MONDAY MORNING FINISH LINE

March 29, 2021

By Michael Newman

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Back for another week for this article. I was half done with last week’s article before I fell asleep leaving it for Monday morning. A quick workout and then I turned on my computer. An e-mail message changed what I was going to do for the rest of the day. A few conversations that morning changed my outlook for the day. That was a good thing.

It is less than a week before we get to start the Outdoor Track & Field Season in Illinois. I’m happy that all the athletes that missed the 2020 season will get a chance to compete. We will have a state meet. Where? We still do not know. All we can do is be patient before we get the news.

The IHSA Board of Directors will next meet on April 12, the same day that schools can start competing in meets. Let’s hope we have that answer by then.

An Early Start to the Outdoor Season

Riley Ammenhauser started her season a week early coming away with a sweep of the horizontal jumps at the NSAF USA Meet of Champions held at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Some jumpers need a competition to adjust to the transition of going from indoors to outdoors. The Neuqua Valley senior did not miss a step in both the Long Jump and the Triple Jump in this meet.

Ammenhauser started her meet on Saturday competing in the Triple Jump. She fouled in two of her three jumps against five other competitors. Her second jump was her money jump traveling 40’ 9” in calm conditions. That proved to be the winning performance. Rieko Wilford of Alpha Speed Academy WA came the closest jumping 40’ 5.5” in the next round but could not get any closer. Ammenhauser is currently ranked #2 nationally in the event.

Conditions were more dramatic on Sunday before the start of the Long Jump with winds gusting over 15mph. Only four athletes competed in this event. Ammenhauser was coming into this meet on a hot streak having jumped 19’ 4.25” the week before at a meet at Chicago’s Gately Park Indoor Track Complex. The effort was less than an inch off her 19’ 5” personal best for the event.

Ammenhauser came strong taking the lead in the first round with a wind legal 19’ 2.75”mark. She lost that lead in the third round when Jahnelle Saunders of the Aerial Supreme Track Club VA took the lead with a 19’ 4” jump.

That lead only lasted one round for Saunders. Ammenhauser set a personal best of 20’ 2.5” (US #3). The wind was over the wind legal allowable being measured at +2.6 m/s. Regardless, her first career jump over 20-feet gave her the second win in this meet.

Meanwhile Back at Gately Park

The indoor season is winding down with the Chicago Indoor Finale being held on Saturday and another meet scheduled to be held on April 3. The fields were smaller than the previous four meets. There were still some noteworthy performances.

CJ Shoaf of Mahomet-Seymour had the performance of the meet easily winning the Boys High Jump that only had 2 athletes competing. Shoaf entered the competition clearing 6’ 5.5” and 6’ 8” on his opening attempt. Shoaf then went up to a possible personal best of 2.14m (7’ 0.25”). He missed on his first attempt, then cleared on his second attempt at the height. Shoaf ends his indoor senior season tied for the second-best mark nationally in this event.

Kyle Burgoni of Tolono Unity was a double winner in the sprints. He ran a state tying best 6.92 in winning the 60 Meter Dash ahead of Sean Hopkins of Glenbard West who was also under seven seconds timed at 6.98 seconds. Burgoni came back to run 22.40 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

One athlete that has taken advantage of the Gately Park facility this winter has been Mathew Olech of Harvest Christian Academy. The senior won a three-runner battle in the 1600 Meter Run with a 4:20.79 personal best. Zach Loomis of St. Charles East (4:21.36) and Brooks Harlan of Centralia (4:22.41) finished second and third.

Vincent Van Eck of Minooka ran 1:56.21 for the 800 Meter Run the week prior at the Cabin Fever Invitational. His time dipped even lower on Saturday as he won the event (1:55.31) ahead of teammate Adam Shaw (1:56.16). Josh Delgado of Grant was the only other athlete under two-minutes finishing third (1:57.48).

Sophia McNerney of Downers Grove South ran under five-minutes for the first time in the 1600 Meter Run. Her time of 4:59.99 was enough to win ahead of Aly Negovetich of Grant (5:00.82) and Anna Perry of Eureka (5:01.75). Negovetich’s time was coming off running the 800 Meter Run earlier in the meet. Her time of 2:17.09 placed her third in the event behind race winner Jordyn Miller of Mundelein (2:14.78) and second-place finisher Megan Garrett of Charleston (2:15.27).

The fastest?

One claim that I have heard on social media over the past couple of months is that the Gately Park Indoor Track & Field Complex is the fastest track in the Midwest. It is the only banked track in the Midwest that athletes have been able to compete on in this pandemic ridden 2021 indoor season. There have some great distance performances that have been turned in at Gately.

At the same time, you do need to recognize the 300-meter tracks at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio or the Lincoln Athletic Building in Ypsilanti, Michigan that have been used this winter season that have both had exceptional performances. The “LAB” in Michigan just opened in 2021 and could draw some events into events in 2022.

Is Gately Park the fastest track in Illinois? This year, yes mainly because it has been the only facility in Illinois that high school athletes have had access to this indoor season. So, it has to be the fastest. It has been the crown jewel of track facilities in Chicago  being the first banked track in the Chicago area that high school athletes have been able to race on.

What happens in 2022 when the indoor season goes back to normal?

Coaches are creatures of habit with their schedules. This new facility could have a meet or two that are in season and could draw athletes and teams back to Chicago before the regular season and maybe a meet or two in season. There are so many great facilities that will open again like college tracks such as North Central College, Olivet Nazarene University, or the University of Illinois for an example. There will be high school facilities available such as Batavia, York, Proviso West, and Huntley.

One coach that I ran into at one of the meets at Gately Park had mentioned that the facility was supposed to be for the Chicago athletes that have not had a place to train or race at. Rent at Gately to hold a meet this winter has been close to five figures. Will a conference be able to hold their league championship at Gately especially with the high price of holding it there?

We hope so. Indoor championships for high school athletes in Chicago have had to go to the suburbs to find a fast facility or the Henry Crown Center on the University of Chicago campus. Gately Park was supposed to be a difference maker for Chicago runners like the Armory in New York City, the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, or the Prince George’s Center outside of Washington DC have become for their areas.

Year two at Gately Park in 2022 may show what is possible especially if there are no social distancing guidelines to slow this fast-track facility down.