Illinois High School Track & Field Weekend Highlights - March 4, 2024

By Michael Newman

March came in like a lamb on Friday with great seasonal weather surrounding us. Inside track & field facilities across the state, March came in like a lion with the roar of so many great meet performances.

There was one performance that shines above the rest. It came on Friday evening at the Charleston High School Indoor Invitational. The Girls 1600 Meter Run offered the drama that we might expect on the campus of Eastern Illinois University but only outdoors in May.

Elana Rybak of Father McGivney would run in the 4x800m Relay earlier in the meet. The two-time Class 1A State Champion took the baton for her anchor leg behind Mt. Zion by four seconds. Rybak ran a 2:16.9 anchor split.

Isabella Keller of Effingham St. Anthony stepped into the national spotlight last fall winning the 1A State Cross Country Championship and then finishing eighth at the Nike Cross Nationals. Keller picked up where she left off on the indoor track.

Keller and Rybak were within inches off each other throughout all of the race with Keller pushing the pace. The 400 was went through in 73 seconds with Molly Farrell of Marshall and Erica Woodard of Tolono Unity close to the two runners. The pack separated with Keller and Rybak together at 2:28 at 800-meters and 3:42 at 1200-meters. Keller was tenths of a second ahead, but Rybak was not going anywhere. The two were even entering the final lap of the race. The end result was Rybak at 4:51.05 (IL #2), Keller at 4:51.96 (IL #3). Ferrell ran 5:13.12 to finish third. Woodard had run 11:19.49 earlier to win the 3200 Meter Run came back to run 5:19.49 to finish fourth.

There was plenty of high action this past week including the NCC Cardinal Girls HS Classic and the Stan Reddell Invitational at York. Here are highlights throughout Illinois from this past weekend.

Homewood-Flossmoor Boys A-B-C Invitational – Three of the top times in the state came in this meet in the 400 Meter Dash. Nolan Lamoureaux of Lockport continued his hot running winning the top section of the event in 49.87 (IL #6) ahead of Aden Bandukwala of Hinsdale Central (50.46, IL #10), and Nelson Speeks of Homewood-Flossmoor (50.65, IL #12). Trey Sato of Grayslake Central was dominant in winning the 800 Meter Run with a 1:59.52 time (IL #3). Rory Gaan of Fremd ran 1:59.52 to finish second. Tommy Nitz of Huntley had a time of 4:25.68 to win the 1600 Meter run with freshman Jack Jennings of Fremd running 4:32.04).

Sean Mullen of Grayslake Central has established himself as one of the top hurdlers in Illinois this indoor season. Mullen ran a personal best of 8.33 (IL #4) to win the 60 Meter Hurdles. He came back with another personal best of 15-3 (IL #10 in the Pole Vault. Homewood-Flossmoor dipped under 3:30 running 3:29.44 in the 4x400 Meter Relay. Grayslake Central ran 3:31.84 to finish second. Nick Pennington of Neuqua Valley cleared 15-8 to win the Pole Vault. Elliot Bond of Grayslake Central ran 22-6 (IL #10) to win the Long Jump. Bond also jumped 43-7.25 to win the Triple Jump. Vinny Costa of Huntley ran 6.96 (IL #5 tie) to win the 60 Meter Dash.

The Clash at Lakes Community HS – Annika Swan of St. Ignatius College Prep ran in two distance races winning one of them. The high powered sophomore dominated the 800 Meter Run running 2:16.38 (IL #4) for the win. Mia Sirois of Barrington ran 2:25.42 to finish second. It was close in the 1600 Meter Run as Scout Storms of Barrington ran a seasonal best of 4:59.51 (IL #6) to hold off Swan (5:00.41) to win the 1600 Meter Run. Danielle Jensen of McHenry finished fourth in the 1600 (5:20.83). Earlier in the meet, Jensen ran a seasonal best of 11:05.92 (IL #5) to win the 3200 Meter Run. It was a high quality field with four runners under 11:20. Abby Lewis of Barrington ran 11:14.71 (IL #9) to finish second ahead of Lucy Schlachtenhaufen of Lake Forest (11:17.72) and Skyler Balzer of McHenry (11:18.49). Sirois was part of Barrington’s quartet in the 4x800 Meter Relay as the Fillies ran 9:47.92 (IL #4) finishing ahead of Huntley (9:52.59, IL #7) and Loyola Academy (9:57.31).

Cabin Fever Invitational at Gately Park – The two session meet at the Worrill Track and Field Center was high powered with the Boys session in the morning. Ethan Hogan of Columbia in his first race of the year ran 4:17.99 (IL #3) to win the 1600 Meter Run. Will Kozlowski of Lane Tech (4:19.24, IL #9) and Dalton Lowery of Whitney Young (4:22.15) finished second and third. Hogan had not raced since cross-country in the Highland Regional where he suffered a leg injury.

The 3200 Meter Run was close as Owynn Garrelts of Maine South ran 9:36.15 for the win ahead of Sam Berlinghof of Jones Prep (9:37.27), and Kyle Fix of New Trier (9:37.73). Reece Curtis of St. Anne established himself as one of the top Class 1A sprinters in the state. Curtis ran 6.93 in the finals (IL #3) for the win. Neuqua Valley’s Daniel Robinson (6.99) and Alexander Knight (7.08) finished second and third. Another Class 1A sprinter, Supreme Muhammad of Winnebago, ran the fastest time in the state in the 200 Meter Dash (21.89. Nicholas Arogundade of Loyola Academy ran 22.49) in finishing second. Jaylon Morrow of Kankakee ran 49.03 (IL #2) to edge Deangelo Hughley of Mahomet-Seymour (49.04) for the 400 Meter Dash win. Curtis ran 49.81 (IL #4) to finish third. DePaul College Prep ran 8:14.21 (IL #2) to win the 4x800m Relay with city rival Payton Prep running 8:17.98 finishing second. Enoch Appiah-Kubi of Loyola Academy jumped 47-3 (IL #3 to win the Triple Jump.

The Girls Meet in the afternoon was just as exciting. Angelena Bullocks of Whitney Young captured the win in the 60 Meter Dash (7.62). Katelyn Johnson of Bolingbrook ran 7.68 (IL #6) to finish second. Johnson two days before at Joliet Central, ran 7.20 (IL #2) to win the 55 Meter Dash. Bullocks later in the meet ran a state leading 24.52 to win the 200 Meter Dash ahead of Hamb of South Shore International (25.16, IL #5) and Johnson (25.19, IL #6). Naomi Bey-Osborne of Kankakee won the 400 Meter Dash in a 57.99 (IL #2) time. Leah Smith of South Shore International finished second (58.26, IL #5).

Mia Kotler of Latin School ran an indoor personal best of 4:57.77 (IL #5) to win the 1600 Meter Run. Ahry Comer of Pope County ran 5:05.73 to finish second ahead of Ali Londrigan of Chatham-Glenwood (5:10.71) and Anna Lester of Vernon Hills (5:11.53). Comer earlier in the meet ran 2:19.39 to win the 800 Meter Run with Korina Gonzalez of DeKalb running 2:21.64 to finish second. Sofia Arcuri of Maine South demolished the rest of the field in the 3200 Meter Run with an 11:09.50 personal best (IL #6) winning the race by more than a minute.

Na’Kyrah Cooks of Kankakee jumped 18-1 (IL #8) to win the Long Jump. Jordan Hamb of South Shore International had a busy afternoon at this meet. Hamb after her 200 jumped 38-0 (IL #4) to win the Triple Jump. Hamb earlier ran a state leading 8.74 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles.

Homewood-Flossmoor ran 1:44.88 (IL #2) to win the 4x200 Meter Relay ahead of Rich Township (1:45.74). The Vikings came back to run 4:12.39 to win the 4x400 Meter Relay with Maine South running 4:15.33 to finish second.

Cogdal HS Invitational at Illinois State – This two day meet started Friday with the Girls Meet. Allison Ince of Normal Community finished her basketball season last week. Ince tuned up for this coming weekend at the New Balance Indoor Nationals running 58.52 (IL #6) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Ince also anchored Normal Community to the win in the 4x400 Meter Relay (4:10.65, IL #10). Lia Patterson of Tuscola was a double winner in this meet. Patterson ran 9.32 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles. She came back to run 26.15 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Aubrey Phillips of El Paso-Gridley cleared 5-5 to win the High Jump.

Patrick Hilby used the Boys meet to ready himself for New Balance Indoor Nationals. The Aurora Central Catholic ran 51.76 to win the 400 Meter Dash. Hilby anchored his team to a win in the 4x800 Meter Relay (8:24.46) and the 4x400 Meter Relay (3:35.73). Will Foltz of Tuscola ran away from the field  running 4:21.63 to win the 1600 Meter Run. Layton Knoop of Morton ran 4:30.62 to finish second. Heath Hawkins of Pekin cleared 15-1 to win the Pole Vault.

Charleston HS Indoor Invitational at Eastern Illinois University – We already mentioned what happened on Friday night in the Girls 1600 Meter Run. Rayna Raglin of Alton was a double winner in the Girls meet running 7.74 to win the 60 Meter Dash and 25.72 to win in the 200 Meter Dash. She was also a part of Alton’s team that won the 4x400 Meter Relay (4:16.60). Father McGivney ran 9:49.51 to win the 4x800 Meter Relay with Mt. Zion running 10:04.74 to finish second.

The Boys 1600 Meter Run on Saturday was just as good in this meet. Julian Baker of Mt. Zion ran 4:20.32 to win ahead of Owen Morgan of Taylorville (4:23.19). The next runners were 18 seconds behind the first two runners. Tolono Unity picked up double wins in the 4x200 Meter Relay (1:38.16) just ahead of Prairie Central (1:38.32), and in the 4x400 Meter Relay (3:34.05) with St. Joseph-Ogden running 3:36.73 to finish second. The Spartans ran 8:16.06 (IL #4) to win the 4x800 Meter Relay by 20 seconds ahead of Mt. Zion.

Southern Illinois University Boys Invitational – A troubling moment of this two day meet came early in the 4x800 Meter Relay. The top three teams in that race only ran three laps out of the four laps on the second leg of the race. At the conclusion of the meet, meet management and race officials did not disqualify the teams running one lap short. To make matters worse, the results of that relay were published in the official results. It is tough to see things happen like that in a meet.

Triston Webb of DuQuoin ran 6.98 to win the 60 Meter Dash. Kenneth Buchanon of East St. Louis-Senior was one of many Flyers in this meet. Buchanon ran 22.59 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Darius Ivy ran 51.88 to finish second in the 400 Meter Dash. Both runners were part of Eastside’s 4x400 Meter Relay quartet. They ran 3:32.99 to win the event with Belleville West running 3:34.21 to finish second. Exavier Williams of Herrin jumped 21-0.75 to win the Long Jump with Buchanon (20-10.75) and Tyreque Baker (20-10) finishing second and third. Shamond McClain jumped 44-8.5 to win the Triple Jump with Baker jumping 44-2.75 to finish second.

Caleb Mathias of Champaign Central ran a personal best of 9:29.82 to win the 3200 Meter Run with Max Weber of Bethalto Civic Memorial finishing second (9:55.73). Justice Eldridge of Bethalto Civic Memorial ran 4:26.56 to win the 1600 Meter Run with Mathias completing a good double in finishing second (4:27.20). Mekye Lomax of Marion ran 1:57.44 (IL #7) to win the 800 Meter Run. Arion Hall of Centralia ran 8.26 (IL #2) to win the 60 Meter Hurdles.

Other Highlights

Talen Tate of DeKalb ran 6.50 (IL #4) at Glenbard North. Mason Ellens of Glenbard West ran 6.54 (IL #5) at Batavia with Amari Alexander of Hinsdale South running 6.57 (IL #9) behind Ellens.

Ian Bentzinger of Illini West surprised some by running 6.96 (IL #5) for the 60 Meter Dash at the RW Cougars Indoor Meet at Galesburg. In the same meet, Isaiah Hill of 1A Elmwood ran 1:57.58 (IL #8) in the 800 Meter Run.

Dejay Smith of Minooka ran the state’s fastest time (7.67) in winning the 55 Meter Hurdles ahead of West Aurora’s Azuriah Sylvester (7.87, IL #3) and Sere Iranloye (7.96, IL #7) Friday at Batavia. On the same night, Antonio Mack of Mascoutah ran the state’s fastest time in the 60 Meter Hurdles (8.23) at the Jacksonville Indoor Invitational. Mascoutah with Mack ran 1:32.35 in the 4x200 Meter Relay.

Fast times happened at the First to the Finish Charger Invite as Plainfield North ran 1:31.97 (IL #4), Edwardsville ran 1:32.37 (IL #7). Urbana in that meet ran 3:32.16 (IL #10) in the 4x400 Meter Relay.

Jaiden Gary of Proviso East improved on his best at Proviso West on Friday improving to 59-5 (IL #2).

Isabelle Taylor of Batavia ran 7.34 (IL #8) on her home track last Saturday. Veronica Znajda ran 2:15.82 (IL #3) at York on Saturday. In that same meet, Ava Gilley of Downers Grove North ran a state leading 1:37.25 in winning the 600 Meter Run.