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Kankakee picks up second state title for school on consecutive weekends

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Illinois IHSA Outdoor State Championships   May 30th 2022, 2:29pm
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Kankakee picks up second state title for school on consecutive weekends

 

Photo: Wilson Georges celebrates a new 2A State Meet Record in winning the 1600 ( Photo courtesy of Tony Holler)

 

Georges, Slack run astonishing races to break 2A State Records; Rogers repeats as 3200 champion; Relays were hot in Class 2A

 

 

By Michael Newman [email protected]

 

 

Charleston, Ill – Kankakee started the spring sports season with no state champions for their school. After this weekend, they have two state championship trophies to display. The Boys team followed the example that heir Girls program did the week before on this same track.

 

The Kays were almost perfect this weekend advancing almost all of their sectional qualifiers to the finals, then capitalized on that success scoring 62 points to win the state title.

 

Seven points separated the next nine teams. Mt. Zion and Mt. Vernon both scored 32 points to tie for second. East St. Louis-Senior missed atrophy by two points finishing fourth with 32 points. Cahokia (30.33 points) and Marion (30 points) tied for fifth and sixth. Herrin (29 points), Limestone (28 points), and Lincoln (27 points) were next.

 

Kankakee’s win came with two state titles in relays. Their quartet of Tyrice Bender, Jayon Morrow, Nahzir Hill, and Jyaire Hill were on fire in the 4x100m Relay. Kankakee held the lead after two handoffs pulling away to the state title with a 41.91 time. Troy Triad (42.33) and East St. Louis-Senior finished second and third (42.44).

 

One of the runners that had a great day was Chris Nelson of Herrin. The freshman anchored Herrin to the win in the 4x200m Relay (1:27.48) ahead of Kankakee (1:28.14) and St. Laurence (1:28.76).

 

Kankakee had already enough points to win the state title. A win in the 4x400m Relay would be the cherry on top. The lead went back and forth between Kankakee and Richmond-Burton. Kankakee’s Aarion Brown gave the team the lead as he handed it off to anchor Jyaire Hill. The final lap of the 2A meet between Hill and Richmond-Burton’s Jack Verdoni was amazing as the two challenged each other to run a little faster. They came down to the final straight to decide the win. Hill out leaned Verdoni to give Kankakee for the win by only two hundredths of a second (3:21.01 – 3:21.03). Kaneland finished third (3:24.33).

 

Jayon Morrow was all-state in three events giving the team 24 of their 62 points. After being a part of their winning 4x1 team, he took to the blocks for the 100m Dash. Morrow got off to a good start but was caught by Chris Nelson just before the line. The Herrin freshman ran 10.70 for a state championship with Morrow second (10.77) ahead of Braydon Waller of Marian Catholic (10.79) and Aneefy Ford of Streator (10.82).

 

The 400 Meter Dash was electrifying with the top two times in the state produced in that race. Jackson Gilbert of Urbana dipped under 48 seconds for the first time running 47.48 in capturing the state title. Morrow was also under 48 seconds with a second-place 47.90 time. Dawson Feyen of Galena ran 49.86 to finish third.

 

EJ Nwagwu of St. Rita got off to a great start in the 200 Meter Dash final. He was able to hold off Morrow to win the race and state title in the event. His time of 21.78 was just ahead of Morrow (21.97) who earned his third second-place of the meet. Christian Keyhea of Mt. Zion (22.16) finished third. Gilbert edged Nelson for fourth. Both were timed in 22.40.

 

Two Class 2A State Meet Records were broken both in distance events.

 

Wilson Georges of Limestone had been waiting for this moment his entire life. He had one more chance to win a state championship in his final high school state individual race. Georges scorched the field in his sectional race running 4:09 winning by 27 seconds. He tuned for Saturday’s by running side by side defending champion Drew Rogers of Herscher both running 4:20.

 

Georges was fresh not doubling in any other event. Rogers would defend his state title in the 3200 Meter Run, then come back three hours later in this race. Gavin Genisio of Benton would run in the finals in the 800 Meter Run and come right back to run in this race.

 

It looked to be that the starts were aligned for Georges. All he had to do was execute his race plan. While waiting in the clerks tent for the start of the race, Georges told Rogers he was going after a fast time. It was good for the two runners to communicate race pace. I am guessing Rogers already had an idea what would be happening.

 

Georges and Rogers broke away from the pack immediately after the start. The two runners passed the first 400 in 61 seconds with Michael Schumacher hanging on a second back with Genisio.

 

The stride of Georges looked effortless. He had practiced this strategy of going out hard and then see what happened in the second half of the race. Runners would catch hm towards the end last year. It was not happening most of the time this year. It did not look like it would happen on this day. He passed in 2:02.6 as Rogers dropped three seconds back in 2:05. Schumacher and Genisio were holding on in 2:08. The rest of the pack was another three seconds back.

 

This was an 800-meter victory lap for Georges as he continued to gap the field. Most of the fans in the stands knew was happening. The PA realized in the final 200-meters of the race. He was at 3:05.45 at the bell lap still looking fresh like he had not run three fast laps. Rogers was now almost eight seconds back holding his second-place position. Genisio had moved into third and had his sights on Rogers. Schumacher was joined by Lance Miller of Mascoutah and Brendan Heitzig of Lincoln for the final lap.

 

Fans came to their feet as Georges entered the final straightaway. He knew what he was doing but was trying not to think about it. Just get to the finish line he said after the race.

 

His arms went up in the air just before the finish line. The crowd was in a roar as he broke Rogers’ one-year-old record by five seconds with a 4:08.58 personal best time. He bent over, caught his breath briefly, and looked at the crowd and screamed. He had waited for this moment. More importantly, he earned and deserved all of the acknowledgements that he received.

 

“I read an article about former Sandburg State champion miler Bob Hicks and how he managed the state meet. He knew everyone would be doubling back. He just hammered the pace and won the state title,” Georges said. “I could have not asked for a better day today. The prelims felt good yesterday and I exerted little energy. I knew I felt good enough to go ahead with my plan.”

 

The state title had escaped Georges grasp for almost four years. Pressuring the race from the start was the difference.

 

“I have so much respect for Drew (Rogers). He is the best runner that I have run against on the high school level. I did not take this lightly. I knew he could have won this race. I was confident I would come out here and win this race. I felt it was my race to lose. It feels good.”

 

Rogers (4:19.01) ended his high school career with a second-place finish. Heitzig moved up on the final lap to run 4:20.06 to finish third. Miller ran a huge personal best of 4:20.23 to finish fourth. Genisio finished a great double with a fifth-place finish (4:20.59).

 

Garrett Slack of Lincoln also had a fantastic two days of racing including the finals on Saturday where he ran two spectacular races. Before he stepped to the line for the 800 Meter Run final, he would anchor Lincoln’s quartet in the 4x800m Relay. He had run a 1:55.7 anchor split to help Lincoln win their heat race. This anchor leg would need to be  faster. Payton Prep had run 8:05 and had the top seed time in the prelims. Fenwick handed off with the lead at the first exchange with Sycamore right with them and Marion leading the pack another two seconds behind. Lincoln was in seventh on Drake Rutledge’s opening leg when Brendan Heitzig received the baton and started picking off runners. By the end of his 800, meters, Heitzig had run 1:57.12 to give his team the lead ahead of Marion, Sycamore, and Fenwick. Payton Prep had moved to fifth and still looking to get closer to Lincoln.

 

Jude Toft maintained the lead on the third leg with a 1:59.52 split. Payton Prep was on the charge with a 1:55.63 split from Elias Wilkin. They had drawn even with Lincoln. Slack, though, would have the final say. He pulled away from Payton’s Evan Rainville which continued on the back stretch. Slack kept moving the final 150-meters with the race pretty much won. Lincoln won their first 4x8 title in the school history with a 7:51.53 team time. Slack anchored in an incredible 1:51.95 split. Rainville led Payton to their best finish ever (7:55.09) with Rainville anchoring in 1:55.38. Marion (8:04.86) and Fenwick (8:05.01) finished third and fourth. Slack left the stadium to prepare for the 800 wondering how much he had left.

 

This is the first year that Slack had run the 800 Meter Run. His coach told him to switch to that event after a year running 400-meters in every meet. Slack would be met by Gavin Genisio and Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic who would be running their first race of the day. They would give Slack all he could handle.

 

This pace would not be pedestrian. The pack passed the first 200-meters in 26 seconds. Genisio led Slack, Hilby, and Sam Atkinson of Mt. Zion through a swift 54.66 opening 400. Slack looked comfortable at that pace, and it showed on the second lap. He pulled away enough from Genisio and Hilby on the far curve. The two sophomores still had a little left in their legs and made a charge towards Slack. At the same time, Slack had just a little more as well. He moved away in the final 100-meters to capture the state title (1:51.42) and in the process breaking JD Lafayette’s eight year old record by six hundredths of a second. Genisio (1:53.15) and Hilby (1:53.85) ran personal bests and great races in this final. Atkinson (1:54.62) and Payton Whitehead of Lakes (1:54.95) were also under 1:55.0 in this race.

 

Drew Rogers was the huge favorite in the 3200 Meter Run. He knew he would have to save energy in the 1600 that he would run later in the meet.

 

He look comfortable throughout the race and was not willing to take the lead the first four laps. Dylon Nalley of Marion led the pace through an opening 4:44 mile with Rogers, Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central, and Michael Schumacher of St. Viator part of the group. Rogers took the lead just before the end of the fifth lap and then started to accelerate the pace. Schumacher stayed with him for the next two laps before he tried to take the lead at the bell. He actually had the lead for three seconds until Rogers objected to the move and picked up the pace. That was it. Rogers closed in 61.8 to win back to back 3200 crowns in 9:16.38. Schumacher was second (9:21.04). Mac Kittrell of DePaul Catholic moved up from fifth in the final two laps to run a personal best of 9:23.42 for third. Nalley ran 9:28.42 to finish fourth.

 

Dewayne Johnson of Pontiac was in control after the fifth hurdle in the 110 High Hurdles. He pulled away to run a personal best of 14.07 to win ahead of Demarlynn Taylor of East. St. Louis-Senior (14.66) and Jason Huang of Benet Academy (14.69).

 

Matthew Marcum caught Demarlynn Taylor before the final hurdle. His momentum at the end was enough to give him his first title (39.59) with Taylor second (39.89) and Alec Sledge of Mt. Vernon finishing third (40.14).

 

Nicholas Deloach of Cahokia had a good day in the field events in this meet earning three all-state medals. Deloach had a great final round in the Triple Jump going past 46-feet twice. His best of 46-4 was the mark he needed to win the state championship. He was nearly two feet ahead of DeShawn Parker of St. Laurence (44-5.5) and Keon Derry of Galesburg (44-3.25). Jacob Morrison of Mt. Vernon jumped 22-9.25 in the prelims. That mark held up in the finals as he finished ahead of Deloach (22-4.25) and Nahzir Hill of Kankakee (22-1.50). Teegan Davis of Princeton cleared 6-6.25 on his second attempt to win the High Jump with Dylan Bazzell of Prairie Central (6-5) and Deloach (6-4). Paul Migas of Lakes had the top seed mark from sectionals in the Pole Vault. The sophomore cleared 15-5 in his final attempt to capture the state title with Tanner Koontz of Mt. Vernon clearing 15-1 to finish second.

 

JehChys Brown of Centralia increased his prelim lead with a first round 59-6.25 put in the Shot Put. That was good enough to earn him the state title in the event. David Russell of Illinois Valley Central finished second (56-3.75). Russell threw 171-9 in the second round to cement his hold on the lead and won the Discus. Ashton Noble moved to second with a 167-4 throw. Brown had a 164-6 best to finish third.

 

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