Friedman grinds out state-worthy vault

BOYS TRACK -- Austin Friedman hardly had the look of a state qualifier Friday night.

Deerfield's senior pole vaulter entered the Class 3A Buffalo Grove Sectional as the No. 1 seed, having cleared 14 feet earlier in the season. The Warrior settled for a runner-up result of 13-3 behind champion Dan LaRocca (13-9) of Palatine.

Good, but not great, in Friedman's mind.

"There was a lot of pressure, and I was feeling it," he admitted. "I had to grind there at the end. But I did what I needed to do. I'm happy with the performance."

But Friedman, a linebacker in the fall, wasn't beaming. Rather, he looked like he had just leveled a running back behind the line of scrimmage and the football didn't squirt out of the back's hands.

Friedman wanted more than just a state berth. It was a theme Deerfield track coach Jeremy Kauffman noted after two other Warriors entrants -- the 3200-meter relay and discus thrower Greg Larmore -- also had qualified for the state meet at one of the state's most competitive sectionals.

"These are great accomplishments, but I could sense each was not satisfied," Kauffman said.

Deerfield's Pat Wylie, Dan Gold, Billy Malmed and Ilan Kedar were still craving for success -- even after they had combined for a winning time of 7:56.6 in the 3200 relay. Larmore, meanwhile, probably couldn't wait to improve upon his third-place discus toss of 160-3.

Deerfield finished ninth (34 points) in the sectional. Only 14 points separated team champion Barrington (64) and sixth-place Zion-Benton.

"The IHSA put together a sectional that included some very tough MSL and NSC schools," Kauffman said. "The field was very deep and very good. We fought extremely hard, and many of our seniors gave everything they had and left the track with their heads held high and their Warrior pride on full display."

Deerfield senior Andrew Rixon finished fourth in shot put (51-10); senior Matt Hilo wound up fifth in discus (144-4); senior Matt Dorfman placed fifth in high jump (6-2); and Blake Davis, another senior, clocked a fifth-place finish in the 110 high hurdles (15.4).

The state meet gets underway in Charleston on Friday.

Go East, Young Man: Friedman plans to pole vault at Lehigh University (Pa.). When he was a freshman at Deerfield, it was going to be either track or lacrosse.

"I went with track, to get better as a football player," he recalled. "I end up launching myself with a pole; crazy, I know. But I've really enjoyed it. There are so many different ways to improve."

Pole vault has been the ideal event for Friedman, his coach pointed out during Friday's sectional.

"It requires fearlessness, and it's a bulldog event," Kauffman said.

Venturing to the state meet for the first time, Warriors sophomore Allison Boudreau recorded one of her fastest times of the season.

Boudreau completed the 300 hurdles in 46.46 during Friday's IHSA Class 3A prelims in Charleston. That rivaled her time of 46.2 (hand-held) from the Palatine Sectional two weeks ago.