Paul Vigas, in usual self at home, puts on another show for the faithful
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Lake Villa IL-
There are star athletes, and there is the Star Athlete.
Paul Migas.
The outstanding superstar from Lakes High School captures you with his infectious smile whenever he greets you. Then comes the University of Tennessee rock top hand signal. He will be a Vol next year this time.
As one of the nation's top pole vaulters, Migas constantly socializes before getting down to business.
"My goal today is to get the field house record [which is 15'9'] and then later 17'3," he said. "I will try for the national lead, 17'7."
Migas entered the contest at 15'5" and cleared on his first attempt. After competitor Zachary Galvicious (Sr., McHenry) bowed out at 15'11," Migas cleared 17'0'75" to put the field house record into another stratosphere.
Migas took three cracks at what would have given him a new personal best 17'4." Unfortunately, he could not connect, but several positivities were taken out of the day.
"I had been sick for about three weeks," Migas added. Now that he has his groove back look for him to tune up at the Windy City Pole Vault Summit and, of course, the big surprise- New Balance Nationals indoors.
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The rest of the best-
The pre-meet 3200m hype lived up to his billing. A group of top-rated distance runners met for the first time this season. Ben Crane (Jr., New Trier), Camyn Viger (Sr., Plainfield South), Trey Sato (Sr., Grayslake Central), Zac Close (Sr., Neuqua Valley), and more were in the field.
Crane took over the chores from the beginning, hitting the first half mile in about 2:15 with seven runners in tow. At the halfway point, 4:37, Viger, Close, and Sato were latched on to Crane. But you could feel some tension building, that someone would bust the race open.
Viger took over the race's second half and subtly began to pull away; only Crane and Sato were in the area code. Viger burned the final stanza in 61.xx and won in a personal best 9:07.87. It is now the state-leading mark for 3200m (although Dylon Nalley has the longer 2-mile state best mark).
Vince Davero (Sr., Downers Grove North) won both jumping events and setting records: LJ (22'7.75") and TJ (46'6"). Davero is the state leader in the triple jump.
Another outstanding effort in the field was Reece Ihenacho (Sr., Cary-Grove). He took down the shot put record with a heave of 57'8.50."
It was his season debut. Aden Bandukwala (Sr., Hinsdale Central) took the lead in the 800m after the first lap and never looked back. The Duke University-bound Bandukwala roared to a meet record and IL#2 1:53.67.
The most thrilling race of the day was the 1600m. Dylan Maloney (Jr., Plainfield South) had a sizable lead for much of the race, and appeared to have the victory in hand. However, Trey Sato roared back over the final two laps and nipped Maloney at the finish line for the win 4:20.84-4:20.91.
Homewood-Flossmoor salvaged a tough day with a state-leading mark in the showstopper. The Vikings became the first team to go under 3:30 this season, clocking 3:28.88.
