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Class 1A Storylines to Follow at the 2023 Illinois Top Times Championships

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Illinois Top Times   Mar 23rd 2023, 12:58pm
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Class 1A Storylines to Follow at the 2023 Illinois Top Times Championships

 

By Michael Newman

 

While most eyes will be on the track inside the Shirk Center for Friday afternoon’s Illinois Top Times Class 1A Championships, it would be wise to keep an eye on the runway for the Pole Vault and the High Jump area. Two athletes that are ranked among the top 10 in the nation will look to improve on their indoor performances before they head outdoors.

 

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Mason Kooi of Springfield Lutheran has that big meet experience so jumping on this fast surface should not affect him. Kooi jumped 6-10 last year to win the Class 1A State title. He did not compete in this meet last year. He has cleared 6-10 or higher in his last two meets with a 6-10.75 clearance at the SIU Invitational on March 4. He currently is ranked tied for #3 indoors in the United States. AJ Walsh of IC Catholic Prep is the only athlete in this field that has cleared higher than 6-5. Walsh cleared 6-6 at the end of February at the ICOPS Invitational.

 

Kooi will be busy in the horizontal jumps competing in both events. Kooi is seeded second in the Long Jump and the Triple Jump. The favorite in both of these events will be Cabott Craft of St. Thomas More. The senior has the longest jump in the state this indoor season with a 46-5 mark last Saturday at the University of Illinois. His top seed mark of 22-3 in the Long Jump at the U of I Meet in February is almost a foot ahead of Kooi.

 

While some expected Kooi to be in this position, it was hard to predict that a freshman would also be sharing the center stage in the Class 1A Field events. Isaiah Whittaker of Bloomington Central Catholic cleared 15-0 to win the Eighth-Grade Division at the IESA State Meet in the Pole Vault. He has exploded in his freshman season. His coaches have been patient with him as he has competed in only three meets. He improved to 15-4.25 at the end of December in a club meet in Texas. He has competed in only two high school meets clearing 15-6 in February and then last week clearing 16-8 at the Pontiac Boys Invitational. Both of those meets were held where he will compete on Friday. His performance is currently ranked sixth nationally and holds the Illinois High School state record for freshmen. He is used to this runway. How high could he go when he steps on this runway on Friday? The Meet record is 17 years old (17-1.25) set by Phil Hanson in 2006. The 1A record could be broken. That record is 16-6.

 

Other storylines to follow in the Class 1A Meet:

 

Geyer looks for four in the Girls Sprints/Hurdles

Cambria Geyer of Tremont left the Shirk Center last year with an in dividual title and two second-place finishes in her hands. It led her to the IHSA State Meet at the end of last May with a state championship in the 300 Meter Hurdles and all-state finishes in two other events.

 

The senior is looking forward to a big meet on Friday entering in four individual events, all running. The question will be with this talented athlete is how many wins will she come away with?

 

Geyer steps into this meet with the top 1A time in the state in the 60 Meter Hurdles and should be the favorite in the event. Kiara Wesseh of Newark could be her chief competition having run 9.42 on this track at the beginning of March. The quest for the title in the 60 Meter Dash could be a little tougher. Geyer has the fourth fastest time in Class 1A in the event Kaylin Moreland of Macon Meridian and Kaitlyn Vahling of Teutopolis the two athletes to keep an eye on.

 

Geyer will find herself in the fourth and final section of the 400 Meter Dash where there will be some good talent around her. The first five runners in this meet are within two seconds. Geyer has a season’s best of 1:01.90 on this track. It could be the Father McGivney duo of Lilly Gilbertson and Kaitlyn Hatley, who ran under 1:01 at Principia two weeks ago, the two athletes that could win this event. Lindley Johnston of Stark County ran 1:00.29, just eight hundredth of a second behind list leader Gilbertson, for the win last week at Silver Streak Last Chance last week. Any of those three runners could dip under 60 seconds in that race.

 

Geyer could get her second win in the 200 Meter Dash but will have Johnston their waiting for her. Johnston ran 26.06 with the fastest 1A time last Saturday. Geyer achieved an indoor best of 26.49 in Shirk Center last Friday. This distance is wide open for medalists with only four runners entered under 27 seconds.

 

Could Okeke and Brown run the table in the 1A Boys Sprints and Hurdles?

The 2023 IHSA State Meet is wide-open with any number of teams able to leave Charleston with a trophy. Judah Christian, a school in Champaign that has an enrollment of 156 students, could be the next small-school wonder similar to Cowden-Herrick was the past two years.

 

Daryl Okeke and Josiah Brown are two of the team’s athletes that could drive The Tribe to bigger things outdoors. Okeke and Brown could be the athletes to watch in the short sprints and the hurdles. Okeke, a senior, was all-state outdoors last year in the 110 Meter High Hurdles and the 300 Meter Hurdles. Okeke stepped up in a big way this indoor season with the fastest time in the state in this five hurdle race (8.02). It is not a given that Okeke will run away with the win. His chief competition will come from Nathan Kirby of Salt Fork who has an 8.10 best this season.

 

Okeke’s chief improvement has come in the sprints. He will run in both the 60 and 200 Meter Dashes in this race. In the 200, Okeke has the second fastest time in Class 1A (22.69). Michael Hackman of Bismarck-Henning is just two hundredth of a second faster than Okeke (22.67). It should be a wild race on the outside lanes of the final section. Okeke will be one of the favorites in the 60 Meter Dash as he has the fastest entered time of 7.02 seconds. He will be pushed by his teammate Josiah Brown. The sophomore’s indoor season has been a coming out party. He has a 1A#2 time of 7.06. Brown will also be in the 400 Meter Dash. He ran last weekend in Louisville at the USATF National Indoors where he finished with a 52.51 personal best in the 15-16 age group 400 Meter Dash and second overall.

 

Brown did not make it to state last year. He could be a fixture in Charleston the next three years. He will run  in the third of four sections Friday in the 400 Meter Dash. He could pop a fast time in his race that will make the runners in the final section think a little before entering the blocks.

 

1A Girls Distance Notes: The top runners are ready to go

Two state champions from last year’s outdoor state meet and a state champion 4x8 relay will raise the fans to their feet in the four races that will take place on Friday afternoon and evening. This is the Winnebago trio of Grace Erb, Kaylee Woolery, and Marissa Roggensack’s final appearance at Illinois Top Times. Bago is the defending champion outdoors in the 4x800m Relay. They also enter this race as the defending champion. Winnebago ran 9:50.30 to win last year. The Indians will add Morgan Capriola to their lineup. With Capriola in their lineup, their qualifying time for this meet (10:05.52) was two seconds faster from what they ran entering this meet a year ago. Father McGivney could be the team to beat. The Griffins, with Elana Rybak, Lilly Gilbertson, Jane Cummins, and Kaitlyn Hatley, ran 10:01.61 in Charleston at the beginning of March and will be the one team to push the defending champions.

 

It could be two freshmen that push themselves into contention in the 3200 Meter Run. Molly Farrell of Marshall made her name known during last cross-country season finishing fifth in last year’s state finals. The freshman comes in with the fastest 1A time at this distance. She will be joined in the front by another freshman, Katie Foltz of Tuscola. Foltz has a 111:26.21 best this indoor season. She could run faster in this meet. Eden Mueller of Mercer County will be running in both this event along with the 1600 Meter Run. Mueller ran 11:18.00 almost two weeks ago and could be the runner to push Farrell for the win.

 

Defending outdoor state champion Ahry Comer of Pope County will head the field in the 800 Meter Run. List leader Elana Rybak will focus on the relay and the 1600 Meter Run in this meet. Comer has only one meet under her belt running at the SIU Invitational on March 3. In that race, she ran 2:20.24 to claim the win. Grace Erb will come back from the 4x8 and will challenge for the win. Her seed time is within a second of Comer. Kennady Anderson of Kewanee Wethersfield, Trixie Johnson of Paxton-Buckley-Loda, and Evelyn O’Connor of Seneca all have run 2:24 this indoor season. Keep an eye on these three as they challenge for a top three finish.

 

Rybak comes into the 1600 Meter Run as the defending champion in this meet and the defending state champion. Comer will double back from the 800 Meter Run to be a part of this race. Both have 5:12 times and will be the runners to watch in the front. Farrell and Mueller will also be running in the 3200 Meter Run. Anderson will be doubling back from the 800. All three runners could be factors in the front with Rybak and Comer.

 

1A Boys Distance Notes: Teel leads field in 1600 plus other distance tidbits

The distance records in this meet are tough to break with the standards set high in past meets. It could be Isaac Teel of Pinckneyville be the one to set his name in this meet’s record books. Jason Bill of Bureau Valley ran 4:19.52 to set the 1A record in 2002. Teel ran 4:20.59 to finish third at Batavia Distance Madness on March 10. He has a 4:17 time from last year’s state meet and the state win to back that up. Bryson Grant of Iroquois West will concentrate on this race in this meet and should push Teel. Tommy Murray of Riverdale has run 4:24.86 this winter and will also challenge. Murray will be coming back from running the 3200 Meter Run.

 

It was thought that the 4x800m Relay in this race would be wide-open with a number of quartets ready to claim the top prize. Harvest Christian Academy set the standard Friday at the Nelson-Daniels Invitational in Wisconsin running 8:13.07 to have the fastest time in Class 1A. The quartet of Jimmy Bernaeyge, David Peterson, Luca Bryja, and Daniel Winkelman are among the top 20 teams this indoor season (#16) in this relay. The Lions will be a commanding favorite in this race with a seed time 16 seconds ahead of Williamsville, Decatur St. Teresa, and Tuscola.

 

One of the most anticipated races in the Friday distance schedule will be in the 3200 Meter Run. Three runners have times under 9:40 and could push each other to times under 9:25 and get close to the one year old 1A record that Ryder James set (9:18.31). Tommy Murray will be running in the 1600 later on. His focus however could be on a sub 9:20 time in this race. Murray ran a personal best of 9:30.45 in Iowa on March 7. Weston Forward of Rochford Christian and Logan Beckmeier of Arthur-Lovington both have run 9:35 and will be pushing in the front. Forward ran a good race at Batavia Distance Madness running 9:35.30. Beckmeier ran a strong 9:35.48 last Saturday at the U of I and could be the one runner that wins it.

 

Julian Aske of Beacon Academy stepped into the spotlight last year at state running 1:54.53 finishing second. The senior has shook off the injuries that plagued him earlier in his career and his having a good final season in high school. Aske ran 1:55.58 at Gately Park at the beginning of the month. The 1A meet record was set 20 years ago (1:55.84). Ashe could get that record. Ryan Hendrickson of St. Thomas More is no longer a novice at this distance. Remember, he only race three times at the end of last year earning all-state accolades. The dual-spring sport athlete will also play baseball this spring. He is also learning the curves indoors having run a 1:59.14 best. Charlie Bardwell of Eureka also has run under 2 minutes this winter and should be in position for a top three finish.

 

Aske will be doubling back in the 400 Meter Dash where he is the second seed in the event. He is more than a second behind meet favorite Bjorn Carlson of Rockford Christian. Carlson is ranked #5 in the state regardless of classification with his 50.49 time.

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