A look back at the 2022 Illinois Top Times Championships - Sprints/Hurdles

 

 

Jalen Johnson and Gabe Czabo in the 3A Boys 60 Hurdles – Tony Holler Photo

 

 

By Michael Newman [email protected]

 

 

Here is a look at the sprint, hurdle, and relay events that took place last Friday and Saturday at Illinois Top Times held at the Shirk Center on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.

 

2A Girls – A little scent of Kankakee

 

There were so many things that I was looking forward to in this meet. The 2A sprints and hurdles stepped to the head of the class with so many great performances. It all started with a great sprint squad from Kankakee.

 

Both the Boys and Girls sprint teams from this school failed to disappoint. We knew we would have a close final race in the 60 Meter Dash when Neveah Lowe led all qualifiers at 7.81 with Emmi Scales of St. Viator (7.82) and Symone Frison of Lindblom (7.83) close behind.

 

There had to be two sections in the 2A Girls finals as a tie could not be broken going to the thousandths of a second. Lena Jackson of Peoria Richwoods led the way running 7.94 to win section 1. The second race was closer coming to a lean at the finish by Scales to win the meet title (7.74) ahead of Lowe (7.75). Frison ran 7.84 to finish third. Kankakee had four runners make the finals with Saniah Stewart placing fifth (7.96), Naomi Bey-Osborne finishing sixth (8.02), and Sydney Ramsey finishing seventh with the same time as Bey-Osborne.

 

Scales set the standard early in the 60 Meter Hurdles running 9.03. Brianna Dixon of Rantoul in the final heat lowered that time running 8.92. Ali Rapps of Geneseo led the next qualifiers running 9.14.

 

Dixon and Scales both got off to great starts in the finals. Dixon took the lead for good at the third hurdle going on to run a personal best of 8.77 (IL #2) to win the meet title. Scales 8.93 to finish second a good margin ahead of Rapps at 9.12 (IL #8) and Kennedy Ross of Lindblom (9.22) in fourth.

 

We saw the depth that Kankakee had in the 60. We knew that it would transfer quite nicely entering into the 4x200m Relay. Galesburg led after the first three sections with a 1:50.21 time (2A #6). That would only get them fifth overall. The final section got the looks led by Kankakee. The quartet of Saniah Stewart (26.46), Neveah Lowe (25.41), Jakia Autman (26.32), and Naomi Bey-Osborne (24.97) gave their team the win (1:43.15) and a new Class 2A meet record. The time is second fastest in the state to end the indoor season. Peoria Richwoods (1:48.91), Lindblom (1:49.04), and Geneseo (1:49.24) finished second through fourth.

 

Mia Rodriguez of Marian Catholic had the edge coming off the final curve in the final section of the 400 Meter Dash. Isabella Orosco of Aurora Central had bigger plans. The junior, who had finished in the 800 Meter Run 30 minutes before, edged Rodriguez just before the line to win the 2A title in 59.51 (2A #2). Rodriguez ran 59.77 (2A #3) to finish second ahead of Becca Heitzig of Lincoln (1:00.67 & 2A #5). Heitzig earlier in the meet had won the 3200 Meter Run.

 

It was Kankakee that had the advantage in the 200 Meter Dash placing 3 athletes in the top 5. Lowe picked up her first individual win of the meet running 25.70 for the title ahead of teammate Bey-Osborne (25.76). Lena Jackson of Richwoods and Anna Barr of Normal University finished third and fourth both with the same time (26.24). Kankakee’s Stewart finished fifth (26.48).

 

Lakes had the advantage entering the final leg of the 4x400m Relay. On came Bey-Osborne in her fourth race of the day. The freshman ran a 59.97 anchor leg to give their team the win with a 4:12.40 time. Lakes finished second (4:13.05). The next four teams were only separated by a second. Lincoln, anchored by a 1:00.89 leg by Heitzig, finished third (4:14.02) followed by Tolono Unity (4:14.54), Peoria Notre Dame (4:14.73), and Mt. Zion (4:14.88).

 

2A Boys – Morrow leads Kankakee to relay wins and 200 title

 

Sophomore Jayon Morrow was the sparkplug for Kankakee in Saturday’s first session anchoring his team to two relay wins and an individual title in between. Kankakee had the lead at the end of the second leg and never looked back on their way to the win in 1:31.96 led by Morrow’s 22.02 anchor leg. Sycamore at 1:34.08 (2A #4) and St. Laurence at 1:34.14, and Richmond-Burton at 1:34.20 finished second through fourth.

 

Morrow’s win came in the 200 Meter Dash pulling away from St. Rita’s EJ Nwagwu in the final stretch for the win. Morrow ran 22.38 (IL #4) to claim the title ahead of Nwagwu (22.69) and Adrian Williams of St. Laurence (22.78, 2A #6). Earlier in the meet, Urbana’s Jackson Gilbert ran the only time under 50 seconds in this meet timed at 49.99 (IL #3) to win the 400 Meter Dash ahead of Nwagwu (51.22) and Marion’s Bryson Wilson (51.79).

 

Morrow saved his best for last in an exciting 4x400m Relay. The sophomore got the baton in second, then took the lead for good in finishing with a 3:30.16 win (IL #5) with Richmond-Burton at 3:31.59 (IL #7) finishing second and Marion at 3:32.52 (2A #3) finishing third.

 

It looked like Christian Keyhea of Mt. Zion was holding something back in his heat win of 6.98 to open up the 60 Meter Dash qualifying heats. Jerome Cranford of Peoria Manual was his closest competition of 7.01 the final heat. It was all Keyhea in the finals leaving his competition in the blocks. The senior ran a lifetime best of 6.90 (IL #3) for the easy win ahead of Princeton’s Keegan Fogarty at 7.07 (2A #7), and Morrow and Cranford both timed at 7.10.

 

Dewayne Johnson of Pontiac surprised some in his preliminary heat of the 60 Meter Hurdles with a perfect run of 8.18 (IL #3) to lead all qualifiers Alec Sledge of Mt. Vernon was his closest competition at 8.44 to win the second heat.

 

It was a complete change in the finals. Johnson did not have a smooth race heating the second, third, and fourth hurdles. Sledge on the other hand was nearly perfect as he ran 8.19 (IL #5) for the event title. Johnson ran 8.38 to finish second ahead of third-place Jason Huang of Benet Academy at 8.68.

 

Class 3A Boys – Johnson leads way with double win…but it was the hurdles race that everyone talked about.

 

Jalen Johnson of Metea Valley was looking for three individual wins in the 3A portion of the meet. Johnson came close to his goal winning two events. It was the 60 Meter Hurdles that he missed but came close to winning.

 

Gabe Czako of Lockport turned up the heat in his heat running a qualifying lead of 8.14 in the opening heat. Johnson won the second heat 8.32 followed by Sam Burns of Niles West running 8.33 to win the final qualifying heat.

 

The two friends lined up next to each other in the finals each wanting this meet title. There was no separating them as they cleared the first four hurdles. Czako barely had the advantage going over the final hurdle. The two came across the line together with Czako in the state leading time of 8.10 to win the race ahead of Johnson and his 8.12 time (IL #2). Michael Campbell of Rolling Meadows ran 8.23 (IL #6) edging Burns (8.25, IL #8) for third-place.

 

Johnson had little time to think about his last race with the 60 Meter Dash coming next. Maybe he took some of the previous race with him as he settled into the blocks for that final race. He got out fast getting into his drive phase before anyone else. That resulted with his lifetime best of 6.93 (IL #5) to get him the 3A win. Dylan Gramley of Plainfield North had a personal best of 7.01 (IL #10 tie) to finish second with Daniel Eloe of Naperville North continuing to put up great times running 7.02 (3A #8 tie) to finish third.

 

Johnson had thought of running the 400 Meter Dash but pulled out of the event wanting to concentrate on getting a fast 200 Meter Dash at the end of the meet. It was Konrad Sacha of South Elgin had everyone’s attention. Sacha had the lead at the break never looking back as he ran 50.32 (IL #5) for the event win. Logan Veloz of East Moline won the third section in 50.77 (IL #10) to finish second overall. New Trier’s Ronan O’Neill ran 51.30 to finish third.

 

Johnson tall frame would have problems on the tight turns in the Shirk Center. But his long strides took advantage of the long straightaways. Eli Reed of Downers Grove South ran 22.41 (IL #6) to win the third section and put the pressure on Johnson. The Metea Valley senior responded to that in a positive way. He came off the final curve with a slight lead that extended more in the final 40-meters. Johnson passed Reed’s time running 22.29 (IL #2) to earn his second win of the night. Reed’s time gave hm second-place ahead of Quincy’s Jettason Rose (22.67)

 

It was Plainfield North that had the edge in the 4x200m Relay even though they were not in the final section. The Tigers took the lead during the second leg of their section running 1:31.65 (IL #6) to win their section ahead of Naperville North who ran 1:32.33 (IL #9). They would have to wait to see how the final section would turn out to see what their place fate was. Evanston was dominant in winning the fourth section. Their time of 1:32.82 (3A #10) was not fast enough to take the win instead settling for third overall.

 

Plainfield North took the second of the two relays running 3:29.57 (IL #2) holding off Kenwood at 3:29.71 (IL #3) and Naperville North (3:31.72, IL #9).

 

3A Girls – Surprises galore

 

The closest race of the evening came in the 400 Meter Dash with the three top athletes this winter in the event Homewood-Flossmoor’s Alexandra Edison and Angela Alozie facing Rylee Lydon of Prairie Ridge. Edison, wo had the fastest time in the state coming into this meet, had the lead after the first lap just a tenth of a second ahead of Lydon. It stayed close down the back stretch with Alozie moving closer to the front two. It seemed like three would come together in a straight line. It was Edison that kept her perfect record intact running 57.56 for the win just eight hundredths of a second ahead of Lydon (57.64, IL #4) and another seven hundredths of a second ahead of Alozie (57.71, IL #5).

 

Edison won the fourth section of the 200 Meter Dash with her 25.39 time. It was Zawadi Brown of Neuqua Valley with her 25.23 (IL #3) time in winning the third section that gave her the overall win. Lindsey Miller of Simeon ran 25.53 to finish third.

 

Brown made her presence known earlier in the season at the DGS Relays running down relay teams to give her Neuqua Valley teammates the win. The same happened in the 4x200m Relay. Huntley almost had a two second lead on Neuqua Valley in the third section of the race. Brown took the baton and went to work catching Alex Johnson in the final 50-meters to run a 24.15 split on her way to winning the section in 1:44.97 (IL #5) just ahead of Huntley at 1:45.05 (IL #6). The two teams would finish second and third overall. The final section was just as exciting as Evanston ran 1:44.36 (IL #3) to claim the overall win ahead of Whitney Young (1:44.82, IL #4).

 

One of the surprises of the night came in the 60 Meter Dash. Carolyn Lehnen of Chatham-Glenwood had made her name known at the middle school level. She made her presence known in the prelims with a lifetime best of 7.69 to lead all qualifiers ahead of Rachel Robinson of Whiney Young (7.71), Huntley’s Alex Johnson (7.78), and Edison at 7.79. The confidence of Lehnen showed in the finals as she won with a 7.62 time (IL #2). Robinson finished second at 7.65 (IL #3 ahead of Simeon’s Lindsey Miller at 7.68 and Edison at 7.80.

 

Another Neuqua Valley sophomore Inara Ukawuba made waves in easily winning the 60 Meter Hurdles. Ukawuba ran a season’s best of 8.96 (IL #4) to win the 3A title ahead of Shannon Lawler of Stagg (9.14, 3A #4) and Abrielle Artley of Evanston (9.31, IL #6).

 

Evanston made a huge statement in the final race of the 3A program. The Lady Wildkits ran a state leading 3:56.32 for the win with all four of their runners with splits under 60 seconds. Their margin of win was by 12 seconds ahead of Whitney Young (4:08.06, IL #9). Huntley ran 4:08.53 to win the first section and finish third overall.

 

1A Boys – Fortney leads way with double win.

 

This is the first full year of track for Tyreke Fortney of Peru St. Bede. He took the recommendation of taking part in this sport. His hard work is paying off as it showed in this meet Friday night.

 

The preliminary heats in the 60 Meter Dash determined that this would be a close final. Fortney ran 7.01 to win his heat. Camden Foesch of Dakota (7.04), Ryan Williams of Hope Academy (7.03), and Jayden Veesenmeyer of Pleasant Plains (7.13) were the other heat winners. It was Fortney that had the final say in the final running 6.90 (IL #3 tie) that claimed the win ahead of Williams (6.97, IL #7), Foesch (7.08), and Veesenmeyer (7.09).

 

Fortney and Williams came off the final curve of the 200 Meter Dash with Fortney with the slight lead. Williams lost his balance 30-meters from the finish falling to the track. He did not finish. Fortney ran the fastest 1A time in the state (22.73) to claim his second win of the night.

 

Williams was part of the Hope Academy quartet that ran a 1A leading 1:33.51 to win the 4x200m Relay ahead of Winnebago (1:34.62) and Salt Fork (1:35.73). It was a wild and physical 4x400m Relay. Rockford Christian won their second relay of the night running a 1a leading 3:33.65 to finish ahead of Winnebago (3:33.83) and Byron (3:35.31).

 

It was a close finish in the 400 Meter Dash as Max Allen of Arthur-Lovington ran 51.76 to edge Cameron Crown of Litchfield (51.93) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Cannon Lambert of Harvest Christian Academy finished third (52.38). The results were the top three times in 1A this indoor season.

 

Jadon Robertson of Cowden-Herrick won three events in the 1A meet. His one running event gave him a close win in the 60 Meter Hurdles with a 1A leading 8.18 for the win ahead of Luke Myszka of Tri-Valley (8.24) and Nathan Kirby of Salt Fork and Jackson Kern of Auburn who hade the same time of 8.49 finishing third and fourth.

 

1A Girls – Williams a double winner

 

Alyssa Williams of Tuscola was the star of the show in the sprints at last June’s 1A State Finals. The same held true on Friday night as she was the queen in the sprints. It showed in the prelims as her time of 7.83, fastest of the qualifiers a quarter of a second ahead of Cambria Geyer of Tremont, Mandy Nelson of Rockford Christian, and Alexa Miller of Arthur-Lovington.

 

The margin was close to the same in the finals. Williams shot out of the blocks in the lead on the way to running a 1A best time of 7.74 to win the race. Geyer (8.06), Emma Crawford of North Mac (8.07), and Nelson (8.08) were separated by two hundredths of a second from second to fourth.

 

The Tuscola senior entered the 200 Meter Dash as the big favorite. It did not change as she ran 25.93 for her second win of the night. Geyer was her closest competition running 26.65 to finish second ahead of Kaitlyn Vahling of Teutopolis (26.77). Williams was also a part of her team’s success in the 4x200m Relay. Her 26.5 split gave her team the win in the second section and fourth place overall with a season’s best of 1:50.62. A half a second separated the top three teams in the final section. Maroa-Forsyth came away with the win (1:50.07) ahead of Rockford Christian (1:50.32) and Byron (1:50.49).

 

Tremont’s Cambria Geyer had a good night in the sprints with a pair of second place finishes. Her best event is the 60 Meter Hurdles. The junior won that in style running 9.06 (IL #7) ahead of Shelby McGee of Salt Fork (9.67). Sophia Yaklich of Bloomington Central Catholic has been the top 1A runner in this event this winter. The freshman came from behind to run 59.50 to win the 400 Meter Dash just edging Nakeita Kessling of Henry-Senachwine (1:00.21) and Tuscola freshman Lia Patterson (1:00.21).

 

Rockford Christian came from behind to run 4:14.38 to win the 4x400m Relay. Winnebago (4:15.35) and DuQuoin (4:18.00) to finish second and third.