By Michael Newman

The athlete that stepped into the 1A spotlight for the sprints for the 2016 season was Kahlil Wassell of New Berlin. Last year as a junior, he picked up four all-state honors including anchoring his team’s 400 Meter Relay to a state championship and winning the 400 Meter Dash. He will be the one to watch this track season but will have company close to him.

It starts with Jordan Rowell of IC Catholic Prep who finished second in the 400 Meter Dash and sixth in the 200 Meter Dash. Blake Reifsteck of Bismarck-Henning High School surprised some last spring when he placed high in both the 100 and the 200. He won’t be a surprise when he is towards the front at O’Brien Stadium at the end of May.

The hurdle events will not have Bret Dannis defending his state championships. The now junior will be competing in the 2A classification for the 2017 season as Peru St. Bede will be competing there because of the IHSA “Success Factor”.

100 Meter Dash

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – This race at state will be extremely tight. Seven all-state athletes return led by second place finisher Kahlil Wassell. Diondre Lewis (Warrensburg-Latham, junior) has the fastest returning time (10.75) but finished fifth in the state finals. Blake Reifsteck finished third just behind Wassell last year and could be the one sprinter to overtake Wassell.

Like I said, this event will be extremely tight and it shows with seventh athletes back that all ran under 11 seconds. Jordan Rowell finished third in this event as a sophomore. He just missed qualifying for the finals by one spot last May. I am sure he will be determined to end his prep track career with a win. Jason Duncan (St. Teresa, senior), Ariez Andrew (Kankakee McNamara, senior), Jaylon Bester (Belleville Althoff Catholic, senior), and Easton Bianchi (Sterling Newman, junior) are other runners that you also keep an eye on.

200 Meter Dash

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – You will see the same names from the 100 Meter Dash in front in this event. I think there will be more of an emphasis watching Jordan Rowell and Kahlil Wassell in front of the rest of the pack. Wassell is the top returnee from last year finishing second. Rowell has finished sixth in this event for the past two years. Rowell has the fastest returning time (21.88) with Wassell’s 2016 seasonal best only eight hundredths back.

Six all-state athletes are back including Blake Reifsteck, Jason Bargy (Momence, sophomore), Ariez Andrew, and Easton Bianchi along with Wassell and Rowell. Diondre Lewis and Xavier Ross (Timothy Christian, junior) are two other athletes that could step into the limelight in this event.

400 Meter Dash

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – This could be one of the must-see events in the 1A competition this May in Charleston. This event could also be the best distance for Kahlil Wassell and Jordan Rowell. The two were only separated by 15 hundredths of a second in last year’s final and return with the fastest two times. Both could push each other to a time in the low 48’s this season.

Ben Friesen (Chicago Christian, senior), Diondre Lewis, and Caleb Logan (Pinckneyville, senior) earned all-state honors last year at state as well as running under 50 seconds during sometime during the season. They could be some of the athletes pushing Wassell and Rowell. Dillon Howard (Toledo Cumberland, senior) and Zach Vancil (West Central, senior) are some of the other runners that could move into the top three by the time we get to Charleston.

110 Meter Hurdles

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – The dominance that Bret Dannis showed in last year’s finals was impressive winning by a half a second. With Peru St. Bede now in 2A for the 2017 season, we will not see Dannis in this classification. It does open a door for a new champion. There are only two all-state runners coming back. Trey Miller (Lewistown, junior) finished second in the finals last May and will be one of the runners that we will watch for. Curtis Gordon (Vandalia, senior) is better known on the Pole Vault runway. He is also strong in this event finishing third just 17 hundredths of a second behind Miller at state. The two should be the athletes to watch for up front.

There is a quarter of a second gap between Miller and Gordon and the rest of the pack. Mitchell Stevenson (Altamont, junior) and Turner Pullen (Shelbyville, junior) lead the pack and could challenge for the third spot. A.J. Christensen (Polo, junior) is another athlete that could surprise in the front.

300 Meter Hurdles

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – With defending champion Brett Dannis now in 2A, four all-state returnees lead the way in this longer hurdle event. Three of those athletes ran under 40 seconds. Hayden Golemon (Elmwood-Brimfield, senior) finished fourth last year and is the leading place returnee. Judd Anderson (Farmington, junior) finished sixth in the finals but does have the fastest returning time (39.80) that he ran in his sectional race. Connor Artman (Illini West, junior) and Mason Barr (Lexington, sophomore) were all-state last year but will be looking for the top spot in 2017. A.J. Christensen, Xavier Ross, and Riley Baker (St. Joseph-Ogden, junior) are some of the other athletes to watch for.

Relays

Defending champion in the 400 Meter Relay New Berlin only has Kahlil Wassell returning from that quartet. It could be IC Catholic Prep as the team to watch as they have Jordan Rowell anchoring with three of their quartet back. Illini West has three back and will be in the mix. Bismarck Henning returns their entire quartet led by all-state sprinter Blake Reifsteck and could be the team to watch. They could also be the favorite in the 800 Meter Relay with Reifsteck leading the way.

There is no clear-cut favorite in the 1600 Meter Relay with the state finalists from last year losing the bulk of their runners. State champion Rockridge has two back from the team that edged St. Joseph-Ogden by 12 hundredths of a second. Shelbyville and Macon Meridian are two other teams to keep your radar on as this season progresses.