STERLING — Just getting on the scoreboard at the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Indoor Meet used to be a challenge for the Hubs track and field team, but those days appear to be a thing of the past.
Rochelle took seventh place out of 10 schools at this year’s conference indoor meet, scoring 38 total points and earning three top-3 finishes at the Westwood Sports Complex in Sterling this past Saturday. Senior Andrew Myers, who was barely able to clear 5-7 in the high jump earlier this week due to a lower body injury, astounded head coach John Dobbs with a leap of 6-3 to win first place overall.

“That was the highlight of the day,” Dobbs said. “He was on fire… He was just gaining confidence, and even after jumping 6-3 I videotaped it and showed him that he was like 4 inches over the bar. He’s doing really well right now.”

Senior Andrew Myers overcame a lower body issue to win the high jump at the conference indoor meet this past weekend. (Courtesy photo)

Also stepping up for the Hubs on Saturday was the 1600-meter relay team, consisting of seniors Matthew Drendel, Edwin Infante, Levi Johnson and sophomore Austin Walsh. The boys took second in the event and set a Rochelle Township High School indoor track and field record with a time of 3:37.70, with Walsh running his leg just one hour after placing third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.90.
The 800-meter relay team also finished third with a time of 1:37.60, behind Johnson, Walsh, senior Lance Huftalin and junior Komla Gati. While Dobbs said he was proud of how his relay teams performed this weekend, he said he will continue to rotate runners in and out of the lineup depending on who has the hot hand (on in this case, the hot feet).
“Our guys got after it,” Dobbs said. “At that time in the season those four guys were the fastest for those two events. Now in two weeks that might change… We have some competition for those events and that competition is what it’s going to take to get us back into the state finals.”
Huftalin excelled in two other events, placing sixth in the 60-meter dash and fifth in the 200-meter dash with respective times of 7.38 and 24.04. Matthew Drendel took ninth in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:08.03, and senior brother Michael Drendel placed sixth in the pole vault with a clearance of 11-6 to go along with a ninth-best finish in the long jump with a leap of 19-5. Junior Zach Miller took ninth in the shot put with a heave of 42-9.

Rochelle’s next meet as a team doesn’t come until April 4, when the Hubs travel to Ottawa for a dual meet with the Pirates in Northern Illinois Big 12 action. With two weeks to prepare for the team’s first outdoor competition of the season, Dobbs is hoping his boys can take advantage of the extra preparation time.
“We’ve gotten in two solid weeks of training and it’s going to have to be another solid two weeks,” he said. “If it’s cold out here we’re just going to work hard in the cold. If it’s windy and raining we’re just going to get out and get after it. We can’t afford to just throw a workout away because of the weather.”