Tyler Dau has decisions to make in coming weeks.
“If I run the 3,200-meter relay, we want to be All-State,” the Geneva sprinter said.
“There is a lot to consider,” Geneva coach Gale Gross said.
Dau is the senior linchpin of the Geneva program.
He was sixth in the 1,600 last year at the Class 3A state meet in Charleston.
The meat and potatoes of the season commences this week with the three-week sequence of conference, sectional and state.
Dau is up for the challenge.
“I am hoping to win the 1,600 at the 3A Hoffman Estates Sectional,” Dau said.
Last week at the Kane County Meet, Dau was runner-up in the 800, at 1 minute 55.41 seconds, to teammate Brian Kuehl, who clocked 1:54.09.
Dau, who has signed with Florida State, passed on his specialty distance — the 1,600 — to participate in the event.
“I actually wanted to take a break from the 1,600,” Dau said. “I wanted a good time (in the 800) for college. It was only the second time I have run it outdoors.”
Like many seniors, Dau had a difficult choice when it came to his college selection.
“It took me a long time to figure out what was best for my future,” said Dau, who also weighed Iowa, Bradley and Butler.
Dau has much to consider as the track season plays out.
More Top Picks Best Ball Pits For Toddlers
“If I don’t run the 3,200 relay at state, I am going to be fresh for the championship (in the 1,600), trying to be a state champion,” Dau said.
Dau has able company among his teammates.
“(Kuehl) has the No. 3 time in the state,” Dau said of the 800 runner.
What Dau and Kuehl will pursue in the state series is yet to be determined.
“There is so much that is yet at play,” Gross said.
Jacobs chases Huntley: Jacobs’ Loren Strickland is a high-profile athlete.
“He is an extremely talented kid,” Jacobs coach Jason Borhart said. “He has things that I don’t know what he can do. It’s just a matter of it coming out.”
Strickland, also a sprinter, is in the state mix after clearing 21 feet, 10.5 inches in the long jump.
Jacobs has designs for its sprint relays.
Strickland, Caleb Walker, John Jameson and Aidan Ludlum are runners on the Golden Eagles’ short relays.
But the Eagles have considerable ground to make up when it comes to Huntley in the Fox Valley.
“If they run 41.97, no one in the conference can compete with them,” Borhart said.
The Red Raiders’ Melvin Aninagyei, Eric Mooney, Ron Noll and Dubem Anikamadu own that distinction.
Huntley is the two-time defending champion in the Fox Valley.
Naperville-area sprinters rule: Waubonsie Valley coach Kevin Rafferty was relaxed when it came to sprinter Tre’Von Petty last week.
“We just took it easy with him,” Rafferty said of holding Petty out. “He will be good to go (at the DuPage Valley Conference Meet).”
Petty and Metea Valley senior Alonzo Taylor-Jones own the sixth-fastest times in Class 3A in the 100 at 10.75.
Petty is a central figure for the Warriors’ sprint relays, along with Olunife Akinmolayan, Tyreke Jackson and Haneef Spikener.
“We are going to see if both relays (400 and 800) are viable for qualifying downstate,” Rafferty said.
Kevin McGavin is a freelance writer for the Beacon-News.