Tony’s Take: The Past, The Present, and The Future

The Proviso West Boys 50th Annual Invitational official t-shirt design presented by title sponsor Dick Pond Athletics will feature two versions for the consumer

The Past-

UNFORTUNATELY I never had an opportunity to compete in the Proviso West Boys Invite when I was in high school. The main reason being that I hail from Indiana, but it was like a shot heard from around the world about the great performances out of Hillside. Track and field across the border had a special tone for Hoosiers. I mean you would hear about how competitive the Illinois State meet was. I knew of the sprint boastful battles that Decatur MacArthur superstar Bob Jelks had against his competitors in Charleston. I read about E. St. Louis Senior and Lincoln High School dominating the scene. Even the Chicago Public League had some great teams and relays. It was track and field at its finest in the 1980s.

But I have always loved indoor track. Even as a competitor I would sit in the stands and watch a full slate of events that had nothing to do with my first love: distance running. I just adore track and field to death. The Proviso West Boys Invite represents all of what track and field means to competitors and to Illinois.

The Present-

This year will mark the 50th anniversary of a meet that feature some traditional teams like Elmhurst (York), Lyons Township, Maywood (Proviso East), Downers Grove North and South. Now, the hosts will welcome well known powerhouse programs like Cahokia and E. St. Louis Sr. That means Cahokia junior mega star Ja'mari Ward will be in the house. He is currently the nation's top long and triple jumper. I cannot wait to see him go after the meet and field house records that has stood for an eternity. New school power teams Roselle (Lake Park) and Naperville (Neuqua Valley) will be loading up as well. Even CPS standout squads Lane Tech and Whitney Young will be heard from. This is going to be a great affair on February 28.

The Future-

So many times track and field has taken a hit as not being innovative or fun to consume. Even when there were fast times or a big draw, controversy would come in the name of a drug scandal. Illinois has always been a top tier state in terms of talent. But sometimes the talent has gone unnoticed at the prep level because of travel restrictions or myopia. The invention of the internet has broken many barriers. It has made the sport better. We are now seeing very fast times and great marks again. The administrative powers that be have lessen their political grip as well. Kids now can and have competed in national level competitions around the country and world during the regular school season.

Innovation is something that we all are embracing steadily. Fully Automated Timing (FAT) is becoming common place throughout the state. We are getting more pure and accurate results each time out. Track meets are becoming fun again to watch. If you had an opportunity to attend the Arcadia Invitational, New Balance Indoor and Outdoor Nationals, the Adidas Grand Prix Series, you will see how interactive the events are. The meet promoters have aligned themselves with major sponsors who bring in DJ's to get the crowd hype. If we want to continue to grow the sport at the grass roots level we must adapt to the "microwave generation." Well, I love innovation and I like it at major invitationals. I think you will too on February 28.


Lyons Township had a banner day in two of the three relays at Proviso West Valentine's Relays

UPCOMING 50TH ANNUAL PROVISO WEST BOYS INVITE INFO

2015 Proviso West 50th Annual Boys Track Team Invite Schedule

SOPHOMORE PRECEDES VARSITY IN ALL EVENTS

EXCEPT THE SHOT PUT

NOTE: SCHEDULE IS APPROXIMATE ONLY; WE WILL RUN AHEAD OF SCHEDULE WHENEVER POSSIBLE

TIME EVENT DESCRIPTION

9:30am Long Jump 4 jumps; cafeteria style- approximately 11:15 finish

Frosh (inside runway); Varsity (outside runway

Shot Put Varsity (3 Puts; top 8 advance to finals

4x800m relay Slow section: F/S & Varsity

55m prelims Heat winners and next fastest to finals

55HH prelims Heat winners and next fastest to finals

OPENING CEREMONIES OPENING CEREMONIES OPENING CEREMONIES

Rolling schedule (running events) 4x800 championship final F/S precedes Varsity

High Jump F/S precedes Varsity

F/S height opens at 5'4"; varsity opens at 5'8"

Pole Vault Varsity only

Starting height determined by entries

NOON (12pm) Triple Jump 4 jumps; cafeteria style; approximate 1:15 finish

Sophomore (inside runway)

Varsity (outside runway)

55HH Final

55m

12:20pm Shot Put F/S (3 Puts; top 8 advance to finals; follows the conclusion of varsity competition

3200m 1 section at each level

400m F/S & varsity sections

600m Varsity only

4x200m relay f/s and varsity sections

800m f/s and varsity sections

200m Varsity sections

1Mile f/s and varsity sections

4x400m relay Will go with slower f/s and varsity sections simultaneously; championship sections with go with f/s and then varsity

*MEET SCORING GOES AS FOLLOW: RELAYS- 20,16,12,8,4,2; INDIVIDUAL- 10,8,6,4,2,1

The Weekend notes-

The first true weekend of track and field came and went by with a bang. There were several outstanding performances here and there like the 16'0" pole vault winning effort from New Lenox (Providence Catholic) senior Andy Gatis. Hinsdale Central junior Anne Zaher showed up in late season form in winning her season debut 1600m in an outstanding 5:03.7 over Naperville North junior Judy Pendergast who clocked 5:05.5 on the Red Devils tight and dank 160m oval.

The Inaugural Proviso West Valentine's Relays was a concept developed by coaches Johnny Jenkins and Vic DuBose. Several years ago they wanted to come up with an early season meet that was fun and competitive but at the same time less stressful to manage than a traditional invitational. They identified early February as a perfect time frame to host a meet. The tandem saw the format that Downers Grove South did with their Mustang Relays. Three races: 4x8, 4x2, 4x4 for starters this year would be the formula they would use. Despite a minor hiccup the meet went well. The action was split into a morning and afternoon session. The girls received the morning addition and the boys took the afternoon. If all goes well it may flip flop every year. There is even talk of adding a few more races. How does the DMR and SMR sound? It's one day at a time in growing the sport. Stay tuned for more!