High Level performances for Illinois Athletes at National Meets

Ali Ince, Patrick Hilby 800 Meter Run National Championships lead the way

By Michael Newman

In a blink of an eye on Sunday afternoon, Illinois had two runners that had won national championships. First, Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic led from the start to win the Boys 800 Meter Run at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. Ali Ince of Normal Community followed an hour later defending her title in the Girls 800 Meter Run.

New Balance Indoor National Results | Nike Indoor National Results

Both runners have that Midwest mentality of daring their competition to go with them in a fast pace knowing they will be able to win off the pace. The same thing held true in both of their races.

When Hilby went on to run the nation’s fastest time then of 1:50.50, He went out hard in 23.9 seconds and 53.9. The race was over, and he did the second half of the race by himself. It was different circumstances in Sunday’s race. Hilby was situated on the outside alley of the track taking a two turn stagger before he cut in. He led at 200-meters in a slower pace of 24.6 seconds. The runner that stayed with Hilby most of the race was Colin Abrams of Bullis MD who was three tenths of a second behind.

Hilby passed in 52.4 with a pack still close to him with the next four runners within a second of him. It looked like he might be passed by the group. The look in his eyes entering the final lap of the race told a different story. He finished with the fastest final 200-meters of the race (27.89) to win his first national championship in a 1:48.47 time. It was the fastest 800 time of the indoor season. It was also the fourth fastest indoor time ever by a high school runner in The United States, the fastest indoor time ever by an Illinois High School athlete, and the fourth fastest time ever indoors/outdoors by an Illinois runner.

Why change a race strategy when 90% of the time it works for you. That has been the philosophy that Ali Ince has used. She knew she was in great fitness shape after running a sub-4:40 mike at the beginning of February. This was done as she was one of the star members of the Normal Community Girls Basketball team that made it to the Illinois 4A Super Sectionals. It would be interesting to see what kind of time she would display.

In the next two minutes after the gun went off for the final section of the Girls 800, her pace showed she was in top flight distance shape. Just like Hilby in the Boys race, Ince had the lead at 200-meters (29.91). Olivia Cieslak of Haverford PA was just off Ince’s shoulder and would be in second the entire race. This was a vintage Ince race making a huge sure on the third 200 of the race passing at the bell lap in 1:31.66. She had increased her lead to one second getting a little bigger with every stride.

It seemed like she was in slow motion on that final lap but in fact was moving farther away from the field. Her second national title of 2:03.85 was the fastest indoor time ever for an Illinois Girls athlete in the event. The time was faster by a second from what she ran to win the title in 2023. Ince now has run the nine fastest times ever for an Illinois Girls athlete. Her top three times are all under 2:04.

There were two All-Americans that came from the Nike Indoor Nationals on Saturday.  Elizabeth Leachman of Boerne Champion TX set a new Girls 5k record of 15:28.90 to win the national title. In that race, Zoe Carter of Normal University was the surprise of the meet as she ran 17:00.45 to finish sixth and earn All-American status. The junior is coming off a cross country season where she finished fifth in the Class 2A State Meet. She showed she was ready for this challenge running 10:51 for the 3200 Meter Run. She went past 3200-meters in this race in 10:53.8 in 11th place. She was still in 10th place entering the final lap. She moved up to sixth run a 35 second final lap.

Dylon Nalley of Marion had moved up to a different stratosphere after running a US top 5 time of 8:50 for 2-miles at the University of Notre Dame three weeks ago. His confidence has grown in the last year having won his second straight Class 2A State title. He has also stayed healthy, which was something that he could not avoid in his junior year.

He was in a good position in the top five after 1200-meters and rode that pace from there. He passed 1600-meters in 4:34 in sixth, 9:22.8 for 3200-metes in the same position, and then finished in 14:21.56 to finish in sixth and place in All-American status. It will be interesting to see his times drop during the outdoor season.

The rest of the All-American honors by Illinois athletes were earned at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. 10 Illinois Athletes earned All-American honors in both national meets.

Benton shocked many on Friday in the Distance Medley. The Rangers ran a new Illinois indoor all-time best of 10:09.33 (US #6) to finish third for All-American honors. The first three runners ran strong legs as Gabriel McLain ran 3:08.93 for 1200-meters, Jack Bacon ran 54.10 for 400-meters, and Cole Buchanan ran 2:02.21 for 800-meters. The team was near 20th overall when their state champion Gavin Genisio received the baton. Genisio over the final eight laps was passing runners left and right moving up. His split of 4:04.04 for 1600-meters was the fastest split of all of the teams in this event.

McLain and Genisio would come back to run in the 1 Mile Run on Sunday morning. McLain ran 4:22.57 to finish second in the event. Genisio was in the ninth and final section of the event. The pace was fast with Clay Shively of Trinity Academy KS looking for and going out in a fast pace. Shively ended up missing a sub-4 mile running 4:00.47 to win the national championship. Genisio stayed in control passing 809m in 2:03.48 and 3:06.64 for 1209m in sixth place with two laps to go. Genisio closed in a final 60.5 for the final two laps to run 4:07.25 to finish fourth and earn All-American status.

Plainfield South also had a great meet in Boston bringing some hardware back home.  The Cougars were among the 12 teams in the first and top seeded section in the 4 x 1 Mile Relay. It was apparent this would be a three team battle between American Fork UT, Southlake Carroll TX, and Plainfield South. The three teams broke away from the rest of the field. Dylan Maloney led off for South and stayed in reach of the front two schools. By the first exchange, Plainfield South was within four seconds of Carroll and Plainfield South. The Cougars were in third place, a spot that they would secure the rest of the way. Gavin Borger, Joaquin DeAlba, and Camyn Viger maintained their position finishing third with a 17:21.71 time. American Fork, anchored by Daniel Simmons, ran 16:43.21 to claim the national title. Southlake Carroll ran 17:08.34 to finish second. Plainfield South would have to wait for the next two sections to be run to se if they would finish in the top 6. Dublin Jerome OH would come close running 17:34.70 to win the second section. They would not dislodge Plainfield South from third-place.

Dylan Maloney waited in the wings for the second section of the 5000 Meter Run. He was watching on the track Daniel Simmons running 13:38.86 breaking the national indoor high school record for the distance by an amazing 18 seconds.

Maloney did not let the moment get to him in his first individual national race. He stayed in the middle of the pack not letting the pace up front get to him. He slowly moved closer to the front passing the first 1600-meters in 4:38. Matthew Giardina of Bishop Guertin NH led at 4:36 but was feeling the first mile. Maloney for the next 1600 clicked off 35 second laps passing 3200-meters in 9:20. He was now right with Giardina who held off Maloney for another three laps. At that point, it was time for the junior to take the lead. In the final five laps of the race, Maloney gained 11 seconds on Giardina. His final 400-meters was 65.3 as he crossed the line in 14:29.93 fifth-place finish and All-American honors. Giardina ended up finishing eighth overall.

Camyn Viger would be the same race as Genisio was in the Boys Championship  Mile on Saturday. The Plainfield South senior raced smart passing 809m in 2:03.97 maintaining eighth-place. He moved up to sixth with 2 laps to go passing that point in 3:06.2 running a 62 second third 400. Viger fell back to eighth in the final two laps running a 4:08.85, a personal best, and a finish of ninth overall.

Paul Migas of Lakes Community became a 5-time All-American in his High School career finishing fourth in the Pole Vault. Migas had a god series of vaults in this meet. He did start with a miss at 15-9 but made the height on the next attempt. He cleared the next three heights on his first attempt including 17-0.75. Isaiah Whitaker of Bloomington Central Catholic tied for eighth.  The sophomore cleared 15-9 on his opening attempt and then missed all three attempts at 16-2.75. Heath Hawkins of Pekin in this event cleared 15-3 to finish in a tie for 13th place. Lucas Brauc of Oak Park-River Forest cleared 14-3.25 to tie for 27th place.

Mya Strahm of Elmwood earned All-American honors by finishing fourth overall clearing a state leading 13-7.25. Strahm was flawless in her first four heights clearing on the first attempts. She made her final height on her final attempt. Chelsea Wetzel of Dunlap cleared 12-9.5 on her final attempt to finish ninth overall. Reese Wolfe of Chatham-Glenwood along with Josie Gates of Lakes Community cleared 11-3.75 in this competition.

At New Balance Indoor Nationals

There were a number of Illinois Boys distance runners that entered this meet in the 1 Mile Run. We have already talked about Genisio, Viger, and McLain. Julian Baker of Mt. Zion came from behind to run 4:16.40. In the same section, Will Kozlowski of Lane Tech ran 4:20.49 to finish fourth in that race. Kozlowski the day before in the 5000 Meter Run had a 14:59.64 to finish 19th overall. Owen Morgan of Taylorville ran 4:18.65 to finish fourth in Section #5 of the event.

What finished with Ali Ince winning the championship in the Girls 800 Meter Run, started with some great performances by Illinois runners. Scout Storms of Barrington had a busy weekend in Boston with her Barrington teammates. Storms, along with Mia Sirios, Abby Lewis, and Kaleigh Burns, ran 21:02.52 to finish 11th overall in the 4x 1 Mile Relay. Storms in Section 7 of the 1 Mile Run ran 5:01.15 to finish sixth in that race. Storms also ran in the 800 Meter Run where she ran 2:19.22 to finish sixth in Section 2.

It started to heat up in Section 7 of the Girls 800 Meter Run. Ahry Comer of Pope County came from behind to run 2:11.92 (IL #3) to win her race. Elana Rybak of Father McGivney continues to make huge strides up the mountain with every race she runs. In a dramatic finish in Section 8, Rybak ran 2:09.27 (IL #2) catching Stella Miner of Omaha Westside NE at the line to win by one hundredth of a second. Rybak is currently ranked at US #13, Comer at US #40.

Liv Phillips of Naperville Central doubled up in this meet. She ran smart in Section 4 of the Girls 1 Mile Run working her way up from the back to end up running 4:59.98 to finish fourth in her section. Phillips came back to run in the sixth of seven sections in the 2 Mile Run. Phillips ran 10:41.99 to finish ninth in her race, 26th overall. Anna Lester of Vernon Hills ran 5:14.02 in Section 2 of the Girls 1 Mile Run.

Katelyn Lehnen of Chatham-Glenwood waved goodbye to the basketball court and said hello to the starting blocks. The junior competed in both the 60 Meter Dash and 200 Meter Dash in this meet. Lehnen ran 7.61 (IL #4) in the prelims of the 60 Meter Dash to finish 27. The top 24 runners in the preliminaries would advance to the semifinals. Lehnen just missed the finals of the 200 Meter Dash running 24.60 to finish in 11th in the prelims. This is a good start to the season for Lehnen with bigger things still to come.

Jack Jennings of Fremd ran a great race in the Freshman Mile run. Jennings ran 4:22.56 to finish third overall. Bryant Lester of Vernon Hills finished ninth with a 4:28.80 time. Bo Breed of Oswego ran 4:33.97.

Mia Forystek of Lincoln-Way Central had a strong weekend in the Freshman division. Forystek ran 2:18.77 (IL #8) to finish fifth in the Freshman 800 Meter Run. She finished fourth in the final section. Her teammate Brea Counihan ran 5:12.02 to win Section 2 of the Freshman 1 Mile Run. Counihan finished 12th overall in the event. Forystek also ran in this event with a 5:13.80 time to finish fifth in Section 3. She finished 18th overall.

Luis Flores of St. Laurence ran a personal best of 9:21.68 to finishing fifth in the opening section of the 2 Mile Run. Dylan Ybarra of O’Fallon ran 9:28.06 to finish 12 in the second section of the event. An injury sidelined Ethan Hogan of Columbia for the sectional and the state meet last fall. In his second race since that injury, Hogan ran 9:35.21.

In the Girls Championship 400 Meter Dash, Gabrielle Walker of DePaul College Prep ran 59.87 in her preliminary heat. Gabriella Manzano of New Trier jumped 17-8.5 in the Championship Long Jump. She also jumped 36-6.50 in the Triple Jump and ran 7.88 in the 60 Meter Dash.

Quinton Williams of St. Laurence ran 7.09 in the prelims of the 60 Meter Dash. His teammate Monroe Thompson Jr. ran 7.12 in the heats. Jayden McCallum of East St. Louis-Senior ran 7.28 in the prelims of the Freshman 60 Meter Dash finishing 11th just missing the finals.

Dedrick Richardson of Lincoln- Way East just missed the finals of the Long Jump. He did jump 23-0 (IL #4) to finish ninth overall. Parish Hartley Jr. of Kenwood jumped 22-5 in the preliminary round of the Long Jump. Isaiah Little of St. Laurence competed in the Freshman Long Jump where he jumped 18-11.25 to place 23rd.

Samuel Elliott-Barnes of Alton High School ran for his club team in the 400 Meter Dash. Elliott-Barnes ran 49.67 to finish second in Heat #21 of 24.

At Nike Indoor Nationals

Benjamin Gibson of Latin School ran 4:35.36 in the Emerging Elite 1 Mile Run placing 46th overall.

Kaden Garland of Oak Park-River Forest had a put of 58-2.5 to finish 11 in the Boys Championship Shot Put. He traveled to Boston to compete in the Shot Put at New Balance. Garland bettered his New York performance with a 58-10.75 put to finish seventh overall.

Addison Stadsholt of Athens competed in both weight events at the Armory. Stadsholt had a personal best of 49-6.5 to finish ninth in the Weight Throw. She also had a 38-0.75 put to finish 18th in the Girls Championship Shot Put. Stadsholt also competed in the Girls Championship Weight events at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. She threw 47-10 to finish 10th in the Weight Throw. The junior with a 38-7 best to finish 21st in the Championship Shot Put.