By Michael Newman

Elmhurst, Ill --- The engine that runs the York track & field team has usually been the distance squad. 2012 was a down year for the Long Green Line as they did not score any distance points in the state meet. Friday Night’s meet at the Joe Newton Field house established the fact that the distance runners are back. York won three of the five distance events and scored in all but two events to hold off a strong Minooka squad.

The race of the evening was the 3200 Meter Run. The pace started out quickly with the leaders going through the 800 in a swift 2:15. There in the front pack was led Nolan McKenna (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Warrenville), Andy Philipose (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights), Scott Milling (York HS, Elmhurst), and Billy Thomas (Hoffman Estates HS, Hoffman Estates). At the 1400 Meter mark sensing that the pace was staring to slow down and Thomas was about to make a move, Milling made a spurt to separate the contenders from the pretenders. The four went by the 1600 in 4:38, but this was the first of many moves. It dropped Philipose from the pack and Thomas was affected by the move as well. From that point on, it was a chess match between Milling and McKenna. At 2000 Meters, it was McKenna’s turn to take the lead. 500 Meters later, Milling took back the front position.

With 2 laps to go, McKenna had to make his move to get away from Milling.  Milling made one more move. He put his head down and passed McKenna hoping he would not be able to counter the move that happened 200 meters before that. This time, Milling’s strength was too much. Milling’s last 200 in 30 seconds sealed his win over McKenna. Milling’s time of 9:17.28 is the 3^rd fastest currently in Illinois. McKenna’s 9:18.70 is an IL #4.

“We were slowing down (before the mile). Me and my coach were talking about it going for it. If you die and get second, why not try it,” said Milling. “It felt pretty hard. It was awesome for both of us. It’s good for us later in the year that we have already experienced something like that.”

“In practice, I have been working on running a consistent pace. I wanted it to be a fighter’s race,” McKenna said. “I was fine with him taking it. I was tired from the first half of the race leading it. With a quarter to go, I just wanted to break him.”

Milling Splits:      66.2-2:15.9-3:26.1-4:38.1-5:49.8-7:00.9-8:13.4-9:17.28

York received two other wins in the distance races. To start the evening, their 4 x 800 Meter relay was third at the first exchange. Sophomore Matt Plowman’s 1:59 split on the second leg. It was Zach Herrera that opened the gap to 10 seconds. York went on to win running 8:04.45.

York Splits:

2:02.3 – 1:59.7 – 2:01.8 – 2:00.6 = 8:04.45

Plowman came back in the 600 and was second to last at the 200 mark. He took the lead with 150 meters to go and held off Jack Feeney (St. Charles North HS, St. Charles) to win by a second.

Plowman splits: 27.8 -56.2-1:26.6

Alex Pierce (Minooka HS, Minooka) thought he was reliving the race he ran a week ago at the Normal West Invitational. The pace was slow going past the 600 in 1:33. Right before the bell lap, Pierce took off away from the York duo of Brett O’Brien and Alex Mimlitz to grab the victory by more than two seconds over Mimlitz.

Pierce splits:       29.8-62.2-1:33.0-2:01.18

The 1600 had a strong field but you could not tell by the early pace that was set. The 800 went through in the same pace as the 3200: 2:15. Right after the half, Christian Zambarno (Palatine HS, Palatine began to push the pack knowing the pace was way too slow. Ryan Kearns (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights) who had led the first 800, started to drop back. The York pair of Chris May and Alex Bashqawi made the effort to stay with Zambrano.  May tried to make a move right before the bell lap, but Zambrano would not let him by.  May tried again on the backstretch, but Zambrano refused to yield. The Palatine senior won the race with a time of 4:23, which as of Friday night was the second fastest time in the state. May was a second behind.

“My coach told me that if the pace was too slow, make a move from 800 to 1000,” said Zambrano. “I just wanted to take control of the race and I did.”

Zambrano splits:               67.3-2:15.6-3:20.7-4:23.1

York’s other winner was Shawn John in the Pole Vault. He had cleared 14-0 as did Kaleb Kirby (St. Charles North HS, St. Charles). John was awarded first on fewer misses.

Minooka had two other wins besides Pierce. The first was by Devin Ingram in the 55 Meter Dash (6.69). The second was by Kurt Zumbahlen in the High Jump. A state finalist last year when he finished ninth, Zumbahlen had an ACL injury when he was playing flag football with his family last fall. In his first event since that injury, Zumbahlen jumped an indoor PR of 6-6 to win the event.