AURORA -- When a whole season of hard of work and sweat boils down to one night, it is time to be at your best.
The Waubonsie Valley Warriors were certainly at their best at the West Aurora Class AA Sectional Friday night.
Rising to the occasion, the Warriors claimed their first sectional title since 1994.
"When you look at the history of Waubonsie Valley, it's phenomenal, it's a great honor for these kids," said Warriors coach Brian Beyers. "Our guys came to run. They haven't really been pushed this year. They weren't the favorite, but they responded."
All four relay teams qualified for the state tournament next weekend. The Warriors 3200 team of Michael Lorenz, Matt Havlik, Emmett Lorenz and Sean Wiggan won the event in 7:55.57 and the 1600 squad of Scott Mankivsky, Marc Presley, Emmett Lorez and Wiggan also took first place finishing in 3:32.47.
West Aurora's team of Marlin Ness, Josh Zinzer, Leon Spears and Antonio Knight was second and also qualified for the state meet.
Mankivsky, Tony Tucker, Daniel Tucker and Tre Clark placed third in the 400-meter relay and will head to the state meet, while the 800 team of Mankivsky, Tony Tucker, Clark and Presley also place third and qualified for state.
Wiggan claimed the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.60 and will race at the state tournament.
"We all pushed and we knew we had it in us," said Wiggan after the 800. "It's actually the first time we've had some competition, and we needed it because we've been racing and winning. We got some competition tonight and it helped."
The Warriors scored 80 points, Bolingbrook was second with 73, Neuqua Valley (69) was third and the Blackhawks finished fourth with 59. Oswego East tallied 31 points, Oswego collected 19 and East Aurora followed with 17.
Knight qualified in the 400 meter dash, finishing second in 49.25 seconds and Oswego East's Derek Drew will join him as he claimed third place in 49.92 seconds.
Zinzer will compete in the 200-meter dash after taking second in 22.11 seconds.
Martin King of Oswego will compete in two events next weekend. He won the 300-meter hurdles in 39.22 and was second in the 110 hurdles in 14.74.
"My time in the 300 wasn't that great because I messed up on the curve, but luckily I was still good enough," King said. "I nicked the second to last hurdle (in the 110), but it was still my best time."
The Batavia Bulldogs' 400 squad of Andy Thomas, Bai Kabba, Dan Skinner and Erich Zeddies met the state qualifying time of 43.14, while West Aurora's 800 team of Kendall Peoples, Leon Spears, Joel Vincent and Zinzer narrowly met the standard and qualified. Zinzer blazed through the final leg and sent the Blackhawks downstate.
Vincent won the triple jump clearing 45-11. Aviance King (West Aurora) claimed second in the high jump and advanced to the state meet. Justin Lawrence (Oswego) and Jamario Taylor (East Aurora) qualified in the long jump. Lawrence won the event, leaping 23-5, while Taylor was two inches shorter.
The Warriors dominated the throwing events. Brett Einbecker won the shot put with a throw of 59-8 and also garnered the discus title with a toss of 190-7.
Teammate Dwight Harris will join him in both events landing throws of 56-7½ and 163-11.
Juan Perez of West Aurora was third in the shot put (57-0½). Class AA West Aurora Boys Track Sectional
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