PLAINFIELD -- Mark Hardman saw exactly what was happening, and he used it to his advantage.
The Plainfield Central High School junior jumped 47 feet 1/2 inch in the triple jump Friday night to provide one of the many highlights in the Class 3A Plainfield Central Boys Sectional Track & Field Meet.
Hardman qualified for next weekend's state meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, as did all winners, second-place finishers and anyone else exceeded the predetermined qualifying times, heights and distances.
"When I saw Walls (Waubonsie Valley's Ricky) go 46 feet, I told him, 'My goal is to beat you,'" Hardman said. "I was like, 'OK, OK.' I was feeling it.
"I kind of surprised myself. Now I hope I can finish in the top three at state. That would be phenomenal for our school and program."
"Mark thought he was going to state last year, although I'm not sure where that came from," Central coach Steve Lawrence said. "He never hit qualifying all season. But when he didn't make it, that woke him up. He became more committed and worked harder.
"He went 44, 45, 46 and now 47, and it's been a consistent progression against a strong schedule. He completely changed his philosophy. Now he's on our side of the fence. He's a leader. He has a road map on what he wants out of life."
Neuqua Valley won the title in the powerful 18-team field with 82.5 points, followed by Waubonsie Valley with 67 and Aurora West with 64. Lockport was fourth with 62, Plainfield South fifth with 42, Bolingbrook tied for sixth with 37, and Romeoville eighth with 30.5. Other area finishers: 10. Providence Catholic, 20 points; 11. Lincoln-Way Central, 17; 13. Plainfield East, 14; 15. Plainfield North, 11; 16. Plainfield Central, 10; 17. Joliet, 9; 18. Minooka 3.
As for area state qualifiers, here is how they broke down by school:
Lockport: 400 relay (Matt Benes, Nick Pleva, D.J. Jones, Steve Gleaves), Abraham Omar (300 hurdles), 1600 relay (Jones, Ryan Mitsos, Gleaves, Omar), Steve Monte (high jump, pole vault), D.J. Jones (long jump).
Plainfield South: 3200 relay (Jake Ferris, Juliano Lodi, John Magee, Mike Maki), 400 relay (Mike Marrero, Adam Oplustil, Dondre Adams, Brandon Winters), 800 relay (Adams, Winters, Alex Flores, Oplustil), Winters (110 hurdles), Andrew Haney (pole vault), Adams (long jump).
Bolingbrook: Jovante Slater (200, long jump, triple jump), John Seigler (high jump), Roosevelt Holliday (discus, shot).
Romeoville: Sergio Miranda (1600), Richmond Richter (triple jump).
Providence: Joey Michals (110 hurdles).
Lincoln-Way Central: Ryan Newtoff (300 hurdles), Jeremy Palgen (pole vault).
Plainfield East: Justin Brendel (100, 200).
Plainfield North: 3200 relay (Quest Young, Quinn Holler, Andrew Karas, Austin Stone).
Plainfield Central: Mark Hardman (triple jump).
Joliet: Brett Scheuber (800).
Lockport had its ups and downs, with Monte a definite bright spot. But when the 1600 relay came through with a second place and state qualification in the evening's final event, the Porters' camp erupted.
"That was very nice, very nice," Lockport coach Tom Razo said with a smile. "The kids all ran well, and they will be better next week. Gleaves gave us a personal best, and Abe (Omar) brought us home."
Not long before that, Omar had won the 300 hurdles. He is what they call a stud.
"I qualified last year (in the 300 hurdles) and I went downstate and choked up," he said. "I want to do a lot better this year."
Monte missed qualifying in the 110 hurdles but would not be denied as he won the pole vault with a 14-3 amd was fourth in the high jump at 6-4.
"I got up on that big pole, no problem," he said of his pole vault. "That 14-3 is my PR. I missed going to state last year by 3 inches, and this year I'm happy.
"I'm probably better in the high jump, but you have to focus more in the pole vault, and it's more exciting. I would have like to go to state in the hurdles, too, but my goal was to get there in something, and two out of three isn't bad."
"Some good, some bad for us tonight," Razo said. "This is such a tough meet that you have to be prepared mentally. If you're not, you can be eliminated quickly."
If Hardman's performance and East sophomore Brendel qualifying in both sprints were major individual stories for a Plainfield school, South supplied the thunder from the team perspective.
The Cougars shattered the District 202 record for number of state qualifiers, and coach Jason Crowe has a stated goal to get as many entries as possible to the final day of next week's state meet.
South, in fact, was on the doorstep on qualifying all four relays. The 1600 relay missed by just over a half-second.
And then there was Winters, one of the top 100 hurdlers around. And Haney, a placer in state wrestling, in the pole vault. And Adams in the long jump.
"We set some school records, we got I don't know how many downstate, it was all a dream come true," Crowe said. "The kids have been working hard year round, and it showed tonight."
Winters, a two-time sectional champion, did not have a particularly good experience at state last year, nor in conference last week.
"As Coach said, every champion has failed before and at some point will fail," Winters said. "I had to come back mentally ready tonight. This feels great. It's really exciting to be going to state to compete against the best."
Bolingbrook coach Art Pahl noted that his team did well in the field events. The running events did not produce the usual success, but the Raiders are awfully young there.
Romeoville coach Scott Harper said, "Richomond had a good chance in the triple jump, Sergio (Miranda) an outside chance if he ran well in the 1600, and he did."
Providence football and track standout Joey Michals pulled a pleasant surprise when he qualified in the 110 hurdles but narrowly missed in the 300 hurdles when he cramped up in the final 10 yards.
"A bright spot definitely was Joey going in the 100 highs, that was a little surprising," Celtics coach Mark Coglianese said. "He had a better shot int he 300, but he tightened up. He's run the 300 time all year.
"And Pat Ward missed by 2 feet in the discus and a foot in the shot, so he was disappointed."
Joliet coach Jason Aubry said Scheuber, a senior, qualified in the 800 and normally runs the 1600 as well. "We took him out of the mile so he could concentrate on getting to state in one event," Aubry said.
That's what Friday was all about. Advancing against one of the toughest sectional fields anywhere.
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