By Michael Newman

Who is out there during the 2017 season that will replace Jon Davis?

The fact is I doubt we will see a high school runner that had control in a race like the now University of Illinois student / athlete was. 10 all-state medals including nine state titles in his career is hard to beat. The 3200 that he ran in his training flats will be a race that fans will be talking about for years to come.

There is a good group of runners coming back. We will see three new state champions. There was no mystery what would happen in two of the events last year. This year it will interesting to see how it plays out over the next few months.

3200 Meter Run

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – Logan Hall (Arthur-Lovington, junior) enters the 2017 season with the fastest returning 1A time (9:34.93) as well as the highest placing returnee as he finished second. With 1A State cross-country champion Brayden Hamblen competing in 2A this spring, all eyes could be on Wyatt McIntyre (Athens, junior) who finished fifth in this event last spring. McIntyre has perhaps showed the most improvement over the past year. He ran 14:27 to finish second at Detweiller Park last November. He followed that up by finishing 15h at the NXR Midwest Regional and then 21^st at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional. It looks like McIntyre is taking the next step up heading into this season. He should with Hall close behind him.

Cory Miller (Mendon Unity, senior) and Eli Ten Eyck (Pittsfield, junior) are the only other all-state runners coming back. Tanner Chada (Hinckley-Big Rock, senior) is fully recovered from an injury that slowed him down the past year. He looked fully recovered during the cross-country season as he finished fourth at Detweiller. I would keep an eye on him this spring. Andy Layden (El Paso-Gridley, senior) and Michael Sisko (Harvest Christian Academy, senior) would be other runners that could be towards the front this spring.

800 Meter Run

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – Dwight’s Michael Bennett was not on anyone’s radar at the beginning of last year. By the time the state meet was over, Bennett was the talk of the town winning the 800 and helping his team to all-state finishes in the 3200 and 1600 relays. There will be a new state champion since Bennett has graduated. Joseph Stone (Newton, senior) enters this season with the fastest returning time (1:55.92) that he ran when he finished second at Charleston last May. The one runner that could challenge Stone is Jason Landon (Carlinville, junior) who ran 1:57.64 at his county meet last year. Landon did qualify for the state meet. He was sick on the day of prelims and failed to make it to the finals. I think it could different for him when we get to May.

Ryan Skowronski (Shelbyville, junior) is another runner to watch. He anchored Shelbyville’s 3200 Meter Relay team that finished second in the state finals. With the schedule being sped up because of the “possibility of thunderstorms”, Skowronski finished 11^th in the 800 finals. If we have more of a “normal” schedule and he is still on their 3200 relay quartet, I think he could be a runner that will challenge for the state title.

Chase Sarver (Byron, senior) and Jason Yaccino (Westminster Christian, senior) both earned spots on the podium as all-state runners and return with a chance to get into the top five. Joey Wright (Robinson, senior) and Cole Westmorland (Seneca, senior) are among some of the other runners that we could see up towards the front.

1600 Meter Run

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – Possibilities run wild in this event especially with Jon Davis and Cory Landon graduated. Three all-state runners are back in this event. Logan Hall and Cory Miller came back from the 3200 Meter Run to finish fifth and ninth. A runner to keep an eye on is Riley Wells (Rockford Christian, sophomore) who finished sixth in the finals after leading his team to the win in the 3200 Meter Relay. Wells earned a personal best of 4:26.50 in the prelims at state of this event. He finished eight at Detweiller Park last fall. That confidence should lead him to big things this track season.

Another runner that should have confidence heading towards the next few months is Justin Phillips (St. Joseph-Ogden, senior) who returns with the fastest 1600 1A time (4:26.24). He did not have his best race at the 1A prelims failing to qualifying for the finals. He did have a good cross country season finishing fifth in the 1A race at state. We could see some big things from him this season. Let’s not forget about Wyatt McIntyre. He only ran 4:31.16 last spring but he has improved and gotten stronger. He did double last May. I suspect he will again. Jonah Coyle (Peoria Christian, sophomore), Jacob Bryan (Illini West, junior), and Chris Ahlers (Sterling Newman, senior) would be other runners to keep an eye on.

3200 Meter Relay

Outlook – It is hard to project almost five months away from the state meet. Here is what we think at this point. Defending champion Rockford Christian ran a great 7:54.78 to win the 1A championship last year. They have a good nucleus returning led by Riley Wells and Josiah Vogel. Shelbyville, who finished second less than a second behind Rockford Christian, does have three back from their 3200-team led by Ryan Skowronski as their anchor. If they can find a strong final runner for their quartet, the Rams could be tough to beat.

Byron is also a team to watch returning three led by Chase Sarver. A team to watch this spring could be Illini West. They missed the awards podium finishing 11^th in the finals. They do return their finals quartet that could put them into position to finish in the top five. Other schools that I would watch during the year include Robinson, Arcola, Elmwood, St. Thomas More, and North Shore Country Day.