Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Von Steuben Track Preview

Anthony Hudson(sr) of Von Steuben returns after making the city finals in the long jump last year.

With a still developing track program at Von Steuben, progress will be measured by year to year improvement. That being said, I'll be looking at the progress in three areas for Von Steuben.

Anthony Hudson
Anthony Hudson is the only Von Steuben athlete who returns after making the CPS finals last year. After barely even doing the event the entire year, Hudson was a surprise finalist. He squeaked into the finals with the 12th and final spot - beating three other competitors who finished within 2 inches of Hudson's leap of 18-11.75. With some more practice jumping this year, he could improve on his last season best leap of 19-5.5. Health could also be an issue as Hudson was out almost all of the cross country season with an injury.  You may also see Hudson high jumping this season as he high jumped 5-9 at the Loyola Sectional last season. A leap of 5-9 would have been good enough to make the CPS finals. On the track, Hudson is a developing 400 meter runner. He ran a 53.11 last year.

Numbers
Von Steuben has a couple of promising young runners in sophomores William Pawelko(so) and Ajay Joseph(so).  Pawelko is an improving distance runner. Joseph ran a 57.56 in the 400 but just missed making the CPS sophomore meet finals by finishing in 9th in prelims. For Von Steuben to improve as a program, they'll need to recruit a lot more athletes (hopefully freshman) and develop them.

4x400
The 4x400 was a pleasant surprise last year. Von Steuben ran their hearts out with a 9th fastest time at the CPS meet prelims last year. Their time of 3:32.56 was I think a school record for Von Steuben. They'll have an opportunity to run another fast 4x4 this year. But they will have to do it without Michael Gulan. Gulan- an all city 400 meter runner graduated. I still think Von Steuben can out together a good 4x400 team. We'll see how it shakes out.

Von Steuben Boys Cross Country Team Preview

Track Guys Running Cross Country

400 meter runner Ajay Joseph(so) is expected to be one of the leaders for Von Steuben.

Von Steuben's number one runner for most of the last two years was Michael Gulan- an all-city and state meet qualifier 400 meter runner. Gulan is one of those type of runners I consider a track runner first and then a cross coutnry runner second. Gulan has graduated but it appears that the trend of track runners leading Von Steuben will continue.

Most of the top returnees are track athletes first. Anthony Hudson(sr) made the varsity finals in the long jump. Alcides Diaz(sr) is a strong 400 meter runner that ran on the very good Von Steuben 4x400 team that nearly qualified for the CPS finals, and AJ Joseph(so) ran one of the fastest open 400 times last year for a freshman.

All three are expected to play a big role in Von Steuben's cross country team this year.

"We are getting better as program. We were one of only 7 schools that fielded complete scoring teams in the freshman, sophomore, and varsity levels at the city meet. Of course, the usual suspects Lane, Jones, Mather, Northside, and Whitney Young had full teams. But us and believe it or not Urban Prep Bronzeville had complete teams.

Look out for new school Solario in the next few years. They had complete freshman and sophomore teams. Curie will be strong next year but after their seniors graduate, Solario may sneak up there.

We finished 11th at the varsity level last year. Our goal is to make the top 10, but it will be tough. Curie, Hubbard, and Steinmetz are always there," said Von Steuben coach Eli Yurich.

Losses:
Michael Gulan, Dwayne Ford, Roberto Cervantes, Noel Valdivia

Key Returnees:
Anthony Hudson(sr-70th last year @ varsity city)
Hameed Weaver(sr- 87th @ varsity city)
Alcides Diaz(sr-97th at varsity city)
Ajay Joseph(18th at freshman city)
William Pawelko(27th at freshman city)
Nicholas Rodriguez (50th at soph city)
Stephen Schintgen(52nd at soph city)
Manuel Meneses(60th at soph city)

Loyola Class 3A Sectional - Results

Results

• Michael Gulan(sr) of Von Steuben wins the 400 with a time of 50.16. That is a personal record for Gulan and he becomes Von Steuben's first state qualifier in recent history.
• Catrell Coleson(fr) of Mather runs a 15.78 in the 110 high hurdles. That is an incredible time for a freshman. Looks like a budding star for Mather.
• Abe Haji(sr)ends his glorious career for Mather by running a 9:32.62 in the 3200 meter run. His best time of the year, but just missing the state qualifying time of 9:29.04.
• Deivi Tahiraj(so) of Mather 2:00.74. Best sophomore time in the CPS this year. Look out for Tahiraj in cross country.
• AJ Joseph(fr) of Von Steuben runs the fastest freshman 400 time of the year in the CPS with a time of 55.85.
  
  

Videos Now - 400 meter run

Taft Showing Some Life at the Frosh-Soph Level

Taft sophomore distance runner Bruce McCaffrey(so)

At last Saurday's frosh-soph boys prelim meet, Taft showed me some good signs that I have not seen in a long time:

• Some milers- Bruce McCaffrey(so) ran a 5:13 and freshman Abraham Tobias(fr) ran a 5:06. I have not seen a pair of Taft distance runners run that fast in a long time. Both have shown good improvement. McCaffrey was a 5:34 miler his freshman year. Tobias improved his mile time by 16 seconds from when he ran a 5:24 at the Mather Invite 4 weeks ago.
• 2 Finalist in Relays- Taft's 4x400 relay team and 4x800 relay team qualified for this Friday's finals. The 4x400 ran a 4:07 and the 4x800 ran a  9:34.2 to finish a suprising 5th place in Prelims.

Von Steuben coach Eli Yurick told me:

"Taft is doing some really good things. Taft has a couple of young new coaches that are really making things happen up there. They had a freshman girl run a 5:44 mile at the CPS girls frosh-soph championship to finish 2nd."

I was more surprised than Coach Yurick when we saw Taft finish 5th in the 4x800 ahead of Lincoln Park, Payton, and Whitney Young.

Don't get me wrong, Taft still has a long way to go in track. Whenever I go to the far northwest side of Chicago near Bryn Mawr, I see people wearing Taft gear. Who knows, maybe there could be a day when we all see more Taft Eagle uniforms in the CPS track finals.

Pictures Now- CPS Indoor Track Meet- 2012

Photo Album

Michael Gulan(sr) of Von Steuben on his way to a comfortable win in the 400 meter run of Group B.

55 meter first heet girls

Gulan- 52.97

Michael Gulan(sr) from Von Steuben got 4th place
overall in 400M with a time of 52:97 FAT and is 
qualified for Nationals in Bloomington@ Proviso 
West HS on 2/19/2012.
-from a reader

 

Von Steuben Boys Track Preview

Von Steuben track members approach Alcides Diaz(left) after his surprise 7th place finish in the 800 meter run at last years CPS sophomore meet.

Scoring points at the city meet last was all a bonus for Von Steuben because no one really expected too much from them. So it was a mild surprise to see Von Steuben score 15 points on the way to a 13th place finish at the CPS sophomore meet. At the varsity meet, Von Steuben scored in the 400 meter dash when Michael Gulan finished a repectable 5th in a loaded 400 meter field.

Michael Gulan(sr) will be the name you will hear of the most. He ran as season best 50.39 in the 400 at the Niles West Sectional. He is not too far away from breaking the magical 50 second mark. Gulan can also run the 800 as he qualified for the finals of last year's city meet.

Von Steuben's top sprinter will be powerfully built Edgar Gomez(jr). Gomez finished 6th in the 100 meter run at the CPS sophomore meet. In the fal Gomez battled injuries during the soccer season, so let's hope he is fully recovered.

Also look out for Alcides Diaz(jr) in the 800 meter run. Diaz finished all-city in the 800 at the CPS sophomore meet last year. He did not run the best cross country season, but let's see how he does his junior year in track.

One person that did run well in cross country is senior Duane Ford. Ford ran his first season of cross country last fall and finished as Von's 2nd man only a half second behind #1 man Gulan at the city meet.

All the point scorers return for Von Steuben this year. I'll be keeping an eye on all of them. To me progress in the program will largely be a determined by how much those point scorers develop. I'll also be looking to see how big the Von Steuben team is. If the point scorers improve as a group and if Von recruits more people to their program, I'll be pleased.

Red-North Boys Basketball Scoreboard

Von Steuben is quietly having a good season which includes wins over CVS, Rich Central, and gave Taft its only conference loss. Von Steuben plays at Lane today and then travels to Wheaton Warrenville South on Sunday for a rare game against a DuPage Valley opponent.

games 1/24/12
Taft 41 Foreman 38
Schurz 60 Prosser 48
Mather 57 Senn 51
Steinmetz at Lincoln Park
Lane 37 Von Steuben 33

conference standings as of 1/21/12
1.Foreman 7-0
2. Taft 6-1
3. Prosser 5-2
4. Von Steuben 4-2
5. Lane Tech 4-3
6. Schurz 4-3
7. Lincoln Park 2-5
8. Steinmetz 1-6
9. Mather 1-6
10. Senn 0-6

Winter Jamboree at Oakton

Von Steuben starting guard Demetrius Falkner(jr).

Red-North basketball fans may want to check out the action this Saturday (Dec 17, 2011) at Oakton College.

WINTER JAMBOREE AND SHOOT-OUT at Oakton College
Schurz vs. Dunbar, 1:30
Lane vs. Brookfield (Wisc.), 3
Taft vs. Marist, 4:30
Von Steuben vs. Providence-St. Mel's, 6
Foreman vs. Libertyville, 7:30

Schurz is new to the Red-North after an 8-1 conference record in the Blue-North last year.

Lane Tech, hoping to make a run in the Red North faces Brookfield (suburban Milwaukee), WI.

Taft, with super sophomore Jon Joyce, takes on state ranked Marist.

Von Steuben barely got out alive from the Red-North last year after uncharacteristic 3-6 conference record. The Panthers will be much better this year. Von Steuben has rising guard Deandre Dailey(jr).

Foreman and Libertyville plays in the night cap. This should be the best game of the day. Libertyville always has a big lineup. Foreman is looking to show that it is the conference favorite.