Edwardsville’s Watts electrifies IHSA State Meet crowd with Class 3A distance double

 

Photo: Ryan Watts out leans Roy Llewellyn for the 1600 title (Photo courtesy of Tony Holler)

 

Batavia wins 3A team title on 4x4 win; Wasick edges Watcke in memorable 800; Young wins 100 despite injury; Clabough wins back to back titles in Shot Put

 

By Michael Newman [email protected]

 

 

Charleston, Ill – Edwardsville’s Ryan Watts and Geordan Patrylak waited on the infield to receive their medals from the 1600 Meter Run watching the start of the final race of the meet. Batavia and Warren Township were in this 4xx400m Relay and had a chance to pass Edwardsville who had the lead entering the final event.

 

A 47.92 anchor leg by Jonah Fallon held off Hinsdale Central’s Daniel Watcke, who ran a 48.11 anchor split, to give Batavia the title in the relay (3:19.81) ahead of Hinsdale Central (3:20.38) and the 3A State Team Championship.

 

The Bulldogs scored 37 points in winning the team title. Edwardsville and Warren Township ended up tied for second with 30 points. Minooka, despite all their misfortunate during the weekend, scored 29 points to finish fourth. Glenbrook South, Oswego, and Champaign Centennial all tied for fifth with 26 points.

 

The 3A meet started Friday afternoon with teams running in a downpour for the 4x800m Relay. It ended in sunny skies and some outstanding performances in this meet in the distance events. It was highlighted behind a tremendous double win by Ryan Watts. It is one of those performances that will go down as one of the best in IHSA State Meet history.

 

The prelims in the 1600 Meter Run (Recap) on Friday set the stage to what would be some great racing on Saturday. Fans in this distance crazy state always look forward to the 4x800m Relay at the start of this meet. That would be an appetizer for three amazing finals that would be contested.

 

The 3200 Meter Run featured Micah Wilson of St. Charles East who was the defending state champion, Nick Falk of New Trier, and Watts who along with Wilson had run under 9-minutes, and Luke Wiley of Warren Township who had run 9:02 indoors.

 

Wilson had controlled his heat Friday in the 1600 Meter Run to easily advance to Saturday and exert as little energy as possible. Watts ran 4:12 and won his heat saying that the race felt too easy. Falk missed the finals in the 1600 running in Wilson’s heat. Wiley had run 4:14 to finish his heat and advance.

 

The first five laps of this race were a matter of anticipation. None of the top five runners were doing anything crazy. Falk led those first five laps with Wilson on his side. Wiley and Watts were along for the ride as they started with a 69 second first lap, and two more 68 second laps. The fourth lap slowed down to 69 seconds as the quartet passed the first 1600 in 4:35. A huge pack was within another second behind he leading pack led by New Trier’s George Cahill and Caden Simone of Lincoln-Way Central.

 

The fifth lap slowed to 71 seconds. It was falling into a pace where kickers could take over in the final 600 to 800 meters of the race. Who would make the first move?

 

Watts was itching to go, and he did as he came off the first curve with 1100-meters left in the race. Falk started to drop off the pace, but Wilson and Wiley stayed close in that 64 second sixth lap.

 

Watts continued to apply the pressure of his pace on the second to last lap this time throwing in a 62 second lap. That did the trick as Wilson had fallen two seconds behind, Wiley four seconds behind as the bell sounded for the final lap. For some reason, it felt like the distance was more. It was the momentum that Watts had at that point as he was pulling away on his way to realizing his dream.

 

He entered the final straight and this race was his. Watts looked around a couple of times to see where his competition was. This straightaway belonged to him. This state championship was his crossing the line raising his top signifying where he ran.

 

This was his graduation day back at Edwardsville. The school was streaming the race. Watts said after the meet as he crossed the line, they called out his name for graduation at the school.

 

It was a double graduation for Watts. He had also graduated from a great distance runner to Illinois State Meet distance legend.

 

Watts ran 8:56.66 for the win. It was not a personal best but that did not matter. He had the gold medal. Wiley passed Wilson to finish second (9:01.01) with Wilson running a great race (9:04.17) to finish third. Simone closed in a 61 second final la to catch Falk in finishing fourth (9:06.80). Falk finished his all-state high school career running 9:07.02 to finish fifth.

 

Watts closed the race with a 4:21.5 final 1600. It was a huge negative split especially in a state final. He had collapsed to the side by the track and was told he ran the final in an incredible 3:10. He was in disbelief. He got up to look for a garbage can. He found out that when you exert that much energy, you pay the price. But it was a good price.

 

Watts walked on the gate saying he wondered how much he had left for that 1600. We would find out in three hours.

 

There was anticipation for the prelims in the 1600 Meter Run 24 hours before. The anticipation for the finals on a late Saturday afternoon was double that. It took 4:17 to make this finals race. How fast would this final be?

 

Roy Llewellyn of Downers Grove North would be the one to set the pace. He scratched out of the 4x800m Relay so he could just focus on this. People have patterned Lewellyn’s racing style to that of legendary distance runner Steve Prefontaine. I’m going to go out fast. It is going to hurt. If you stay with me, you will run a great time.

 

Llewellyn had been doing this in his junior and senior season. The gun went off and star stuttered field seemed like they were waiting for the man in purple to take grasp of the pace. Llewellyn started to grind out a fast pace. 30 seconds through the first 200, 61.2 as he led the pack through the first 400. Every runner of this 12 runner final was within a second of the lead. Wiley, Watts, Wilson had come from the 3200 and looked fresh at that pace. Owen Forberg of HL Richards, Marcellus Mines of Joliet West, and Balin Doud had not yet raced on Saturday, but were right at the front.

 

Llewellyn continued to push, to grind out a fast pace. They got to 800-meters with Llewellyn at 2:04.5, Wiley was right with him. The pack started to string out. Wilson was almost two seconds behind with Watts, Forberg, and Doud right with him. Declan Tunney of Sandburg was in second to last, but he was only three seconds off the lead. The pace was still fast with no runner wanting to drop off.

 

Wiley made the move as he entered the curve. If this was the breaking point, this was the right time to do it Wiley thought. Llewellyn anticipated it and surged at the same time staying close to the Warren Township senior.

 

The time was 3:08.8 when Wiley passed the finish line for the final lap. It was hard to tell that he had raced earlier. Llewellyn was still there just a half a second behind. Wilson and Watts were countering the front moves staying within a second of the front. Tunney had joined the group and was looking for a piece of the action. Mines and Ethan Summer of York were another second back. This race was not over for now 11 of the top 12 runners as they positioned themselves for the final 400-meters for some their high school careers.

 

As they were going around the scoreboard for the final time, it looked like either Wiley or Lewellyn would claim the win at the pace they were running. Watts started to move with 150-meters left as he was 15 meters off the pace.

 

That did not last for long.

 

The crowd was in a frenzy as the Wiley led Llewellyn into the straightaway. Watts was running like a crazed mad man knowing he wanted that feeling of victory just one more time. Wiley had the lead entering the final 15 meters with Lewellyn and Watts closing just before the line.

 

Watts caught the two runners just before the line raising two fingers in the air in his lean. 4:11.16 won this race. Llewellyn was just six hundredths of a second off running 4:11.22. Wiley was third (4:11.48) with Wilson completing a great double at 4:12.31.

 

Some after the race said the 2014 3A finals were faster. Maybe in the front, not overall.

 

Patrick Perrier ran 4:10 for the win on that day with the top five runners under 4:13.

 

Saturday’s race had eight runners under 4:13. Doud ran 4:12.47 to finish fifth just ahead of Tunney (4:12.71) and Forberg (4:12.73). Hunter Whitney of Lane Tech moved in the final lap to finish eighth (4:12.98). Geo Patrylak of Edwardsville finished ninth (4:14.43) just edging York’s Ethan Summer (4:14.45) for the final all-state spot. Summer’s time of 4:14.45 is the fastest non-state finish in state meet history for the event.

 

“I can’t believe that a year ago, my foot was in a boot. This has been such a storybook ending,” Watts said reflecting afterwards on his two races. “The 3200 went exactly how I planned it. The 1600 today was tough. I thought I was out of it with 300-meters left. With 200-meters left I told myself to stop being a little baby and man up. I threw down a fast last 200 and it worked out well.”

 

Those two 3A distance races were “must watch” races at this meet. The two other distance events were not that far off. Some of the top times in the nation every year seem to come from the 4x800m Relay. Anticipation grew before the start of the race if season leader Hinsdale Central would put in the defending state champion Daniel Watcke into the quartet. He did not run when the Red Devils finished just within tenths of a second of Sandburg. Watcke hinted Friday after the prelims that most likely his focus would be on the open 800.

 

The pace was fast in the first 800-meters of this relay. Aden Bandukwala opened with a 1:54.86 opening leg taking the lead ahead of Lane Tech, Downers Grove South, Downers Grove North, and York. Sandburg’s Sean Marquardt had his team in the hunt in sixth with a 1:57.80 opener.

 

The second leg of the race set up the Hinsdale Central/Sandburg showdown that everyone expected to see in this race. Michael Skora kept Hinsdale Central in the lead running a 1:56.95 split. Sandburg moved into second on Declan Tunney’s strong 1:56.36 second leg. Sandburg was now under three seconds behind with Downers Grove South, Lane Tech, and York still in the mix.

 

The pack came back on Hinsdale’s Grant Miller on the third leg even though he ran a good 1:58.96 split. Sandburg was within a second of the lead based off Trent Anderson’s 1:56.86 leg. Lane Tech moved up to third with Downers South and York still close.

 

The final 800-meters of this race was mesmerizing. Brock Rice let Colby Revord set the pace for the first half of this final leg. Then it was Sandburg’s Rice that was ready to take the win. Rice held off Revord in the final 100-meters to give Sandburg their fourth state title in the program’s history in this relay with a 7:44.03 winning time. Rice ran a 1:53.02 anchor to give them that. Revord closed with a 1:55.16 anchor to place Hinsdale second (7:45.91). Tim Neumann ran a 1:5.27 closing anchor to overtake Lane Tech to finish third (7:48.83) with their fastest time of the season. Lane Tech improved their seasonal best by two seconds running 7:51.42 to finish fourth. York ran a season’s best of 7:53.63 to finish fifth.

 

Daniel Watcke and Brett Wasick of Bolingbrook had raced against each other twice during the season leading up to the finals of the 800 Meter Run. Their last race was at the Lockport Sectional last week where Watcke edged Wasick by only two hundredths of a second.

 

The races that Watcke has been in at this distance tend to be negative split types of races especially when it comes to state meets. He does not want to push that pace. Caleb Levy of Warren Township led a closely knit pack of 12 runners within a second of each other through a 58 second first lap. Watcke stayed safe on the outside in Lane 2. Wasick was close waiting for the Hinsdale junior to make his move.

 

Wasick said after the prelims that he gained confidence from the sectional race that he was that close to Watcke. Now we would see if that sectional experience would pay off.

 

As soon as the race entered the back straight, Watcke zoomed out to the lead with Wasick and Levy close to his side. Watcke had the lead but swung out Lane 2 as he came off the final curve. Wasick was on the inside and drew even as the two ran side by side. Watcke stumbled with 10-meters left giving Wasick the opportunity for the win. The Bolingbrook senior. Wasick ran the last lap in 54.72 to claim the state title (1:52.64) as Watcke was resigned to the second-place finish (1:53.23). Levy (1:54.96), Ryan Schreiner of Wheaton North (1:55.34), and Brian Hiltebrand of Glenbrook South (1:55.61) rounded out the top five.

 

Batavia needed the 4x400m Relay win to capture the first state title for Coach Dennis Piron. The Bulldogs did what they needed to do after a crazy day of prelims to hoist the championship trophy scoring in just four other events. Those events were big ones. Charlie Nolan of Normal West took the lead in the Triple Jump with his opening leap of 46-10.25 in Saturday’s finals. Jalen Buckley of Batavia had the lead after the lead in the prelims. His first two jumps in the finals did not overtake Nolan. It came down to the attempt of the competition to crown a championship. Buckley had a huge clutch jump of a personal best 48-8.75 to overtake Nolan and win the state title. Desmond Horton of Lake Park jumped 46-2.75 to finish third.

 

Batavia’s first race on the track where they scored points was in the 4x100m Relay. Homewood-Flossmoor had the fastest time in the prelims. Their finals race kept that fact true. The Vikings led into the final exchange and pulled away to win in 42.01. Naperville North had a great state meet starting with this race running 42.28 to finish second ahead of Champaign Centennial (42.42), Warren Township (42.45), and Batavia (42.57).

 

Batavia would get big points in the 400 Meter Dash with two runners advancing to the finals. Downers Grove South’s Elijah Reed made his final track race a success before he heads to Northern Illinois University to play football. Reed looked strong of the final curve to run a personal best of 48.13 to claim the state title. Jonah Fallon of Batavia also achieved a personal best and gave his team eight points by running 48.49 to finish second. Josh Pugh of Yorkville ran 48.86 to finish third ahead of Dominik Balenda of Prospect (49.20). Daniel Lacy of Champaign Centennial ran 49.23 to win Section 1 of this two section final to place him fifth overall (49.23). Batavia’s Jacob Hohmann gave his team two important points as he ran 49.70 to finish eighth.

 

Nobody outside of the Minooka area had heard about Collin Forest before the 2022 season had begun. By the time that the state meet had concluded, everyone knew of this newly minted state champion. Forrest was running personal bests in every race he ran in at the end of the season. He led the field into the finals of the 110 High Hurdles with a 14.09 personal best. It was the same in the finals where Forrest pulled away from the eight other runners to run another personal best of 14.03. This PR meant a state championship. Gabe Czako of Lockport started out a great day running 14.44 to finish second. Sam Burns of Niles West finished third (14.51). One of pre-race favorites Jalen Johnson of Metea Valley made the finals but pulled up at the end of his preliminary heat on Friday. Johnson was in the blocks for the start and gingerly made it over the hurdles in ninth-place earning all-state honors.

 

Ian Kelley of Oak Park-River Forest flew under the radar all season in the 300 Meter Hurdles running some of the top times in the state that few recognized. The rest of the field acknowledged him in the finals. Kelley came off the final curve with the lead and held on to win the state title (37.99) holding off Czako (38.22) and Michael Campbell of Rolling Meadows (38.37) for the win.

 

Reece Young of Wheaton-Warrenville South ran 10.40 in his sectional. That came with a price as he injured his quad during that race. He took care of the injury during the state meet week. He survived the prelims advancing to the finals with the fifth fastest time.

 

That status of fifth changed in the finals. Young got off to a good start and pulled away from the field to clam the state title with a 10.58 winning time. The next four runners finished within a tenth of a second of each other with Tyler Colwell of Minooka running 10.72 to finish second ahead of Fremd’s Will Stewart (10.76), Nathan Shapiro of Glenbrook South (10.77), and Danny Eloe of Naperville North (10.82).

 

Jettason Rose of Quincy led all qualifiers in the 200 Meter Dash into Saturday’s finals. Rose duplicated that effort running 22.04 to win a state title ahead of Colwell (22.16) and Robert Scott III of Homewood-Flossmoor (22.17). Scott Parker of Batavia finished eighth in that race (22.60) giving Batavia two important team points.

 

Crete-Monee duplicated their prelim effort in the finals of the 4x200m Relay. The Warriors captured the state title with a 1:27.39 season’s best. Homewood-Flossmoor was also under 1:28 finishing second (1:27.71). Naperville North (1:28.85) finished third ahead of Plainfield North (1:28.85) and Downers Grove North (1:29.02).

 

Kyle Clabough of Yorkville enters the finals of the Shot Put with the lead and the pressure of defending his state title of 2021. It changed rather quickly for the Yorkville senior as Paolo Gennarelli of St. Charles North took the lead with a finals opening round put of 59-6.25. Clabough stood second as he stepped into the ring for his final high school attempt in this event. Clabough came through unleashing a 61-5.75 effort to give him his second straight state title. Gennarelli finish second ahead of Alex Sohn of Normal Community (58-7.50).

 

Jonathan Young of Andrew had a 182-0 throw that led after the prelims of the Discus. That mark held up to give him the state championship in the event. Maverick Ohle of Naperville Central improved in the finals to a 179-5 throw to finish second. Lucah Jones of Lake Park also improved in the finals throwing 176-11 to finish third. Gennarelli came back for his second all-state medal finishing fourth (176-6) ahead of Kaden Garland of Oak Park-River Forest (169-2).

 

Kemon McCullough of Champaign Centennial jumped 23-2.75 on his final attempt to give him the lead and the state championship in the Long Jump. Toriano Tate of DeKalb had a 23-1.25 best to finish second ahead of Jacob Bostick of Palatine and Nathan Shapiro of Glenbrook South.

 

Charles Cruse of Normal Community had already won the Pole Vault clearing 15-7 to in the state title. It was icing on the cake when he cleared 16-0 to improve on his winning mark. Neuqua Valley Nick Pennington had a big day clearing 15-3 to finish second ahead of Arnie Grunert of Lincoln-Way East who had the same height clearance. Christian Sobecki of Oswego had no heighted in last year’s final. Saturday’s final went better for him as he cleared 14-11 to finish fourth.