Hart sets two meet records in monumental races; Moore sets 60 Meter Dash meet record; Crete-Monee Boys, Homewood-Flossmoor Girls statement makers; Inspirational finish in Girls 3200 Meter Relay

Photo Credit - Laura Duffy

 

By Michael Newman

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Bloomington, Ill – One of the goals that Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West had this season was to go under 2:13 in the 800 Meter Run. It was only the few things that had stopped her.

“I wanted to get under 2:13,” Hart said after she ran 2:13 (again) in the Proviso West Girls Invitational on March 2. “I have been stuck on that time ever since eighth-grade.”

Hart was ready to climb over that barrier in the 800 Meter Run at the Illinois Top Times Championship inside the Shirk Center at Illinois Wesleyan University. Hart left the Shirk Center with two meet records run in typical Hart fashion.

MEET RESULTS | VIDEOS | PHOTOS | 2A RECAP | 1A RECAP

Most people that traveled to this meet were coming to watch the 3A Girls 800 Meter Run. It was THE race of the meet pitting five of the top six 3A runners in the state at that distance. There were possibilities of how fast this race would go? Would someone finish ahead of the Glenbard junior? It was something that had not happened in an Illinois High School race since she finished third in her first High School competition. Madison Marasco’s one-year old meet record of 2:11.44 was going to fall in this race, but by how much. There was too much talent in this field for it not to happen. Plus, the fact that we had an idea that Hart could go close to that record after she ran a 2:11.4 split in the 3200 Meter Relay last week in her conference meet.

The 12-runner field waited on their starting lines for the starter’s instructions. Some were jumping, stretching wishing the other competitors good luck. Hart just stood there with her focus on the first curve.

It was a telling sign of what was about to happen in this race.

Hart took off from the start. By the time she broke from her alley 150-meters into the race, she had a clear lead with Marne Sullivan of New Trier right behind at 32.6 seconds.

It was strange as Hart and Sullivan broke away from the pack just before 400-meters. None of the other runners were in the hunt of the battle. Only Sullivan was willing to stick with the seven-time state champion. The two went by 400-meters at 64.9 seconds. The rest of the pack was slowly falling back at 67.3 seconds. Maybe the pack thought that Hart would come back. That had not happened before.

Erin Reidy of Downers Grove South made a charge down the back stretch of the third lap hoping she could close the gap. Hart and Sullivan passed 600-meters in 1:37.5. Reidy led the pack at 1:41.1. It was a move made too late as she started to fade on the final lap. Meanwhile, Sullivan was still close to Hart with 150-meters left in the race. Hart started to push more while Sullivan began to over stride with her arms raising higher. Hart continued to push around the final curve.

She looked effortless down the home straightaway as she crossed the line in 2:10.63. She smiled briefly and clapped her hands. That barrier for her finally went down.

Sullivan ran great running an indoor best of 2:12.75 to finish second. Reidy was three seconds behind Sullivan, five seconds behind Hart running 2:15.83 for third while Claire Hill of Naperville North finished fourth (2:16.91). The surprise of the race was the fifth-place finish from Kaylie Politza of Lemont. The freshman ran a lifetime best of 2:17.69.

It is not hard to explain how Hart races. If you let her take the lead, it is extremely hard to pass her. She has so much passion in her racing to let that happen at the end of a race.

Compare the races and the lead splits that Reidy and Hill ran from the North Central College Girls Meet almost a month ago and this Illinois Top Times race with Hart’s splits:

ITT – 32.6 / 64.9 / 1:37.5 / 2:10.6

NCC – 31.9 / 64.8 / 1:37.6 / 2:11.4

It is hard to explain. Maybe it was the aura that surrounds Hart that she is unbeatable that had an effect on most of the field. Hart prepares for every race not to lose and knows that nothing is given to her. In this instance, perhaps Hart had the race won before she stepped to the line.

“I knew the 800 field was going to have some amazing runners in it. I was just excited to get to run a fast time,” Hart said. “I was not sure what I wanted my strategy to be in this race. I just wanted to see what the field did. It felt a little slow at 150-meters, so I decided to take the lead. It was just like the Foot Locker race. Once I decided to go, I went after it.”

The double that Hart had in this meet was remarkable considering she had only one hour to get ready for the 1600 Meter Run after that 800 race. There was a top-flight field in this event but again Hart is in a class of her own in this state especially at this distance.

In this race, the field knew to run their own pace. Hart had a 14 second personal best advantage over the rest of the competition. The Glenbard runner opened her pace up early running 69.4 seconds in the opening 400 and 2:21.9 at 800-meters. Campbell Petersen of Naperville North and Katherine Olsen of DeKalb led the pack through at 2:28.2. It was a pace that was under five-minutes, but with Hart in the race, it seemed like light years away.

The pace slowed down a little for Hart as she ran 73.2 to cross 1200-meters in 3:35.1. The lead had grown to over nine seconds. She won her second race of the day smashing the meet record by five seconds as she crossed the line in 4:48.06.

The next four runners crossed the line all with indoor bests and all under five minutes. Petersen looked strong crossing the line in 4:57.90 for second overall. Olsen followed with a 4:58.68 third-place finish. Grant Community’s Aly Negovetich went under the magical five-minute mark for the first time as she ran 4:58.88 to finish fourth. Isabelle Christiansen of Oswego set a school record and went under five for the first time indoors as she ran 4:59.10 to finish fifth.

KK came back to help her team in the 1600 Meter Relay. Her 60.5 split on the anchor leg brought her team to third-place in the section, sixth-place overall running 4:09.68.

“My legs felt pretty good heading into the 1600. It was just getting my breathing under control that is always a concern,” Hart added. “Again, I just felt the pace for the first 800 and then tried to hold on for the final four laps.”

It is all about the championships for Marcellus Moore

The same aura that surrounds Katelynne Hart could have the same effect on Plainfield North’s Marcellus Moore. The junior has been in the spotlight since his freshman year of high school running. He jumped over that spotlight last May when he set a new Illinois State record in the 100 Meter Dash along with three other wins to help his team finish third in the 3A State Meet.

Moore looked a little tired and why not. He has received great race experience in Iceland, Kentucky, and New York where he earned two All-American honors. He also has been on college trips where he is in the process of deciding where his future college will be. Moore is a pretty good football player also. That may be also an understatement.

This meet was about getting championships. This meet was giving himself a chance to run with his friends/teammates in the 800 Meter Relay.

The junior was on cruise control in the preliminary heats of the 60 Meter Dash. He won the first heat in 6.89 winning by over two tenths of a second. He also established the fastest preliminary time heading to the finals with Crete-Monee’s Jamal Safo the closest athlete to him (6.94).

Moore’s drive out of the blocks gave him the advantage again in the finals. He was on the way to the win and a new meet record of 6.73 breaking Jonathan Boey’s record of 6.79. Safo finished second with a personal best of 6.91 while Adam Wiatr of Lake Park (6.97) and Jermarrion Stewart of Collinsville (6.98) were both under seven seconds.

Moore led off with a great opening leg in the 800 Meter Relay to give Plainfield North the lead in the final section of the event. Crete-Monee pulled away with a record setting performance in winning the event. Plainfield North finished third with their best time of the season at 1:31.65.

It was almost a given that Moore would win the 200 Meter Dash. He had won this event the last two years. He also had the fastest seed time by more than a second. By the time the final section field had reached the final curve, Moore had a lead that he would not give up. His time of 21.79 won his section by almost a second. Jermarrion Stewart ran 22.69 to win Section 2 and finish second overall. More importantly, it was the third meet championship in this meet for the Plainfield junior.

It will be exciting to see what is next for Moore. The track at O’Brien Field in Charleston will get a workout form his spikes at the end of May.

Crete-Monee bounds out of the woods into state title contention

Most attention has been on Homewood-Flossmoor as the 3A Boys State Meet favorite this indoor season. The Vikings chose to not compete in this meet instead spending their spring break competing in a meet in California.

It gave the opportunity for Crete-Monee to step into the spotlight. They did in a big way setting a new meet record in an individual event along with smashing meet records in two relays in the 3A Meet Saturday afternoon.

Victor Cameron caught the attention of most Illinois track fans this indoor season running 7.94 at Homewood-Flossmoor at the beginning of the month. Cameron was focused on a fast time and it showed in the prelims as he ran 7.95 to run the fastest time in the 60 Meter Hurdles preliminary heats. JT Lowder of Oak Park-River Forest, the only Illinois runner to defeat Cameron in a hurdle race this indoor season at Proviso West, was next fastest running 8.08 to win his preliminary heat.

The finals race between Cameron and Lowder was magical. The record of 7.89 was sure to fall.

Both runners got out of the blocks strong and were even through the first two hurdles before Cameron gained the advantage at the third hurdle. Cameron crossed the line in 7.82 (US #8) with the state’s fastest time. Lowder also dipped under eight seconds for the first time in his career as he ran 7.97 (US #16). Robert Williams of Springfield (8.27) edged Plainfield North’s Kyle Burke (8.28) for third by just one hundredths of a second.

“I was a little anxious about this race. We missed last year’s meet because of the snow storm,” Cameron said after his record run. “I have been working on my starts coming out of the blocks. I just have to work on my speed between hurdles.”

Cameron displayed his speed as Crete-Monee’s anchor in their 800 Meter Relay. Plainfield North had the advantage with a strong opening leg from Marcellus Moore ahead of Crete’s Jamal Safo. Ricky Johnson caught Plainfield North’s Nick Capezio on the far curve. The race for the win was pretty much over as Kavon Jones extended their lead on the third leg. All to decide was whether Crete-Monee would get the record. That happened as Cameron made the lead even bigger. The Warriors set the new meet record crossing the line in 1:29.13. Bloom Township finished second (1:31.53) passing Plainfield North (1:31.65) in the final 200-meters of the race.

They had one more record to break in this meet. It happened in the 1600 Meter Relay as Crete-Monee opened up a huge lead in the final race of the evening. It looked like a lock for the Warriors as Safo got the baton. Grant Community made the charge in the final 400-meters of the relay as they had state champion Jason Thormo, who had earlier won the 400 Meter Dash, as their anchor. Thormo dropped a 48.1 anchor leg and closed on Crete-Monee. Safo held off Thormo as they won by less than a second (3:21.06) ahead of Grant (3:21.79).

Crete-Monee also showed their strength in the Long Jump as they captured the first three places. Safo led the way with a 23-1 jump in the second round to secure the win. Raejohn Pearson nailed a 22-6.75 jump in the first round to grab the event lead. He ended up finishing second. Kavon Jones started out slowly with a 19-10.25 jump in the first round and then fouling on four of his next five jumps. His only other legal jump came in the fifth round when he popped a 22-4 jump to finish third overall.

Crete-Monee does have the power points to emerge as a favorite when they get to the state meet in May. Keeping healthy and getting their key contributors to state may be one of the reasons why they could contend for a state title.

No surprises from Homewood-Flossmoor’s Girls team; just consistent power

Homewood-Flossmoor figured to dominate the 3A Girls Sprints, relays, and field events. The Lady Vikings have been doing that all of the 2019 season. Before they head to the Arcadia Invitational in two weeks, this team had a commanding performance in the Shirk Center.

They started out the meet with scoring places in three of the five field events including a win in a high-powered Long Jump. Madison Myrick took the lead for good in the Long Jump as she jumped 19-1.75 in the fifth round. She had to await the sixth-round where Glenbrook South’s Raelyn Robinson jumped 19-1.50 getting close to the win by one quarter of an inch. Myrick also cleared 5-4 to finish sixth in the High Jump.

Trinity Daniels found success in the Triple Jump as she went 38-6.75 to finish third overall.

Then to the track where the Lady Vikings are the strongest.

Kaylah McCall let out a scream of joy after finishing her preliminary heat in the 60 Meter Hurdles. McCall ran a new 3A Meet record of 8.50 shattering the old meet record by more than a tenth of a second. Teammate Jasmyn Hunter ran 9.07 in the first heat to also qualify for the finals. McCall bettered that record in the finals running 8.47 for the championship holding off Bolingbrook’s Kayla Walters by eight hundredths of a second (8.55). Hunter improved her preliminary time by one hundredth of a second running 9.06 to finish fourth just behind Palatine’s Erin Oleksak (8.94).

The 60 Meter Dash had three Homewood-Flossmoor athletes make the finals as Kayla McCall ran 7.69, Trelyn Newkirk ran 7.81, and Ashanti Denton ran 7.82 to get to the next race. McCall back from her record setting performance in the hurdles to finish fourth in the finals (7.73) followed by Denton (7^th, 7.90) and Newkirk (8^th, 7.94).

The Lady Vikings were in command in the 400 Meter Dash as they placed three runners in the top four with their fourth runner in the event finishing eighth. In the final section, Ashanti Denton had the lead over Lincoln-Way East’s Taylor Wright at the break line. Denton held that lead over the next lap. Wright tried to make a move ahead of Denton, but the HF junior slightly moved to the outside of Lane 1 to hold her off. Denton won the title (57.95) with Wright finishing second with a strong 58.16 time. Amaiya Barnes finished third overall (59.16) winning the third section. Alexandria Edison finished behind Denton and Wright to finish fourth overall (59.70). Ayah Mustafa finished second in the third section and eighth overall (1:00.11).

Homewood-Flossmoor put three runners in the top eight led by Akela White’s fourth-place finish (25.40).

Their strength in the two sprint relays showed in a big way. Homewood-Flossmoor watched as Kenwood Academy ran the time to beat (1:43.62) in winning the third section. The Lady Vikings were even with Bloom Township half way through the final section. A great exchange between Alicia Adams and Newkirk was the difference as their team pulled away from the rest of the field. White needed to be under 1:43 to secure the win and she achieved that. Their time of 1:42.64 gave them an almost one second win ahead of Kenwood.

It was Homewood-Flossmoor against the clock in the 1600 Meter Relay as they had the top seedtime by close to eight seconds. Having four runners in the top eight in the open 400 is always a reason for that statement.

There was never no doubt in this final girls race of the meet. The team of Barnes, Denton, Edison, and Mustafa took home the win (3:59.09) ahead of Kenwood who won the first section (4:06.55) who was ahead of Machesney Park Harlem (4:07.01) in that race.

Homewood-Flossmoor has finished second in the IHSA State Meet the past few years. There is a chip on the shoulders of these athletes. There is also the depth that could capture a state title.

An Inspirational Girls 3200 Meter Relay

If you have not heard of Downers Grove South’s Brenna Cohoon, she has been an accomplished distance runner for the Lady Mustangs for the past two plus years. The junior earned all-state honors by finishing seventh last May in the 3200 Meter Run. She has earned all-state honors twice finishing 19^th as a sophomore and seventh in last November’s state race. However, Cohoon had never been in a race like she was in the 3200 Meter Relay Saturday afternoon.

She did not run in her conference meet the week before as she was rested for this meet with a slight injury. She felt good ready for this meet testing her leg early in the week. She was also told that she would be needed to run in the 3200 Meter Relay as their normal anchor runner Erin Reidy would be running in two events. Cohoon, known as a team first runner, accepted the challenge. She would have only 22 to 25 minutes to rest after the 3200 Meter Run and before the start of the relay.

The junior just missed her indoor personal best as she ran 10:52.42. She looked exhausted after the race, but she knew what she had to do next.

20 minutes later, Downers Grove South’s quartet of Olivia Duax, Becky Versaskas, Rebecca Diddia, and Cohoon came out of the staging area approaching the starting line. The Lady Mustangs had the top time in the state after winning the Mustang Relays at North Central College on March 4.

Plainfield North had the early advantage on the first leg as Juliana Stogsdill gave her team the lead with a 2:19.2 opening leg. South’s Duax moved up to third as she ran 2:22.8.

The second leg turned into a five-team affair as Downers Grove South, Evanston Township, Prospect, and Yorkville caught Plainfield North. Versaskas grabbed the lead with 250-meters left and gave her team the lead ahead of Evanston and Prospect lurking. Versaskas’ split was 2:21.5.

Prospect took the lead in the middle of the third leg with a strong push by Audrey Ginsberg. South’s Diddia kept her team close as she handed the baton to Cohoon. Diddia had the best split of the team at 2:21.2.

Prospect and Downers Grove South were a clear 1-2. Evanston and Yorkville were fighting for third but closing the gap on the first two teams. Lia Skoufos opened the lead for Prospect as Cohoon tried to keep her team close. Cohoon was 10-meters back but had company as Evanston Township’s Abigail Osterlund and Yorkville’s Margaret Hunter passed Cohoon at the bell lap. Prospect had what it looked like an insurmountable lead. Cohoon’s double was showing in her legs entering the final 200-meters.

There is a passage that is recited in the movie Chariots of Fire:

“And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within.”

Cohoon dug deep looking any energy that would power her to the finish. Osterlund was closing the gap on Skoufos wanting the lead. Cohoon would not let Greyer pass her back.

Osterlund took the lead exiting the curve. At the same time, both Cohoon and Hunter moved to Lane 3 to also pass. Cohoon found one more kick in her as she took the lead with 20-meters left and crossed the line with a smile giving her team the win.

The first three teams were within a second of each other as Downers South got the win (9:28.06) just ahead of Yorkville (9:28.40) and Prospect (9:28.73). Evanston Township ran 9:29.45 to finish fourth.

Cohoon’s anchor split was a well earned 2:22.1 Her teammates hugged her right afterwards not believing what had just happened.

“My legs felt dead entering that final lap,” Cohoon said. “I just had to do that for my teammates.”

3A DISTANCE EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Lincoln-Way Central’s Jared Kries did not know what to expect heading into Saturday’s Boys 3200 Meter Run race. He had missed Batavia Distance Madness due to the flu-bug that was going around. He sat back for the first four laps of the race as Maine South’s Tommy Brady, Huntley’s Ian Geisler, and Morton’s Guillermo Ibarra leading the field through the first 400-meters. Kries took the lead at 800-meters. He never gave it back.

Kries pushed the pace the next four laps hitting 69 and 70 second 400’s passing 1600-meters in 4:34.2. He came back with another 69 second lap opening up a two second lead on Brady and Ibarra at 5:43 seconds into the race.

That was the final move he needed. Brady and Ibarra made a charge in the final 400-meters as Kries looked around to see them coming. He closed in a final 67 second 400-meters to capture the win (9:10.59) just finishing ahead of Ibarra (9:11.74) and Brady (9:12.11).

Most of the same field that was in the Girls 3200 Meter Run at Batavia Distance Madness toed the line in this race. Alex Morris of Naperville North in that race pushed the pace but could not shake the pack as Emma Watcke of Hinsdale Central kicked in the final two laps to take the win.

Morris learned from that race and it showed in this race’s strategy. Morris took the lead at the start just like she did two weeks before. She took Whitney Young’s Ella Behrens and Watcke with her as the three runners passed the first 1600-meters in a swift 5:14.3.

Instead of letting the pace drop to 82 and 83 seconds in the next 800-meters, Morris ran two straight 80 second 400’s to open up her lead to five seconds on Watcke as Behrens tried to hold on. Morris lost her on the next lap, and she was on her own. The senior, bound for the University of North Carolina this fall, finished in 77 seconds to win the race in a personal best of 10:31.18.

The big story of the race was the strategy that Argo’s Abby Lopez used. The junior stayed off the pace and started near the back for the first three laps of the race. She then started to move picking off runners every lap gaining momentum with every stride. Lopez finished second (10:42.41) holding off Yorkville’s Kailey Fox who ran 10:44.56 to finish third. Behrens dropped to fourth (10:50.12) just ahead of Watcke (10:51.84) and Cohoon (10:52.42).

Andrew O’Keefe of Granite City learned from last year’s state race at 1600-meters that he could compete with anyone. He had a setback in the fall as he suffered from iron deficiencies and low ferritin levels which caused him not to qualify for the state cross country meet.

He is healthy now which showed in the Boys 1600 Meter Race. He never gave up the lead from the start pushing the first 400-meters in 62.1 seconds and slowing to 2:10.3 at the half way point. Whitney Young’s Sam Rivera and Jacobs’ Zach Albrecht stayed close. O’Keefe pushed the pace to 66 seconds in the third 400, Rivera was holding on but not for long. As the clock ticked 3:16, O’Keefe made a substantial surge almost into an all-out kick. No one had a response to that move. His final 400-meters was under 59 seconds as he finished with an indoor personal best of 4:14.77 to repeat as the 3A Meet champion. Rivera finished second (4:17.69) with Antioch’s Charlie Smith moving up to third (4:19.66) ahead of Albrecht (4:20.16).

Grant Jensen has been in enough big races in his high school career. He still gets nervous, but he is good at executing a race plan. In last year’s 800 Meter race where he finished second, Jensen pushed the pace only to be passed Phillip Hall for the win. In this year’s race, it was Jensen that did the passing. He passed Huntley’s Chris Simek and Jadon Conroy in the final 100-meters to capture the title (1:58.38) ahead of Simek (1:58.93) and Conroy (1:58.97).

It seemed to be a “watered-down” field in the Boys 3200 Meter Relay as the top eight time-list teams did not compete. Huntley, who ran 7:59 the week before in their conference meet, did not compete opting to put their runners in open events. DeKalb took advantage of this opportunity. Emmanuel Yepiz ran a string anchor leg passing Lane Tech’s Julian Higueros to give DeKalb the win (8:04.45) finishing ahead of Lane Tech (8:06.82) and Evanston Township (8:08.80). West Aurora, who was the top seed entering the meet, ran 8:09.13 to finish fourth.

3A SPRINT/HURDLE HIGHLIGHTS

Grant Community’s Jason Thormo is looking for big things this season after winning the state title in the 400 Meter Dash last May. Thormo was looking for an indoor time under 49 seconds in this race. He went out in 24.3 for the first 200-meters of the final section of the event. Thormo just missed going under 50-seconds as he ran 50.02 for the win with Brian Ferguson of Marist (50.87) and Tyler Gonzalez of Vernon Hills (51.101) finishing second and third.

One of the highlights of the meet came in the Girls 60 Meter Dash. Ameia Wilson of Danville came into the meet as the favorite. Highland Park’s Taylor Gilling had different plans. The senior was the surprise of last year’s state meet earning all-state honors in the 100 Meter Dash and 200 Meter Dash. It looks like she has taken her sprinting to another level.

 

Gilling had the top prelim time in the field when she ran a personal best of 7.65. Kaylah McCall (7.69) and Wilson (7.74) were the next closest. The finals were the same story. Gilling got out even with the two athletes but exploded away half way through the race. She was a mix of emotions after she found out that she ran 7.53 to win the title. The margin was even more fascinating as Wilson was next at 7.69 followed by Lyn’Nikka Vance of Crete-Monee (7.72).

 

The Girls 200 Meter Dash was another showdown between Wilson and Gilling. They were the class of the field. Wilson made up the stagger on Gilling on the outside as they entered the curve and had a slight lead coming into the final 40-meters. Gilling would not let Wilson out of her sight. The two came across the line almost at the same time. The Danville senior had the edge (24.78) just ahead of Gilling (24.89).

 

3A FIELD EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Thornwood’s Jasmine Mitchell ended her indoor season just the way she started it: with a win. The defending state champion had impressive performance in winning back to back titles with a 47-7.50 put in the fifth round of competition. She had the best six marks of all the athletes in the field. Miranda Cadwell of Plainfield South had a 41-11.50 best to finish second. Mitchell’s teammate Morgan Reed had a 41-6 put in the final round to finish third.

Sam Liokumovich of Deerfield also had a great day in the ring with his last five attempts over 60-feet. His third round put of 64-4.75 (US#4 ) was a personal best and gave him the win in the Boys Shot Put. Joe Boyer of Rolling Meadows also had a personal best and a new school record when he had a 61-0.25 put to finish second. Amiri Buchanan of Romeoville finished third (59-11.50) ahead of Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (58-1).

Defending state champion Grace Daun of Wauconda and indoor list leader Jenelle Rogers of Oswego had to go to a jump off to decide a winner after the two were even on misses Both had cleared 5-6. Daun won the jump off clearing 5-6 to win the Girls High Jump title.

David Lehenbauer of Lemont cleared 6-3, 6-5, and 6-7 on his second attempt in the Boys High Jump. Centennial’s Antonio Buchannan cleared 6-6 but failed on his three 6-7 attempts. Lehenbauer was declared the winner of the event.

Riley Ammenhauser of Neuqua Valley has been one of the top ten athletes nationally in the Girls Triple Jump this season. She supported that ranking by jumping 40-0.50 in the fifth round to secure the win. She had the top five marks in the event. Daryn Davis of Huntley jumped 38-7.25 in the first round to finish second.

The top four seeds in the Boys Triple Jump had jumps entering the meet over 46-feet. It would be the athlete that started out hot. Unfortunately, it was not one of the 46+ foot jumpers. Kevin Szczepaniec of Taft had jumped 45-4 at the beginning of the month at York. The senior took advantage in this meet jumping a personal best of 45-11.50 to put the pressure on the rest of the field.

No other athletes passed him in the next five rounds as Szczepaniec won the championship. Jayden Lambert of Downers Grove South jumped 45-5 to finish second ahead of Kwesi Yeboah of Oak Park-River Forest.

With four athletes left in the Boys Pole Vault, Andrew Saloga cleared 14-8 on his second attempt to win the meet title. Aasav Shah of Dunlap cleared 14-2 to finish second on fewer misses ahead of Michael Shuff of Lake Park and Brandon Ng of Glenbrook North who also cleared 14-2.

Lake Zurich’s Kelsey Rothas was one of four vaulters who cleared 11-6 in the Girls Pole Vault. Her clearance of 11-6 on her first attempt at that height won the event. Noelle Jones of Lakes Community, Yasmin Ruff of Oak Park-River Forest, and Andi Hennessey of Lockport Township all cleared 11-6 and finished second through fourth all decided on fewer misses.