Park boys track and field: Alowonle, Farley and Wolfpack strong out of the gates

The Park boys track and field team got started on the right foot this spring.

Last week, Park – which finished in third place in the state last season – earned fifth place at the 2012 Hudson True Team meet in Hudson, Wis., on Friday, April 12. Park scored 628.50 points. Hudson won its own meet with 854.50 points.

As they have in the past few seasons, Park seniors R.J. Alowonle and D’Monte Farley stood out in their races to help lead the Wolfpack.

Alowonle, who is going to the University of North Carolina next year, won the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles – the two events he is the defending state champion in – and also took first place in the triple jump at the Hudson meet and Farley, a University of North Dakota recruit, won the long jump and the 100-meter dash in Hudson. Alowonle ran a time of 15.05 seconds in the 110 hurdles and a time of 39.75 in the 300 hurdle finals and leaped a distance of 44 feet, 4 inches in the triple jump finals. Farley had a leap of 20 feet, 9.25 inches in the long jump and sprinted to a 11.01 time in the 100-meter dash.

“They’re looking good,” Park head coach Mike Moran said.

The duo also teamed up to help the Wolfpack’s 800-meter relay team – along with Dylan Smallidge and Irving Gutierrez – finish in first place. The Wolfpack had a time of 1:30.60 in the finals – nearly two seconds ahead of the second place finisher – to take first in the event.

“That’s borderline ridiculous,” Moran said.

It was also the fastest time recorded in the state this year and just back of the Park record of 1:28.74 in the event, set in 2004. White Bear Lake had the previous best time at 1:31.99 this year.

Park, which finished third in the state in the 400-meter relay last year with Alowonle, Farley, Gutierrez and Smallidge in the event, took second at Hudson without Alowonle or Farley in the race. Park’s as Tulloch, Smallidge, Gutierrez and junior Kareem McDuffie had a time of 46.59 – back of Somerset’s winning 45.30 time.

“They’re all underclassmen,” Moran said. “They looked good to me. It bodes well for our young men.”

Also turning in a strong early-season finish was sophomore Evan Bonneson, who earned second place in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:37.93 – just back of the first place finish of 10:29.46.

“He’s certainly capable of breaking 10 minutes,” Moran said. “He just needs to stay healthy and not run too fast too early.”

Park received a boost in the pole vault as well as Park seniors Louis Arrigoni and Ian Hildreth took fourth and fifth place, respectively, as both cleared 11 feet.

“It was windy and chilly, so that bodes well,” Moran said. “We’ll see what happens.”

In addition to helping the 400 and 800 relay teams, Smallidge earned fourth place in the triple jump with a leap of 40-00.50. Other top finishes for Park came from: Gutierrez who took 10th place in the high jump, Tulloch who took eighth place in the long jump (17-06.25) and who ran a time of 12.31 to take 13th place in the 100-meter dash, Bobby Sorenson, Mike Broskoff and Steve Cordes who took eighth, ninth and 10th in the shot put, Kahlen Boich, Sorenson and Cordes who took 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively, in the discus throw, Nate Astin and Austin Dickson who took 12th and 13th in the 400-meter dash, Jake Lanik and Ryan Tolkinen who finished 15th and 16th in the 1600-meter run and Cole Rhein and Robert Briggs who placed 16th and 17th in the 800-meter run.

Next, the Wolfpack hosts its own invitational on Friday, April 20, against Hastings, Tartan, Hudson (Wis.), and FAIR School at Wolfpack Stadium.

Tags: track and field, sports, park, wolfpack, prep, updates