Illinois HS Track & Field Weekend Highlights - April 26, 2021

By Michael Newman

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It felt like track and field across Illinois this past weekend. Masks were on in the stands. Performances on the track were outstanding. Thank goodness track and field is back. Where have you been these past two years.

Here are some of the highlights from the past weekend.

The biggest performance of the weekend came in a small dual meet held at Yorkville between Joliet West and the host Foxes. Kyle Clabaugh made some noise in the Shot Put showing that  he is one of the nation’s best. The junior had a put of 65’ 5.75” (19.96m) that currently ranks him third nationally. His performance in this meet also is the fifth best in Illinois for a high school Boys’ athlete. The current state record comes from John Meyer with the 70’ 6.5” put from his 2018 conference meet.

GIRLS DISTANCES

There were some great 3200 Meter Run races across the state from the past week. Josephine Welin of Oak Park-River Forest ran the fastest time at that distance (10:20.4h) in winning the race in a quad meet at Downers Grove North. Sophia McNerney of Downers Grove South ran 11:05.6 to finish second.

Ali Ince of Normal Community showed her talent last fall during the cross-country season and then again indoors when she won the adidas National 800 Meter Run race. Ince stepped back up a distance Friday night at Olympia Quad meet when she ran 10:40.31 in winning the 3200 Meter Run. Savanah Beavers of Olympia ran 11:22.13 to finish second.

On the same night, Aly Negovetich of Grant ran a great 3200 on her home track. The junior ran a solo 10:4093 in winning her race by close to a minute in a five team meet at Grant.

Anna Perry of Eureka set a new school record along with the fastest time in Class 1A Saturday at the Metamora Girls ABC Meet. Her time of 10:45.25 was over a minute faster than second-place Emma Skinner of Morton (11:52.41).

Lexi Affolter of St. Ignatius Prep helped christen the school’s home track at Rice Park on Saturday running under 11-minutes for the first time running 10:56.84 to win the 3200 Meter Run.

Marianne Mihas of Latin School has run some impressive 400 Meter Run races the past two weeks. Her latest was a state best at the Latin Hope Invitational on Saturday when she ran 58.36 winning that race.

BOYS DISTANCES

We saw what Luke Schildmeyer of St. Charles East ran at Wheaton Saturday night clocking 9:14.66 for the 3200 Meter Run. Naperville Wheaton Recap

Chris Cherry of Taylorville ran a personal best of 9:25.6 in a meet Thursday at Rochester. There as another great 3200 from Nico Dovalovsky of Neuqua Valley Saturday in a quad meet on his home track. Dovalovsky ran a solo 9:27.70 for the distance in what he considered “a nice workout”.

Austin Popplewell of Yorkville a fast 9:30.59 personal best in winning on his home track last Thursday.

Peter Walsdorf of Marian Central Catholic had a nice double at the Grant meet on Friday running 9:31.35 for the 3200 Meter Run and then coming right back to run 2:09.50 in the 800 Meter Run. Those races pay off in June for Walsdorf.

Drew Rogers of Herscher might have run what some would call a workout in a meet at Wilmington last Thursday. His time of 4:23.1 was more than 40 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Two runners have gone under 1:58 for the 800 Meter Run this early in the season. Ryan Maseman of Plainfield North ran 1:57.11 last week at Minooka ahead of Minooka’s Vincent Van Eck (1:58.56). Ryan Schreiner of Wheaton North on Friday ran 1:57.3 in a dual meet against St. Charles North.

SPRINTS

Once the weather heats up, so should the times in the short races. Brandon Battle of Edwardsville ran a reported 21.4 time on Twitter at a meet on his home track at Edwardsville. Since the results from that meet have not been uploaded on Athletic.Net, they are deemed not official. The fastest time for the 200 Meter Dash belongs to Michael Marrs of Sandwich (22.33) in a meet at Morris last Thursday.

The top two Boys 400 Meter Dash times came from Saturday’s Neuqua Valley quad meet. Max Mitchell of Neuqua Valley set the standard running 49.94 to win by almost a second ahead of Huntley’s Evan Gronewald (50.60).

Sydney Robinson of Whitney Young ran the fastest times for the 100 and 200 in a meet at Thornwood on Saturday. The junior ran 12.35 to win the 100 Meter Dash in that meet. She followed that up by running 25.76 to win the 200 Meter Dash at the end of the meet.

FIELD EVENTS

Performances continued to improve in the Boys Long Jump. Sean Hopkins jumped a state lead of 23’ 2” at a home triangular at Glenbard West. Malcom Bevans also took advantage of his home pits at St. Ignatius jumping 22’ 3.75” for the win. Micah Senior of Eureka jumped 22’1.75” in winning the event at a meet last Thursday at St. Joseph-Ogden. In the Triple Jump, Jayden McCulskie-Green of Sandwich jumped 46’ 4” to win the event at Morris with a state #2 performance.

Colton Naffziger of Normal University appears to be the athlete to beat in the Pole Vault. Naffziger cleared an IL #1 15’ 5.75” at the Olympia Quad last Friday. Alan Lauterbach of Rochester cleared an IL #2 14’ 6” at a home meet last Thursday. Lilianna Ifft of Bloomington had the week’s best Girls Vault clearing 12’6 last Thursday at a quad meet in Urbana.

Rylee Lydon ran under 60 seconds for 400-meters last Thursday in the Knight Light Invitational held at Grayslake North. She topped that by clearing a state leading 5’ 6” in the High Jump. Annie Wirth of Geneseo is next in order clearing 5’ 4.25” at a meet on Saturday at Sterling. Both Lydon and Wirth are sophomores.

Jayden Ulrich of East Alton-Wood River started where she left off at the end of indoor meets in the Shot Put with a great performance in a triangular meet last Monday at Bethalto Civic Memorial. Ulrich had a state leading and US #6 48’ 6” put at BCM. In the same meet, she also had a state leading performance of 153’ 9” in the Discus.