OPRF finishes strong at State

Patrick Geoghegan wasn't feeling particularly well after completing the 3200-meter run on Saturday at the Class AA state meet at Eastern Illinois University.

The Oak Park-River Forest senior had an upset stomach seconds after crossing the finish line.

Geoghegan was able to lie down for a few minutes near the 50-yard line on the football field before heading to the awards area.

Geoghegan was still a little wobbly, but was able to pick up his award for a seventh-place finish in 9 minutes, 14.99 seconds. That was good enough to earn all-state recognition.

"Patrick wasn't so good as a freshman or sophomore," OPRF coach Tim Hasso said. "Last year (finishing 11th in the 3200 run) put him on the map and he continued to make progress. He deserved to be all-state."

Geoghegan decided not to compete in the 1600 run on Friday and put all his energy into one race.

"He was very supportive of what the coaches (Hasso, Abel Reyes, Jose Sosa) wanted to do," Hasso said. "We felt he had a better chance in the 3200. It would have been difficult to place top nine in the mile. It was giving me a stomach ache (because) I wanted him to do well."

OPRF's Peter Geraghty also earned all-state honors with a fourth place finish in the pole vault with a personal best 15 feet, 6 inches.

The third individual all-stater for the Huskies was Evan Scott, who placed fourth in the triple jump at 46-6, which was also a personal best.

The Huskies also earned all-state status with a seventh-place in the 800 relay in 1:28.57 with Levell Coppage, Brandon Smith, Eric Starks and Josh Runnels.

The Huskies finished 12th in the team standings with 18 points.

"It puts us back on the map," Hasso said. "If you had told me four years ago we would have seven all-state athletes, I would have said you were crazy."

The 400 relay of Coppage, Starks, Smith and Runnels was 13th in 43.27 seconds, while the 3200 relay of Kevin Binns, Kevin Bakker, Brendan Donley and Colin McCarey was 24th in 8:11.70.

Smith tied for 27th place in the 200 dash (22.99) and Runnels was 27th in the 300 hurdles (40.63).

Jhamaar Caldwell finished 31st in the discus (135-7) and Steve Harper was 40th in the shot put (45-11).

FENWICK

Fenwick senior Ryan Shannon wasn't able to attend the graduation ceremony on Saturday morning at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Shannon was busy that day running in the 800-meter finals at the Class AA state meet at Eastern Illinois University.

Shannon ended his high school running career on a very positive note, earned all-state honors with a seventh-place finish in 1 minute, 55.04 seconds.

Shannon had the third fastest time in the preliminaries on Friday in 1:56.04.