Illinois High School Track & Field Weekend Highlights - March 14, 2022

 

 

Toriano Tate jumped an IL #3 23-0.75 in a high level Long Jump Saturday at North Central College (DeKalb HS Photo)

 

 

By Michael Newman [email protected]

 

 

We head into conference week after a past week of action within and outside of Illinois. You can read recaps from past week’s meets below

 

DGS Mustang Relays | Batavia Distance Madness | National Meets Highlights

 

Here is a look at highlights of some meets from the past weekend.

 

Bob Nihells Indoor Classic

 

Toriano Tate of DeKalb hit a huge personal best of 23-0.75 (IL #3) to win a highly competitive Long Jump. John Gore of Homewood-Flossmoor had a 22-3 mark (IL #5) ahead of teammate Sterling Shumpert (21-9.75, IL #8). Kyle Varga of Lake Park cleared a personal best of 15-0 (IL #7).

 

Downers Grove North ran 8:13.28 to easily win the 4x800m Relay with a quartet that consisted of only Frosh/Soph runners. Riley Newport of DeKalb had a great double after running 4:17 the night before at Batavia. The junior Saturday ran 1:58.43 to win the 800 Meter Run ahead of Taft’s Michael Polizzi (1:59.27). David Lara of Warren won the 1600 Meter Run (4:29.34) edging DeKalb’s Alex Boyden by less than half a second (4:29.78). DeKalb ran 1:33.12 (IL #9) to edge Warren (1:33.50, IL #10) to win the 4x200m Relay.

 

Huntley Girls Invitational #2

 

Ella ONeall of Stevenson improved on her state best in the Shot Put with a 45-3 put (US #9) to win the event. Daria Tersina of Prospect moved up to the second spot in the Illinois TFX Leaderboards in the Triple Jump with a 40-0.25 (US #11) winning mark.

 

Alexandria Johnson of Huntley won three individual events and helped with a win in a relay. Johnson improved on her personal best jumping 19-5 (IL #2, US #7) to win the Long Jump. The junior picked up wins in the sprints running 7.87 to edge Tersina (7.98) to win the 60 Meter Dash. Johnson came back to run 26.42 to win the 200 Meter Dash. She was also a part of Huntley’s quartet that ran 1:47.15 (IL #8) to win the 4x200m Relay by more than a second ahead of Geneseo (1:48.68). Geneseo at the end of the meet ran 4:13.27 to win the 4x400m Relay ahead of Huntley (4:14.65).

 

Ali Rapps, who was on both of Geneseo’s relays, ran 9.48 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles. Kathryn Cichon of Minooka ran 1:00.19 to win the 400 Meter Dash with DeKalb’s Saniyah Watson finishing second (1:01.01). Brooke Johnston of Lake Zurich ran 5:03.67 to win the 1600 Meter Run by nine seconds ahead of Hersey’s Anna Harden (5:12.33). Joscelyn Dieckman of DeKalb cleared a personal best of 11-9 to win the Pole Vault.

 

Hononegah Invitational (Co-Ed)

 

Parker Nold of Oswego East ran both the 800 and 1600 Friday at Batavia Distance Madness. He came back on Saturday in the Boys portion of the meet to run 4:27.48 to win the 1600 Meter Run by 10 seconds. Jeffrey Oestreicher of Sycamore was a double winner in the 60 Meter Dash (7.16) and the 200 Meter Dash (23.42).

 

Jolee Larson of Indian Creek ran the second fastest 1A time in winning the Girls 3200 Meter Run (11:58.41). Indian Creek also picked up wins from Reagan Gibson clearing 11-6 to win the Pole Vault and Brooke Probst clearing 5-4 to win the High Jump.

 

Jersey Winter Thaw

 

Cam Ron Mitchell of Jacksonville won the 60 Meter Dash in a photo finish with Jettason Rose of Quincy. Both were timed in 7.14 seconds. Rose came back to run 22.80 (IL #7) in the 200 Meter Dash. Jackson Kern of Auburn ran 8.59 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles. Miles Sheppard of Hamilton-West Hancock lapped the field running 9:21.48 to win the 3200 Meter Run by 57 seconds. Joe Schwartz of Waterloo ran 4:27.17 in winning the 1600 Meter Run by 11 seconds ahead of Lance Miller of Mascoutah. Samson Dessalines of Chatham-Glenwood won the 800 Meter Run (2:01.34) to win by almost four seconds ahead of teammate Drew Verenski.

 

In the Girls Meet, Molly Grohmann of Waterloo cleared a personal best of 5-6 (IL #5 tie) to win the High Jump. Freshman Katelyn Lehnen of Chatham-Glenwood was a double winner in the sprints. Lehnen ran 7.74 (IL #5) to win the 60 Meter Dash with Takia Tiller of Belleville East (7.83, IL #10) and Alaina Lester of Althoff Catholic (8.01) finishing second and third. Lehnen came back to run 25.78 (IL #5) to win by almost a second ahead of Lester (26.59) and Tiller (26.62).

 

Elena Rybak of Father McGivney ran the fastest 1A time in the state (5:15.99) with Colleen Zeibert of Rochester (5:22.53). Zeibert had earlier run 1:00.49 to win the 400 Meter Dash by more than two seconds. Edwardsville was in control of the 4x800m Relay running 9:54.31 (IL #10) for the win.

 

Mt. Zion Apollo Co-Ed Conference

 

Tatum David of Richland County improved on her indoor personal best running 2:17.63 (IL #6) to win the Girls 800 Meter Run by 18 seconds. It was even a larger margin of victory for Becca Heitzig of Lincoln. The sophomore ran 11:16.90 to win the 3200 Meter Run by more than 54 seconds. Heitzig came back to run 1:01.90 to win the 400 Meter Dash by two seconds.

 

Christian Keyhea of Mt. Zion continues to run some of the top times in the state. The senior ran 6.96 (IL #3) to win the Boys 60 Meter Dash by almost half a second. His teammate Kyle Hensley cleared a personal best of 15-3 (IL #4) to win the Pole Vault.

 

Proviso East Girls Invitational

 

Asia Thomas of Kenwood stepped up to run a personal best of 58.26 (IL #4) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Macee Rivers of Belleville west ran a state leading 8.36 to win the 55 Meter Hurdles with Breanne Dunn of Barrington running 9.09 to finish second. Jasmine Wright of Evanston won the 55 Meter Dash (7.27, IL #4) just ahead of Rivers (7.38, IL #10 tie). Kenwood dominated their race in the 4x200m Relay running 1:46.22 (IL #5) for the win ahead of Bolingbrook (1:47.84, IL #9 tie). Kenwood came back to run 4:10.26 (IL #4) to win the 4x400m Relay by just 15 hundredths of a second ahead of Plainfield North and their 4:10.41 time (IL #7). Tajana Sims of Bloom Township jumped 18-1 (IL #10) in winning the Long Jump. Olivia Whatley of Evanston had a mark of 39-11 (IL #5) to win the Girls Shot Put.

 

Rantoul Invitational

 

A high powered co-ed meet at the University of Illinois last Saturday produced some top performances. Jaylon Morrow of Kankakee led the Boys side of the meet starting with a 7.00 time (IL #4) in winning the 60 Meter Dash ahead of teammate Jyaire Hill (7.12). Jackson Gilbert of Urbana ran 22.33 (IL #2) to edge Morrow in the 200 Meter Dash by eight hundredths of a second. Morrow’s time was 22.41 (IL #3). Morrow and Hill led Kankakee to a 1:31.63 time (IL #5) and the win in the 4x200 Meter Relay. Both were on Kankakee’s team that also ran 3:32.92 to win the 4x400 Meter Relay ahead of New Trier (3:34.46.

 

Ryder James of Paxton Buckley-Loda was a double winner in distance events. James ran 1:59.46 to win the 800 Meter Run by three seconds ahead of Olympia’s Owen Dare (2:02.88). James came back to run 4:28.74 to win the 1600 Meter Run eight seconds ahead of Patrick Jamieson of New Trier (4:36.63). DeWayne Johnson of Pontiac won the 60 Meter Hurdles (8.24, IL #3) with Luke Myszka of Tri- Valley finishing second (8.41) tying his second fastest time in Class 1A.  

 

Brianna Dixon of Rantoul was a double winner in the Girls Meet. Dixon cleared 5-3.75 to win the High Jump followed by running 9.16 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles. Nevaeh Lowe of Kankakee and Kali Walter of West Chicago were only separated by one hundredth o a second in the 60 Meter Dash. Lowe ran 7.93 for the win ahead of Walter (7.94). Naomi Bey-Osborne of Kankakee ran 26.03 (IL #8 tie) to win the 200 Meter Dash

 

Central Rocket Boys Invitational

 

This meet held on Friday evening brought out some top teams and top performances. 800 Meter Run all-state athlete Ryan Schreiner of Wheaton North ran his first race at this distance on a 200-meter track. Schreiner responded by running 1:56.88 (IL #3) to win by seven seconds. Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central ran 4:31.33 to win the 1600 Meter Run. Baig was also part of his team’s quartet that ran 11:22.69 to win the Distance Medley Relay ahead of Wheaton North (11:26.05). Jalen Johnson of Metea Valley finished second in the 60 Meter Hurdles (8.55) behind race winner Daniel Lang of Wheaton North (8.41, IL #9 tie). Johnson came back to run 22.52 (IL #6) to win the 200 Meter Dash. Elijah Reed of Downers Grove South ran 51.08 (IL #8) to win the 400 Meter Dash.

 

Nicholas Fortino of Batavia cleared a personal best of 15-1 (IL #6) to win the Pole Vault. Lucas Bass of Kaneland was a double winner in the horizontal jumps. Bass had a 20-9.25 best to win the Long Jump and 41-8.75 mark to win the Triple Jump.

 

Edwardsville Tiger Invitational

 

Ryan Watts of Edwardsville broke a meet record running 4:23.40 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of teammate Geordan Patrylak (4:25.11). Watts was part of his team’s 4x800m team that ran 8:13.94 to win that event. Tamarion Bivines of O’Fallon swept the sprints running 7.02 (IL #7 tie) to win the 60 Meter Dash and then 23.03 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Belleville West ran a strong 3:31.85 (IL #4) to win the 4x400m Relay. Alec Sledge of Mt. Vernon ran a personal best of 8.28 (IL #4) to win the 60 Meter Hurdles.

 

NLCC Championships

 

Bella Domier of Grayslake Central was a double winner in the Girls Meet running 2:21.44 to win the 800 Meter Run and 5:33.54 to win the 1600 Meter Run. Grayslake Central had two more double winners in winning the team title. Mia Morello cleared 12-6 to win the Pole Vault. She came back to run 9.33 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles edging Jocelyn Crum of Lakes by seven hundredths of a second (9.40). Alexis Anderson swept the horizontal jumps winning the Long Jump (16-8.5) and the Triple Jump (36-2.75). Kaiden Miller of Grayslake Central was the only double winner in the Boys Meet jumping 21-7.75 to win the Long Jump and 43-7.25 to win the Triple Jump.

 

York Girls Invitational #3

 

All-state cross country runner Brooke Berger of York looked in mid-season form in her first race of the season. The junior ran 5:03.49 to win the 1600 Meter Run by more than 12 seconds ahead of teammate Maggie Owens.

 

Other Weekend Highlights

 

Camden Foesch of Class 1A Dakota jumped into the state spotlight running 6.56 (IL #4 tie) to win the 55 Meter Dash Saturday at Byron.

 

The top two performances in the Boys High Jump took place in two separate meets this past weekend. State leader Matt Cless of Evanston cleared 6-8.75 to win the event Friday at the Dan Philips Relays in Evanston. Matt Helwig Jr. of Stevenson cleared 6-7.5 to win the event on his home facility in the NSC Boys Conference Meet.

 

Zachary Marsico of Wheaton-Warrenville South improved his personal best as he had a 55-0.75 mark (IL #9) in the Shot Put at a small home meet.

 

Ava Mabry-Spencer of Plainfield East ran 7.36 (IL #7 tie) to win the 55 Meter Dash at the Plainfield South Girls Invitational #2. Ashley Oliver of Hoffman Estates ran 59.30 (IL #6) to win the 400 Meter Dash at Saturday’s Central Girls Preview Meet.