The Jackson Middle School 7th and 8th grade Boys Track and Field teams dominated the 9-school West Suburban Middle School Athletic Conference track meet at Elmhurst University. The 8th-grade team put on a show with their school record 160.5 points over the 2nd place’s 97 points. The 146 points the 7th-grade team amassed were more than enough to cruise by the 2nd place team’s 90 points.
It was a total team effort as the capacity crowd enjoyed watching some of the best athletes in the area compete head-to-head. The 8th graders showed their firepower throughout the season, but it was on full display at Conference. All three relay teams won: 4X100M Zach Boynton, Hayden Roscoe, Dylan Flemming, Max Wilkison (school record 49.02); 4X200M Boynton, Flemming, Jake Bonino, Wilkison (school record 1:45); and 4X400M Evan Case, Ibrahim Elghor, Connor Spears, Travis Jones. The team finished with an unprecedented 1st and 2nd place in the 100M, 200M, and 400M races. In the 100M: 1st place Wilkinson (school record 12.12), and 2nd place Bonino. In the 200M: 1st place Roscoe (school record 25.50) and 2nd place Boynton. In the 400M: 1st place Bonino and 2nd place Evan Haworth. Haworth also won the 1600M and 800M runs. Roscoe had another school record with a 15.76 in the Hurdles.
The field events were highlighted with Nick Hackett winning the Shot Put, and Otis Powell and Anthony Leo scoring bunches in the three jumps. Powell took 2nd in the High Jump and Triple Jump, and 6th in the Long Jump; while Leo took 5th, 5th, and 2nd respectively. Rounding out the scoring was Daniel Rocha 4th in the 800M, Brogan Byrne 5th in Discus, Roy Pavlovsky 5th in Shot Put, and Krovyn Nieves 5th in Hurdles.
Headlining the 7th graders were Jorge Rosales and Dionel Rocha. Rosales won the 400-meter dash and took 2nd in the 200M and 100M; while Rocha (26.06 seconds) held off a charging Rosales (26.11) to win the 200M dash and took 2nd in the Long Jump and 3rd in the 100M. Nico Black won the 100M Hurdles in 16.91 – a school 7th-grade record, and ran the 3rd leg of the winning 4X200M relay team along with Leo Incandela, Ian Mueller, and Kesean Henry. The 4X400M relay team consisting of Mueller, Riley Molloy, Kyle May, and Alex Rodriguez also was victorious as Rodriguez ran a monster anchor lap after previously competing in the 1600M and 800M runs. Prior to running that relay, May took 2nd in the 400M and 3rd in the High Jump with a personal record of 4’8”.
The field events were led all season by Jack Nowakowski and Brayden Dotson. Nowakowski won every meet this season in the Shot Put, including at Conference, and he took 2nd place in the Discus. Dotson added 18 points with his 2nd in High Jump, 3rd in Hurdles, and 4th in Triple Jump. Also scoring for the Jaguars was the 3rd place 4X100M relay team of Incandela, Mueller, Benjamin Bates, and Marcus Castillo. Castillo also took 3rd in the Long Jump. Dylan Borkowski contributed with 5th place finishes in the Triple Jump and 800M run.
The student-athletes are coached by:
7th-grade boys: Norm Aliga
8th-grade coach: Gerrik Grove
Assistant Coach for the program: Cindy Lamela
Athletic Director: Gregg Huskstadt