 4x400m Ani Zotti 4x800m The Freshman-Sophomore All Star Meet only features 7 Events. Athletes not selected for the Freshman - Sophomore All Star Meet, could still be selected for the CPS Indoor Varsity Championships (March 19, 2006), which features 16 Events, which is 9 more events than the Freshman-Sophomore All Star Meet. Athletes selected for the Freshman - Sophomore All Star Meet could also be selected for Relays in the Indoor Varisty Championships. The Freshman - Sophomore All Star Meet will be held on Saturday, March 11, 2006, at Proviso West High School, at 2:30 pm. The Bus will leave at 1:15 pm.