Illinois Meet of Champions Highlights

 

 

Roberts sets Illinois All-Time Best in Girls Pole Vault; Turner wins Girls 400 & 800; Miller runs US #4 time in Boys 800m win; Steury double winner in Boys 3200m/1 Mile Run

 

 

The inaugural Illinois Meet of Champions was scheduled to take place a week after the Illinois IHSA State Meet in the first weekend of June. The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world over the past four months has wiped out track & field in the United States.

 

 

This meet at Hope Academy on Chicago’s near-west side was moved back to June 27. It was shifted back one more time with the format changed to only two events a day spanning over six days beginning on July 27. The change was supposed to comply with local regulations during the pandemic.

 

 

This is the first meet of the Illinois outdoor season. It is now also the last of the 2020 outdoor campaign. The change in schedule also has drained some of the talent that might have participated in this meet at the end of July in which is usually a period for the fall cross-country season. Here are highlights from the six days of competition.

 

 

 

RESULTS

 

 

Monday July 27

 

Winds played a factor in the first event of the afternoon as they gusted up to 15 MPH at times with meet temperatures in the low 80’s. Four of the seven preliminary heats in the 100 Meter Dash were over the allowable 2.0 m/s (meters per second).

 

It was a rocky start for the meet in the first two heats of the Girls sprint event. The computer was not ready for the first heat. The timer tried to get the attention of the starter with no luck. The second heat went off and finished. After the finished, meet organizers discovered that they had started the athletes at the 110-meter hurdle start line. The first two heats would need to be re-run.

 

It did not make Sydney Weaver (Kenwood HS, Chicago) happy that she had to race again. She won her heat (12.09, +1.1) to put her in one of the favorite roles. Her teammate freshman Asia Thomas ran a personal best 11.95 (+2.1 m/s) to win the first heat and have the fastest qualifying time heading to the finals.

 

Weaver and Thomas took to the correct starting line approximately 45 minutes after their prelim heats. The short rest time did not seem to affect them. Both ran personal bests with the help of a +5.7 m/s wind to their backs. It was Weaver that had the advantage at the finish as she ran 11.88 for the win ahead of Thomas who ran 11.91.

 

There was not that much drama in the Boys 100 Meter Dash. It was more of a stepping into the Illinois sprint spotlight for Marshall Ellis. The junior from Homewood-Flossmoor High School south of Chicago patiently waited his turn his first two years as a strong group of sprinters carried the team to a second-place finish in the 2019 Class 3A State Meet. Ellis did not get his chance this spring because of the cancellation of the season. He showed what he had in both the prelims and the finals of this event.

 

Ellis led all qualifiers in the preliminary heats as he ran a wind legal 10.59 to win the third of the three heats.

 

St. Laurence High School graduates Brailyn Johnson and Cameron Yarborough had the next two fastest times in the prelims. They had hopes of challenging the HF junior. Ellis had different plans.

 

The gun went off and Ellis pulled away from the field early. The wind was legal at +0.5 m/s as Ellis crossed the line with the win and a personal best of 10.56 (US #17).

 

Yarbrough (10.83) and Johnson (10.99) finished second and third.

 

The most hyped event of the meet according to meet organizers was supposed to be the second event of Monday, the 800 Meter Run. The Girls race had four runners seeded at 2:11 or better. The pressure did not seem to bother Amaya Turner (Wheeler HS IN) who had run 2:08 earlier in the month at Indiana Wesleyan. The wind played a little factor as Turner pulled away from the pack in the second half of the race. Turner, who was part of The 800 Project Club that went after the unofficial world record in the 4x8 last Thursday, was on her own down the home stretch. Her winning time of 2:11.66 was more than a second ahead of Lucy Petee (Mason HS MI) who ran 2:12.86.

 

Two Illinois runners were next. Marianne Mihas (Latin School, Chicago) ran 2:16.83 to finish third with Kaylie Politza (Lemont HS IL) running 2:17.37 to place fourth.

 

Brandon Miller (John Burroughs HS, St. Louis MO) traveled north to the Windy City looking for a fast 800 time before he heads to Texas A&M to start his college career this fall. Miller had won the Missouri Class 3 State title at this distance his first two years of high school with the sophomore win time of 1:49.55 in 2018 his best.

 

Miller did not run his junior year as a hamstring injury sidelined him for the year. He ran a best of 1:52.10 at the Music City Invitational in Tennessee during the indoor season this year before everything closed down.

 

AJ Green (Eastview HS, Apple Valley MN) was the one runner that would push him in this race. Green entered the meet with a 1:49.83 personal best from his junior season in 2019.

 

Miller likes to push the pace from the start. That was no exception at this meet as both Miller and Green separated from the pack in the final section of this event. Miller came across the line with the win and a new personal best (1:49.35). At that moment, he had run the third fastest high school time in the nation for this season. An hour later Rhode Island’s Darius Kipyego ran a new state record 1:48.82 in an open meet in Connecticut. AJ Green ran a seasonal best 1:50.62 (US #6) to finish second.

 

Ashton Schwartzman (Wild Rose HS WI) led the pack behind Miller and Green running a personal best 1:55.13 to finish third. Schwartzman will be back on the track on Tuesday as the favorite in the 400 Meter Dash.

 

 

 

Tuesday July 28

 

Day two of this summer meet had the same temperatures as the first day again in the mid 80’s. What changed was the direction of the wind. The runners had the wind to their backs for the dashes. The athletes competing in the hurdles had to face running into a 10 MPH southwest wind.

 

There was no question that Homewood-Flossmoor’s Jasmyn Hunter would be the favorite in the Girls 100 Meter Hurdles. The junior paced the way running 14.92 into a 2.5 m/s wind to win the third and final preliminary heat. Brooke Barkocy (Burlington Central HS IL) was Hunter’s closest competition as she ran 15.27 (-0.1 m/s) to win the second heat. Kynnedi Malone (Nicolet HS, Milwaukee WI) won the first heat (15.32) with no wind reading.

 

Hunter bettered her preliminary time in the finals of this event. She achieved a new personal best at the same time. Hunter took home the win running 14.69 bettering her old personal best of 14.82. Akili Pleas-Carnie (King HS, Milwaukee WI) was the big surprise in this race. She did not make it to Wisconsin’s state meet in 2019 in this event. She ran 15.52 in the prelims positioning her with the fifth fastest time. She finished second improving her personal best by half a second as well as dipping under 15 seconds (14.95). Barkocy improved on her prelim time running a seasonal best of 15>05 to finish third. There was no wind reading in the finals.

 

Only 10 athletes made it to the starting line for the preliminary heats of the Boys 110 Meter High Hurdles. Two heats eliminated two runners giving this meet an eight runner final.

 

Zachary Cox (Carmel HS IN) dominated in both the prelims and the finals. His 15.02 prelim time was the fastest of the 10 runners by close to six tenths of a second. He bettered that performance in the finals running a personal best 14.87 into a 1.7 m/s headwind. Garrett  Sauter (Angola HS IN) ran a personal best 15.30 to finish second. Luke Myszka (Tri-Valley HS, Downs IL) was the only other runner in the finals that ran under 16-seconds. The sophomore 15.47 to finish third.

 

Amaya Turner (Wheeler HS IN) doubled her pleasure with her second win of the meet. Turner again led from wire to wire in running 56.41 for the win in the Girls 400 Meter Dash. Delea Martins (Milwaukee WI) missed her personal best by two tenths of a second, but still ran 57.75 to finish second. Asia Thomas, who finished second on Monday in the 100 Meter Dash, ran a personal best 58.71 to finish third. Nine athletes ran under 60 seconds in this event.

 

Ashton Schwartzman doubled back after finishing third with a win in the Boys 400 Meter Dash. The Wisconsin junior was more than a second back of his personal best running 49.00 for the win. Brandon Battle (Edwardsville HS IL) was the only other runner in the event that went under 50 seconds. The junior improved on his personal best by three hundredths of a second by running 49.51 to place second. Marshall Ellis was impressive again after a big time win in the 100 Meter Dash on Monday. The Homewood-Flossmoor junior entered this 2020 season with a best of 51.94 at this distance from his freshman year in 2018. Ellis again showed his improvement as he ran 50.33 to finish third.

 

 

 

Wednesday July 29

 

It was a record setting day for Windsor Roberts (Tri-Valley HS, Downs IL) in the Girls Pole Vault. The junior set an all-time Illinois High School best when she cleared 4.11m (13’ 5.75”) on her second attempt to win the competition. It bettered her previous personal best of 13’ 5” achieved at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals. Her winning height ranks her fifth nationally.

 

Taylor Jarosinski (Center Grove HS IN) and Rhiannon Held (Mt. Zion HS IL) both cleared 3.80m (12’ 5.5”) with Jarosinski finishing second on fewer misses.

 

Roberts dictated this competition in this meet. She waited to enter at 3.65m (11’ 11.5”) when there were only three other athletes still vaulting. Roberts cleared that height on her first attempt.

 

It was a little rocky at 3.80m when Jarosinski and Held cleared the height on their second attempts. The pressure was on Roberts who had missed her two previous attempts at that height. She cleared the bar with ease on her third attempt. She was on her way from there.

 

Roberts won the meet clearing 3.95m on her second attempt while Jarosinski and Held bowed out missing all three of their attempts.

 

Roberts will be a senior in 2021 where she could etch her name higher in the record books and be one of the top vaulters in the nation. She already is in this state. A clearance over 14’ 0” is in her future.

 

One of the comeback stories of this season where there was not a season was written by Tyler Carrel (Urbana HS IL). He won the Class 2A Boys Pole Vault his freshman season in 2017. He dropped off the scene for the next two years as he suffered from a severe case of mononucleosis.

 

He was not going to let his senior year be wiped out even with the Global COVID-19 pandemic wiping out sports.

 

Carrel found a way to compete through virtual competitions held by the NSAF and Athletic Net. That paid off in a big way with this meet. At the Virtual National Championships at the end of June, Carrel cleared a remarkable 16’ 7.5” to win the event and place him third in the nation.

 

Wednesday’s competition was a walk in the park for him. He waited patiently as other competitors exhausted their attempts. When second-place finisher Jaden Blake (De La Salle HS, Chicago) cleared on his second attempt at 13-5.5, he called it a day. Carrel had the bar raised to 4.85m (15’ 11”). He cleared that on his first attempt crowning him the champion. The bar was raised to 5.05m (16’ 6.75”) where he missed on three good attempts. He had won this meet before he even stepped foot into the Hope Academy facility. He won it because he was again able to compete. Good things are ahead for Carrel.

 

I think it will hit us sometime this fall on how much work distance runners have done during this break in competition due to the pandemic. There could be some massive drops in times.

 

Let us take Josephine Welin (Oak Park-River Forest HS, Oak Park IL) as an example. Welin entered the 2020 track season with a 10:54 best for 3200-meters run during her freshman season in 2019. Welin finished 16th in the Class 3A State XC Meet last November. It was no surprise what she did in the 3200 Meter Run in this meet. The sophomore ran a huge personal best of 10:25.35 for the win finishing ahead of such noted runners as Ava Parekh (Latin School, Chicago), Lianna Surtz (Rosary HS, Aurora), and Katrina Schlenker (Batavia HS IL). You can now put Welin in that class.

 

Parekh pushed the pace from the start putting her five seconds ahead of Welin, Surtz, and Meghan Ford (Jamestown HS ND) passing through 1600-meters in a quick 5:10.

 

That lead held for the next lap. The lap between 2000-meters and 2400-meters had Parekh falling back to Welin who was now just a second behind. The two were even with a final 400-meters to go. Welin broke the race open running a 70.3 final lap to outdistance Parekh by five seconds (10:30.69).

 

Ford, who finished fifth in the 800 Meter Run on Monday, ran 10:36.36 to finish third. Surtz (10:53.42) and Schlenker (10:59.16) rounded out the top five.

 

Izaiah Steury (Angola HS IN) broke away from Spencer Werner (Loyola Academy, Wilmette IL) and Luke Wiley (Warren Twp. HS, Gurnee IL)on the third lap of the Boys 3200 Meter Run. The three sophomores were together the first two laps of the race with Steury opening up a two second lead at 1200-meters, then five seconds on Werner and Wiley at 1600-meters passing that point at 4:39. Steury went on to run 9:17.49 for the win. Werner ran 9:27.78 to finish second ahead of third-place Wiley (9:33.57).

 

 

 

Thursday July 30

 

No track events on day 4 of this meet. The focus was on the Long Jump and the High Jump on this day.

 

The wind had a big effect on both horizontal jumps events. The Girls Long Jump had 48 out of 59 legal jumps (81.3%) that were over the legal wind limit of 2.0 m/s. The percentage was the same as 30 out of 37 legal jumps (81.0%) were over that limit.

 

Jaiah and Isaiah Hopf (Wisconsin Lutheran HS, WI) kept the titles in the family in the Long Jump. Isaiah Hopf took the lead in the Boys event in the first round with a 6.92m (22’ 8.5”) jump with a 2.8 m/s wind at his back. He improved that in the fourth and final round when he jumped his winning 7.00m (22’ 11.75”) with a massive 5.0 m/s (11.2 mph) wind again at his back. Jayden McCulskie-Green (Sandwich HS IL) was the closest to Hopf when he jumped 6.73m (22’ 1”, 2.4 m/s) in the third round to finish second.

 

Jaiah Hopf won the Girls on the Long Jump on her first jump. Her wind legal jump of 5.80m (19’ 0.5”) was US #13 for wind legal performances.

 

Annika Bynum (Warren Township HS, Gurnee IL) cleared 1.62m (5’ 3.75”) on her first attempt at the height to shut the door on the rest of the competition to win the Girls High Jump. She cleared 1.67m (5’ 5.75”) to make that her top height cleared in this meet.

 

Daniel Mendoza (Hope Academy, Chicago) was perfect in the Boys High Jump as he cleared on his first five heights on his first attempt. CJ Shoaf (Mahomet-Seymour HS, Mahomet IL) entered the competition at 1.83m clearing on his first attempt as well as the first attempt at 1.88m. The difference in this event was the Shoaf cleared at 1.93m (6’ 4”) on his second attempt while Mendoza remained perfect at that height. Both athletes missed at 1.98m (6’6”) giving the Chicago native the win on fewer misses.

 

 

 

Friday July 31

 

Two more field events took place in this penultimate day of competition at this meet.

 

The Shot Put did not have big competitive numbers competing. It did have to athletes to keep an eye on in 2021 in this state.

 

Kyle Clabough (Yorkville HS IL) has showed tremendous improvement in this event in competitions the last two months. His best entering this meet was when he had a put of 56’ 4” at the Hammerman All Throwers Club Meet on June 27. He upped his personal best on Friday when he had an effort of 17.74m (58’ 2.5”, US #23) to win this event by over 15-feet. Remember, he is only a sophomore. He has the best sophomore mark in the nation.

 

Jayden Ulrich (East Alton-Wood River HS IL) showed during the indoor season that she was one of the top athletes in the nation in the Girls Shot Put. The only competition she would have on Friday was against herself as she won by 17-feet. It was a bumpy competition for the junior as she had four fouls in her six attempts. Ulrich had an outdoor seasonal best of 14.06m (46’ 1.50”, US #8) for the win.

 

Myles Lincoln (Plainfield South HS, Plainfield IL) concluded his high school career on a high note when he jumped a personal best of 14.52m (47’7.75”) to win the Boys Triple Jump after fouling on his first two attempts. His best jump was 3.1 m/s over the allowable wind legal limit. Malcom Bevans (St. Ignatius Prep, Chicago) jumped a wind legal 14.41m (47’ 3.25”, 1.7 m/s) to finish second.

 

With a little help from the wind, Lovie Annafi (Whitney Young HS, Chicago) made it past the 40-foot barrier for the first time. The senior jumped 12.23m (40’ 1.5”) with the help of a 3.7 m/s wind at her back in the final round secured the win for her. McKenna Cinotte (Downers Grove North HS IL) jumped 11.78m (38’ 7.75”, 1.6 mps) in the fifth round to finish second. Cinotte went past 40-feet for the first time in a meet last week in Chicago.

 

The 2000-meter Steeplechase is an event that is not on the Illinois state meet schedule, but we do see it run in regional and national club meets during the summer. The results were not bad considering none of the athletes have the experience in this five-lap barrier race.

 

Four runners competed in the Girls race. Raina Rice (Warren Township HS, Gurnee IL) showed improvement during last fall’s cross country season with 18th place finish in the Hoffman Estates Sectional her best. Rice was a convincing winner in this race as she ran 7:44.16 (US #9) for the win. Ella Ton-That (Northside Prep HS, Chicago) ran 8:10.21 to finish second. Ton-That finished 27th in the IHSA Class 2A State Meet race last November.

 

It was just four runners that stepped to the line in the Boys’ steeple race. It was a close finish as Conner Price (Iroquois West HS, Gilman IL) finished ahead of Tristin Gaddis (Mt. Vernon HS IN) by less than half a second. Price’s winning time was 6:40.49 (US #17) ahead of Gaddis’ time of 6:40.97 (US #18).

 

 

 

Saturday August 1

 

The final day at the Hope Academy Track Complex belonged to the distance runners. Three sections per gender of the 1-Mile Run. The time schedule changed of a starting time from a start to 1:00 PM for the Girls race to 5:00 PM. However, the time change was never communicated on the meet’s website.

 

Ava Parekh (Latin School, Chicago) was looking for a comeback in this race after finishing second in the 3200 Meter Run on Wednesday. Josephine Welin (Oak Park-River Forest HS, Oak Park) was looking for her second win of the meet after winning the Wednesday race ahead of Parekh.

 

Parekh pushed the pace on Wednesday but ran out of energy in the final two laps of the race. Half the distance on Saturday. It allowed her to execute her strategy successfully. Welin tried to stay within striking distance of the fellow sophomore, but that did not come to be.

 

Parekh was looking for sub-4:50 in this race for the mile distance. She came close to that as she ran an outdoor personal best of 4:51.56 (US #7) for the win. Parekh ran 4:51.05 at the University of Kentucky indoors earlier this year in February.

 

Welin showed again that she will be a factor on the cross country courses this fall. The sophomore also improved on her personal best running 4:55.33 (US #8) to finish second. The big surprise in this race was from Ali Ince (Normal IL) when she ran 5:00.53 to finish third. Ince just graduated from Kingsley Middle School in Normal where she won the IESA Class 3A State Cross Country title last October. This eighth-grader soon to be a freshman will make some noise on the high school circuit this fall.

 

Annie Christie (Carmel HS IN) dropped her personal best as she ran 5:00.81 to finish fifth just ahead of Lianna Surtz (Rosary HS, Aurora) as she ran 5:00.83. Another Middle School runner, Morgan Mackie (Sauganash Striders IL) ran 5:02.64 to finish sixth.

 

The news of defending 2A State XC Champion Tatum David moving out of state to Florida for her sophomore year opens the door for Parekh and Brooke Stromsland (Lakes Community, Lake Villa IL) as the runners to keep an eye on in Class 2A.

 

What was also amazing is that three of the top six runners in that race were athletes that attended middle school last year. The meet website stated that only High School runners were allowed in this meet.

 

This week of racing could catapult Izaiah Steury (Angola HS IN) into the national spotlight for his junior season. Steury finished seventh at the Indiana State XC Meet last October. He just missed making the Foot Locker Nationals by finishing 14th in the Midwest Regional Meet last November. With his win Saturday in the 1 Mile Run, the sky could be the limit in his junior year. His winning time of 4:14.72 (US #9) was a personal best. He is ranked in the top 30 in the national leaderboards for the 3200 Meter Run.

 

Two more sophomores finished behind Steury. Xavier Jemison (McLean HS VA) felt at home on this track. His grandmother lives in the Chicago area. He ran a personal best of 4:17.10 (US #13). There are possibilities he may move into the Chicago area for this school year. We will have to wait and see if those rumors are true.

 

Drew Rogers (Herscher HS IL) continues to show his improvement finishing just behind Jemison in third running 4:17.68 (US #14). Rogers is the defending Class 1A State XC Champion heading into this year. He could be the best runner in the state when all is said and done.

 

What was confusing was that both “championship” races in this event used pace setters. It is common in invitational meets or open meets during the summer, but not in championship races like state or national meets. It is something that we will scratch our heads about for some time.