Conant takes big step ahead in outdoor start

The weather Tuesday afternoon at the Fremd boys track meet that included Mid-Suburban West foes Conant and Barrington was quite characteristic of early April.

Temperatures were brisk, the wind was howling, and nearly all members of the respective teams were jogging to stay warm in the challenging conditions.

However, if one were to merely glance at the outcome of the opening of the outdoor track season, it would appear Conant is performing as if the sky was clear blue and a June sun was shining.

Fueled by a strong first-place time of 8:39 in the 3200- meter relay to start the afternoon, the Cougars seamlessly glided to victory, taking top honors in 9 of the 12 track events, and half the 6 field events. Defending division champion Barrington took second and host Fremd took third.

"We wanted to use this great meet as a stepping stone to the outdoor season," Cougars coach Michael White said. "As you can see, that's what it looks like"

Conant junior Kendall Lane certainly took heed to his coach's calm demeanor as he stormed to victory in the 100 and 200.

Lane's 100 performance of 11.4 seconds and 200 showing of 25.3 sent a clear message to the Cougars' rivals that he was certainly for real.

"This is really encouraging that we could do well out here in the cold weather," Lane said. "With the performances we've seen so far I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to finish atop our conference at season's end."

While Lane was busy anchoring the track for Conant, senior Fuad Agoro was taking the Cougars to new heights in their field events -- literally.

Agoro, who took top honors in the triple jump and finished third in the long jump, drew gasps of amazement from the crowd as he cleared 6-4 to easily take home first in the high jump.

"I was ecstatic," Agoro said of his best high jump to date. "I thought I messed up with a jump of 6-2 at the Top Times (indoor) last week, so I really wanted to come out and get this done today."

With the Cougars stealing the spotlight, Barrington was quietly putting on a solid performance of its own.

Driven by Kyle Crowley's first-place honors in the long jump and 400, the Broncos were able to stay one step behind Conant all afternoon.

"I think everyone was running real well for the first (outdoor) meet," said Crowley. "It's definitely a change from indoor, but I think everyone on our team is adjusting real well."

Barrington coach Todd Kuklinski liked what he saw out of his young squad, especially considering his team does not have a track to practice on because of stadium construction.

"We did a great job, especially considering our practice situation," said Kuklinski. "Our exchanges were a little shaky, but we're going to try and use these triangle meets as practice and get ready for the big meets coming up at the end of the year."

Fremd coach Jim Aikens was content with where his team stands so early in the outdoor season.

"We're trying to figure out where to put people, so the places where we were concentrating on, we saw some good things," said Aikens.

"At this point in the season, you go ahead and try to see where the pieces best fit, and that explains where we are at today."