Illinois HS Track & Field - Highlights of the Weekend - April 17, 2023

Photo: Aidan Hill and Owen Forberg finish together in the 1600m Run Saturday at Downers Grove South - Photo Credit: Griffin Forberg (@grffn.ii) 

By Michael Newman

Here are highlights from some of the meets that took place last weekend

You can also read about the Bruce Ritter Invitational and the Minooka #Smith Strong Invitational.

Kankakee Kays Co-Ed Invitational – One of the high powered meets this season with a ton of great performances. The Girls meet shined on Saturday especially in the 400 Meter Dash as five runners dipping under 60-seconds. Allison Ince of Normal Community is in peak early season shape after running 2:03 last week in California. She ran the state’s fastest time (54.91) in winning the 400 Meter Dash. Angela Alozie of Homewood-Flossmoor ran 56.25 (IL #2) and Asia Thomas of Kenwood  ran 56.94(IL #3) to finish second and third. Naomi Bey-Osborne of Kankakee ran 58.04 (IL #6) to finish fourth just ahead of Riley Basano of Southland Prep (59.03). Ince before that sizzling 400 ran 2:18.86 to win the 800 Meter Run ahead of Riley Franz of Zion-Benton (2:21.53). Ince anchored Normal Community to a state leading time of 3:57.30 to win the 4x400m Relay ahead of Kenwood (4:01.20, IL #4) and Homewood-Flossmoor (4:03.80, IL #6). Kenwood’s Thomas had a great day also in the short sprints. Thomas ran a state leading 11.86 to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of her teammate Jaliyah Shepherd (12.01, IL #2) and Alozie (12.20). Thomas ran 24.85 and Shepherd ran 25.31 to finish 1-2 in the 200 Meter Dash. Ana-Liese Torian of Homewood-Flossmoor was lights out in the 100 Meter Hurdles. Torian ran the state’s fastest time (13.71) to win the event with Brianna Dixon of Rantoul (14.69, IL #3), and Kennedy Ross of Lindblom (14.77, IL #4) finishing second and third. Kankakee ran 48.07 (IL #2) to edge Homewood-Flossmoor (48.14, IL #3) to win the 4x100m Relay.

Jayon Morrow of Kankakee was the star of the Boys Meet sweeping the three sprint events. He started by running 11.24 to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of Josiah Brown of Judah Christian (11.36). It was the same finish in the 200 Meter Dash with Morrow winning in 22.06 and Brown running 22.59 to finish second. Morrow ran 50.03 to easily win the 400 Meter Dash winning by over a second ahead of Bryce Sales of Lindblom (51.35). Parish Hartley of Kenwood jumped a state leading 23-8.75 to win the Long Jump. Alex Sohn of Normal Community had an outdoor season’s best of 61-0.25 (IL #3) to win the Shot Put.

Bud Mohns Invitational @ Downers Grove South – The event versatility of Hinsdale Central multi all-stater Dan Watcke showed as he opened his outdoor season running the 400 Meter Dash. Watcke threw in a state leading 47.50 in a strong wind to win the event ahead of teammate and 3A State Cross Country champion Aden Bandukwala (49.42, IL #5) and Joey Valeski of York (49.66, IL #8). Michael Skora of Hinsdale Central ran under 1:55 for the first time clocked at 1:54.67 (IL #2) to win the 800 Meter Run by five seconds ahead of teammate Grant Miller (1:59.01). Miller, Bandukwala, Skora, and Watcke teamed up to run the state’s fastest time of 3:21.66 to win the 4x400m Relay. They won the event by 15 seconds! Hinsdale Central did not have their top runners in the 4x800m Relay yet still won the event. The senior quartet of James Gruber, Aaron and Kyle Doorhy, and Jessie Gamboa ran 8:03.78 (IL #3) to win just ahead of Downers Grove South (8:04.07) and York (8:04.57, IL #7). Chris Rodriguez of Niles West won both hurdle races. Rodriguez ran 15.23 to win the 110 Meter Hurdles by almost a second and 41.55 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles. Michael Prieto of Hinsdale Central cleared 6-5.5 (IL #8) to win the High Jump. Tyler Michelini of Lake Park had a 61-6.5 put to win the Shot Put. Michelini also threw 166-8 in winning the Discus. The closest finish came in the 1600 Meter Run as Owen Forsberg of Richards ran 4:23.60 to edge Aidan Hill of York (4:23.62) to win the 1600 Meter Run. Andrew ran 42.52 (IL #5) to win the 4x100m Relay just ahead of York and their 42.67 time (IL #10).

Barrington Girls Invitational – The spotlight in this Friday evening belonged to three event winner Rylee Lydon of Prairie Ridge. The Texas A&M commit started out this meet jumping a state leading 19-5.75 to win the Long Jump. She came onto the track to run 2:19.62 to win the 800 Meter Run by a margin of almost 10 seconds. Lydon’s third win came when she ran 25.33 to win the 200 Meter Dash by more than a second ahead of Baelyn Zitzmann of Lake Zurich (26.59). Zitzmann earlier cleared 5-0 to win the Hugh Jump. Scout Storms of Barrington was in control in the 1600 Meter Run with a time of  5:05.45 (IL #9). Storms was part of winning quartet in the 4x800m Relay (9:52.64) and was in the 4x400m Relay team that finished second (4:12.62) behind race winner New Trier (4:09.13).

Hinsdale Central Devilette Invitational – Hinsdale Central distance runners Catie McCabe and Sarah Skora stepped down into the sprints and came away successful. McCabe ran a personal best of 58.82 to win the 400 Meter Dash. Skora also ran a personal best in finishing second (59.76). Elyssa Chandler and Lily Hodneland teamed up with Skora and McCabe to run 4:00.78 (IL #3) to win the 4x4000m Relay with Loyola Academy running 4:03.69 (IL #5) to finish second. Sarah Fischer of Hinsdale Central ran 5:11.26 to win the 1600 Meter Run by a 15 second margin. Reese Garland of Oak Park-River Forest had a 38-6.5 outdoor personal best to win the Shot Put.

Rock Island Girls ABC Invitational – Annie Wirth of Geneseo was THE star in this meet winning four events in this Friday night meet. She started by jumping a huge personal best of 19-5.5 (IL #2) to win the Long Jump. Her High Jump was even better clearing a state leading 5-10.75 to win that event. She is currently ranked #3 in the United States. Wirth followed on the track in a close 100m Hurdles running 14.86 (IL #5) to win just ahead of Corynn Holmes of Moline (14.94, IL #8). Wirth’s fourth win came when she ran 46.00 (IL #6 tie) to win the 300m Hurdles. Essence Horton-Graves of Rockford Auburn ran 12.11 (IL #4) in winning the 100 Meter Dash.

Wheaton North Blue & White Girls Invitational – Friday evening’s meet produced some fast sprint times from Neuqua Valley sprinters. Zawadi Brown led the way for the Wildcats with two individual wins. Brown ran 12.09 (IL #3) to win the 100 Meter Dash with teammate Chioma Anyaegbunam running 12.19 (IL #6 to finish second. Both runners along with Olivia Dalson and Ava Belle ran a state leading 1:41.79 to win the 4x200m Relay. Batavia was second running 1:43.34 (IL #6). Brown came back to run 24.67 (IL #2) to win the 200 Meter Dash with Anyaegbunam running 25.62 to finish second. Audra Soderlind of Oswego ran 5:09.19 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of second-place Carissa Hamilton of Neuqua Valley (5:12.27) and Sofia Arcuri of Maine South (5:15.59). Abby Huggins of Wheaton North was a double winner with a 98-11.5 to win the Discus and 34-5.5 to win the Shot Put.

John Bell Invitational @ West Aurora – Billy Bailey Jr. of Joliet West edged Austin Rowswell of Lincoln-Way West (11.24 – 11.29) in the 100 Meter Dash. Rowswell came back to run 22.22 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Marcellus Mines of Joliet West made his seasonal outdoor debut in an invitational. Mines geared up for this Saturday’s Distance Night in Palatine running 4:19.02 (IL #5) to easily win the 1600 Meter Run. Thornton’s Javaris Ambrose was a double winner Throwing 152-0 to win the Discus and having a 57-0 mark to win the Shot Put by a 12-foot distance.

Al Janulis Relays @ Vernon Hills – This meet was the opening hurdle race for defending 2A state champion Emmi Scales of Saint Viator. She dominated both hurdle races in this meet running 14.25 (IL #2) into a strong headwind to win the 100 Meter Hurdles by four seconds. There was a failure in the timing system due to a coach throwing a set of blocks into a wire of the timing system. Scales still came out to run a hand timed 44.5 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles by almost six seconds. The time (Hand or FAT) is the top time in the state in that event.

Urbana Boys Open – Windy conditions on Saturday hampered some of the events in this meet. Fynn Bright of Champaign Central ran a best of 4:28.98 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of teammate Nick Bonn (4:33.37). Matthew Thomas of Danville was a double winner in this meet clearing 13-1.5 to win the Pole Vault and running 15.02 (IL #10) to win the 110 Meter Hurdles. Davonte Evans of Argo was also a double winner running 10.96 to win the 100 Meter Dash and running 22.27 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

Capital City Classic @ Springfield Southeast – James Harris of Springfield Lanphier was a double winner running 11.32 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 22.48 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Zach Powell of Pleasant Plains ran 50.53 in winning the 400 Meter Dash. Grant Tode of Chatham-Glenwood swept the hurdles running 15.38 to win the 110 Highs and 42.02 to win the 300 Intermediates.

Metea Valley Boys Invitational – Caleb Levy of Warren Township tuned up for Saturday’s Distance night in Palatine by running 49.32 (IL #4) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Levy anchored Warren to the win in the 4x400m Relay (3:25.87, IL #9) ahead of Plainfield North (3:26.11, IL #10). Henry Kennedy of Dundee-Crown ran 11.05 to win the 100 Meter Dash. He came back to anchor his team to the win in the 4x100m Relay with a 42.58 time (IL #7).

B.A.T.E Invitational @ Buffalo Grove – Evan Horgan of Belvidere North came off his Illinois Top Times win at 3200-meters ran 9:33.48 to win at that distance in this meet. Samuel Teppo of New Trier ran 9:41.22 to finish second. Vijay Krishnamoorthi of Conant won the 1600 Meter Run (4:24.82) ahead of Mario Torres of Buffalo Grove (4:27.24). Ryan Schaefer of Glenbrook South ran a state leading 38.74 in the 300 Meter Hurdles last week at Schaumburg. In this meet and in stronger winds, Schaefer ran 39.04 to win the event by three seconds. Schaefer was also a part of the Glenbrook South quartet that ran 42.95 to win the 4x100m Relay edging Prospect by a hundredth of a second. Schaefer also jumped a season’s best of 21-4 to win the Long Jump.

Gus Scott Invitational @ Naperville North – Josh Evans of St. Charles East  ran 11.08 to win the A Division 100m Dash. Nathan Jacobs of Naperville North also ran 11.08 but in the B Division of the same distance. Jacobs ran 22.17 to outdistance Evans (22.40) in the B Division 200 Meter Dash. Colin Nelson of Wheaton-Warrenville South ran a huge personal best of 1:56.41 (IL #6) to win the 800 Meter Run. The fastest 1600m Run time came from the B Division race as Jed Wilson of St. Charles East ran 4:29.87 for the win.

In the Girls portion of the meet, Amanda Pocica of Stagg ran 2:18.04 to win the 800m Run ahead of Julie Piot of Naperville North (2:20.83). Louisa Diamond of Benet Academy had a double win in the two distance races. Diamond ran 10:57.62 to win the 3200 Meter Run by 43 seconds. Diamond came back to run 5:11.00 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Marley Andelman of St. Charles East (5:12.40).

Bloomington Girls Invitational – Nickiya Shields of Danville won three individual events to lead the way in this meet on Friday evening. She jumped 37-4 to win the Triple Jump, ran 14.97 (IL #9) to win the 100m Hurdles, and 46.73 (IL #8) to win the 300m Hurdles. Kankakee, before competing in their own invitational the following day, ran 1:41.68 (IL #2) to win the 4x200m Relay just ahead of Peoria Richwoods (1:42.19, IL #3), and Champaign Central (1:43.28, IL #5). Mahomet-Seymour freshman Madalyn Marx ran a huge personal best of 57.29 (IL  #4) to win the 400 Meter Dash.

Minooka Girls Invitational – Jahnel Bowman of Plainfield South was a double winner in the sprints. Bowman ran 57.10 (IL #4) to win the 400 Meter Dash. She came back to run 25.83 in winning the 200 Meter Dash. Bowman also jumped a state leading 40-4.25 to win the Triple Jump with Dominique Johnson of Huntley jumping 40-0.25 to finish second. Korima Gonzalez of DeKalb ran a personal best of 2:19.20 to win the 800 Meter Run ahead of Huntley sisters Breanna (2:19.81) and Brittney (2:22.68) Burak. Minooka took the first two spots in the 1600 Meter Run as Gabrielle Kics ran 5:19.21 finishing ahead of Gabriella McCollum (5:20.10). Kendall Crosley of Lincoln-Way East ran 47.48 to win the 300m Hurdles ahead of teammate Kyra Hayden (47.76). Minooka ran 4:05.36 (IL #7) to win the 4x400m Relay with Lincoln-Way East running 4:07.10 to finish second. The two schools also finished 1-2 in the 4x800m Relay. Minooka was clocked at 9:38.13 (IL #5) for the win with Lincoln-Way East timed at 9:48.23.

Mascoutah Military Boys Classic – Nathan Hippard of Mascoutah continues to put up fast time in the sprints. Hippard ran 10.61 (IL #2) to in the 100 Meter Dash with Ayden Cothern of Richland County finishing second (10.83) in a race where five runners ran under 11-seconds. Hippard ran 22.73 to finish second in the 200 Meter Dash behind race winner Carter Wasson of Steeleville (22.43). Keshawn Lyons of Cahokia was a double winner in this meet first running 14.70 (IL #3) to win the 110m Hurdles. Lyons came back to run 39.88 (IL #8) in winning the 300m Hurdles. Gavin Genisio of Benton tuned up for this week’s meet at Palatine running 4:17.39 (IL #3) in winning the 1600m Run. Joe Schwartz of Waterloo ran 4:23.71 to finish second. Genisio earlier anchored Benton to the win in the 4x800m Relay. Isaac Teel of Pinckneyville ran 9:35.55 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Jackson Collman (9:40.20) of Civic Memorial. Troy Triad ran a hot time in the 4x100m Relay. They ran 42.34 (IL #2) for the win ahead of Mt. Vernon (43.01) and Mascoutah (43.15). Nicholas Deloach of Cahokia had another big day winning three individual field events. DeLoach jumped a season’s best of 21-10.25 to win the Long Jump, had a 46-0.75 mark to win the Triple Jump, and cleared 6-3.5 in winning the High Jump. Iose Epenesa of Edwardsville threw 171-7.75 (IL #4) in winning the Discus.

Mike Rebeck Girls Invitational @ Schaumburg – St. Ignatius Prep freshmen Annika Swan had a great double winning two events. Swan ran a personal best of 2:12.92 (IL #2) to win the 800 Meter Run by over 10 seconds ahead of Kylie Simpson of Hononegah (2:23.50). Swan came right back to run 59.40 to win the 400 Meter Dash. Grace Schager of Glenbard North ran 5:07.38 to win the 1600 Meter Run with Simpson running 5:24.10 to finish second. Schager also anchored Glenbard North to the win in the 4x800m Relay (10:08.42). Challi Baumann excelled on her home track winning three individual events. The Schaumburg senior jumped 17-10.25 to win the Long Jump. She went to the track to run 13.03 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 26.76 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Baumann was also a part of Schaumburg’s quartet that ran 1:47.29 to win the 4x200m Relay.

Bartlett/Elgin Boys Invitational – A great 1600 led the way on this meet. John Ihrke of Glenbrook North ran 4:21.74 (IL #9) to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Dylan Myers from Lake Zurich (4:23.03). Omarion Jones of Schaumburg was a double winner in the sprints running 11.17 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 22.34 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Jones was part of the Schaumburg quartet that ran 43.38 to win the 4x100m Relay. Gage Homola of Hampshire had a 46-3.5 put to win the Shot Put and threw 133-0.75 to win the Discus.

Boys Notes

Trey Sato of Grayslake Central ran a state leading 4:16.53 to win the 1600m Run Thursday in the Patriot Relays at Stevenson. Joe Bregenzer of Barrington ran 4:27.77 to finish second.

Josh Pugh of Yorkville ran 49.25 (IL #3) on his home track to win the 400 Meter Dash at the Matt Wulf Invitational. Yorkville freshman Owen Horeni ran 1:56.34 (IL #4) to win the 800 Meter Run in this meet by one hundredth of a second ahead of Alex Das of Oswego East (1:56.35, IL #5).

Tommy Murray of Riverdale is still on fire looking ahead to a great outdoor season. Murray ran 4:16.66 (IL #2) at the Paul Parker Invitational on his home track last Thursday. He won the race by 30 seconds.

Quentin Peterson of Lemont ran an IL #2 39.14 in the 300 Meter Hurdles Thursday at the Lemont Invitational.

Tyler Michelini of Lake Park had over a 61 foot effort in the Shot Put Saturday at Downers Grove. In a dual meet on 4/11, Michelini had a state leading 63-1.75 to win the event.

Garrett Taylor of Salt Fork threw a state leading 185-1.25 Thursday at Monticello.

Girls Notes

Tatum David of Richland County was back on Illinois soil running after running a fast 3200m Run at Arcadia. She ran three super races at the Sam Bennett Invitational held at Robinson. The University of Virginia commit started her meet running 10:18.36 to win the 3200m Run by 102 seconds. David then ran 2:13.57 (IL #4) to win the 800m Run winning by eight seconds ahead of Kaitlyn Hatley of Father McGivney (2:21.54). The 1600m Run was great as David ran a state leading 4:49.35 to win ahead of Molly Farrell of Marshall (5:00.33, IL #5) and Elena Rybak of Father McGivney (5:11.03). Kaitlyn Vahling of Teutopolis won three events in this meet starting by winning the 100m Dash (12.21, IL #9), 58.61 (IL #10) to win the 400 Meter Dash, and 25.83 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

Ahry Comer of Pope County ran a great double in the Keith Hall Invitational. The defending 1A State Champion ran 2:12.97 (IL #3) to win the 800 Meter Run. Comer came back to run 5:15.22 to win the 1600 Meter Run.