Hillcrest working toward common goal

"You got him on the lean, kid!" Hillcrest head coach Ron Towner said to Pierre Williams after Williams won the 100-meter dash at Friday's Bill Jackson Invitational in Lockport.

The perfectly timed move allowed Williams to edge Buffalo Grove's Steve Miller for the title with a time of 10.50 seconds.

It also demonstrated how the Hawks' attention to detail has paid off this season. With the Southland's best group of sprinters, Towner and his staff are making sure no contingency is unprepared for.

Towner's had the luxury of the depth on his team to run more everyone in less than the four-event maximum. That keeps them fresh. There's also motivation.

"Everyone is dedicated to winning a state title," hurdler Maurice Lyke said. "We had a lot of people coming back from last year, which is a plus. We got experience at state; we know what to do under pressure. That's played a big role for us."

Lyke, for instance, finished fifth in the Class AA 300 intermediate hurdle final last year.

Towner has also worked on the little things that turn into fast times. Friday, the 400-meter relay team won in a school-record time of 41.90 seconds. An achievement, to be sure, but Towner spotted a flaw. The second exchange was sloppy.

"We can get faster," Towner said.

Expect the Hawks to have worked on exchanges - an area where every area school can improve - in advance of today's South Suburban Blue championship meet.

SICA South finale

Bloom Township and Crete-Monee rank as co-favorites in today's SICA South championship meet on the new track at Bloom. It and the SICA East meet are the last track meets under the South Inter-Conference Association title.

The Blazing Trojans, dominant in the pole vault via top-ranked Japheth Cato (15-7) and Matthew Page (14-3), also also threats in the long jump - Cato's 23-4 leap is the season's best in the Southland - the 1,600 relay, and the 300 hurdles, where Joseph Tooks' 40.90 time trails only Rich East's Jeremy Simmen in the conference.

Crete-Monee has a double threat in sprinter Dylan McElveen (10.49 in the 100, area-best 21.53 in the 200), the best 800 runner in the conference in Josh Martin (2:03.39), and a state-caliber 400 relay team (42.79).

Blue heaven for Hillcrest

The Hawks, hosting the Blue meet, are overwhelming favorites to capture the title. Williams leads an outstanding team, including fellow sprinters Jamison Wilson, Sam Russell and Greg Brewer, and hurdlers Lyke and Danny Harris. Wilson also hurdles and has posted the best triple jump in the area this season, a pair of 47-foot, 5-inch showings during the indoor season.

Hillcrest has the best times in the Blue in the 100, 200 and 400 dashes, both hurdle races, and the 400, 800 and 1,600 relays. That won't leave much room for the other five teams in the Blue to grab a lot of points.

Oak Forest boasts runner Ed McDaniel, whose 2:00.50 time in the 800 is the third-best in the area, and whose 4:34.46 clocking in the 1,600 is fourth best. The Bengals also have jumper Marcel Hamilton, second to Wilson in the triple jump (45-4 1 / 2 ) and ninth in the long jump (21-11 1 / 4 ), and discus specialist Chris Powell, whose fling of 149-2 on April 18 trails only Tony Villanova, of Richards.

After that, the pickings are slimmer. Based on results submitted this spring, Bremen has a pair of decent 200 men in Maurice Rucher (23.00) and Rodney Hammons (23.08), as well as a 400 man in Josh Techiera, the soccer star who has recorded a 52.39 this season. Lemont has a likely pole vault winner in Andrew Rachwalski, who has cleared 13-6, albeit indoors. Tinley Park's Jeff Laffredo ranks 10th in the discus, at 138-1.

Tim Cronin can be reached at tcronin@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5948.