LaneTechFan.com will now be working in collaboration with a brand new website called CPSFan.com.
Both sites will be linking to this blog and the CPSFan Message Board. Whereas LaneTechFan.com focused primarily on Lane Tech, CPS Fan and the message board will shift it's focus on the CPS (also known as the Chicago Public Schools).
Check out CPSFan.com..... let me know what you think. Post a comment.
Here is my scouting report on Thaddeus Scott (RB, 5-7, 165lb,) senior to be from Lane Tech.
Scott is the starting running back from Lane Tech. He is very fast and has some power for a guy his size at about 165lbs. He is capable of some big runs if he finds space, but when he get's bottled up he does not have enough power to get that extra yard or two. At the same time, I've seen him punish bigger tacklers in the open field. His receiving skills seem to be untested because Lane does not really use him much as a receiver. He is one of the fastest running backs in the CPS having been a key component in Lane's city championship track teams. Scott performed well at the one day University of Illinois football camp held at Lane Tech in June. He could be an all-city running back this year if he develops further. Scott has been a winner in every team he is in. Freshman year he was on the team that beat Morgan Park for the sophomore city football championship. Last year as a junior he was on the team that beat Hubbard for the varsity championship.
Omar Caban of Mather should be running cross country this year at Danville Community College.
As far as I heard, hear is an unofficial list of where some CPS athletes guys are going to run/not run next year at college.
Please post a comment for any additions/editions.
Mather
ivan coronel, danville jc running xc (full ride)
omar caban, danville jc running xc (full ride)
justen garth, depaul/uic i think he's running
alex sorapu, north central running track
mikey medina, north park running xc/track
sheedy victor, north park running xc/track
erick ortega, loyola U - no formal running
eddie torres, oakton running xc
Lane
Chris Kyles, JC? or trying to get into a D1 late?
Deonte Griggs, Univ- Wisconsin Stevens Point
Demetrius Jacobs, Univ-Wisconsin- Stevens Point
Rashe Allen, NIU - not runnin track or XC - just bein a student
Fernando Arroyo, Morton College - XC
Other schools
Romeo Jurardo, Lake View - JC?
Steven Clark, Darien Williams Harlan, Summer Track club running and then go from there.
Kawana Brooks, Kenwood - University of Illinois full track scholarship
Jonathon Kittaka, Northside Prep - running at a small Minnesota college?
www.LaneTechFan.com is now officially owned and operated by: Melon Sky Corporation, an Illinois C-Corporation. Melon Sky also owns and operates several websites including www.crosstownconcierge.com and the upcoming www.brickbattlefield.com.
It was announced that the CPS is laying off 557 employees. The position cut are non-teaching or coaching positions rather positions like food service workers, IT, Human Resources, and professional mid-management positions making $78,000-$90,000 a year. While, it is almost never good for a person to lose a job, in this case I am certainly for the decision to cut jobs.
I feel that the CPS already has too many non-essential people on it's payroll. According to the Sun-Times "three people were found doing the job of one employee". Wow if that is the case, then you really need to lay off even more people.
I am for anything that creates greater efficiency. In this case, how efficient or how good is a system if you have 3 people doing the job of one person. Especially if those people are earning $78,000-$90,000 a year in an economy like this.
For once, I feel the CPS has made a good decision. The next step is to look at getting rid of the other non-essential positions like head start coordinators, czars, unneeded advisors, $100k + salary jobs of diversity coordinators, IT, HR, and any other job that adds government bureaucracy but does not contribute to teaching a student.
Joel Wojcik (Lane Tech class of 2007) is just one of the runners over the years that the Lane Tech cross country machine has churned and developed over the years.
Man, you guys are killing me with all of these great posts on the message boards. I only publish the best of the best. This is a good one from the past; with a lot of insight. Definitely a Lane Tech insider. In the following post, the writer talks about the development of cross country runners at Lane.
LT Alum
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 | LT Frosh/Soph « Result #4 Today at 2:10pm » | ![[Quote]](http://s3.images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif) |
Lane has always produced competitive and well rounded varsity runners. Lane will not be doomed in 2009 or 2010. The unknowns will produce fast times. Lane's history in running proves this year in and year out. Luis Rodriguez - ran about a 5:30 something as a freshman in track. Sophomore year rolls around and he runs 11:07 at Horner Park well ahead of second place. He improves year after year and now he's run a 16:10. Flaco - didn't break 13:00 for 2 miles his freshman year in XC. The following track season he ran 10:51 for the 3200m. and 5:02 for the 1600m. Two years later and he's running sub 16:00 for 3 miles. Luis Samouya - one of lane's best runners. Ran 5:20 as a sophomore. Following XC season, he break 16:00 for 3 miles. Runs a 4:30 as a junior, almost a minute drop for only 1600m. Ends up running 4:21 with a swollen knee at state his senior year. Flo - injured most of freshman year which ruins his track season. Runs 10:40 as a sophomore and becomes a sub 16:00 3 miler by senior year. Jorge Espinosa - Not the best XC runner at first. A half-miler to quarter-miler. Breaks 16:00 for 3 miles by senior year. Drops over a minute from his PR the previous year. Hugo Ramirez - Ran a 5:27 his freshman year. Runs 16:40 as a sophomore and finishes his career at a sub 16:10 3 miler. Kevin Beltran - doesn't break 5:30 as a freshman. Runs low 17:00's as a sophomore in XC. Becomes a sub 16:20 3 miler by senior year. Scott Frayn - Not a top 5 runner as a junior. Doesn't even break 17:00. Finishes his senior year as a sub 16:30 3 miler and the second fastest 2 miler in the city. Joel Wojcik - Doesn't break 17:00 as a sophomore. Runs low 16:20s by senior year and one of the top 2 milers in the city his junior and senior years. Eric Irrizary - barely breaks 12:00 as a sophomore. Runs 16:50 as a junior and 16:05 as a senior. 3rd place at city his senior year. Walter Henning - In his first ever race over a mile, he breaks 17:30. Ends his first ever XC season under 16:30. Top 10 at city. Fernando Arroyo - injured for about half of his high school career, yet still manages to run 15:51 as a senior after a devastating junior XC season. Max Silva - runs sub 17:00 in his first XC season. Didn't run freshman year. Eduardo Sanchez - didn't break 13:00 as a freshman. Barely broke 6:00 as a freshman. Jerry Gonzalez - didn't run freshman year. Joined sophomore year. Runs 5:19 as a sophomore. Runs low 17:00 as a junior. Runs sub 4:50 as a junior. A top runner his senior year but cannot run do to injury. Bounces back senior year and run 4:43 indoor. Top 2 miler in the City junior and senior years. Kent Frayn - didn't break 13:00 as a freshman. Ran a 5:39 as a freshman. Runs a 4:56 1600m. in his second event as a sophomore. Runs 16:50 in first XC race as a junior. Top 800m. runner in the city as a senior. It seems like last year, Max was an unknown. Luis Rodriguez was an unknown as a freshman. Kent Frayn, Eduardo Sanchez, and Jerry Gonzalez were all unknowns as Frosh/Soph runners. Lane will ALWAYS work with what they have and produce results. These are only a few of their runners that were present recently. The city may not know who lane's frosh/soph runners are but their faces will be recognized each and every year. Their names will appear on these message boards eventually. So don't underestimate Lane's frosh/soph. Just look at some of the runners listed above before bashing on Lane's frosh/soph. They were unknowns. But they became stars as the years went on. | ||
(left to right) Omar Tall (jr), Joseph Laseter (jr), and Yusef Hood (so) lead #1 ranked class AA Kenwood.
1. Kenwood (2008 results: 3rd sophomore boys at city; 9th at sectionals)
Kenwood is traditionally more of a track power. But last year, Kenwood broke out in the cross country world by finishig 3rd at the sophomore level ahead of traditional cross country powers Lane Tech and Northside Prep. Kenwood, then finished 9th at setionals - only 4 places away from qualifying to state as a team. Kenwood also returns it's entire top 7 from last year led by cross country state qualifier Omar Tall. If the places fall right and their runners develop Kenwood may have a legitamate chance of becoming the first ever CPS class AA boys team to qualify down state.
Luis Hernandez of Lake View will be part of senior laden Lake view team.
2. Lake View (2008 results: 8th boys varsity at city; 12th at sectionals)
Lake View will be a senior laden team this year as 5 of it's top 7 from last year's sectional team will be seniors. Those seniors have an opportunity to help Lake View improve on last year's 8th place city finish at the varsity level and give Lake View an outside shot at qualifying for state. Two of those seniors Michael Tran and Luis Hernandez ran on Lake View's 4th place city 4x800 meter relay team in track last spring. Lake View may have found some more depth in sophomore Eduardo Chavez and senior Sergio Navas. The pair ran on Lake View's state qualifying 4x800 meter relay team that ran a season best 8:47.15 for Lake View. It is not determined yet wheter Chavez or Navas will run cross country. Chavez was a part of Lake View highly successful boys soccer program last fall . Chavez finished 5th at the frosh-soph 800 meter dash last spring with a time of 2:11 - pretty good for a freshman. Lake View's #1 runner will be much improved Oscar Medina a junior. Medina qualified for state last year for Lake View in cross country and is coming off a very impressive track season in which he ran a 10:10 in the 3200 meter run at the state finals.
3. Harlan (2008 results: no team)
Harlan did not even have a boys cross country team in 2008. So why am I ranking them so high? It's their new cross country coach Dr. Mark Thompson. Thompson led Harlan from a school that barely had a track program two years ago to a 14th place state finish in track. And track may not even be Thompson's best sport. He is probably more of distance coach. I'm not sure if you can expect a miracle the first year out of Harlan's cross country program. But under Thompson will lead Harlan to a very respectable finish. Depending on how the season goes, Harlan may even challenge for a top 2 ranking in class AA.
Charlie Obermeyer (sr- left) and Jonathon Starzyk (sr - right) should lead a Jones team that will sorely miss graduated distance star Griffin Kelly.
4. Jones (2008 results: 6th boys varsity at city; 11th at sectionals)
Jones has graduated one of their top distance runners in school history in Griffin Kelly. Kelly capped his senior year with a 4:33 mile at the state meet - 2nd best in the CPS this year. Let's hope Kelly inspired a new wave of distance runners last year. On the plus side Jones should return 5 of it's top 7 runners from a team last year that finished 11th at sectionals. Jones also finished 6th in the city last year at the varsity level. Jones may not have front runner this year and will relay on a pack of runners that could include seniors Charlie Obermeyer and Jonathon Starzyk. Both have broken 17:30 last year.
Jose Mora of Payton
5. Payton (2008 results: )
All eyes will be on Jose Mora. This is Mora's senior year and will graduate as Payton's best ever male distance runner. Mora finished 6th last year with a time of 15:48. Mora's 93rd place state cross country finish was the highest in the CPS last year. Nobody trains harder than Mora and should improve on his state finish last year and should contend for a top 3 finish at city. The only question for Payton is the same as it has been thte last two year. Can Payton find enough runners to support Mora?
6. Noble Street Charter (2008 results: 9th frosh-soph boys at city; 10th boys varsity at city; regional champions; 13th at sectionals)
Noble is an improving CPS program that won it's first ever cross country regional championship. A good goal for Noble this year is to build addiotional consistency for the program. If they can train over the summer and get back as many of it's runderclass man to run cross country agian this year, then it will be a successful year. The closest thing to a number one runner for Nobel Street should be senior Jonathon Blanco.
7. Kennedy (2008 results: 8th frosh-soph boys at city; 12th boys varsity at city; 16th at sectionals)
If Kennedy looks to recapture some of it's past glory of the late 1990's in which they contended for city and regularly qualified for state, then it will come from a team in which it returns it's entire top 7 from last year.
Others: North Lawndale, Gage Park, Manley, Cristo Rey, UIC College Prep
The Kennedy Crusaders return their entire top 7 from last year's team that ran only freshman and sophomores at sectionals.
Coming soon girls class AAA previews, boys class AAA previews.
Jamie Hershfang (jr) - 84th at state last year - will lead #1 Payton. Payton returns 6 of it's top 7 runners for a team that finished 8th at state sectionals and won city at the frosh-soph level.
Here is an early 2009 pre-season poll. The rankings are based on the assumption that all underclassmen from last year will return this year.
1. Payton - (2008 results: 1st at frosh-soph level; did not run at varsity level; 8th at sectionals)
For the last several years, the talk at the city level has primarily revolved aroung Lane, Northside Prep, and Whitney Young. This year, you can add Payton to the mix. Payton returns 6 of it's top 7 runners from a team last year that dominated at the frosh-soph level winning with 36 points. Payton is led by junior to be Jamie Hershfang. Hershang finished 4th at the frosh-soph level last year with at time of 12:49. She was the sole reprentative in the state meet for CPS Girls Class AA, where she finished in 84th place. Also look out for returning #2 runner Savanah Gramman (so) and returning #3 runner Gabbi Kelenyi. Payton finished 8th at sectionals last year and has a chance to become the first CPS class AA school to qualify for state as a team in 2009.
2. Jones (2008 results: DNR as a team at city; 12th at sectionals)
The fate of Jones will likely revolve around senior Cade Yankowski. Yankowski was Jones's only varsity runner at city where she finished 36th with a time of 21:49. At sectionals, Jones managed to run a complete team of 7 runners. Yankowski improved her time and finished a respectable 29th place at sectionals with a time of 20:33. She helped Jones to a 12th place sectional finish. Yankowski finished 8th at last springs CPS city track championship in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:59.
Yoselin Flores (sr) - little known but talented runner from Kennedy. She finished 6th 3200 meter run at last spring's city track championship.
3. Kennedy (2008 results: DNR as a team at city; 14th at sectionals)
The good news is that Kennedy returns pratically everybody from last year. The bad news is that only one returnee from last year ran below 23 minutes for 3 miles. The good news is that their top returnee Yoselin Flores is a good distance runner finishing 35th at sectionals last year with a very good time of 20:48. Flores also finished 6th at the 3200 meters at last spring's city track finals.
4. Lake View (2008 results: 6th freshman level at city; no team results at sectionals)
After Payton, nobody has a better top 3 than Lake View: Adriana Ortiz, Angelina Jaimes, and Kathrine Davila. All should return this year. Ortiz missed qualifying for state by one spot, when she finished as the 6th individual at the Niles West Sectional. She was one individual spot behind, Jamie Hershfang of Payton who grabbed the last state individual spot. The fate of Lake View in 2009 will depend if they can find 4-7 runners who can support their top 3.
Others: Kenwood, Gage Park, Manley, Little Village, Cristo Rey, Noble Street, UIC College Prep
Gage Park girls varsity team from 2008
Espoire Habimana (sophmore to be) from the Chicago Math and Science Academy.
The Chicago Math and Science Academy, a CPS school in Rogers Park, does not have a track team. That did not stop freshman Espoire Habimana from continuing his running. Habimana, the 2008 freshman CPS cross country champion, competed at the 13.1 Marathon Race on June 7, 2009 in Chicago.
Habimana finished 1st in his age group and 31st overall (out of over 3000 runners) with a blazing time of 1:29.21. That is a pace of 6:50/mile over the 13.1 mile course. Not bad for a 14 year old.
I heard that Habimana ran a 5k "warm up" race earlier this month in 17:32. A 17:32 for a 5k is about an equivalent of 16:57 for 3 miles. Habimana ran an 11:07 over two miles when he won last years city cross country championship.
No one knows how he will do next year in a 3 mile cross country race. But one thing we know for sure, Habimana, a native from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has some serious distance running ability.
The Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA) does have a cross country team. It has not been in existence for too long- maybe only one or two years. Last year CMSA ran only 3 runners in the city championship. Habimana's teammate Auub Farah finished 8th at the freshman level with a very respectable time of 12:04. CMSA will be a class A school in the 2009-10 school season.
We can only hope that the Habimana, Farah and the rest of the CMSA cross country program continues to develop. As for the development of Habimana? He wants to run at the Rock and Roll Half Marathon August 2nd. So, keep an eye out on this blog on howhe performs.
Harlan Girls Track team pose at University of Chicago Indoor Track
The University of Chicago holds open outdoor track meets in the summer.
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