Photo ©2019 Laura Duffy

 

By Michael Newman

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It’s the end of April and crazy things happen with the weather in this state. Another display of winter weather refusing to release its grip on the state came with it’s affect on track & field meets in the Chicago area.

It was supposed to snow on Saturday (and it did). Meet organizers who had their events scheduled on Saturday decided to move their meets to Friday in which the teams were appreciative of the move was all said and done.

The Palatine Relays went on as scheduled on Saturday morning. The snow started falling early but the races went on until the 200 Meter Dash when the meet had to be cancelled due to the conditions. The meet has the reputation of never being cancelled so the meet went on. Hurdling in the snow. The Pole Vault in the snow. The meet went on.

It comes down to the meet hosts and the officials assigned to the meet to decide what is best for the kids competing. If they deemed it okay to compete, then great. But sometimes, pride can have an effect on a decision over reason. Just my opinion.

Girls athletes tuned up for this week for conference meet action with some strong performances in meets across the state. Here are some of the highlights from last weekend’s meets.

 

Girls Meet Highlights

 

WWS Tiger Girls Invitational @ Wheaton-Warrenville South HS

The top Girls Meet of the weekend took place at Wheaton-Warrenville South High School. The 42^nd edition of this meet produced two new meet records. One of those records was not a surprise.

This was supposed to be an easy week for Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart where she just ran in a relay and one individual event. She was looking for a fast time in the 800 Meter Run and she got it. Hart pulled away from the pack in the first 200-meters on her way to running the state’s fastest time of 2:10.81. Erin Reidy of Downers Grove South finished second (2:14.88, IL #6).

Hart came back at the end of the meet to help Glenbard West win the 1600 Meter Relay (4:04.59) four seconds ahead of Hinsdale Central (4:08.57) and Wheaton-Warrenville South (4:09.38).

Reidy earlier in the meet helped Downers Grove South move to the top of the state in winning the 3200 Meter Relay (9:26.15) ahead of Glenbard West (9:27.69, IL #2) and Naperville North (9:29.61, IL #4). Oswego also had a good race finishing fourth (9:34.00, IL #7).

The 1600 Meter Run proved to be a fast race with the top nine finishers at 5:11 or faster. Emma Watcke of Hinsdale Central achieved a personal best in running 4:55.48 (IL #6) for the win ahead of Alex Morris of Naperville North (5:00.40), Isabelle Christiansen of Oswego (5:02.95), and Kennedy Warden of Downers Grove South (5:03.65).

There were three double event winners in this meet.

One of the bigger surprises this spring has been the emergence of Lincoln-Way East’s Mariam Azeez. The freshman continues to improve in her inaugural high school season. She showed that improvement in winning the 100 Meter Dash (12.62) into a headwind just ahead of Moline’s Megan Pittington (12.68). Azeez also jumped 17-10 to win the Long Jump.

Halle Bieber of Naperville North took home two wins in this meet but did not have the start that she would have wished for in the 100 Meter Hurdles. Kayla Walters of Bolingbrook was hot in this race as she ran 14.58 (IL #3) to win the event ahead of Oswego’s Jennah Rogers (14.52), Katie Sciarini of Lincoln-Way East (15.56), and Bieber (15.58). Bieber looked strong in the 300 Hurdles as she ran 44.99 for the win just ahead of Sciarini (45.19) and Walters (46.16).

Bieber has improved in the 200 Meter Dash this spring. She showed how much in winning the event with a personal best of 25.16 (IL #9). Bieber finished ahead of Lincoln-Way East’s Taylor Wright (25.63) and Leeya Zander of Wheaton North (25.67). Wright earlier in the meet ran 57.95 to win the 400 Meter Dash ahead of Pittington (58.31, IL #9).

Hinsdale Central’s Dior Nicholson was again in charge of the weight events in a meet. The junior had a 39-5.25 put to win the Shot Put followed by a 121-1 throw to win the Discus.

Oswego athletes had two of the top performances in the field events. Jenelle Rogers cleared a personal best 5-9 (IL #2) to win the High Jump ahead of teammate Olivia Solis (5-7, IL #5). Claire Barenie cleared 11-0 to win the Pole Vault.

 

Lake County Girls Invitational @ Lake Zurich HS

One of the most underrated meets happened Thursday as tons of great performances were achieved in this meet. It started in the High Jump as defending 3A State champion Grace Daun of Wauconda cleared a personal best and state best of 5-10 to win the High Jump. Kelsey Rothas of Lake Zurich achieved a personal best on her home pit as she cleared 11-10 (IL #6) to win the Pole Vault.

Taylor Gilling of Highland Park jumped again into the spotlight at the end of March at the indoor Top Times Championships. She looks to be peaking at the right time as she turned in two great performances in the sprints. Gilling achieved a seasonal best of 12.15 (IL #7) to win the 100 Meter Dash. She also ran 24.65 (IL #3) to win the 200 Meter Dash ahead of Janii Jenkins of Warren Township (25.41). Gilling was also a part of Highland Park’s winning quartet in the 400 Meter Relay (48.96) just ahead of Warren Township and Jenkins by four hundredths of a second (49.00).

Jenkins appearance in this meet was somewhat of a surprise considering she collapsed with 100-meters left in last week’s 400 Meter Dash at the Sue Pariseau Invitational. Jenkins returned looking strong in this meet as she ran a season’s best of 57.85 (IL #5) to win the 400 Meter Dash.

The four distance races had strong performances. Lake Zurich dominated the 3200 Meter Relay running 9:32.05 (IL #6) winning by 20 seconds ahead of Grayslake Central (9:52.49). Two of the top runners in the state faced off in the 3200 Meter Run as Round Lake’s Fatima Giron ran 10:35.74 to win the race ahead of 2A State XC Champion Brooke Stromsland of Lakes Community who was five seconds back (10:40.95, IL #7).

The two runners faced each other later in the meet in the 160 Meter Run with Giron again having the advantage. The junior ran a personal best of 5:03.57 to win the event ahead of Stromsland (5:07.16) and Lake Zurich’s Emily Burns (5:08.42).

Olivia Schmitt of Lakes Community looked just as strong in the 800 Meter Run as she did in winning Distance Night in Palatine last week. Schmitt pulled away from the field in running 2:15.4 to win the event ahead of freshmen Jordyn Miller of Mundelein (2:19.60) and Brielle Rochester of Libertyville (2:20.51). Miller and Rochester are both freshmen.

 

Kane County Girls Championships @ Burlington Central

Dajour Miles of West Aurora stood in the spotlight winning three individual races in her final county meet. Miles started her meet day by running 12.07 (IL #4) to win the 100 Meter Dash. Miles was in charge of the 400 Meter Dash (58.84) just holding off South Elgin freshman Loreal Wilson (59.69) for the win. Miles completed her triple by running 24.91 (IL #6) to win the 200 Meter Dash by almost two seconds.

While Miles was busy in the sprints, Batavia’s Katrina Schlenker was also in three winning events, two of which were relays. The freshman helped her Batavia teammates run 9:27.75 (IL #3) to win the 3200 Meter Relay ahead of Geneva by close to 30 seconds (9:56.32). Her win in the 800 Meter Run looked easy as Schlenker ran 2:17.27 to win by almost 6 seconds ahead of Burlington Central’s Avery Andersen (2:23.03). Batavia closed the meet by running 4:07.55) to win the 1600 Meter Relay ahead of West Aurora (4:09.36).

West Aurora’s Victoria Spagnola picks up two wins on the track. The sophomore ran 15.16 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles. She then came back to run 46.94 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles just ahead of St. Charles East’s Emily Nichols (47.27).

The end of the 1600 Meter Run turned into three athletes charging for the win. Sophia McDonnell of Geneva ran a seasonal best of 5:02.62 for the win ahead of Rosary’s Lianna Surtz (5:05.99) and Batavia’s Mia Gianfrancesco (5:06.02). We last saw Surtz during the cross-country season finishing second in the 2A race at Detweiller Park as well as running in the Nike Cross Nationals. Surtz ran one race indoors before being forced out with shin splints. She recently has started racing again with her first race at the 1600 Meter Run at Benet Academy last week. She ran 5:12 to win that race.

 

Collinsville Girls Invitational

DuQuoin’s Gabrielle Algoni had a great night in this meet setting her up for big things in May during the state series. Algoni helped her DuQuoin teammates run 9:43.00 to win the 3200 Meter Relay. That time is the fastest in Class 1A by 25 seconds. The junior came back to run 2:17.14 to win the 800 Meter Run edging Edwardsville’s Abby Korak by three hundredths of a second (2:17.17).

Belleville West freshman Macee Rivers moved under 15-seconds in the 100 Meter Hurdles. Rivers recorded a 14.76 personal best (IL #5) to win the event.

 

Urbana Girls Invitational

It was just another track & field meet where Danville’s Ameia Wilson and Springfield Southeast’s Serena Bolden pushed each other to great performances. The Long Jump belonged to Bolden as she jumped a state leading 19-9 for the win ahead of Rantoul’s Tanaya Young (18-3.5, IL #8) and Wilson (18-0).

The track events belonged to Wilson. She started by running 11.89 to win the 100 Meter Dash with Bolden second (12.21, IL #7) and Richwoods’ Seven Hicks placing third (12.35). Wilson’s night ended when she ran the fastest time in the state (24.10) in winning the 200 Meter Dash.

 

Other Girls Meet Highlights

 

Neuqua Valley’s Mikenna Robinson finished third in last year’s 3A 800 Meter Run at the state meet. She tuned up for the state series in three sprint races at Glenbard North’s Weber Invitational. Robinson ran a personal best 12.44 to win the 100 Meter Dash. She ran 57.80 (IL #5) to win the 400 Meter Dash. She ran 26.26 to finish second in the 200 Meter Dash. Robinson was also a part of Neuqua Valley’s quartet that ran 49.88 to win the 400 Meter Relay ahead of Waubonsie Valley (50.02).

 

Before Homewood-Flossmoor heads into conference and sectional action, they made another trip out of state this time to the Brother Borgia / Frank Cooper Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky. Their results show that they are ready for their trip to Charleston. Their relay quartets looked good winning all three contested events. The Lady Vikings ran the best time in the state as they ran 1:41.20 for the win two seconds ahead of Male Traditional KY. HF dipped under 48 seconds as they ran 47.79 for the win again ahead of Male (49.27). The margin was 10 seconds as they ran 3:58.01 to win the 1600 Meter Relay.

Madison Myrick had a great meet winning two individual events and both seasonal bests. She cleared a personal best 5-9 (IL #2) to win the High Jump. Myrick came back to jump 17-11.50 to win the Long Jump. Defending 3A State Champion Kaylah McCall went under 14-seconds as she ran a state leading 13.96 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles.

 

Kenli Nettles is also gearing up for her run in the state series and the state meet. The junior from Arthur-Lovington shined at the Monticello Lady Sages Invitational last Friday winning three individual events. In her fourth event, Nettles finished second in the 200 Meter Dash (25.83) just behind Monticello’s Mattie Lieb (25.78). Nettles cleared 5-2 to win the High Jump. She then swept both hurdle races running 14.53 (IL #2) to win the 100 Meter Hurdles. Nettles came back to run 45.41 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles just ahead of Monticello’s Emelia Ness (45.99).

Payne Turney of Clinton doubled in this meet running 2:19.77 to win the 800 Meter Run by six seconds. Turney came back to finish second in the 1600 Meter Run (5:14.67) behind the 5:12.58 winning time from Tolono Unity’s Jordan Harmon.

 

The snow started to fall early in the Palatine Relays. The top Girls performance came in the 3200 Meter Run where Molly FitzPatrick of Barrington ran 10:48.00 (IL #10) to win the 3200 Meter Run by 47 seconds. Palatine’s Erin Oleksak won both hurdle races running 15.05 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles and 45.36 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles.

 

Boys Meet Highlights

 

Red Ribbon Invitational @ Waubonsie Valley HS

When the weather looked horrible for the scheduled day of the Red Ribbon Invitational as early as Monday, Waubonsie Valley Coach Kevin Rafferty went into action moving the meet from Saturday to Friday night. The move was more than accepted by the coaches and the teams that participated. The meet performances met the meet move better than expected.

Metea Valley’s Temi Osobamiro stood in the spotlight on this windy Friday evening capturing three wins and a second-place finish. Osobamiro captured both events in the horizontal jumps with a 21-5 jump to win the Long Jump and season’s best 44-4 to win the Triple Jump. It was close in the 100 Meter Dash running into the wind as only three hundredths of a second separated the first three finishers. Osobamiro prevailed (11.37) just ahead of South Elgin’s Jacob Todd and York’s Inemesit Akpakpan who were both timed in 11.40. Osobamiro’s night ended when he finished third in the 200 Meter Dash (22.91) with race winner Cedric Rowzee of Wheaton-Warrenville South (22.03) and York’s Christopher Ratcliff (22.58) ahead of him.

Neuqua Valley’s Matthew Appel was a double winner in the weight events with a 156-0 throw to win the Discus and a personal best put of 55-8 to win the Shot Put.

Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Jake MacConnachie welcomed the breezy conditions at Dick Kerner Stadium as he achieved a new personal best in the Pole Vault. MacConnachie cleared 15-2 (IL #3) to win the Pole Vault ahead of Marmion Academy’s Andrew Saloga (14-8, IL #9).

The distance events were a strength in this meet as four of the top five distance programs in the state were in this meet. It was a 1:59.1 anchor leg by Sean Maison that gave Wheaton-Warrenville South the win ahead of Oswego East (8:12.81) and Neuqua Valley (8:16.72).

The St. Charles East duo of Aidan King and Luke Schildmeyer pulled away from the pack just before 2000-meters of the 3200 Meter Run. King had a strong kick at the end to run 9:40.47 for the win ahead of his teammate Schildmeyer (9:45.65).

The story was the same in the 800 Meter Run as St. Charles East again took the first two spots. Charles Murphy and Bennett Melone were in control of the race after the first 300-meters. Murphy went on to run 1:59.06 for the win with Melone finishing second (1:59.57).

York’s Michael Moriarty has been running strong this outdoor season improving with each race. Two days before at a meet at Lyons Township, he ran a solo 1:58.2 for 800-meters. The lead changed hands more than 10 times during the four laps of this race. It was Moriarty who had the final move as he made a sudden surge with 300-meters left in the race. Moriarty pulled from Oswego East’s Brad Wiggins in the final 100-meters to capture the win (4:24.96) ahead of Wiggins (4:26.24) and St. Charles North’s Ryan Arnold (4:27.64).

 

Jim Arnold Invitational @ Glenbard East HS

A change of meet date and meet venue kept this meet running on Friday night. Glenbard West’s Duchon Field does not have lights, so the meet was moved to another school in the district Glenbard East. Guillermo Ibarra of Morton Township continues to run strong his junior track campaign as he picked up a pair of wins. Ibarra, who was all-state last fall during the cross-country season, ran 9:26.18 to easily win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Gabriel Sanchez of Lowell IN by 17 seconds. It was a closer in the 1600 Meter Run as Ibarra won the race (4:20.35) just ahead of Glenbard West’s Rory Cavan (4:20.68).

Batavia ran close to their seasonal best as they ran 8:04.38 to win the 3200 Meter Relay ahead of Glenbard West (8:09.09). Batavia also ended the meet by running 3:25.80 to win the 1600 Meter Relay by four seconds ahead of Evanston Township (3:29.23). The other two relay wins belonged to Oak Park-River Forest. The Huskies ran 42.90 to win the 400 Meter Relay just ahead of conference rival Glenbard West (42.95) and St. Rita (43.04). The two conference rivals faced off again with the same result. Oak Park-River Forest ran 1:29.37 (IL #5) to win the 800 Meter Relay just ahead of Glenbard West (1:29.99 (IL #7) and Batavia (1:30.21, IL #8).

Bloom Township athletes took home wins in the horizontal jumps. Brian Dickerson jumped a personal best 44-0.50 to win the Triple Jump. Kaden Turner also had a personal best jumping 22-8 (IL #10) to win the Long Jump.

Lake Park swept the first two spots in the Pole Vault. Zach Frye cleared 14-8 for the second time this outdoor season to win the event with teammate Michael Shuff clearing 13-8 to finish second.

 

Pete Struck Invitational @ Sandburg HS

Crete-Monee and distance events dominated this meet. Crete-Monee has proved this outdoor season is that they are one of the teams to watch for at the end of May in Charleston. The Warriors backed that up with another strong performance in this meet.

Ricky Johnson led the way for Crete-Monee with a pair of individual wins in the sprints effected by strong winds down the home straight. Johnson still ran 11.10 to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of Andrew’s John Bickel (11.29). Johnson came back to run 21.80 to win the 200 Meter Dash ahead of teammate Jamal Safo (22.09) and Bickel (22.16).

Crete-Monee was in control in the sprint relays running 42.55 to win the 400 Meter Relay ahead of Andrew (43.17). The two schools faced off again in the 800 Meter Relay with Crete-Monee again having the clear advantage. The Warriors ran 1:30.39 to win the event by more than two seconds over Andrew (1:32.73). Victor Cameron, who ran on the winning 400 Meter Relay and 800 Meter Relay squads, ran 14.84 into a headwind to win the 110 High Hurdles.

Jack Roberts of Downers Grove North was dominant in winning the 1600 Meter Run. Roberts pulled away to run a personal best 4:19.83 to win the race ahead of Joliet Central’s Jason Dworak (4:25.08) and Sandburg’s Nico Calderon (4:26.05). Sandburg swept the top two spots in the 3200 Meter Run as Ben Giblin ran 9:37.22 for the win just ahead of his brother Will (9:37.99) and Downers Grove North’s Trevor Murphy (9:40.94).

 

Wanner Knights Invitational @ Prospect

The top two times in the state in the 3200 Meter Relay were produced in this meet. Naperville Central, without All-American Thomas Shilgalis in their quartet, ran 7:57.91 to win the race just ahead of Lane Tech (8:00.35, IL #2), Prospect (8:04.39, IL #5), Hononegah (8:04.44, IL #6), and Lyons Township (8:05.79, IL #8).

It was close in the 3200 Meter Run between Samuel Rivera of Whitney Young and Josh Methner of Hersey like it was the week before at Distance Night in Palatine. In this race, it was Rivera that had the edge at the end. Rivera ran 9:06.27 (IL #4) for the win barely edging Methner by a tenth of a second (9:06.37). Prospect’s Erik Snell displayed a strong kick at the end of the 1600 Meter Run winning the race in 4:20.23. Rivera doubled back to finish second (4:22.37).

Prospect flexed their muscles in the two sprint relays winning the events on their home track. The Knights ran 42.38 (IL #5) to easily win the 400 Meter Relay more than a second ahead of Zion-Benton (43.43). The margin of victory in the 800 Meter Relay was almost two seconds as Prospect ran 1:28.77 (IL #2) for the win ahead of Minooka (1:30.56).

Davon Bolden of Thornridge stepped up with his best run of the season in the 400 Meter Dash. Bolden ran 49.22 (IL #3) to win the event in this meet. The top three runners in the state in this event are all Class 2A runners.

The Rolling Meadows Mustang Classic was cancelled a few miles away from Prospect due to a threat made in the school earlier in the day. Prospect meet organizers allowed some of the athletes in that meet to participate in this meet. Joseph Boyer of Rolling Meadows took advantage of the opportunity to win both weight events. Boyer, who earlier in the week went 62-1 in a small meet, had a 59-9.50 winning put to win the Shot Put by over five-feet ahead of Downers Grove South’s Shawn Lee (54-6.50). Boyer also won the Discus throwing 161-6. Downers Grove South’s Kendall Burrow threw 158-10 to finish second.

 

Triad Knights Boys Invitational

Normal University is the 2018 2A state champion in the 3200 Meter Relay but will not be able to defend that title due to the IHSA “Success Factor” rule that was applied to this team. The Pioneers showed in this meet that they could challenge for the 3A title by running 8:03.18 (IL #3) to win the race in this meet by 10 seconds ahead of Troy Triad (8:13.59) and Belleville East (8:13.67).

Jermarrion Stewart of Collinsville was a double winner in the sprints. Stewart ran 10.78 to win the 100 Meter Dash by almost half a second. The junior came back to run 21.80 to win the 200 Meter Dash by almost a full second.

Adam Gilbreath-Glaub of Metamora is the defending state champion in the 2A 3200 Meter Run. The junior has been hampered by injuries during cross country in the fall and again this track season. Gilbreath-Glaub took a step up in this meet running 9:37.02 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Edwardsville’s Max Hartmann (9:56.32).

Jadon Elliott of Troy Triad and Trison Paul of Belleville East both cleared 14-6 in the Pole Vault. That height clearance was a personal best for Paul. Elliott won the event on fewer misses.