Miracle finish wins it for Scouts
Stunning end to 1,600 relay flips team results of NSC meet
ANTIOCH -- It didn't look like it was possible after the first two legs.
But in the end, sophomore Sam Howard of the Lake Forest Scouts tumbled across the finish line a half-beat ahead of Zion-Benton's Omar Weeks to win the 1,600-meter (mile) relay and give the Scouts the team title in the North Suburban Conference boys track meet.
(Michael Schmidt/News-Sun)
TEAM SCORES
1) Lake Forest 113.5
2) Zion-Benton 113.0
3) Lakes 54.0
4) Lake Zurich 45.0
5) North Chicago 40.0
6) Stevenson 39.0
7) Grant 34.0
8) Warren 29.0
8) Antioch 29.0
10) Mundelein 19.0
10) Vernon Hills 19.0
12) Libertyville 15.5
13) Wauconda 8.0
14) Round Lake 0.0
3,200 relay -- 1) Lake Forest, 8:09.4; 2) Lake Zurich, 8:12.3; 3) Stevenson, 8:12.8.
1,600 relay -- 1) Lake Forest, 3:24.5; 2) Zion-Benton, 3:24.8; 3) Warren, 3:29.8.
800 relay -- 1) North Chicago, 1:30.1; 2) Zion-Benton, 1:31.3; 3) Lake Zurich, 1:32.0.
400 relay -- 1) Zion-Benton, 42.6; 2) North Chicago, 43.2; 3) Lake Zurich, 44.2.
110 hurdles -- 1) Marcell Kirkmanbey (Lakes) 14.1; 2) Lamar Pottinger (Antioch) 14.2; 3) Mike Ellis (Lake Forest) 14.6.
300 hurdles -- 1) Vernon George (Zion-Benton) 39.2; 2) Jon DeGrave (Lakes) 39.4; 3) Mike Ellis (Lake Forest) 39.6.
3,200 -- 1) Gerry Perez (Lake Zurich) 9:43; 2) Andrew Morrison (Lake Zurich) 9:46.6; 3) Mamoud Bahrani (Vernon Hills) 9:48.8.
1,600 -- 1) Tyler Bartlow (Stevenson) 4:27.2; 2) Alex Bennatan (Lake Forest) 4:29.4; 3) Andrew Dewar (Lake Forest) 4:31.8.
800 -- 1) Tim Bennatan (Lake Forest) 1:56.6; 2) Karsen Green (Warren) 1:57.2; 3) Derrick Hall (Grant) 1:58.8.
400 -- 1) Matt Nicklas (Zion-Benton) 49.5; 2) Tavarus Thomas (Zion-Benton) 50.3; 3) Garrett Dorsey (Wauconda) 50.4.
200 -- 1) Vernon George (Zion-Benton) 21.8; 2) Noah Mabifa (North Chicago) 22.7; 3) Brady Leonard (Warren) 22.7.
100 -- 1) Kenny White (Zion-Benton) 10.6; 2) Patrick Arrington (North Chicago) & Noah Mabifa (North Chicago), 10.7.
High jump -- 1) Adam Bassett (Mundelein) 6-6; 2) Tharon Davis (Zion-Benton) 6-2; 3) Gerald Williams (Zion-Benton) 6-2.
Long jump -- 1) Vernon George (Zion-Benton) 22-0; 2) Andrew Stein (Lakes) & Lamar Pottinger (Antioch) 20-8.
Shot put -- 1) Addison Sadewater (Lake Forest) 49-4; 2) Tyler Woolard (Antioch) 48-1; 3) Pavel Zurkowski (Grant) 48-8.
Discus -- 1) Derrick Chmielewski (Stevenson) 140-10; 2) Pavel Zurkowski (Grant) 138-0; 3) Eric Stone (Lakes) 136-8.
Pole vault -- 1) Zach Wheeler (Vernon Hills) 13-3; 2) Harry Gelderman (Lake Forest) 12-3; 3) Matt Brandorff (Lake Forest) 12-3.
Triple jump -- 1) Tharon Davis (Zion-Benton) 42-10; 2) Andrew Stein (Lakes) 42-8.25; 3) Brent Jones (Antioch) 42.4.25.
With Zion-Benton leading by 1.5 points going into the meet's final race, the final event determined the team champion.
Things looked promising for the Zee-Bees as Matt Nicklas spotted his team to a giant lead after one leg, and Taverus Thomas held the big margin after two.
But Tim Bennatan of Lake Forest narrowed the gap considerably by the time the third leg was completed, leading to the dramatic finish.
"The second I got the baton, I knew I could catch him (Weeks)," said Howard, who ran the fastest leg of his life (49.8) by nearly three full seconds. "I knew we had to pull it off and we did."
"Tim closed the gap, which I knew he could," said Lake Forest coach Denis Sheeran. "We didn't know what Sam could do from that point, but he sure showed us, and I get to have him for another couple of years."
In addition to the mile relay, the Scouts got first-place finishes from their 3,200 relay team -- which Bennatan anchored -- Bennaton in the 800 run, and the shot put by Addison Sadewater. Bennaton also finished second in the 1,600 with teammate Andrew Dewar finishing third.
Sadewater's 49-foot, 4-inch throw was far short of the 53-foot effort he has reached in practice, "but it was good enough to win today," he said with a smile.
Mike Ellis of Lake Forest also kicked in a couple of individual third-place finishes in the 300 and 100 hurdles races.
The Lake Forest win put a damper on another outstanding meet by Zion-Benton's Vernon George. He won the 300 hurdles, the 200 dash and the long jump, while anchoring the winning 400 relay team -- despite suffering a spiked ankle in his first running event.
Additionally, George lent moral support for buddy and teammate Kenny White, who captured the 100 dash in a blazing 10.6 seconds to beat a pair of North Chicago speedsters -- Patrick Arrington and Noah Mabifa -- in an exciting sprint.
All these teams will be back in action next Friday night, when they run in the IHSA sectional at Grayslake Central. PREP BOYS TRACK