Sports
Hawks Make Their Mark at Carthage Final Qualifier
Hawks Make Their Mark at Carthage Final Qualifier
In its final indoor meet of the season, the Harper men's track and field was successful across the board in numerous events. A large number of Hawks set PR's (personal records) and/or qualified for the national meet at on Friday at the Carthage College Gill Athletics Final Qualifier.
While no team scores were recorded, several Harper athletes made their mark with high finishes. The 4x400m relay group of Eric Theis (Palatine, Ill. /Palatine), Kurtis Monahan (Inverness, Ill. /Barrington), Ricky Ruano (/Palatine), and Tyler Block (/Conant) completed the race in 3:37.73 for second place. The team of T.J. Paton (Fairfield, Calif./Hersey), Daniel Kim (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows), Andre Russell McGraw (Rolling Meadows, Ill. /Rolling Meadows), and Justin Tolentino (West Dundee, Ill./Dundee-Crown) placed sixth in 3:50.08.
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Many athletes among those two groups also set PR's in individual events. Ruano shined in the long jump with a leap of 5.26m (17'3 ¼"). Tolentino (12.95m/42'6"), Block (12.52m/41'11"), and McGraw (11.85m/38'10 ½") all eclipsed their best jumps in the triple jump, and Tolentino's leap was enough for sixth place.
T.J. Paton (Fairfield, Calif./Hersey) ran his best time, 16:51.11, in the men's 5000-meter run and took eighth. Teammate Will Troman (/Streamwood) was sixth in a personal-best 16:17.81, and Eddie Lamas (Schaumburg, Ill. /Schaumburg) was ninth in a PR of 17:39.56.
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Middle distance runner Kurtis Monahan (Inverness, Ill. /Barrington) ran a strong race at 800 meters, taking sixth in a PR of 2:05.10. Adam Brauer (Palatine, lll./Palatine) ran his best time of the year in the mile (4:49.03). In the 55-meter dash, Eric Theis (Palatine, Ill. /Palatine) finished in 7.09 seconds, a new personal-best.
The Harper throwers also had a solid day of competition. Sophomore Laith Kanan (/Palatine) placed sixth in both the shot put (13.56m/44'6") and weight throw (15.00m/49'2 ½"), and Nickolas Pavloic qualified for the 2016 NJCAA Division III National Championship with his best throw of the season in the shot put, a toss of 12.33m (40'5 ½").
The Hawks have under three weeks to get ready for the outdoor track and field season beginning Thursday, March 24 at the Augustana Early Spring Opener in Rock Island, Illinois.
