Road to Charleston - A view of the 2023 IHSA 1A Boys Sectional Distance Events

By Michael Newman

Here are the number of runners that ran under the state qualifying times in the four distance events this season:

4x8 = 18 (8:33.28); 3200m = 40 (10:12.64); 800m = 44 (2:02.82); 1600m = 48 (4:39.80)

The biggest surprise in Class 1A is that defending 1600 Meter Run champion Isaac Teel of Pinckneyville will not be defending his title.

Here is a look at each of the 14 Class 1A Sectionals focusing on the four distance events.

Wednesday, May 17

Beardstown – Williamsville has the edge in this sectional 4x800m Relay. They have the top time with the 8:12.87 that they ran at the Sangamo Conference on May 3. Pleasant Plains (8:26.89) is the other team that is under the auto-qualifying standard and is a good bet to qualify. Petersburg PORTA is within seven seconds of the qualifying standard. They will need their best race of the year to make it to state.  We could see three runners make it out of the 800 Meter Run. Tyler Bickerman of Rushville-Industry enters this meet with the top seed of 1:57.60 (1A #9). Nolan Bates of Williamsville is also under two minutes (1:58.51) and could win this sectional race. Cole Payne of Pleasant Plains is within two tenths of a second of qualifying. We could see a large number of runners qualifying out of the 3200 Meter Run in this sectional. Four runners are within 12 seconds of the qualifying led by Isaac Crumrine of Riverton (9:58.83) and Jack Willenborg of Pleasant Plains (10:02.40). Daniel Giacomini of Williamsville has a 10:08.77 seasonal best. He has the talent to run under 10-minutes. Haven Gronewold of Petersburg PORTA ran a best of 10:10.52 early in April. A good race gets him to Charleston. There is a clean break in the 1600 Meter Run where there is a 10 second gap between the first four runners and then the fifth runner. Williamsville’s Avery Glasgow is the top seed with the 4:32.57 that he ran in his final meet on May 10. Crumrine is scheduled to double back from the 3200 Meter Run and should qualify. Willenborg and teammate Elijah Teefey have times between 4:37 and 4:38. Good sectional races advance them to next week’s state meet.

Bluford Webber – This is not a distance heavy sectional. We could see two entries in each of the four distance events and that’s it. Freshman Grant Jennette of Fairfield is the top seed in the 3200 Meter Run (10:27.01). Eason Comer of Pope County is a clear qualifier having run 11:15.46 and ahead of the rest of the field by 32 seconds. Tanner Spence of Carmi-White County is the top seed in the 1600 Meter Run (4:34.28). Conor Gross of DuQuoin appears to be his top competition. It should be three runners chasing after the two auto-qualifying spots in the 800 Meter Run. Chase Smith of Bluford Webber is a clear top seed in the event with a 2:02.66 time. Comer (2:05.08) and Gross (2:05.24) are six seconds ahead of the rest of the field and should battle for one of those two spots. DuQuoin (8:56.18) and Fairfield (9:02.05) look to be the teams that will advance to state in the 4x800m Relay. A good race from either Bluford Webber or Hamilton County could get one of those teams into the second qualifying spots.

El Paso-Gridley – A good distance sectional meet. Charlie Bardwell of Eureka ran 1:54.81 (1A #3) at the Roger Washburn Invitational on April 28. Bardwell could be one of the favorites in Charleston. A win in this sectional gets him to state. Sam Springer of Delavan ran 1:58.04 last week at St. Teresa and should advance. This sectional could get a third runner out of this sectional with either Caleb Krischel of Fieldcrest or William Scroggs of Deer Creek-Mackinaw. Bardwell should be Eureka’s team in the 4x800m Relay. They do have the top seed time of 8:11.78 (1A #3). El Paso-Gridley is 20 seconds behind Eureka seeded second. They are 40 seconds ahead of the next closest team. Three runners have times under 10-minutes in the 3200 Meter Run. Andrew Perry and Tucker Hinkle of Eureka along with Dean Witzig of El-Paso Gridley should all qualify. Perry and Witzig finished within one second of each other at last week’s HOI Conference Meet. The 1600 Meter Run is loaded in this meet with the top five runners seeded within seven seconds of each other. Perry will double back from the 3200 Meter Run. He has the top seed time of 4:32.34. Sam Bushert of El Paso-Gridley and Springer have run 4:36 this season and should qualify. Brady Monk of Eureka and Krischel are good bets to advance out of this sectional.

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley – All-state runner Bryson Grant of Iroquois West will just focus on the 1600 Meter Run for the state series. Grant will be the huge favorite in this event with a seed time of 4:23.83 (1A #8). He is 25 seconds ahead of the field led by Jackson Ritchie of Downs Tri-Valley and Mihreteab Gilleland of Cullom Tri-Point. Four runners have times between 2:05 and 2:06. Ethan Trask of Heyworth, Isiah Davis, and Carter Heinrich of Kankakee McNamara, and Josh Pagan of Bloomington Central Catholic will all challenge for the two state qualifying places. Drew McTaggart of Watseka has a best of 10:15.63 and is the top seed in the 3200 Meter Run. Three runners will challenge for the second qualifying spot including Corbin Christopulos of Bloomington Central Catholic, Austin Russow of Heyworth, and Henry Masters of Downs Tri-Valley. Heyworth has a 21 second advantage in the 4x800m Relay. Ridgeview and Kankakee McNamara are within four seconds of each other and will challenge themselves for a trip to Charleston.

Hope Academy – Three runners could advance out of this sectional led by Akili Parekh of Latin School. Parekh is the big favorite race having run 9:15.55 (1A #2) at the Arcadia Invitational in April. Owen Keyt of North Shore-Country Day (9:53.42) and Daniel Goodman of Latin School (9:56.17) should qualify out of this 10 runner field. Parekh will be the top seed in the 1600 Meter Run with the 4:20.07 (1A #4) run at Distance Night in Palatine. Jason Gould of Wolcott has a best of 4:30.42 and should also make it to Charleston. Ben Gibson of Latin School is at the 4:39.80 qualifying time having run 4:39.50. Watch for Gibson to also advance. Only two runners should advance in the 800 Meter Run. Julian Aske of Beacon Academy ran 1:55.02 (1A #4) and is the big favorite in this race. This will be his only event of this meet. Gould has a 1:59.22 best and should also qualify at this distance. Latin School and North Shore-Country Day are 25 seconds ahead of the rest of the field in the 4x800m Relay and should advance in the event.

Newton – We could see just two qualifiers in three of the four distance events in this sectional. Effingham St. Anthony has the top seed of 8:22.66 (1A #10) in the 4x800m Relay. Newton ran 8:28.75 indoors, 8:34.33 outdoors but are nearly 30 seconds ahead of the field. Austin Wesley of Robinson (10:00.67) and Griffen Elder of Effingham St. Anthony (10:02.46) are the top two seeds in the 3200 Meter Run. Clay Bergbower of Newton is close to the qualifying standard and could also advance to Charleston. It will be close in the 800 Meter Run between Mason Evens of Casey-Westfield (1:59.16) and Owen Mahaffey of Newton (2:00.39). Luke Weber of Newton has a best of 2:03.6 and will be close to qualifying. Bergbower and Elder will be doubling back from the 3200 Meter Run. Both are under the state qualifying standard and should qualify.

Seneca – Westmont (8:47.37) and Timothy Christian (8:52.38) are the top two seeds in the 4x800m Relay. They are 16 seconds ahead of the rest of this eight team field and should advance. It should be close and hard to decide who could make it out of the 800 Meter Run. The top four seeds are within a second of each under, but five seconds away from the qualifying spot. Tim Rosland of Westmont, Logan Pasakarnis of Newton, Tyce Plaisier of Timothy Christian, and Cody Prindiville of Wilmington will all challenge for the event win. Noah Luke of Chicago Christian is 16 seconds ahead of the field in the 3200 Meter Run with his season’s best time of 10:12.82. Landin Stillwell of Somonauk is 20 seconds ahead of the field and should also advance. Noah Laslo of Timothy Christian at 4:39.87 and Luke at 4:43.82 are 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field in the 1600 Meter Run and should advance to Charleston.

Tuscola – This sectional is loaded in talent. It could be the toughest distance sectional of 14 held in Class 1A. There are five runners under 10-minutes in the 3200 Meter Run and should all advance. We could see six runners advancing out of Tuscola. Jackson Barrett of Tuscola is having a great spring starting in this event. His seed time of 9:15.85 (1A #3) leads this talent field. Logan Beckmier of Arthur-Lovington at 9:27.91 (1A #5), Will Foltz of Tuscola at 9:30.14 (1A #6), and Evan Cook of St. Teresa at 9:44.59 (1A #12) will push each other for personal bests in this race. Dylan Howell of Cerro Gordo-Bement is under 10 at 9:58.90 and should advance to Charleston with a good race. Jacob Adcock of Arthur-Lovington is within six seconds of qualifying. A good race could also get him to state. There are three solid choices that will advance out of the 800 Meter Run in this sectional. Josiah Hortin of Tuscola leads the field after his time of 1:55.25 (1A #6) won at the CIC Championships. Caleb Kernaghan of St. Teresa ran 1:56.02 (1A #7) behind Hortin in the CIC race. He could challenge Hortin for the win. Brock Richards of Maroa-Forsyth has a 2:01.28 season’s best. He could dip under two-minutes in this sectional. Foltz is entered in this event after running in the 3200 Meter Run. He will be close to qualifying if he runs in this event. Martin Velchek of St. Teresa is close to qualifying. He could advance to state. Up to seven runners could advance in the 1600 Meter Run. Hortin at 4:18.51 (1A #2) and Barrett at 4:20.07 (1A #4) are the top two seeds in this race. Beckmeier (4:26.94) will double back from the 3200 Meter Run and should also qualify. Reese Peters of Maroa-Forsyth, Lyle Adcock of Arthur-Lovington, Cook, and Randall Robinson of Marshall are under the qualifying standard. Howell and his teammate Will Fuson are close to the qualifying standard and could both make it to Charleston in this event. St. Teresa has run 8:17.11 (1A #5) are the favorites in the 4x800m Relay ahead of Maroa-Forsyth who has a best time of 8:19.82 (1A #7). Tuscola ran 8:25.53 but that was with Barrett, Hortin, and Foltz part of the quartet. It is doubtful that any of the three will run but will be on their relay card.

Thursday, May 18

Gillespie – Auburn (8:35.14) and North Mac (8:51.97) are the top two seeds in the 4x800m Relay. Camden Quarton of Litchfield enters this sectional with a 9:58.40 time and the top seed in the 3200 Meter Run. Robby Biesenthal of New Berlin ran 10:15.42 this season and should make the trip to state. Max Weber of Metro-East Lutheran is within seven seconds of Biesenthal and could advance with his best race of the season. Only two runners should advance out of the 800 Meter Run. Ethan Theilen of Springfield Lutheran is the top seed (2:04.09). Jacob Barth of Auburn and Ben Hermes of New Berlin are within two seconds of Theilen and could challenge for the win. Quarton will double back from the 3200 Meter Run and is the favorite in the 1600 Meter Run with a 4:32.40. James Baisden of Auburn and Chaz Oberkfell of Gillespie lead the pack challenging for the second advancing spot.

Friday, May 19

Kewanee-Wethersfield – Elmwood’s Isaiah Hill will be busy in this meet entered in three events. Hill will be the anchor in Elmwood’s quartet in the 4x800m Relay. The Trojans enter with the top seed time of 8:29.95. Princeville, Mercer County, and Warsaw-West Hancock will all challenge for the second qualifying spot. Hill will be the big favorite in the 800 Meter Run with the 1A leading time of 1:54.26. Lucas Arnold of Mercer County is eight seconds behind Hill but four seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. Hill has a best of 4:21.75 (1A #7) and is the favorite in the 1600 Meter Run. Derek Coulter of Mercer County is the second seed (4:39.67) ahead of Dax Ulm of Farmington (4:44.02) and Arnold (4:44.03). Coulter is the favorite in the 3200 Meter Run (10:02.45) ahead of the pack by 30 seconds led by Mike Nelson of Elmwood.

Nashville – Isaac Teel of Pinckneyville switched things up this season and will not defend his title in the 1600 Meter Run. Teel will be the top seed in the 800 Meter Run with the 1:57.96 (1A #12) that he ran on this track at the end of April. There could be up to four runners that could advance led by Cole Gruenke of Trenton-Wesclin (2:00.38) and followed by Cayton Cratch of Steeleville and Jonathan Holthaus of Breese Mater Dei. Pinckneyville has the top seed in the 4x800m Relay (8:32.47) followed by Breese Mater Dei, Father McGivney and Althoff Catholic who are all 20+ seconds behind Pinckneyville. Teel is on the relay card but not listed in the first four spots. Grant Schleifer of Okawville has a season’s best of 10:05.57 and leads the field in the 3200 Meter Run. Landon Boman of Pinckneyville, Elijah Gregory of Christ Our Rock Lutheran, and Peter Taylor of Dupo are the runners that challenge for the second qualifying spot. Schleifer is also the favorite in the 1600 Meter Run with his 4:39.16 time. Gregory and Evan Eberhart are within six to eight seconds of Schleifer and will look for a state trip.

Oregon – This is a high powered distance sectional. Rockford Christian is the top seed in the 4x800m Relay with the 8:11.74 time (1A #2) run at Winnebago two weeks ago. The Royal Lions had Weston Forward and Aidan Sosnowski as part of their quartet in that race. Neither will be in the lineup for this sectional. Sosnowski, however, is on the relay card. Harvest Christian Academy ran 8:12.07 to win Illinois Top Times in March. The Lions ran 8:51.78 two weeks ago at Mooseheart with their Top Times lineup which included Daniel Winkelman. They should make it out of this sectional and should be the team favorite next week in Charleston. Winnebago is within three seconds of the qualifying standard and could also advance. Winkelman is running the same events that he did at state in 2022. We could see four runners advance from this sectional led by the 1:54.57 time (1A #2) run by Winkelman at Palatine. Sosnowski will be close to Winkelman with his best of 1:57.88 (1A #10). David Peterson of Harvest Christian Academy at 2:00.84 should make it to state. Benjamin Castillo of North Boone also has a good chance of making it to Charleston. Winkelman ran 4:19.83 (1A #3) two weeks ago at the Kane County Championships. He will be the top seed in a race where we could see up to five runners qualify for state. Weston Forward of Rockford Christian and Peterson will challenge for second. Tim Starwalt of Byron and Nicolai Martino of Winnebago look to be good choices also to make it to state. Forward is the big favorite in the 3200 Meter Run having a 9:30.79 time (1A #8) run at Distance Night in Palatine. Martino is 30 seconds behind Forward and 30+ seconds ahead of the field. He should advance in this race.

Taylor Ridge (Rock Ridge) – Tommy Murray and his Riverdale teammates should be the featured runners in this sectional. You should see multiple qualifiers coming out of the distance events in this sectional. Murray is the top seed in the 3200 Meter Run with his 1A leading time of 9:14.72. Teammate Peyton Sand has a 9:51.60 best and should also advance. Kyler McNinch of Amboy is within eight seconds of the state qualifying standard of 10:12.64. A good race gets him racing next week in Charleston. Four to five runners could make it out of this sectional in the 800 Meter Run. Noah Britton of Rock Island Alleman ran 1:55.03 (1A #4) last week at Western Big Six and is the favorite in this event. Elijah House is almost two seconds behind Britton entering this race. Landis Musser of Riverdale and Ben Milner of Rock Island Alleman are under the qualifying standard with both possibly advancing. Murray is the overwhelming favorite in the 1600 Meter Run. He has the top 1A time this year (4:16.02) and is 16 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Lucas Schaab of Newman Catholic, Musser, and Charlie Link of Erie all could advance out of this sectional. Five to six teams could make it out of this sectional in the 4x800m Relay. Riverdale has the best time in Class 1A with the 8:09.57 run at Rock Falls in April. That race their big three of Sand, Musser, and Murray in it. All three are on the state series relay card. Newman Catholic at 8:19.76 (1A #6), Rock Island Alleman at 8:24.65 (1A #11), Forreston and Bureau Valley all have times under the 8:33.8 state qualifier. Erie is within four seconds of that time and could also qualify.

Westville – Carson Maroon of St. Joseph-Ogden is the big favorite in the 3200 Meter Run in this sectional. Maroon ran 9:39.30 (1A #10) on his home track at the end of April. He is almost a minute ahead of a pack led by Ross Kimme of Urbana University and Kurt Zimmerman of Villa Grove. Maroon should also be the favorite in the 1600 Meter Run with his 4:24.98 time (1A #9) run last week at St. Teresa. Teammate Lance Retz and Kimme are within four seconds of each other and will challenge for the second spot. Ryan Hendrickson of St. Thomas More was all-state least year in the 800 Meter Run. He has the top seed of 1:59.14 in this sectional. Spencer Wilson of St. Joseph-Ogden and Tyler Smoot of Salt Fork could both qualify to state. Urbana University ran 8:20.15 (1A #9) last week at St. Teresa and is the top seed in the 4x800m Relay. St. Joseph-Ogden, with Maroon, Retz, and Wilson on their quartet, has run 8:32.12 and should also make the short trip to Charleston for state.