Led by a program record-setting performance by Joey Bockwell in the shot put, Lyons earned a convincing boys track sectional victory on May 21.
The Lions won their own Class 3A event with with 154 points, doubling the score of runner-up St. Laurence.
Bockwell won the shot put with a throw of 61 feet, 9.75 inches and also won the discus with a 164-4.5.
The Lions had 20 qualifiers in eight events for the IHSA state meet, which begins May 29 in Charleston.
The area sectional champions list is impressive.
Lyons’ Anthony Pearson won in the 300 hurdles with a :41.55. The 3,200 relay team of Tyler Gantt, Brennan Monohan, Patrick Collins and Austin Best won in 8:08.64.
Other area individual winners were St. Rita’s Justin Phillip (:10.83 in the 100), St. Laurence’s Matthew Williams (:22.15 in the 200), Argo’s Verdell Walls Jr. (:50.83 in the 400), Reavis’s Leandro Barajas (2:00.43 in the 800), Reavis’s Santiago Chavez (4:18.48 in the 1,600 and 9:08.71 in the 3,200) and Oak Lawn’s Sebastian Roche (:15.83 in the 110 hurdles)
The St. Laurence 400 relay team of Williams, Joey Philip, Isaiah Little and Jaylen King won in :42.84. The Vikings’ 800 relay team of Williams, Philip, Little and Diaz took first in 1:29.80.
Richards 1,600 relay team of James Ratliff, Anthony Villalobos, Semaj Miller and Amar Khaled won in 3:28.70.
In the field events, Marist’s Ignacy Berezowski (6-2, high jump), Brother Rice’s Dan Speski (12-7.25 in the pole vault) and Richards’ Nicholas Jafilan (47-10.5 in the triple jump) were champions.
At the 3A Oak Park-River Forest Sectional, Morton’s Orlando Sandoval won the 800 with a 1:53.96 and the 1,600 with a 4:17.95.
At the Rich Sectional, Andrew’s Judah Van Engen won the discus with a 166-4.75.
In Class 2A at Glenbard South, Evergreen Park’s Kevin Reyes won the 800 with a 2:01.25. Chicago Christian’s Zachary Van Wyk won the 110 hurdles with a :14.83.
Net gains
The area had just two sectional champions in boys tennis and both came from Brother Rice.
Sophomore Nathan Miller and the doubles team of Ben Miller-Jonathan Kaminski won at the Class 2A Stagg Sectional.
Sandburg won the team title with 23 points, followed by Marist’s 21 and Brother Rice’s 20.
The state meet begins May 28 at various locations in the northwest suburbs.
Sandburg wins bass sectional
Sandburg’s No. 1 bass fishing boat, consisting of Landon Kumke and Luke Seitzinger, won the Des Plaines River-Big Basin Marina Sectional with a catches of 10.63 pounds.
The state finals are June 5-6 at Lake Shelbyville.
Fire report
Andrew Gutman’s header helped give the Fire (8-4-2) a 2-1 win over Toronto FC in an MLS game on May 23 at Soldier Field.
The MLS takes a long break for the World Cup and the Fire next plays at 7:30 p.m. July 16 against Vancouver at Soldier Field.
The Fire II (3-4-4) beat Huntsville City, 4-0 on May 23 at SeatGeek Stadium in an MLS NEXT Pro battle as Jason Nemo Jr. recorded the shutout.
Chicago visits Atlanta United 2 at 6 p.m. June 6.
Hounds dominate again
The Chicago Hounds (8-0) rolled to a 57-17 win over Seattle May 24 at SeatGeek Stadium. Noah Brown scored his first two tries of the season for the Hounds in their final regular-season home game.
Chicago visits Old Glory at 3 p.m. May 30.