After Luther Newburn set one meet record Friday night in the Pete Struck Invitational, the Hillcrest senior ran down to the other end of the Sandburg track and set another one.
No time to celebrate for Newburn.
“Can’t get too distracted to celebrate,” he said. “When it’s all said and done, you’ve got to provide for your team.”
Newburn certainly did that. He first cleared 6 feet, 7 inches in the high jump, grabbed his gear and raced to the triple jump, where he leaped 47-10.5.
“I was only looking forward to clearing 6-5, because I’ve been consistent with it,” Newburn said. “After I cleared 6-5, I noticed I was way over it. My coach said, ‘If you feel it, keep going.’
“We get to 6-7, first attempt, a little nervous. Then after I (saw) the height, I’m like ‘I can clear this.’ Second attempt I cleared it, but my leg was a little lazy. The last attempt, motivation from the people overwhelmed me and I cleared it.”
The winning jump was two inches higher than the mark reached by Andrew’s Kevin Abney (2010) and St. Rita’s Byron Jackson (1992). The previous high jump best for Newburn was 6-6 earlier this season.
Newburn set the previous triple jump record (46-3.25) last year.
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“I always look forward to improving, always,” he said. “Every time I PR (personal record), it’s, ‘Coach, I want to PR again, always. Practice, go 200 percent, always.
“The secret is have confidence in yourself and treat your body right. And work hard. If you teach yourself in practice, you teach yourself in meets.”
Thornton’s Remi Simmons set a meet record in the long jump with a leap of 24-0, the No. 2 jump in the state this year.
“It feels great. That’s the first time I did that,” said Simmons, whose previous best was 23-8.
Simmons also led off the first-place 800-meter relay (1:32.58) that included Derek Love, Jujuan Jasper and Taron Williams.
The most impressive relay was Sandburg’s 3,200 foursome of Martin Skucas, David Gleisner, Chris Torpy and Sean Torpy. They clocked a state-best 7:45.20, easily breaking the meet record of 7:59.51 set last year by Jones. It was just three seconds off Sandburg’s 3A state championship time last year.
“We haven’t really done much different in training. We just know we have the strength to do it,” Chris Torpy said. “We can put any combination of guys together.”
Sean Torpy won the 1,600 (4:17.65) and teammate Dan Laskero took the 3,200 (9:45.68). Torpy ran a blistering 4:08.64 to win the 1,600 last week at Distance Night in Palatine.
“That was a pretty big deal for me, to go out and run the race that I did at Palatine,” Sean Torpy said. “I was a little slow here. I’ve got to work on the double a little more.”
Sandburg won the team title, 99-98 over Downers Grove North. Hillcrest (78), Joliet Central (51) and Thornridge (50) completed the top five.
“It’s good for our seniors. This was senior night,” Sandburg coach Joe Nemeth said. “We had 29 that we announced. It’s our biggest class in well over a decade, so it says a lot about those guys and the stability of the program.”
Tim Tierney is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.