Kiwi Seals had an afternoon to remember last weekend at Geneva.
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The Dundee-Crown senior pulled off a most unusual accomplishment at the Mike VanDeveer Invitational by completing a clean sweep of the three jumps.
Seals captured the long jump with an effort of 20 feet, 10.5 inches and later added wins in the high jump and triple jump with winning marks of 6-1 and 44-1.5, respectively.
“I can’t remember a guy winning all three (jumps) at the same meet,” Dundee-Crown coach Mike Richardson said. “It is something rare and it is something special.”
Class 2A power Burlington Central won the 10-team meet behind returning state champion Lucas Ege. The Chargers scored 74 points to finish fourth.
Seals is on a mission this spring after narrowly missing qualifying for state in the triple jump last year.
“Triple jump is probably his best event,” Richardson said. “He was third at the sectional last year. He probably just missed (qualifying for state) by a couple of inches.”
The other major development for Dundee-Crown at Geneva was the continued growth of sprinter Milik Dunner.
The Elgin area is loaded with quality sprinters this spring, and the Chargers’ senior is yet another strong contender after sweeping the 100- and 200-meter dashes at Geneva.
Dunner actually won the 100 twice after the fully automated timing (FAT) device malfunctioned during the original race.
“(Dunner) ran probably five of the best races I have ever seen him run,” Richardson said after Dunner clocked winning times of 10.95 in the 100 and 22.18 in the 200. “He looked really, really strong. I’m excited to see what he can do against (Jacobs senior Josh) Walker, (Huntley senior Connor) Boos and (defending Class 3A 100 state runner-up) Titus Booker (of Grayslake North).”
Richardson is awaiting the return of senior sprinter Austin White.
“(White) was actually runner better than Milik indoors,” Richardson said.
North’s stars
St. Charles North also was in the field at Geneva.
Josh Pelock was the standard bearer in the field for the North Stars, winning the pole vault with a 14-10 clearance.
“That’s a school record for us,” St. Charles North coach Kevin Harrington said of Pelock. “He’s ranked pretty high in the state. We expect him to get quite a bit higher for us once he figures out his new pole.”
Senior Chris Suda broke the two-minute barrier by three one-hundredths of a second to capture the 800. Classmate Steve Lewandowski was just a second-plus off the pace to place third.
“(Suda) has got a rival on the team (in Lewandowski),” Harrington said. “It’s a friendly rivalry. They know what they’re doing in the half mile.”
The North Stars were 10 points better than Dundee-Crown to finish third.
East feasts
St. Charles East school records also fell at West Aurora last weekend.
DePaul-bound hurdler Kyle Decker was runner-up in both the 110 high and 300 intermediate hurdles, but the senior was the first in school history to ever break the 15-second barrier 300 hurdles.
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“The sky is the limit for,” St. Charles East coach Chris Bosworth said after Decker also set a new standard in the long hurdles (39.42). “Decker is in some big company.”
Decker is also a quality 400 runner should Bosworth elect to enter him in the event.
“He is going to be a sub-50 quarter-miler,” Bosworth said.
Bosworth is also encouraged by the development of JB Sundlund.
The sophomore was in a supremely competitive 800 at West Aurora and finished third as one of four athletes to break two minutes in the event.
McGavin is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.