Hoffman Estates’ Declan Rustay (pictured) won two individual events and was a part of two winning relays Friday night at the Pete Reiff Invitational

By Michael Newman, ILXCTF.com Editor

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Here are some highlights of some of the invitational meets across Illinois from this past weekend. You can read more about the Girls conference meet action in this recap.

Conant Cougar Twilight Classic

Minooka’s Soren Knudsen has been coming on strong in recent meets. His win at Prospect when he ran 4:13 was impressive over a great field. In this meet last Thursday, it was all Knudsen. The senior was by himself after the second lap. He went by 1600-meters in 4:29 and then started to pick it up from there. The next three laps went 67-seconds, 65-seconds, and 68-seconds. It seemed he did not pick up the pace in the final lap of the race. He still closed in 66 seconds to cross the line with the state’s best time (8:55.70) this season.

Knudsen was back on the track 85-minutes later to run the 1600 Meter Run. He hung back the first couple laps letting Maine South’s Reese Jordan set the pace. He caught the pack at 800-meters going through that point in 2:09. He stayed with the pack in the next 66-second lap taking the lead just before the bell lap. It was all Knudsen after that as he pulled away for the win (4:16.71) just ahead of Prospect’s James Riordan who ran a personal best of 4:18.83 and then Jordan (4:21.85). I was an impressive double considering that this was Knudsen’s first 3200 of the year. It leaves many options for Minooka Coach Nick Lundin when we get to sectionals in two weeks. Is there another double like that in the future?

The weather was near 50 degrees favoriting distance runners. There were some great performances. Jamir Gibson of Zion-Benton followed up good throws at Prospect with wins in both weight events. Gibson threw 164-10 to win the Discus after a 55-9 effort to win the Shot Put three inches ahead of Prospect’s Billy Matzek (55-6). Courtney Lindsey of Rock Island ran 11.00 to win the 100 Meter Dash just four hundredths of a second ahead of Minooka’s Colin Marchino. The places changed in the 200 Meter Dash as Marchino prevailed (22.53) ahead of Lindsey (22.80).

Lake County Boys Invitational @ Lake Zurich

The other great 3200 Meter Run of May 4 happened in this meet. Jack Aho of Grayslake Central and Brian Griffith of Lake Zurich pushed each other to the end in this race with Aho crossing the line first just 18 hundredths of a second ahead of Griffith. The two runners ran top five times in the state with Aho running 9:02.81 (IL #4) ahead of Griffith’s 9:02.99 (IL #5). Barrington’s Nick Laning ran a personal best of 9:16.83 to finish third.

John Steffan of Barrington won both weight events achieving a personal best in the Shot Put (59-7.25 (IL #5) and then came back to throw 167-8 to win the Discus. Jonathan Powell of Stevenson achieved another field event double in the horizontal jumps with two personal bests. Powell had a 22-0 effort to win the Long Jump. He also jumped 44-8 to win the Triple Jump.

The other double win in this meet came in the sprints achieved by Mundelein’s Bobby Nuzzo. The junior had a great night running a personal best 10.75 (IL #6 tie) to win the 100 Meter Dash. Nuzzo’s other win came in the 200 Meter Dash with a personal best of 22.10 to finish three tenths of a second ahead of Stevenson’s Noah Lukz (22.40).

DuPage County Boys Championships @ Lake Park

The winds died down just before the start of the running events. The athletes in this meet took advantage of the conditions producing some great times. Jace James of Glenbard North led the way with a pair of super times in winning both hurdle races. James ran a personal best of 14.19 (IL #3) to win the 110 Highs ahead of teammate Paris Miller (14.75). James pulled away in the final three hurdles of the 300 Intermediates to win his second race (38.99) just ahead of Miller (39.79) and Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Joe Zubak (39.82). James was also a part of Glenbard North’s winning 400 Meter Relay (43.21) just ahead of Montini Catholic (43.42).

Mitch West was part of Montini’s second place finish in that relay. He won the sprint double for the second year in a row. West pulled ahead of Cedric Rowzee of Wheaton-Warrenville South in the final 10-meers to win the race (10.90) ahead of Rowzee’s 10.94. West had to come from behind in the 200 Meter Dash catching York’s Jonathan Tanner just before the line in winning in 22.37 ahead of Tanner’s 22.47.

York’s Charlie Kern had an interesting triple and one that I doubt we will see again this season. Kern took the baton with a three-second lead in the 3200 Meter Relay for his team. He extended that lead in the final 800 meters running an effortless 1:55.1 split to lead York to the win (7:58.51, IL #6) eleven seconds ahead of second-place Lake Park (8:09.71).

Kern, who has the state’s best time in the 800 Meter Run, stepped down to run the 400 Meter Dash. While the other athletes in the last section of the event used the blocks, Kern used a standing position to start. He had the lead coming out of the final turn but was passed by West Chicago’s Zenen Cardenas. Kern fought back to re-take the lead in the final 15-meters to win (49.97) ahead of Cardenas (50.07). Kern ran a 49.4 split on his third leg to lead York to a third-place finish in the 1600 Meter Relay (3:27.45) behind race winner Wheaton-Warrenville South (3:24.56) and Wheaton North (3:25.28).

Joey Simon of Wheaton North led from the start and held off Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Kyle Thompson to win the 800 Meter Run (1:56.16) ahead of Thompson’s 1:56.55. Wes York of Waubonsie Valley waited until the final 100-meters to make his move that got him the win in the 1600 Meter Run (4:25.31) ahead of Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Sean Maison (4:26.45) and York’s Sean MacGregor (4:27.04). The first eight runners in the race finished within five seconds of each other.

Bill Jackson Invitational @ Lockport

Great performances were achieved in what was probably the best meet this weekend in the state. It started with John Meyer of Lockport Township and his state leading throw of 65-4.5 (US #9) to win the Shot Put. Ethan Hanson of Fremd achieved a personal best of 62-11 (IL #3) to finish second. Meyer also won the Discus with a 179-3 throw.

The sprint events stole the show in this meet. Huntley was the first team in the state this season to run under 42 seconds in the 400 Meter Relay as they ran a state leading time of 41.97 to win the event ahead of Plainfield North (42.15, IL #3). The 100 Meter Dash finals were even better. Dubem Anikamadu of Huntley edged list leader Marcellus Moore of Plainfield North by just three hundredths of a second for the win. Anikamadu’s winning time was 10.62 (IL #3). This was the first loss of the season at this distance by Moore (10.65). The Plainfield North freshman responded in the 200 Meter Dash as he ran 21.48 for the easy win almost by a second ahead of Anikamadu (22.23).

Dylan Jacobs anchored Sandburg’s winning 3200 Meter Relay (7:56.66, IL #4) as they finished eight seconds ahead of Oswego. Jacobs came back to win the 1600 Meter Run (4:20.74) five seconds ahead of Oswego’s Bennett Peterson (4:25.29). Peterson earlier in the meet won the 3200 Meer Run (9:31.37).

Pete Reiff Memorial Invitational @ Hoffman Estates

Hoffman Estates tuned up for this weekend’s Mid Suburban League Championships with some great sprint performances led by Declan Rustay. The junior was part of the Hawks’ winning 400 Meter Relay that ran 42.38 (IL #7) to just finish ahead of Glenbard West (42.53). The team order was he same as Hoffman Estates ran 1:28.22 (IL #2) to win the 800 Meter Relay ahead of Glenbard West (1:28.50, IL #3).

Rustay ran seasonal bests to win the two sprint races. He ran 10.56 (IL #2) to win the 100 Meter Dash finishing ahead of Alonzo Taylor-Jones of Metea Valley (10.75, IL #6 tie). Rustay came back to run 21.81 (IL #8 tie) to win the 200 Meter Dash ahead of Taylor-Jones (22.63).

McCartney Memorial Invitational @ Hinsdale Central

Host Hinsdale Central led off this meet running 7:57.66 (IL #5) to win the 3200 Meter Relay ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (8:05.47). The 1600 Meter Run was loaded with the first six finishers under 4:23. Oak Park-River Forest’s Irwin Loud kicked it home for the win (4:19.89) with Lincoln-Way West’s Evan Mitchell (4:20.15) and Loud’s teammate Matt Vietzen (4:20.94) close behind. Charles Harders of Lyons Township ran a personal best (4:21.06) to finish fourth.

Two runners dipped under 50 seconds in the 400 Meter Dash as Bloom Township’s Antonio Davis winning (49.29) just seven hundredths of a second ahead of Oak Park-River Forest’s Brandon Gage (49.36). Gage was also a part of Oak Park’s winning 1600 Meter Relay (3:24.39).

Oak Park-River Forest looked strong winning four of the six field events. Noah Coplan was a double winner throwing 53-0 to win the Shot Put and 140-10 to win the Discus. Nick Shaw cleared a personal best of 14-6 (IL #10 tie) to win the Pole Vault. Keyon Blankenbaker achieved a personal best of 21-8.5 to win the Long Jump just one inch ahead of Bloom Township’s Frank Massey.

Morton Invitational

Tony Rolfe of Chatham-Glenwood won three events in what was the spotlight performances of this meet. The senior started by 22-2 to win the Long Jump followed by a 45-2.5 leap to win the Triple Jump. Rolfe also ran 10.95 to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of Decatur MacArthur’s Ronald Reed (11.05).

Tracker Harris of Dunlap ran he sixth fastest 2A time (14.57) to win the 110 High Hurdles. Morton’s Bret Hilliard had a convincing 11-second win in the 1600 Meter Run (4:24.41).

Northern Illinois Invitational

Freeport’s Deion McShane was a double winner running 14.71 to win the 110 High Hurdles and 37.61 to win the 300 Intermediate Hurdles by three seconds. McShane’s teammate Jered Allison threw 57-2.5 to win the Shot Put ahead of Harlem’s Justin Braskett (56-1) and Hononegah’s John Terry (55-8).

Collinsville Invitational

The big Saturday meet was this competition in the St. Louis Metro area. Edwardsville, without star hurdler Travis Anderson, won the team title with 90.5 points ahead of East St. Louis-Senior (82.33 points), Cahokia (79.33 points), and Lyons Township (67 points).

Andra Ward of Cahokia had one of the best performances of the day in winning the Triple Jump. The sophomore jumped a wind-legal personal best of 47-1 (IL #4) for the win head of Lyons Township’s Thomas Saggau (46-8, IL #7).

Sam Sikon of Carbondale threw 62-2 to win the Shot Put outdistancing Edwardsville’s AJ Epenesa by six feet (56-0). Epenesa came back to throw 180-4 to win the Discus. Jordan Hawkins of Roxana threw a personal best 178-7 to finish second in the event.

All four relays were highly competitive with East St. Louis-Senior winning three of them. The Flyers ran 42.12 (IL #2) to win the 400 Meter Relay ahead of Collinsville (42.77) and Edwardsville (42.78). They came back to run 1:29.60 to win the 800 Meter Relay to finish ahead of Cahokia (1:29.89). The two faced off again in the 1600 Meter Relay with Eastside winning (3:22.03) ahead of the Comanches (3:22.91). Alton was the other relay event winner as they ran 8:02.77 to win the 3200 Meter Relay ahead of Cahokia (8:03.77).

Freshman Jermarrion Stewart of Collinsville ran a personal best of 10.81 to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of East St. Louis’ Jarrell Anderson by four hundredths of a second. Stewart finished second in the 200 Meter Dash (22.05) behind event winner Devonte Tincher of Edwardsville (21.98). Edwardsville still had a winner in the 110 High Hurdles even though defending 3A champion Travis Anderson did not compete. Matt Griebe ran a personal best (14.85) to win the event ahead of Belleville West’s Ricky Berry (15.03).

Chris Stanley of Cahokia came back from the 3200 Meter Relay winning the 800 Meter Run over a great field. Stanley ran a personal best of 1:54.95 finishing ahead of O’Fallon’s Chris Conrad (1:55.10) and Vince Zona of Lyons Township (1:55.63). Andrew O’Keefe of Granite City ran the final 400-meters in 61.8 seconds to run a personal best of 4:16.37 (IL #8) to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Lyons Township’s Danny Kilrea (4:21.04) and Ben Flowers of Jerseyville (4:22.40).