By Michael Newman

The cupboard is not totally bare but it does seem like it in the 2A Boys Sprint events heading into this season. Most of the top sprint athletes from last year have graduated.

There are two athletes that could step into the spotlight. Mitch West (Montini Catholic, senior) is one of the top returning sprint stars that medaled last year at state in the 100 and 200 Meter Dashes. The other athlete could be Tyler Higgins (Highland, senior). He was the 400 Meter champion as a sophomore. Last year did not go as he wanted to as he qualified for the state meet in three events but failed to get out of the prelims. He announced that he will be attending the United States Military Academy at West Point this fall. Before he heads off to the next step of his life, he has some unfinished business on the Big Blue Oval at Eastern Illinois University.

The hurdle events are the exact opposite of the sprints. Deion McShane (Freeport, junior) is the head of the class in these two barrier events as the defending champion in both. Bret Dannis (St. Bede, junior) win the 1A title in both hurdle events and could be McShane’s chief competition. There are a number of other good athletes coming back making this year a challenging one for the Freeport junior.

100 Meter Dash

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – Only three of last year’s finalists are back from last year led by Mitch West’s third place finish. The signee to the United States Naval Academy has the fastest returning time at this distance (10.70) but looks to be the runner to watch in this event. Israel Adeoli (Plano, senior) finished seventh in last year’s finals and could be one of West’s chief competitors. Najee Syvester (Hillcrest, senior) finished ninth but ran 10.91 in the state prelims.

Tyler Higgins returns with the second fastest time (10.81). He has qualified for state in this event the past two years but has failed to advance out of the prelims. He is hoping that the third time is the charm in 2017. Ryan Thompson (Mundelein Carmel, senior) and Tristan Blair (Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, senior) are among two of many that have hopes of finishing among the top five fastest.

200 Meter Dash

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – This event is wide open with Mitch West the only state finalist back. West ran a seasonal best 22.09 qualifying for state at the Glenbard South Sectional. He finished fifth in the state finals. Tyler Higgins could be one of his chief competitors after running 21.97 during the season. Najee Syvester ran 22.19 in winning his sectional race at Thornridge and could also be in the mix up front.

Tristan Blair ran 22.45 this summer at a USATF Meet and could push for a top three finish. Trayvon Ross (Dunbar, senior) has the fastest returning time in 2A (21.95) that he ran at the St. Rita Sectional. His next fastest time was at the Chicago City Championships when he ran 22.59 to finish seventh in the finals.

400 Meter Dash

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – It was a surreal season for Tyler Higgins who won the state championship at this distance as a sophomore in 2015. He did make it to state finishing 20h in the prelims. He ran under 50 seconds three times during the year including the top returning time 49.09 run at the Collinsville Invitational at the beginning of May.

Dearis Herron (Lanphier, senior) finished third at the state finals and has the highest place among the three other state finals returning runners. Herron ran 49.53 in the state prelims and could be Higgins chief competition. Chris Ferguson-Scott (Mascoutah, senior), Zach Weaver (Reed-Custer, senior), and VanHarvey Vance (Rich Central, junior) were all-state last year. All have the talent to get to the top of the podium in 2017. Chris Stanley (Cahokia, senior) ran 49.82 during the year and could finish among the top three if he runs this event. Alex Cutler (Mt. Zion, senior) is the only other returnee under 50 seconds. He could be also another runner to keep an eye on.

110 Meter Hurdles

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – Two state champions lead this deep event. Deion McShane won the 2A title last year running 14.45. Bret Dannis ran 14.25 to easily win the 1A title. The two athletes could push each other to a time well under 14 seconds by the time we get to the state meet. It should be one of the must-see events at the state meet.

Three other finalists are back from last year’s state race led by the third-place finish by Steven Migut (Tolono Unity, junior). I would not count out Solomon Wilson-Walls (Tinley Park, junior) and Andrew Plischke (Geneseo, senior) who could also push their way into the first three places at state. Reed Vanderheyden (Geneseo, junior), Stephon King (Manual Academy, senior), and Keondre Wells (Cahokia, senior) are two other athletes that could make a difference in this event.

300 Meter Hurdles

Top 25 Returnees

Outlook – Both Bret Dannis and Deion McShane won the state title in each of their classifications last year. Dannis has the third fastest time (38.89) of all the returnees. McShane is the one to watch as he is better in the longer distance hurdle race. His best time of the year (37.04) at the Northern Illinois Invitational gets him closer to the IHSA State Meet Record. We could see him running under 37 seconds this season.

The one athlete, besides Dannis, that will push McShane this spring is Reed Vanderheyden. His best time of the season (37.86) was run as he finished second at state just 68 hundredths behind McShane. Steven Migut, Stephon King, and Andrew Plischke all made the finals last year and will be fighting for one of the top three spots. Keondre Wells ran 39.04 at the Great Southwest Classic a week after the state meet and should be a threat in this event.

Relays

Cahokia showed that they were on top of the sprint relays. They won two of the three with only Morgan Park stopping them in the 800 Meter Relay. It could be the same story again for the Comanche as they return three of their four from the 400 Meter Relay. Brandon Roberson, Keondre Wells, and Marquis Murray give Cahokia a strong core in both the 400 and 800 relays.

The one team to keep an eye on is Montini Catholic. They made it to the finals of the 400 Relay but were disqualified because of a bad exchange. They also made the finals of the 800 Relay where they finished ninth. All their quartet are back led by Mitch West. They could be looking for a double state championship in each of these relays. They ran seasonal bests of 42.34 and 1:28.96 in the state prelims.

Cahokia has won the 1600 Meter Relay five out of the last three years and the past three years in a row. They will look for their fourth in a row led by Chris Stanley. Geneseo could be their chief rival in this relay as they return their entire quartet that finished fourth in 2016.