Maine West Sports Roundup: Track Teams Head into Postseason

Boys Track: Coach Andy Trotter will tell you that 2011 hasn’t been Maine West’s best season. After graduating three all-conference athletes last year, the Warriors returned no all-conference honorees for the first time in Trotter’s tenure as coach.

“We didn’t really know what to expect coming into the season, but for the most part, I thought our top four or five kids have produced and have had decent seasons,” Trotter said. “We don’t have a lot of depth across the board.”

But as with all high school sports, the regular season only matters as preparation for the playoffs. And the conference and sectional championships provide a shot for Maine West to salvage its season.

“The strength of our team is kind of up the middle on the track, 400 and 800 and then the 4x400 and 4x800 are probably our strongest,” Trotter said. “In the field, probably the throws are where we’ve gotten most of our field event points.”

Marcin Zmyslowsky (400) and Felipe Garcia (800) lead Maine West’s middle-distance runners while Jake Jellerhals is the the Warriors’ top thrower in the discus and shot put.

Trotter thinks all three of them have a good shot at gaining all-conference honors if they perform at their best down the stretch while Garcia also has an outside shot at advancing to the state meet in the 800. With a deep 800 field this year, Garcia is going to have his hands full in the half mile.

“We set our season up for this week and next week, we just have to see how we do,” Trotter said.  

Girls Track: Some of the Warriors seem to be peaking at the right time. Senior Taylor Stephenson won the 800 in a season-best 2:24 at the CSL North Conference Championships last week. Stephenson advanced to the state championships last season as a junior.

Maine West’s 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams both took third place at the conference meet while

Senior Kayla Kennelly was second in the discus (96-6) while junior Sabina Hedlova finished third in the triple jump (33-6.75).

Maine West finished fourth as a team with 59 points. Deerfield (185) captured the conference title.

Badminton: Three Maine West athletes advanced to the badminton state championships last week. Cindy Wong took third place in the singles division at the Buffalo Grove sectional to qualify and the doubles team of Sarah Gangl and Katrina Mira took fourth.

Maine West earned eight team points and finished third in the sectional behind Buffalo Grove (13) and Glenbrook South (12.5).

SCOREBOARD WATCHING

Girls Soccer:

Maine West 5, Elgin 0 on May 7

Boys Volleyball:

Maine West d. Maine East 25-18, 20-25, 25-16 on May 11

Highland Park d. Maine West 25-20, 25-17 on May 12

Boys Water Polo:

Niles West 15, Maine West 4 on May 10 in Northbrook Sectional

Softball:

Maine West 20, Highland Park 0 on May 10

Geneva 8, Maine West 7 on May 7

Baseball:

Glenbrook North 10, Maine West 6 on May 10

Maine West 13, Deerfield 4 on May 9

Maine South 6, Maine West 1 on May 7