Niles North High School brass pause to honor their late great coach Dan Horyn in 2017
Some pre-meet thoughts-
Typically and traditionally the early to the middle portion of the week has been reserved for duals, tri's, and quad meets. But occasionally you will get an invitational that stirs the pot. The 6th Annual Dan Horyn Invitational has been held on various days during the week and this year because of the Jewish Passover holiday that host Niles North HS, Wednesday is the chosen day to compete.
It is rare for track and field enthusiasts to get a mid-week treat of great proportions not named a conference meet or a dual meet battle. Well, this installment will feature loaded 3A #2 Crete-Monee and #6 Deerfield squads. The Warriors have tremendous depth in sprints, relays, and jumps. Deerfield on the other hand with counter with distance running, relays and throws. It should be a great one indeed.
Individually, look for the Crete-Monee senior trio of Victor Cameron, Ricky Johnson, and Jamal Safo. They are so good they can carry a team in an invite. We are talking major points put on the board. Safo will take a break in the jumps today and run a few relays and the 400. Johnson is the middle man of the group. But today he is only slated to race the 4x100. Finally, we will get to Cameron. The state leader in the 110HH is ready to run fast. He should break Chris Douglas' meet record of 14.59. The 4x1 should fall as well. Lane Tech's 42.98 mark is good as gone if the Warriors want it.
Deerfield will counter with super thrower and state shot put leader Sam Liokumovich. He had a competition a few days ago and tossed the ball over 60-feet. He does not need to perform at that level here to win or cop his own meet record 57-8.5. But he may want to get the discus throw prize of 159-10 held by teammate Henry Boudreau. Additionally, there is Bradley Brodsky in the 1600m. He will be the favorite and will seek the fabled "Dan Horyn" title.
Keep an eye on the 800m with three runners who could potentially run 1:57 or faster. Jack Burns (Lane Tech), Julian Higueros (Lane Tech), and Jay Patel (Niles North) are the key figures ready to show and prove.