Illinois High School Track & Field Weekend Highlights - May 1, 2022

 

 

Photo: Micah Wilson edges Ethan Summer to win the 1600 Meter Run Saturday at the Red Ribbon Classic (Kevin Dorsey Photo)

 

 

By Michael Newman – [email protected]

 

Tiger Invitational @ Wheaton-Warrenville South (Friday)

 

The 44th edition of this meet had some rain in the middle. That did not slow down the number of great performances that came from this meeting. It was close in the team standings as Huntley came away with the win scoring 91 points. Lincoln-Way East, who was without Mariam Azeez in this meet, scored 89.2 points to finish second ahead of Naperville North (86.5 points).

 

Alexandria Johnson came away with two individual wins. The junior just missed her season’s best but still jumped 19-4 to win the Long Jump. Johnson holds the state lead with a 19-5 best. Denise Hernandez of Naperville North jumped 18-8 (IL #4) to finish second. Johnson came back to run 12.31 to win easily the 100 Meter Dash ahead of Chalencia Booker of Oswego (12.69) and Kaitlyn Hutchinson of Lincoln-Way Central (12.78). Johnson was also a part of the quartet that ran 48.69 (IL #5) to win the 4x100m Relay with Wheaton-Warrenville South at 49.92 finishing second. Johnson along with her freshman sister Dominique, came back to run 1:45.13 (IL #7) to help Huntley win the 4x200m Relay by three seconds ahead of Wheaton-Warrenville South (1:48.58).

 

Dominique Johnson had a memorable performance in the Triple Jump. The Huntley freshman jumped an outdoor personal best of 39-8 (IL #2) to win the event.

 

The track final races started off with a bang. Audrey Allman ran a 2:14.2 anchor leg to help Glenbard West win the 4x800m Relay with the fastest time in the state (9:26.99). York ran 9:38.44 (IL #3) to finish second ahead of Wheaton-Warrenville South (9:49.74 (IL #8). Allman came back to run 1:00.21 to finish second in the 400 Meter Dash. Christina Gu of Naperville North ran a personal best of 59.03 for the win.

 

The best race of the night came in the 800 Meter Run. The pace was fast with a first 400m in a quick 66.9 seconds. Sophia McNerney pulled away in the second lap of the race to win in 2:14.23 (IL #4). Brooke Berger of York at 2:15.43 (IL #5) and Emma Berres of Naperville North at 2:16.37 (IL #6) finished second and third. The 1600 Meter Run was tactical but played into the hands of Catie McCabe of Hinsdale Central. McCabe pulled away in the final lap to win the race in 5:04.38. Breanna Burak of Huntley ran 5:07.11 to edge Katelyn Winton of York (5:07.15) for second-place. Audra Soderlind of Oswego (5:08.41) and Sarah Fischer of Hinsdale Central (5:09.63) finished fourth and fifth.

 

Sophia Barnard of Lincoln-Way East swept the hurdle races in a meet for the second week in a row. Barnard distanced herself from the field after the fourth hurdle and went on to win the 100 Meter Hurdles (15.15) finishing ahead of Moline’s Corynn Holmes (15.74). Barnard easily won the 300 Meter Hurdles in 45.93 (IL #5) again ahead of Holmes (47.68) and Piper Lindsey of Wheaton-Warrenville South (48.06). Barnard missed her chance for a third win in the 200 Meter Dash as teammate Paige Watson edged by her in the final meters to win (26.62) ahead of Bolingbrook’s Myonica Jackson (26.73) and Barnard (26.79).

 

Four teams went under 4:10 in the 4x400m Relay as Naperville North off a strong anchor from Christina Gu won the race in 4:05.38 (IL #4) finishing ahead of York at 4:06.55 (IL #7), Hinsdale Central at 4:07.12 (IL #8), and Wheaton-Warrenville South at 4:08.85 (IL #13). Jaiden Knopp of Lincoln-Way East cleared 11-7.75 (IL #8) in rainy conditions to win the Pole Vault.

 

Red Ribbon Classic @ Waubonsie Valley (Saturday)

 

This meet has a history of falling under bad weather to the point where the meet needed to be cancelled. It looked that way as we passed from Friday to Saturday morning. Rain was supposed to be a part of this meet. Somehow, the Distance Gods made a hole where it could be completed. There was a little rain at the beginning of the meet and wind stayed on. There were still some great performances in this 11 team meet.

 

The spotlight race in the meet was the 1600 Meter Run where the top five seeds had times all under 4:23. Micah Wilson of St. Charles East pushed the pace from the start passing 400-meters in 63.5 and 800-meters in 2:11.1 as the runners fought through strong headwinds on the back stretch. York’s Ethan Summer let Wilson block the wind and stayed on his shoulder as the pace would pick up in the home stretch. The final lap was classic as Summer made numerous moves to try to take the lead with Wilson refusing to let that happen. The two were shoulder to shoulder in the final 100-meters of the race neither willing to give up the advantage. Four hundredths of a second separated the two runners with Wilson at 4:20.53 ahead of Summer at 4:20.57 for the win. Oswego East’s Alex Das (4:22.66) and Parker Nold (4:23.48) finishing third and fourth. Angel Solis of Waubonsie Valley ran 4:25.93 to finish fifth. Wilson at the start of the meet brought St. Charles East from third with a 2:00.1 anchor leg giving his team the win (8:17.15) ahead of Oswego East (8:18.95) and York (8:25.40).

 

Waubonsie Valley won its own meet scoring 127.5 points. Wheaton-Warrenville South (108 points) and York (84 points) finished second and third. The Warriors used their depth to get their points only winning two individual events. Brody Squires won the Long Jump (20-6) jumping into a strong headwind. Ethan Marshall took the lead in the third lap of the 3200 Meter Run. Marshall pulled away in the final 1600 to run 9:50.28 to win the event.

 

Kyle Clabough of Yorkville was a double winner in the weight events. Clabough had a best of 60-3.25 to win the Shot Put ahead of Zach Marisco of Wheaton-Warrenville South (52-3.25) and Sam Mika of Waubonsie Valley (51-11.25). Clabough came back to throw 155-11.75 to win the Discus again ahead of Mika (154-7) and Marsico (154-7).

 

Josh Pugh of Yorkville established a huger personal best of 49.88 (IL #8) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Reese Young of Wheaton-Warrenville South moved away from the field at 60-meters to run 10.95 to win the 100 Meter Dash. Young was part of South’s quartet that ran 44.10 to win the 4x100m Relay. Austin Belle of Neuqua Valley ran 22.24 in winning the 200 Meter Dash.

 

Emmett Doyle of York moved away from the field in third 200 of the 800 Meter Run going on to win the race in 1:59.61 finishing ahead Nathan Virginelli of Wheaton-Warrenville South (2:01.83). Doyle anchored York to a win in the 4x400m Relay (3:31.86) ahead of Waubonsie Valley (3:36.65) by almost five seconds.

 

Pete Struck Eagle Classic @ Sandburg (Thursday)

 

The showcase race of this meet was in the 1600 Meter Run where a number of state champions and all-state runners filled the field. The final results of that race exceeded expectations with eight runners under 4:20 and 13 runners under 4:23.

 

3A 800-meter champion Daniel Watcke made a strong move in the final lap to win the race in 4:12.43 (IL #2). Declan Tunney of Sandburg ran 4:14.50 (IL #3) to finish second ahead of Roy Lewellyn of Downers Grove North (4:15.78, IL #4), Brock Rice of Sandburg (4:17.30, IL #9), and Emerson Fayman of Minooka (4:17.37). Michael Skora of Hinsdale Central ran a 20 second personal best of 4:18.05 to finish sixth with Caden Weber of Downers Grove North (4:19.56) and Zachary Balzer of Minooka (4:19.92 also under 4:20. Personal bests were achieved by the next five finishers with Ryan Eddington of Downers Grove North running 4:20.64 ahead of Sean Marquardt of Sandburg (4:20.75), Sam Berlinghof of Jones Prep (4:21.36), Trent Anderson of Sandburg (4:21.95), and Topher Ferris of Downers Grove North (4:22.15).

 

Minooka’s Collin Forrest was a double winner running 14.79 to win the 110 High Hurdles and 40.73 to win the 300 Intermediate Hurdles. Crete-Monee ran 1:29.63 (IL #8) in winning the 4x200m Relay. Sam Bowerman of Downers Grove North jumped 45-5 (IL #8) to win the Triple Jump.

 

Wanner Knights Invitational @ Prospect (Friday)

 

Prospect dominated their own meet scoring 167.83 points to win the team title. Naperville Central (91.5 points) and New Trier (87.83) finished second and third. The Knights produced state fastest times in winning two relays. Prospect ran a state best of 42.21 to win the 4x100m Relay finishing ahead of Downers Grove South (43.05) and Neuqua Valley (43.16). Another state leading time came from Prospect when they ran 1:28.00 to win the 4x200m Relay by more than two seconds ahead of Downers Grove South (1:30.23) and New Trier (1:30.62). Prospect also won the 4x400m Relay running 3:26.00 (IL #5) for the win ahead of New Trier at 3:27.17 (IL #6) and Downers Grove South at 3:27.64 (IL #8).

 

Dominik Balenda of Prospect was part of the 4x4 relay win. The junior also won two individual events. Balenda ran 48.98 (IL #2 tie) to win 400 Meter Dash with Austin Cabanban of Loyola Academy finishing second (50.32). Balenda came back to run 22.62 to edge Isaac Rice of St. Ignatius (22.65) for the win in the 200 Meter Dash.

 

New Trier’s Nick Falk easily won the 3200 Meter Run (9:07.98) ahead of teammate George Cahill (9:21.06). Zachary Balzer of Minooka doubled back after running 4:19 at Sandburg on Thursday to run 4:17.07 (IL #8) to win a highly competitive 1600 Meter Run. Six runners total were under 4:20 in this race with Tim Neumann of Downers Grove South (4:17.50) placing second, New Trier’s Cahill (4:17.83) and Falk (4:18.04) finishing third and fourth, Joey Furlong of Barrington at 4:18.98 in fifth, and Luke Noren of Naperville Central placing sixth (4:19.33).

 

Lane Tech pulled away on the final leg of the 4x800m Relay winning in 7:57.67. Naperville Central at 8:00.09 (IL #5), Downers Grove South at 8:02.05 (IL #7), and Hersey at 8:10.42 (IL #15).

 

Desmond Horton of Lake Park jumped a state leading 47-2.25 to win the Triple Jump. James Ammenhauser of Neuqua Valley jumped 45-10.5 (IL #6) to finish second. Ammenhauser also jumped 21-11.5 to win the Long Jump.

 

Jim Arnold Invitational @ Glenbard West (Saturday)

 

Field events took the spotlight in this meet. Lucah Jones of Lake Park threw a personal best 175-5 (IL #3) to win the Discus. Tyler Michelini of Lake Park had a 52-6 mark to win the Shot Put. Devon Neal of Wheaton North jumped a 46-1.26 personal best (IL #4) to win the Triple Jump. Cameron Williams of Glenbard West was a double winner jumping 21-3.5 to win the Long Jump and running 11.15 to win the 100 Meter Dash.

 

Oak Park-River Forest scored 111.5 point to win the team title ahead of Evanston (90 points) and Wheaton North (80 points).

 

Sam Burns of Niles West ran 15.21 to win the 110 High Hurdles as Ian Kelley of Oak Park-River Forest ran 15.50 to finish second. Kelley came back to run 40.05 to win the 300 Intermediate Hurdles. Oak Park-River Forest ran 8:01.76 (IL #6) to win the 4x800m Relay by nine seconds ahead of Glenbard West. Ryan Schreiner of Wheaton North ran a personal best of 4:21.97 to win the 1600 Meter Run. Liam Newhart of Oak Park-River Forest (4:25.08) and Gabe Ryan of Naperville North (4:25.59) finished second and third.

 

Kane County Girls Championships @ St. Charles East (Thursday)

 

Batavia won the team championship with 128 points ahead of St. Charles East (106 points) by 22 points. The top race of the night was the 3200 Meter Run. Katrina Schlenker of Batavia ran a personal best of 10:35.09 (IL #5) for the win with Lianna Surtz of Rosary running 10:40.10 (IL #8) to finish second. Schlenker anchored Batavia’s team to a win in the 4x400m Relay in 4:02.63 (IL #3).

 

Isabella Orozco of Aurora Central Catholic ran 1:00.17 (2A #6) to win the 400 Meter Dash for her second win of the meet. Earlier, Orozco ran 2:18.77 to win the 800 Meter Run finishing ahead of Naomi Ruff of South Elgin (2:19.28) and Amelia Bellizzi of St. Charles East (2:19.94). Ruff came back to run 5:07.20 to win the 1600 Meter Run with Heather Durrant of Elgin Larkin finishing second (5:10.66). St. Charles East ran 9:40.95 (IL #4) in winning the 4x800m Relay.

 

Lake County Girls Championships @ Grayslake Central (Friday)

 

Lake Zurich captured the county team title with 127 points. Grayslake Central (99 points) and Vernon Hills (69 points) finished second and third in the standings.

 

The distance races stole the show in this meet. Aly Negovetich of Grant dropped down her personal best to 10:28.75 (IL #4) to win the 3200 Meter Run. Brooke Johnston of Lake Zurich also ran a personal best of 10:40.71 (IL #9) in finishing second. Johnston came back to run 5:01.62 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Isabella Marisco of Lake Forest (5:03.98) and Negovetich (5:06.18). Bella Domier of Grayslake Central won the 800 Meter Run (2:20.08) with Jordyn Miller of Mundelein finishing second (2:21.35). Domier anchored Grayslake Central’s quartet to the win in the 4x800m Relay with a 9:46.21 time (IL #5). Lake Forest ran 9:50.65 (IL #11) to finish second.

 

Mia Morello of Grayslake Central won both the Pole Vault clearing 11-10.5 and ran 48.81 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles. Ella O’Neall of Stevenson had a 44-0.25 to win the Shot Put.

 

Class 1A Girls Highlights

 

Alyssa Williams of Tuscola improved on her 1A leading time at Monticello on Friday. Williams ran 12.16 (IL #6) to win the 100 Meter Dash. Williams also jumped 17-8.5 (1A #2) to win the Long Jump and ran 25.58 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Her teammate Lia Patterson ran 15.27 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles and 46.17 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles.

 

Sophia Yanich of Bloomington Central Catholic ran the 1A fastest time in the 400 Meter Dash at last Monday’s Bloomington/Normal Meet (59.92). Bloomington Central Catholic ran a 1A #1 4:09.65 in the 4x400m Relay. On the same day, Grace Alongi of DuQuoin ran 1:00.12 (1A #4) at a home meet. Grace Erb of Winnebago stepped down a distance to run 1:00.71 (1A #6) at the same distance at her home meet on Saturday. Elana Rybak went under five-minutes for the fist time at Monday’s Madison County Small School Meet. Her time in the race was a 1A leading 4:58.13. Anna Perry of Eureka ran a 1A leading time of 11:10.12 in winning the 3200 Meter Run Friday at her home invitational. Cassidy Clark of Mt. Pulaski threw at state leading 142-5.5 in the Discus in a meet Tuesday at Clinton.

 

Class 2A Girls Highlights

 

Tatum David of Richland County is quietly putting up some impressive distance times. In Monday’s Herrin Girls Invitational, the junior ran a solo 10:25.51 to win the 3200 Meter Run by almost four minutes.

 

Anna Barr of Normal University ran 12.44 (2A #3 tie) at the Bloomington/Normal City Meet on Tuesday. Mia Rodriguez of Marian Catholic had a good double at Thursday’s Oak Forest Invitational running 59.51 (2A #2) to win the 400 Meter Dash and 26.20 (2A #8) to win the 200 Meter Dash. Colleen Zeibert of Rochester ran 2:17.07 (2A #2) to win the 800 Meter Run at the Morton Distance Gala.

 

Class 3A Girls Highlights

 

Allison Ince of Normal Community came back two days after winning at Distance Night at Palatine. The sophomore won two individual events including the state’s fastest time in the 400 Meter Dash (56.04). She anchored Normal Community’s team on Saturday at the Morton Distance Gala to better their IL #2 in winning the 4x800m Relay (9:36.38) to win the meet title. Ince came back in that meet to run 4:58.27 to win the 1600 Meter Run by 13 seconds.

 

Zawadi Brown of Neuqua Valley ran 57.21 (IL #3) to win the 400 Meter Dash at Glenbard North on Friday. Brown came back to run 25.16 (IL #7) to win the 3200 Meter Dash. Brown anchored Neuqua Valley to the win in the 4x100m Relay (48.97, IL #7).

 

Evanston Township ran the state fastest time in winning the 4x400m Relay (3:56.77) at the Palatine Relays on Saturday. Scout Storms of Barrington was the Girls’ Athlete of the Meet when she ran 2:19.80 to win the 800 Meter Run. The freshman was also a part of Barrington’s winning Sprint Medley Relay (4:31.58) and second-place team in the 4x800m Relay. Becca Caliendo of Hersey was a double winner in the meet with a 42-4.5 mark (IL #4) to win the Shot Put and a 127-5.25 (3A #4) throw to win the Discus

 

Janiya Bowman of Plainfield South ran 25.16 (IL #7 tie) to win the 200 Meter Dash at Thursday’s Hunt Invitational. Plainfield North ran 4:09.70 to win the 4x400m Relay. Tessani Foster of Plainfield Central cleared an outdoor state leading 12-0 to win the Pole Vault. Kiera White of Fremd jumped 19-0 (IL #3) to win the Long Jump at Friday’s Conant Twilight Invitational.

 

Class 1A Boys Highlights

 

The top two 1A times in the 800 Meter Run over the past couple of days. Thomas Harmon ran 1:56.20 to run a 1A #1 time in winning at the Morton Distance Gala on Saturday. Harmon came back to run 4:27.32 (1A #6) in the 1600 Meter Run. Eli Mojonnier of Bismarck-Henning dropped his time down to 1:57.55 (1A #2) last Friday at St. Joseph-Ogden. Tommy Murray of Riverdale ran 4:26.15 for the 1600 Meter Run at a home meet on Thursday.

 

Miles Sheppard of Warsaw had a double win at a meet last week in Iowa. Sheppard ran solo in winning the 3200 Meter Run with a 9:18.60 personal best. Sheppard came back to run 4:28.19 (1A #7) to win the 1600 Meter Run.

 

Salt Fork ran a 1A leading 43.79 in the 4x100m Relay Friday at St. Joseph-Ogden. Winnebago ran the fastest 1A time in the 4x400m Relay (3:31.05) at Oregon Friday night.

 

Class 2A Boys Highlights

 

Drew Rogers of Herscher was looking for a fast time in the 1600 Meter Run after winning the 3200 last week at Palatine. Rogers accomplished that by himself. He ran a 2A #2 time of 4:16.72 (IL #5) to win the race by 50 seconds.

 

Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic ran 49.80 (2A #2) in winning at Oswego on Friday night. Limestone ran 8:17.68 (2A #3) to win in the 4x800m Relay at the Morton Distance Gala. In that relay, Wilson Georges ran a 1:52.6 anchor leg to carry his team to the win. Payton Prep ran the 2A fastest time of 8:09.73 at the Deerfield Invitational on Saturday.

 

DeShawn Parker of St. Laurence took the 2A lead in the Triple Jump with a 45-3.75 personal best at Friday’s Homewood-Flossmoor Invitational.

 

Class 3A Boys Highlights

 

Dylan Gramley of Plainfield North improved on his personal best in the 200 Meter Dash at Thursday’s Hunt Invitational. Gramley ran 221.94 (3A #2) to take home the win.