The gun goes off. The crowd screams. The Hoffman Estates boys track and field team burns up the meet. Declan Rustay dashes across the finish line while Daniel Banahan waits to hurdle down the track. Later in the meet Jack Worman and Alex Makrounis take first and second in the long and painful distance races. Over at the field events, Fynn Alade jumps to the sky while Jaylan Alexander throws as far as his strength lets him. These outstanding athletes have grown this program into one of the best.

Hoffman Estates High School has not had many outstanding sports programs, but that is in the past now for the boy’s track and field team. The team has accomplished many goals so far. They are one of the top teams in the area and state now. For indoor season, their team placed in the top 5 in the state. As the season comes to an exciting and intense end, they also were rewarded West Division Champs, MSL Conference Champs and are now looking forward to sectionals and hopefully state in a few weeks.

“These are just remarkable honors,” stated Head Coach, Tyrone Jones.

Jones has shown many types of commitment to these athletes and has always helped them stay motivated. Some events make him more nervous than others, but he still has confidence in them. “I try to stress the words ‘stay humble and invest in the process’ to the boys to create such a team,” said Jones.

With state in reach, Jones is trying to get more athletes to compete at state than he did last year. Last year they had eight out of eighteen events go down, and this year their overall goal is to get at least twelve events to go down and perform. “To reach our goal, I keep telling the boys to just finish strong,” said Jones.

Worman, Makrounis, Rustay, Banahan, Alade, and Alexander are the athletes that he listed to be making a large impact on how good the team is. He also says that many underclassman are stepping it up too.

Declan Rustay is a junior at HEHS and has been a part of the track program since his freshman year. His hard work and accomplishments have helped the team tremendously.

Rustay has helped the team win the indoor conference meet; and he helped his 4×2 and 4×4 team place in the indoor state meet about two months ago. Then he placed 6^th in the 100m dash at this same state meet. He just recently placed 1^st in the 100m dash, the 200m dash, and the 400m dash at the MSL conference meet, and the 4×1 that Rustay was in also placed 1^st. “I’m more of a lead by example type of team leader,” says Rustay. These accomplishments help his team and underclassman so that they can see what they need to work for.

Although helping the team is a big duty of Rustay, his team also helps him along the way. “They push me to work hard everyday. We have a couple of great underclassman, they really help push the whole team,” stated Rustay. Another tool that helps Rustay is what he thinks about before his race. “I try to picture the race in my head. What my block start is going to look like and how long I want to drive are things that really help me be successful in my race,” describes Rustay.

Not only is Rustay the only one, but Daniel Banahan has also been mentioned to be an outstanding athlete this season by his coach. Banahan is a senior at HEHS and has been a part of the track and field team since his sophomore year. Banahan has also been a helpful teammate and has recently placed 10^th in the 110m hurdles, 5^th in the 400m dash, and 1^st in both the 4×2 and 4×4 that he was a part of at the MSL conference meet.

“I try to make people focus at practice and realize that practice is just as important as a meet. Fooling around at practice won’t help you develop as an athlete,” states Banahan. Although he helps his team stay focused, they push him and show him what his potential can be. “They help me be positive and say yes you can make it to state this year,” said Banahan.

He also thinks about his race beforehand like Rustay. Banahan thinks of the finish and the feeling it brings him. They both find it a good way to stay confident in themselves.

Jones, Banahan, and Rustay all agree that Barrington and Prospect are going to be their big competitors as this season comes to an end they all said that to reach their goals, like going to state, they are going to just push harder and invest in the process. Both Rustay and Banahan are predicted to make it to state in more than one event this year. They have and will continue to change the sports program at HEHS.

“It’s May which means its money time. We have to work harder and collect our bills so we can cash in our checks later,” is the quote that Banahan stated that helps motivate the whole team.