Youth is on the Mustangs’ side this year

The future looks bright for Munster’s boys track team and the present’s not so bad either.

Despite having a roster that skews young, the Mustangs have been faring well in duals and last weekend won their own Ed Woodrick Invitational.

“Our lead guys are really our juniors and one or two freshmen who come to mind,” Munster coach Aaron Brown said.

One of those juniors is Tony Rigoni, who won the 800 and 1,600 meters Saturday, and a couple of others are quarter-miler Bart Grabowski and hurdler Simon Abu-Aita. Distance runner Tom Bolanowski is one of the freshmen who’s living up to expectations.

Their success hasn’t been much of a surprise, but there are some other Mustangs who had been flying under the radar.

“Brandon Hoekstra has done a pretty good job in the hurdles and (400) relay,” Brown said.

Also impressing early are sophomore Miles Gunty, a rookie pole vaulter who recently cleared 12 feet, and freshman Saam Mojtahed, who’s running in the low 54s in the 400.

Brown is aware that the Mustangs will need continued improvement from all of those athletes, as well as others like senior Matt Collison, as the focus shifts from duals to multi-team meets.

Four-peat for De St. Jean: Munster’s Ed Woodrick Invitational has been very good for Hanover Central thrower Derek De St. Jean over the years.

“He won that invite three years in a row and he wanted to make it four,” Wildcats coach Steve Foulds said.

Consider it done, as De St. Jean swept the throws at this year’s Woodrick meet. The senior won the shot put with an effort of 54 feet, 11 inches and took first in the discus at 180-5.

The latter performance is especially impressive because bad weather limited De St. Jean’s practice time for the discus earlier this spring.

Foulds is hoping for even bigger things for his standout thrower as Mother Nature lets up. “The weather has some effect, since when it gets warmer, with thinner air, you feel a lot better,” he said.

With those performances, De St. Jean is already at or beyond his target goals for this season (180 feet in the discus, 55 in the shot). “He can go farther,” Foulds said. “The wind wasn’t at its best (for throwing).”

Odds and ends: Crown Point sprinter Israel Mercado won the Walter Cross Award, given to the top performer at Saturday’s Kokomo Relays. He helped the Bulldogs win the 400 and middle distance relays, was second in the 100 and ran on the third-place sprint medley relay team. ... Hebron’s Jasen Egolf had a busy day at Saturday’s Kouts Invitational, winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 and also anchoring the first-place 3,200 relay team.

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