Six hurdles into the 110-meter highs, Waubonsie Valley’s Tyler Kirkwood was calm, cool and under control.
After the seventh hurdle, the race’s leader at the midway mark couldn’t claim any of those traits.
“Mentally, I started screaming in my head,” Kirkwood said.
Kirkwood’s thought process changed in an instant at Thursday’s Class 3A Plainfield North Sectional, and it nearly wrecked his plans for a return trip to the Class 3A state meet.
“I was in the lead at the seventh hurdle when my shoe slipped off,” Kirkwood said. “That’s what caused me to be off balance a little bit, but I figured if I lunged myself forward, I’d have a chance to finish in the top two.”
Kirkwood, a state qualifier in the high jump last season, was passed by Minooka’s Justin Wolz (14.53 seconds) but managed to hold off the rest off the field, clocking in at 14.73 to qualify for state.
“I just had to remind myself composure, composure, composure,” Kirkwood said. “It was all about just getting to the line as fast I could. I thought, if I can throw my long body forward, I could do it.”
Kirkwood wasn’t the only hurdler from Waubonsie Valley to move on. Jeff Penny placed second in the 300-meter hurdles with a 39.62. He also finished second to Wolz. Naperville Central’s Kyle Hilton also advanced in the event with a time of 39.75.
“I was so happy (Penny) made it,” Kirkwood said. “I can not tell you how hard we’ve worked this year, and I wanted to see him make it. I’m overjoyed for him. We’re going to party (Friday).
The party started early for Neuqua Valley’s Ty Moss. The Nebraska recruit won the 800 with a time off 1:53.86 and anchored the winning 3200 relay (7:50.82) alongside teammates Matthew Horsley, Isaiah Robinson and Kyle Bender.
“We’ve been one of the best teams all season,” Moss said. “This meet is equally important as state, because without this, you can’t get to state. The competition here was fantastic. We knew that, so we had to bring our A-game.”
Moss, a Nebraska recruit, then teamed up with Stanford-bound Zac Espinosa to lead the reigning state champs in the 1600 relay to the sectional title at 1:53.56.
Espinosa and Moss pushed the Wildcats past early leaders in Minooka (3:19.76) and Plainfield East (3:19.97)
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“That was hard coming after the two,” Espinosa said. “It’s less about times than it was about getting every thing we could to state. I knew if I got us in position, Ty would do the rest.”
Espinosa also qualified for state in the 400 and 200 for Neuqua, which won the team title with 90.5 points. Plainfield East took second with 77.5, Minooka third with 77, Yorkville fourth at 74 and Plainfield Central fifth with 49.
“I like our chances,” Moss said of taking home a state title next week. “I don’t want to come off arrogant, but I want to come off as confident. I believe this team can do something very big.”
Plainfield Central’s Kahmari Montgomery was another star. The state’s reigning 400 champion nearly broke the state record in the event with a sizzling 46.87. He also won the 100 (10.62) and 200 (21.2).
Malloy is a freelance writer.