Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Week 9 - Wednesday Schedule

Roosevelt vs Phoenix - This game is for the Inter-City 1 Conference. Both are 4-0 in conference play and have given up a similar number of defensive points. These are clearly the top two teams in conference.  The winner moves up to the Chicago (if they accept). Phoenix is up and coming. Roosevelt has been in the Chicago Conference before and is itching to go back up. This game could go either way.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 17

CHICAGO INTER-CITY 1
Farragut vs. Douglass, 4:15 at Hanson
Roosevelt vs. Phoenix, 4 at Winnemac

CHICAGO INTER-CITY 3
Muchin vs. Comer, 7:15 at Gately
Pritzker vs. Rauner, 7:15 at Hanson
Rowe-Clark vs. Golder, 4:15 at Lane
UIC Prep vs. Noble Street, 7:15 at Lane

CHICAGO INTER-CITY 4
Ag. Science vs. Tilden, 4 at Stagg
Solorio vs. Urban Prep-Bronzeville, 4 at Rockne

CHICAGO WINDY CITY
Kelly vs. South Shore, 4 at Eckersall

Roosevelt Becoming More than Just Rector

Roosevelt 4x400 state qualifying team is first Roosevelt relay team to qualify for state in a really long time!


Roosevelt 4x400 state qualifying relay (from left to right: Jojimon Joseph(sr), Jeffrey Rector(jr), Ulsbold Byambodorj(jr), and Wilman Lopez(sr).

Roosevelt, located in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood is an ancient school, one of the oldest schools in Chicago. At one time it had very competitive sports programs, but that was a long time ago (Roosevelt won the 1952 city championship in basketball).

Roosevelt needed a spark. That spark came with the arrival of Jeffrey Rector(jr). Rector bursted into the CPS track season last season when as a sophomore he upset Lane Tech distance star and CPS cross country champion Kulayifi Haji to win the 3200 meter run at the city meet. Then Rector followed it up with a 6th place state finish in the 3200 meter run at the boys class 2A state track meet.

However, the knack on Roosevelt is that Roosevelt is mostly a one man team like Darius Smith of CVS or Shamier Little of Lindblom. Smith and Little are both all-state runners but their teams have low numbers. People viewed Roosevelt as Rector and that's it.

But things seem to be changing directions at Roosevelt. I started to notice at the city meet. Roosevelt had two other people besides Rector make the finals.  Mario Hurtardo(sr) placed 5th at the Discus throw and Ulsbold Byambodorj(jr) made the finals of the 300 hurdles before false starting and getting DQ'd.

Then at sectionals, came the surprise 4x400 2nd place finish. Prior to the meet I thought the 4x400 would come down to North Lawndale, Jones, Payton, Orr, or Lake View. All of those teams were in contention with one leg to go. However, Roosevelt spoiled the party when it stunned Jones and Payton to take the 2nd and last qualifying spot.

"I am so happy for the team. Our last leg Jojimon Joseph(sr) finished it off for us. Also, I am so glad that Ulsbold Byambodorj(jr) got down to state. He just missed qualifying in the 300 hurdles. Ulsbold is a 19 year first time track runner from Mongolia. Even thought he is a junior, this is his last year to compete in track because of his age," said the Roosevelt coach (Nick Diedrich?).

 

Videos Now - 800 meter dash at Marshall Sectional

Jeffrey Rector of Roosevelt and Timothy Warren of Jones qualify for state in the 800 meter run.

Marshall Sectional...CPS Looking Improved

Charles Rickette of North Lawndale College Prep shows his winning pose after winning the 110 high hurdles. North Lawndale qualifies for state in the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400 winning all three relays.

I just got back from the very exciting Marshall Class 2A boys track sectional. Here is a real quick recap.

3200 meter run- Jamison Dale(so) of Jones wins comfortably. The battle for 2nd was much closer as Jeffrey Rector (left- jr) of Roosevelt was behind for most of the race before a furious kick by him was enough to overcome a great run by Luke O'Connor(so-center)

Brian Carter(jr) and Jamal McNeeley(so) of Kelvyn Park were the star in sprints as the two took 1-2 in the 100 and 200 to qualify for state. McNeeley, absent at city, won the 100 and 200.

The 4x400 was very exciting. In the final handoff, North Lawndale had the lead shown here and held off to win. Finishing a surprising 2nd was Roosvelt. Yes Roosevelt.

Much more coming soon.

 

 

CPS Boys and Girls Varsity Track Results

Results

Mario Hurtardo(sr) of Roosevelt. Hurtardo's 5th place finish in the Discus gave Roosevelt points from someone else other than Rector. Every program needs to tame steps forward.

Roosevelt at Hinsdale Central

got this email regarding Roosevelt's meet at Hisndale Central:

I do not have an electronic copy of the March 4th indoor meet of Roosevelt at the Hinsdale Central meet, but I wanted to share some times from the hard copy to update the leaderboard:

 

3200 M. Jeffrey Rector 10:19.7

800 M Jeffrey Rector 2:08.8

1600 M Jeffrey Rector 4:51.7

4 x 1 Lap Relay (160 M) 1:24.2

Shot Put Maria Hurtado  39'1"

 

Side note: Rector also lead off the 4 x 400 with a 55 second split.

Niles West City Meet #1

The Niles West City Indoor Meet, this Friday February 4, 2011 is the opening meet for most CPS schools (if the weather holds up).

Niles West City Meet #1
February 4, 2011
First event 5:00pm

Teams: (CPS teams in blue)
Austin, Northtown Academy, North Shore Country Day, Mather, Clemente, Gordon Tech, Von Steuben, Northside College Prep, Marshall, Roosevelt, Lincoln Park, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lakeview, Schurz, Urban Prep, South Shore, Urban Prep Englewood, Senn, North Lawndale, Taft, Dusable, Prespective Charter, and Niles West, and Niles North.

Divisions: Freshman, Sophomore, Varsity

Order of Events:
1000m Run
55m High Hurdles
50m Dash
800m Run
4x160m Relay
600m Run
400m Dash
55m Low Hurdles
1600m Run
200m Dash
4x160m Weightmen Relay
4x400m Relay 

Possible CPS participants to look out for (their participation has not been verified)
Jeffrey Rector, Roosevelt
Oscar Medina, Lake View
Obimbola Osudairo, Lake View
Charlie Mesimore, Northside
Wesley Laytham, Northside
Mac Melto, Northside
Marshawn Melsap (fr), Northside
Daniel Medrano, Brooks
Michael Gulan, Von Steuben
Joshua Cannon, North Lawndale
Rashid Williams, Urban Prep
Michael Jones, South Shore
Rahim Foster, Mather
Juan Mendez, Mather
Abe Haji, Mather

 

 

The 4 Sport Star

Jeffrey Rector of Roosevelt- the rare 4 sport star

In the CPS the top basketball stars tend to specialize only in basketball. Anthony Davis, a 6-10 center from Calumet Perspectives and ranked as the #1 player in the country by some publications, Wayne Blackshear of Morgan Park (Louisville recruit, Mr. Basketball nominee), and almost all the top players at Whitney Young specialize only in basketball.

One person that has bucked that trend is Jeffrey Rector (jr) of Roosevelt. Rector not only plays, but stars in 4 sports. Here is what he has done in each sport:

Cross Country - all-city cross country runner, 3rd in the city with limited practice, 38th in the state meet.

Football - all-conference wide receiver.

Basketball - one of the top scorers on the Roosevelt varsity team that as of this writing is tied for first place with Schurz in the Blue-North conference.

Track - defending 3200 meter run champion, all-state 3200 meter runner.

I am not naming a CPS player of the year this year, but if I did I know for sure that Rector would be a strong candidate. Some may excel more in an individual sport or two. But very few athletes participate let alone star in 4 sports!

#1's

I'm probably not going to name a CPS runner of the year for reasons I mentioned in a previous article. (in short, I think anyone can achieve success). Instead, I'll run down who is generally considered the #1 runner from some schools and my thoughts on them.

David Timlin (jr) of Lane Tech soared beyond my expectations as he went from an 18's type runner last year as a raw sophomore to a bonafide #1 on a Lane team that took city and placed 10th at sectionals.

Abe Haji (jr) of Mather - city champion! - beating Oscar Medina of Lake View in a race that counts. Abe followed up off that feat by qualifying for state out of the Niles West sectionals - with some of the top teams in the nation.

Oscar Medina (sr) of Lake View - city runner up, 8th in the state in class2A!


Andrew Zotti (jr) of Lincoln Park - all-city with a time of 16:35. He has sub 16 talent; led Lions to a 7th place bounceback finish. A vast improvement from last years team that did not even score at city.


Eric Shan (jr) Whitney Young - one of the most improved runners of the year. Went from 38th last year to a whopping 4th this year at city. He beat Timlin, Lucas Beltran,Dale, Mesimore!

Charlie Mesimore (sr) of Northside - finished very strong to end the season with an 8th place city finish to lead Northside. Also had great post-season meets. Teammate Wesley Laytham and Mesimore are probably best considered 1A and 1B runners - in that both can be #1's.

Omar Tall (sr) of Kenwood - 84th at state to lead Kenwood to a surprise state appearance. Teammate Joseph Laseter(sr) was the number one runner for Kenwood most of the year.


Jeffrey Rector (jr) of Roosevelt - running in his first year of cross country while also playing football, the very talented junior still finished an impressive 3rd at city and 38th at state. Can you imagine what he could have done if he only focused on cross country.

Felix Peralta (sr)of Juarez - all-city and state qualifier!

Jamison Dale (so) of Jones - all-state (19th place) with a time of 15:04. Only a sophomore!

Mather Invite #3- race for individual crown

Abe Haji (jr) of Mather receives his individual championship medal. He edged out a hard charging Johnny Levin of Francis Parker to win at 9:44.


Haji raises his hand to celebrate his victory


shortly there after his teammates mob him to celebrate!



With 100 yards to go, Jeffrey Rector (jr) of Roosevelt leads David Timlin (jr) of Lane Tech. Timlin ended up chasing down Rector to finish in 3rd with a personal record of 9:50. Rector also ran a season best 9:52. For Timlin to not only beat 3200 meter all state runner Rector and also teammate Lucas Beltran (6th at 10:07) is really telling me something about Timlin. Timlin amazes me every single time he runs. The sky is the limit for these two very talented juniors.

top 11 individual results

1 Haji 9:44 (Math)
2 Johnny Levin 9:44 (Parker)
3 Timlin 9:50 (Lane)
4 Rector 9:52 (Roosv)
5 Mendez 9:57 (Math)
6 Beltran 10:07 (Lane)
7 Bana 10:10 (Math)
8 Burbano 10;11 (Lane)
9 Aquino 10:12 (U-High)
10 Zimny-Schmitt 10:13 (Lane)
11 Chronis 10:22 (Lane)

George Chronis (sr) of Lane finished with a PR 10:22. The story of the day has to be the depth of Lane Tech. There was only one boys race in the day- an open 2 mile run with over 212 runners. Mather had a great day finishing 6 runners in the top 21. Their 6th runner, Victor Maldonado finished 21st with a great time of 10:40. But Lane had an even better day as they edged Mather 34-38, by only 4 points. Lane had an incredible 13 runners finish in the top 28. That means almost half of the top 28 were wearing myrtle and gold. Lane had 13 runners break 11 minutes for the 2 mile race. The following Lane Tech runners stood out to me (most if not all ran 2 mile PR's):

4. David Timlin (jr) - 9:50
8. Marcelo Burbano (so) - 10:11
11. George Chronis (sr) - 10:22
14. Dylan Allingham (sr) - 10:28
16. Max Silva (sr)- 10:33
24. Michael Morin (jr) - 10:46
25. Mansur Soleman (so) - 10:47
35. Marvin Hernandez (jr) - 11:02
38. Gabriel Mendoza (jr) - 11:09
39. Junior Quintero (fr) - 11:09