2022 IHSA Boys State Track & Field Championships - Class 1A Storylines to Watch

Photo: Jadon Robertson and Daniel Lucas look to lead Cowden-Herrick to their first 1A title (Kevin Dorsey Photo)

By Michael Newman [email protected]

 

Does Cowden-Herrick climb for third to first this year on the backs of two athletes? It is a possibility. You can read about some of the top teams in Class 1A in this article.

 

Six athletes last year won state titles as underclassmen. They are back to defend their titles long with some others that are looking for a state title.

 

Returning State Champions

 

Jadon Robertson - Cowden-Herrick

 

At the beginning of last year’s 1A State Finals, not too many people knew who Jadon Robertson was. Due to COVID-19 schedules and restrictions, he did not go to many big meets instead honing his craft to get ready to possibly go to a state meet. When he got to Charleston last June, he shined. He started his state meet by finishing third in the Long Jump in oppressive heat. He jumped back and forth between that event and the High Jump where he cleared 6-6.25 to win a state championship. There was time to recover before he got to the 110 Meter Hurdles where he was not one of the favorites. Robertson went out to run a then personal best of 14.68 to claim his second state title of the day. Cowden-Herrick finished third in last year’s state final with him scoring 27 of the team’s 37 points.

 

His senior season started with his successes indoors. He was running in bigger meets and his performances showed. He won three events to conclude his indoor season at the Illinois Top Times Championships. He added the 300 Meter Hurdles to the other events that he competed in a year ago. The addition did not faze him. He has won every race, every event that he has competed in this outdoor season. He has the top performances in Class 1A in those events. Robertson has jumped 22-10.5 this season in the Long Jump, he has cleared 6-10 in the High Jump, run 14.39 in the 110 Meter Hurdles, and 38.58 in his new event, the 300 Meter Hurdles. He has the fastest time in that event by more than a second. Robertson has signed to attend Southern Illinois University/Carbondale this fall. Before that, he has some business to deal with including helping his high school win the Class 1A State Championship.

 

Tony Phillips - Kankakee (Bishop McNamara)

 

He was the freshman that caught everybody’s eye in last year’s Class 1A State Finals. Phillips caught everyone’s attention when he won the third section of the 100 Meter Dash, then had to wait for the final section to see if he won the event. He did with a 10.87 time. The same happened in the 200 Meter Dash where he had to wait to see if his 22.31 time to win the event. He left with two state titles that seemed improbable even to him. He did not go to summer track when he left Charleston. He headed to the football field to start to attend summer practice.

 

Phillips is a highly recruited running back already as a sophomore. He helped his team last fall make it to the IHSA Class 2A quarterfinals. He has run 10.92 this year with the Class 1A #2 time at that distance. He has run the fastest Class 1A time (22.04) heading into the state meet in the 200 Meter Dash. He will also anchor McNamara’s teams in the 4x100m Relay and 4x200m Relay that could also make the finals.

 

Eli Mojonnier - Bismarck-Henning

 

Mojonnier was hoping to win the 1600 Meter Run in the Class 1A State Finals in 2021. It just happened to be that the 800 Meter Run was his event. He ran 1:57.33 to win his section race, then waited to see after the next section that he won the state championship. He came back later to finish ninth in the 1600 Meter Run leaving Charleston with two all-state performances.

 

He is back one more time to try to pick up more hardware. He had a minor setback at the end of the indoor season when trying to dunk a basketball, he broke his wrist which his coach was not happy about. Mojonnier did go out at Illinois Top Times to win the 800 Meter Run with a cast on. That cast is long gone going into this weekend’s state meet. The times that he has cast in his senior season has positioned himself to do some great things. He again has qualified in both the 800 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run. Mojonnier has run 1:57.25 this season and has the 1A #5 time in the 800 Meter Run. His 1600 Meter Run time of 4:21.48 is second in Class 1A. Mojonnier will attend Illinois State University this fall.

 

Daniel Lucas - Cowden-Herrick

 

While teammate Jadon Robertson is doing his thing on the track, Daniel Lucas is outside in the ring doing spectacular things in the Shot Put. He helped Cowden-Herrick to a third-place finish in last year’s state meet coming from behind in his final attempt to win the Shot Put with a then personal best of 54-11.75 put. He did not have his best day in the Discus finishing 19th.

 

Lucas has progressed to the next level in both events. He has improved by over five feet in the Shot Put where he currently has the top mark in Class 1A with a 60-4.75 put. He has gone past the 60-foot mark three times this season and will be the favorite in Charleston in that event. Lucas will also be in contention for the title in the Discus having an IL #4 throw of 163-8.5. Lucas also plays basketball for Cowden-Herrick. He will attend the University of Iowa this fall.

 

Garrett Taylor - Catlin (Salt Fork)

 

Garrett Taylor excels in both weight events with is best being the Discus. He threw 166-2 in last year’s final to win the Class 1A State Championship in that event. Taylor also earned all-state honors in 2021 in the Shot Put. His dominance in the junior year for Taylor has been impressive. He has gone undefeated in 11 of his 12 meets in the discus. His only setback was last week when he finished second at the St. Joseph-Ogden Sectional. He finished in 2nd last year and went on to win the state title. Could lightning strike twice for him? He has thrown past 170-feet three times this season including a Class 1A state lead of 178-0. Taylor is also 1A #5 in the Shot Put with a 56-6 personal best of 56-6.

 

Ridge Willard - Bloomington (Cornerstone Christian Academy)

 

The event that we will see Ridge Willard compete in beginning this fall at Illinois Wesleyan University is the Decathlon. He has competed in eight events this season. He is the defending champion in the Pole Vault where he cleared a personal best of 15-1 for the win. Willard won at Illinois Top Times at the end of March. He did not compete in the Pole Vault outdoors since April 16. He then went out in the Maroa-Forsyth Sectional last Wednesday and cleared a seasonal best of 14-7.25 showing he is ready for this weekend. He will be the favorite in the event. That height is the top among Class 1A athletes.

 

Does Phillips repeat the sprints double?

 

Tony Phillips was a surprise in winning the 100 Meter Dash and 200 Meter Dash in last year’s state championship. No longer the underdog, Phillips is the sprinter that everyone that will shoot for. The one sprinter that could threaten that double is Tyreke Fortney of Peru St. Bede. He did not compete his sophomore year due to COVID-19 shutting down the track season. A hamstring injury shut him down at the end of last year but not before running a personal best of 10.90. Fortney was not going to run this season. His football coach Jim Eustice recommended to Fortney that running track might be a good thing for football on the next level at Illinois State University next fall. It has been good advice that he has taken. He won titles in the 60 Meter Dash and 200 Meter Dash in March at Illinois Top Times. Fortney has the fastest time in Class 1A in the 100 Meter Dash with a 10.66 time. Fortney is only eight hundredths of a second behind Phillips with an IL #2 22.12 time. Sophomore Ryan Williams of Hope Academy could also be a factor as he is ranked IL #3 tie in the 100 Meter Dash and 1A #4 in the 200 Meter Dash.

 

What does Robertson’s pursuit of four individual titles look like?

 

Jadon Robertson will look to help Cowden-Herrick win a state team title on Saturday. He won two state championships in 2021. The senior will look for four titles this weekend with his quest beginning Thursday in the Class 1A prelims. What kind of chance does he have? It’s fairly good especially when you have the top performance in all four events. He has gone undefeated all season in all four events. His only loss came where he finished third in the 400 Meter Dash. It was the only time he ran that event this year.

 

The one title that eluded him last year was in the Long Jump where he finished third. He jumped past 22-feet twice this year including a 1A best of 22-10.5. There are five other 1A athletes that have jumped past 22-feet. The one athlete to watch for is Austin Henschen of Pana who jumped a sectional leading 22-8.75 last week at Tuscola.

 

Robertson has taken his skills in the High Jump to another height clearing a state leading 6-10 in a small meet in early April. He has cleared 6-6.75 or higher six times this spring. He has competition close to him in this event including Jake Sarver of Warrensburg-Latham who has a seasonal best of 6-8. Mason Kooi of Springfield Lutheran cleared 6-6.75 at North Mac last week and will also go after a state title.

 

One of the top competition for Robertson in the 110 High Hurdles would have been Luke Myszka of Tri-Valley who did not compete at his sectional due to injury. Robertson ran 14.39 at Shelbyville on May 13 to get ready for the state series. He has the four fastest times in 1A in that event. Nathan Kirby of Salt Fork, who finished fourth in last year’s finals, has run 14.63 and is the only athlete left in this event to run under 15-seconds this season.

 

In his “new” event, Robertson has run the four fastest 1A times in the 300 Meter Hurdles with 38.58 his best. Gage Smith of Shelbyville is the only runner in the field that has run under 40-seconds (39.86).

 

James looks for the “Triple Crown”

 

Ryder James of Paxton-Buckley-Loda got the state title that avoided him last November winning the 1A XC State at Detweiller Park. Now he has eyes on the two of the longer distance races at this weekend’s state meet. If his performances from Illinois Top Times last March are any indication, he could be on the road to doing this. James ran 9:18.31 for 3200-meters and 4:27.41 for 1600-meters at Top Times.

 

He did not need to push in his sectional races to make it to state. He only ran 10:09.43 to win at St. Joseph-Ogden in the 3200 Meter Run. He almost did not make it in the 1600 Meter Run with a 4:39.17 time to finish third.

 

Miles Sheppard of Hamilton-West Hancock pushed him at Illinois Top Times and has the fastest 1A times outdoors at 9:18.60. Latin School’s Akili Parekh (9:21.77) and Ryan Hardiman (9:25.83) along with Kieran Subra of Lycee Francais de Chicago (9:26.40) pushed each other at the Hope Academy Sectional and will be in the mix. James’ best outdoor time this season is 9:41.30 (IL #6).

 

James ran 4:17.26 for the top time in Class 1A for the 1600 Meter Run at Shelbyville on May 13. He defeated Eli Mojonnier (4:21.48) by four seconds in that race. Subra (4:21.75) and Hardiman (4:22.31) will also be in the mix. Daniel Winkelman of Harvest Christian Academy ran 4:19 indoors and will be in this event along with the 800 Meter Run and the 4x800m Relay.

 

Passing the baton three times

 

In a state competition in Class 1A where deciding a team championship can be nearly impossible, getting the baton from one athlete to another becomes important for success. We have seen instances that have caused their team state titles beginning with sectional meets.

 

Williamsville enters Thursday’s preliminary session with the Class 1A fastest time of 8:13.74 in the 4x800m Relay. Harvest Christian Academy held back last week in their sectional only running 8:31.07. The Lions do have a season’s best of 8:15.29 that could challenge for a state title. Four other quartets have run under 8:20 including Decatur St. Teresa, Newton, Trenton, and Tuscola. Rockford Christian are always a team to watch for in this relay. They won the 1A Illinois Top Times race in March. They did run 8:21.83 to win at Oregon last week.

 

How close will the 4x100m Relay be this weekend? The top seven sectional seed times are only separated by .28 seconds. Salt Fork has the fastest 1A time in the 43.30 to lead the field. Pleasant Plains ran 43.50 at Maroa-Forsyth last week and leads all sectional qualifiers. Decatur St. Teresa, Lena-Winslow, and Newton are the other teams that have seasonal times under 43.70.

 

Winnebago ran 1:29.25 last week at the Oregon Sectional and has the overall state lead by over two seconds in the 4x200m Relay. Lena-Winslow was second behind Winnebago in that sectional and has run 1:31.07 along with North Mac. Ridgeview, Dakota, Salt Fork, St. Teresa, Pleasant Plains, and Hope Academy are teams to keep an eye on.

 

Winnebago also has the top sectional time in the 4x400m Relay winning at Oregon with a 3:26.61 time. Newton has the seasonal best time of 3:25.26. Rockford Christian, Ridgeview, and Lena-Winslow will also be in contention for the win.

 

Class 1A Meet Tidbits

 

Six runners in the 400 Meter Dash ran sectional times under 51 seconds. Pleasant Plains has two runners among the first six with list leader Zach Powell (50.09) in the front. Bjorn Carlson of Rockford Christian, Cameron Crow of Litchfield, and Max Allen of Arthur-Livingston will also challenge for the win.

 

Eli Mojonnier is the defending champion in the 800 Meter Run and has the #5 time in this event at 1:57.25. Issac Stanford of Flora ran 1:55.60 at DuQuoin on May 6 and has the top 1A time in the state. Isaac Jones of Astoria has the fastest sectional time of 1:56.76. Thomas Harmon of Elmwood, Caleb Kernaghan of St. Teresa, and Beau Edwards of Arcola will be the runners to watch for.

 

Adam Santana of Rockford Christian had the top sectional mark in the Triple Jump. He is currently ranked third overall in Class 1A with a 44-2.25 jump. Jake Sarver of Warrensburg-Latham leads Class 1A with a 44-10.25 best. Mason Kooi of Springfield Lutheran is next with a 44-6.5 jump. There are no other Class 1A athletes within two feet of these three in this event.

 

We mentioned Daniel Lucas earlier leading the Shot Put with a 60-4.75 best last week at Newton. Chris Boyd of Tuscola has also gone over 60-feet (60-1.25) this season and will challenge the defending state champion for the title. Three athletes are over 56-feet including Mitchel Myers of Arcola, Cooper Starks of North Mac, and Garrett Taylor of Salt Fork. Taylor will defend his title in the Discus. The junior has thrown 178-0. Chris Boyd could get a double win. He is within eight feet of Taylor. Brock Trimble of St. Joseph-Ogden is only a sophomore but threw the longest in all of the sectionals with a 165-2.25 mark.

 

Ridge Willard is in defense of his title in the Pole Vault and has Charlie Gentile of Maroa-Forsyth, Ivan Favila of Urbana University, and Parker Holldorf of Erie Prophetstown are all within a foot of Willard.