
Dunbar Mighty Men warming up
Group 1 teams: Lane, Mather, Simeon
Looking at results so far, I still have Lane #1.
Lane has the best middle distance squad in the city with about 8 guys who are running 2:10 or below at this time of the year. Eduardo Bustamonte (sr) and Marcello Burbano (so) has stepped up in the distance arena with times of 10:25 and 10:13 in the 3200 meter run. This year's Lane team does not have a city championship sprint contender like Chris Kyles or Fuad Salami as they have had in the past. But it does not mean sprints are weak. I can see them putting together some sprint relay teams led by Matt Rowe(jr) and Antonio Abreu(so).
Mather has had only one race so it is hard to fully get a prognosis on them. We do know, that they can more than compete with Lane in distance events. Mather also has the best hurdlers in the city. Add jumper Kenneth Murphy (sr) - who has not seen action yet because he is still playing basketball and they have the makings of a good team. This is not a slam dunk year for Lane. With the graduation of Kulayifi Haji and state champion Jonathan Jackson, I think Mather has closed the gap considerably between itself and Lane.
Simeon looked good at the Rolling Meadows Quad. Football players Demarius Reed and Darius Scott look like are going to run track. If they run the whole season, Simeon will have two speedsters to add to their already potent sprints team. Problem for Simeon is that sprints this year at the top will be dominated by Smith, Carter, and Lonnie. So, I can't see Simeon scoring high in sprints unless it is relays.
2nd group
The 2nd group of teams include Whitney Young, Dunbar, Robeson, and Hyde Park. This year's Whitney Young is different from past. I don't see any impact jumpers or sprinters on this years team - yet - as they have had in the past.
I don't know where Northside, Jones, Morgan Park, and Payton fit in just yet. it looks like they have some individuals that will compete.
No results yet for Brooks, Kelvyn Park, Kenwood, and Calumet so I don't know how good they are. Brooks won't run a meet until ISU in March.
Looking forward
Darius Smith (sr) has been a one man wrecking crew for CVS. He is making state and national news with his performances. A 21.72 in the 200 will do that.
I can't wait to see ho Brian Carter and Lonnie Washington perform.
With the end of basketball season in a couple of weeks, you will begin to some teams adding talent. Look out for basketball players Kenneth Murphy (sr) of Mather, Darvell Harris(jr) of Dunbar, Jeffrey Rector (jr) and high jumpers Mark Brand(sr) of Lane Tech and Jerome Rhodes (sr) of Jones.
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