Boys track achieved a major success recently by placing 3rd overall in their indoor conference meet close behind Deerfield and Highland Park. The freshman squad won the meet altogether.

The goal for this conference meet was mostly to create an effective lineup and to get an idea of the team’s ability.

Varsity was able to win both first and second place in the mile run and two- mile runs. Also, they placed 1st in the mile relay. Junior Micah Beller won first place in the two-mile run while senior Carlitos Rangel won first place in the mile run. Additionally, Abe Youkhanna was the Viking’s first thrower in the last five years to win the shot put event.

Meanwhile, the sophomore/freshman team was able to win the high jump event. Also, sophomore Stephan Rony, won the long jump event and sophomore new comer Ilyas Taraki, won the mile run.

“We are in a good place: there are a lot of new comers, and we are planning on running our stars in the outdoor conference. We are working towards winning our 8th conference title this year,” Daniel Horyn, co-head coach, said. “Everybody on the team is extremely talented. It is sad that seniors will graduate but we have a chance to re-figure and reinvent ourselves. We will develop our own new identity with the new team.”

In order to prepare for their outdoor conference season, with the help of their coaches, team members are practicing harder and trying to improve. The team is coached by Horyn, Paul Swanson, cohead coach, Tori Watson, Matt Hunsecker, Ben Brzezinrki, Mark Egofske, and volunteers, To Krejcie and Drew Depper.

“I couldn’t ask for better coaches to be honest. They always got the best out of us and they were there for us when we needed them to help us improve and get better as individuals and as a team,” sophomore Ivan Korkes said.

According to Korkes, the track team is like a family that is made up of 100 guys who were recruited from all different sports. They all work together and support each other.