Road to Charleston - A view of the 2023 IHSA 2A 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 = 23 (8:30.23); 3200m = 43 (10:01.23); 800m = 62 (2:01.83); 1600m = 50  (4:35.35)

The Salem Sectional on Thursday should be one of the top distance sectionals in Class 2A. @A State XC Champion Dylon Nalley is back from an injury that kept him out most of the season and will run in the 3200 Meter Run against Ethan Hogan of Columbia who has the fastest time in the state. The two will face each other again in the 1600 Meter Run with Gavin Genisio of Benton joining this race. Genisio will be the favorite in the 800 Meter Run in that sectional.

Here is a look at the 11 2A Sectionals that will take place from Wednesday to Friday with focus on the four distance events.

Wednesday, May 17

Belvidere – It will be interesting to see how the distance events in this sectional play out. There are three teams that are under the qualifying standard in the 4x800m Relay. We could possibly see four teams advance. Boylan Catholic has the top seed time (8:12.84) run last week at the NIC-10 Conference Meet. Woodstock (8:17.82) is a good bet to also finish in the top two. Galena ran 8:27.60 and with a good race should advance to Charleston. Carmel Catholic is just under the qualifying start but has a good chance to qualify. Lakes Community is within four seconds of qualifying. Keep an eye on them in this race. Only two runners should advance in the 3200 Meter Run. Dylan Hanson of Woodstock has a 10:16.40 top seed with teammate Jakob Crown more than five seconds behind. Jackson Summy of Lakes Community is another six seconds behind but could finish in the top two with a good race. Payton Whitehead of Lakes Community was all-state last year in the 800 Meter Run. He is the big favorite in this sectional race. Whitehead’s top seed time of 1:55.27 (2A #4) came at the Lake County Invitational on May 4. He is six seconds ahead of the field led by Cole Bonham of Carmel Catholic and Aidan Wedwick of Boylan Catholic. Three runners could get out in the 1600 Meter Run. Alexander Horton of Boylan Catholic (4:28.87) and Ishan Patel of Woodstock (4:29.62) are within a second of each other and should challenge for the win. Ellery Shutt of Woodstock is a second ahead of state qualifying and could advance to state.

DePaul College Prep – The meet is held at Hope Academy’s facility. It could be Class 1A State XC Champion DePaul College and Payton Prep that could garner the majority of the qualifiers. The two teams will face off in what could be a great 4x800m Relay. DePaul has the top seed time of 8:05.25 (2A #6) run last week at the Chicago Catholic League Championships; Payton ran 8:06.83 (2A #7) in winning the Chicago Public League Championships last Saturday. There is no other team within 40 seconds of the first two. Evan Rainville, who will anchor the 4x8 for Payton, will run in the 400 Meter Dash instead of the 800 Meter Run. Charlie Richardson of DePaul has the top seed of 1:56.63 run indoors. Teammate Bodi Ward is within three seconds of Richardson and should also qualify. Max Kollmeyer of Payton Prep and Jack Sanderson of Northside Prep have a good shot of also advancing. Mac Kittrell of DePaul College Prep will be the big favorite in the 3200 Meter Run. Kittrell’s seed time of 9:17.95 (2A #3) is almost 30 seconds ahead of the field that has three other runners under 10-minutes. Bryan Malkowski of DePaul Prep and Payton Prep’s Gavin Lee and Gabriel Cooper with good races should also make it to Charleston. Kittrell and Richardson are the top seeds in the 1600 Meter Run. Kittrell ran 4:20.89 indoors but has a 4:29.57 best outdoors. Richardson ran 4:21.78 (2A #6) at Distance Night in Palatine in April. Lee and Cooper have times under state qualifying. They could also advance.

Dunlap – Reece Dusek of Dunlap was all-state last year in the 400 Meter Dash and on two all-state sprint relays while attending Limestone High School. Dusek enters this meet as the top seed in the 800 Meter Run with the 1:55.50 (2A #5) that he ran at the Morton Distance Gala. Up to six runners are under the state qualifying standard for this race. Layton Knoop of Morton and Clayton Bell of Limestone lead the pack with 1:59 times. Joe Ehrhart of Peoria Notre Dame, Aiden Mohr of Dunlap, and Brecken Fahrenkrug of Illinois Valley Central could also advance. It could be tighter in the 1600 Meter Run. Christian Harris of Morton leads the field with a 4:30.63 run at the Morton Distance Gala. There is no other runner that is under the 2A qualifying standard. Fahrenkrug along with Sachit Munduli of Normal University are within a second of each other and two seconds of qualifying. Both could advance with good races. Josh Weeks of Morton ran 9:33.73 indoors and has the top seed in the 3200 Meter Run. The junior since indoors has been running in the 9:50 range with his best of 9:49.57 outdoors at Galesburg. Andrew Elward of Peoria Notre Dame ran 9:52.96 and will be the closest to Weeks. Three runners are within the 10:01 2A standard led by Jackson Manley of Limestone and followed by Sean Kaeb of Normal University and Sam Yontz of Morton could all qualify if they run under 10-minutes. 8:19.42 run by Normal University is the top seed in the 4x800m Relay. Metamora (8:27.77) and Pontiac (8:29.60) have run under the state qualifying time. Peoria Notre Dame and maybe Dunlap will also advance.

Geneseo – This is a sneaky good distance sectional with multiple qualifiers in all four events. Dale Johnson of Sterling has taken his running to another level this spring running with the bog dogs and putting himself in great position in Charleston. The junior will be the favorite in the two longer distance races. Johnson ran 9:13.71 (2A #2) at Palatine in April to give him the top seed in this event. This is a good field with three other runners under 10-minutes with a chance to qualify. Keep an eye on Aaron Conderman of Dixon, Dylan Gehl of Geneseo, and Kaden Welch of Morris in the front. Johnson also leads the pack in the 1600 Meter Run with a 4:21.44 indoor best. He ran 4:22.42 (2A #8) on his home track in April. There are four runners that have bests of under 4:30 this season. Dominic Cantarini of Galesburg leads that group with a 4:27.82 time. Dylan Gehl of Geneseo and Max Cryer of Sanwich are within a second of the Galesburg junior. Welch will be doubling back from the 3200 Meter Run and could advance in two events. Sterling has the fastest time in the Class 2A 4x800m Relay. That time was run with Johnson in their quartet. He is on Sterling’s relay card but not expected to run in this sectional race. Galesburg and Sandwich could advance to the state meet with their seasonal best times under the state qualifying standard. Kody Danko of Streator ran a 1:55.2 hand timed best at Princeton in the middle of April. He should be one of the favorites in the 800 Meter Run. Three runners have run under the state sectional with times under two-minutes. Wyatt Miller of Sandwich, Owen Anderson and Thomas Holcomb of Sterling, could challenge Danko for the win.

Glenbard South – Host Glenbard South at 8:04.69 (2A #5) and Benet Academy (8:17.02) are the top two seeds in the 4x800m Relay. St, Laurence has run 8:28.11 under the state standard and could make it to state finishing in the top three. Tim Jochum of Glenbard South has a season’s best of 1:57.38 leading the field in the 800 Meter Run. Teammate Ryan Chung and Griffin Schneid of Benet Academy have run under two-minutes and have a good chance to advance out of this sectional. Grayden Rill of Fenwick is the big favorite in the 1600 Meter Run. This will be the only event that this senior will race in. He ran 4:19.98 indoors, 4:20.37 (2A #4) outdoors at Distance Night in Palatine. Jaden Frederick of Glenbard South (4:26.94) and Dean O’Bryan of Fenwick (4:30.88) have bests under the state qualifying time. Charlie Phelan of Benet Academy with a personal best could make it to the state meet. Nathan McKillop of Fenwick and Frederick are under 9:40 and the top two seeds in the 3200 Meter Run. McKillop ran 9:38.93 (2A #10) last week at the Chicago Catholic League Championships. Finn Richards and Aiden Hulett of Benet Academy are close to locks to make it to Charleston. Jose Nunez of Noble/UIC is within a second and could make it to Charleston as well.

Kankakee – This is a sectional where we might only see the top two qualify out of the four distance events. Rocco Cipolla of Evergreen Park could qualify in the 3200 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run. Cipolla’s seed time of 9:56.48 is the top seed by three seconds ahead of Aiden Pacunas of Rantoul (9:59.47). The rest of the field is 41 seconds in back of Pacunas. It could be close in the 1600 Meter Run with none of the top runners under state qualifying and within three seconds of each other. Cipolla and Daniel Kasperan of Marian Catholic have top seeds at 4:40. Cody Dziallo of Agricultural Science and Pacunas both have times in the 4:43 range. Kasperan has a seed time of 2:00.79 and leads the field in the 800 Meter Run ahead of three runners at 2:04 including Nathan Fernandez of Evergreen Park, Cormontie Robinson of Thornridge, and Eli Wilhelm of Rantoul. Providence Catholic has the top seed time in the 4x800m Relay (8:37.84). Agricultural Science, Rantoul, and Herscher are all among the teams that could finish in the top two auto state qualifying spots.

Mattoon – A distance talent rich sectional. Lincoln has refurbished their lineup in defense of their state title in the 4x800m Relay. The Railsplitters ran 7:57.63 (2A #2) last Wednesday at the Charleston Big Trojan Invitational. They will have a 10 second advantage over Illinois Top Times champ Champaign Central having run 8:07.90 (2a #9) this spring. Urbana has a best of 8:11.52 (2A #11) while Mt. Zion has a best of 8:11.89 (2A #12). Both teams could challenge for the win. Effingham, Mahomet-Seymour, and Monticello both are within the 8:30.23 qualifying standard. Any of these three teams could also punch their ticket across I-57 to the state meet. The individual distance races could be tremendous. Julian Baker of Mt. Zion ran 9:26.19 (2A #5) at the SJO Spartan Classic. He is the top seed in the 3200 Meter Run. Nic Bonn is next with his best time of 9:31.86 (2A #7). There could be four additional qualifiers in this race with Caleb Mathias of Champaign Central , Drew Moser of Clinton, Holden Haugh of Richland County, and Daniel Grauer of Mt. Zion with times all under 10-minutes. The 1600 Meter Run should also be dynamite with Baker leading the way with a 4:20.37 best (2A #4) run at Distance Night in Palatine. Brenden Heitzig of Lincoln, who will also be in the 4x8, ran 4:22.81 (2A #9) and also challenge for the win. Fynn Bright of Champaign Central and Cale Smith are good bets to also advance to state. Hough is close to qualifying having run 4:31.94 this season. Sam Atkinson of Mt. Zion will also be in the field in the 400 Meter Dash. He is the top seed in the 800 Meter Run with his best of 1:56.63 run indoors.. Smith ran 1:56.92 at Central State Eight and could challenge Atkinson for the win. This event could also have six qualifiers with Jude Loft and Ben Crombie of Lincoln, Rylan Good of Monticello, and Jakob Riley of Champaign Central at or under two-minutes.

Thursday, May 18

East Alton-Wood River – Jackson Collman of Civic Memorial enters the 3200 Meter Run in this sectional as the big favorite. His time of 9:24.34 is an indoor time. He ran 9:33.57 (2A #8) at the Mississippi Valley Conference Meet last week. Collman is almost 50 seconds ahead of Andrew Pace of Troy Triad, Aidan Loeffelman of East Alton-Wood River, and Jacob Cranford of Civic Memorial who will all challenge for the second qualifying spot in the event. Owen Morgan of Taylorville and Collman are the top two seeds in the 1600 Meter Run and could be the only two qualifiers in the event. Morgan enters this meet with a best of 4:23.49 (2A #10) run at Distance Night in Palatine. Collman’s time of 4:25.46 was run two weeks ago at Collinsville. Justin Eldridge of Civic Memorial ran 1:57.70 at Collinsville giving him the top seed in the 800 Meter Run. Five runners are together behind Eldridge one second of each other. Seth Doss of Springfield Southeast leads the pack followed by Dallas Mancinas of Highland, Darris Ivy of East St. Louis-Senior, Noah Hunt of Breese Central, and Wyatt Doyle of Roxana. We could see up to five teams qualify in the 4x800m Relay. Civic Memorial, with Collman and Eldridge in it, lead the field with the 8:03.38 time (2A #3) that they ran at Triad in April. Highland and East St. Louis-Senior are under 8:20 and should advance. Taylorville has an 8:22.44 best that should get them to Charleston. Troy Triad is just at state qualifying with their best time being 8:30.04. A good race gets them to the state meet.

Salem – The distance portion of this sectional will be lights out. Ethan Hogan of Columbia is having a great track season with a best of 8:49.61 (US #20) leading the field. Dylon Nalley was the top runner during the fall winning the 2A State title at Detweiller Park. An injury over the winter has forced him to miss most of the season. His first meet back was last week at the South Seven Conference where he ran 9:19.83 (2A #4) to claim the win. The emergence of Hogan during the indoor season had fans clamoring for Hogan and Nalley to face each other during the fall. They will get the chance the two race in consecutive weeks. Joe Schwartz of Waterloo ran 9:24.24, 9:29.33 (2A #6) at Palatine in April. They should be the only three runners in this race to advance. The 1600 will be great with Hogan the top time in Class 2A (4:12.82) at Collinsville two weeks ago and 4:08.52 at New Balance Indoor Nationals. Gavin Genisio of Benton ran 4:13.77 (2A #2) at Palatine but did run 4:11.05 indoors also at New Balance Indoor Nationals. We should see up to four more runners advance in this event. Schwartz leads the way with his 4:22.22 (2A #7) run last week at the Mississippi Valley Conference. Calvin Range of Columbia ran 4:27.18 at Collinsville. Nalley is also entered in this race with 4:28.62 his best. Gabriel McLain of Benton is at 4:29.02 and under the state qualifying standard. Genisio, who finished second in last year’s state meet, should be the big favorite in the 800 Meter Run. His time this season of 1:54.17 (2A #2) was run at the beginning of the month at the Chuck Oyler Invitational. Mekye Lomax of Marion has a best of 1:56.51 (2A #8) and could push Genisio in this race. Six runners in this sectional are under the state qualifying standards led by Sean Hudspath of Marion who ran 1:56.97 (2A #12) last week. Trey Mygatt of Mt. Vernon, Range, and Austin Corey of Waterloo all have times under 1:59. Ian Moll of Mascoutah and Cole Buchanan of Benton are close with times at 2:01. They could also both advance. The 4x800m Relay that starts the meet could be interesting to watch. Marion, led by Lomax and Hudspath, ran 8:03.86 (2A #4) at the beginning of the outdoor season at the beginning of the outdoor season. They are the top seed with Waterloo at 8:07.73 (2A #8), Benton, with Genisio anchoring, has a best of 8:11.34 (2A #10). Mascoutah and Mt. Vernon are under 8:20 and should advance. Freeburg is near qualifying at 8:30 and will need a good race to advance in the event. Columbia ran 8:17.61 this year but do not have Hogan and Range on their relay card.

St. Rita – This is not the toughest of distance sectionals with only five teams entered in the 4x800m Relay and four individuals entered in the 3200 Meter Run. Dion Ranson of South Shore International could be the runner to keep an eye on. The senior enters this sectional with the top seed in the 800 Meter Run. Maxwell Woodruff of Lindblom is seven seconds ahead of the rest of the field and should qualify in this event. Chicago University’s Simon Lane (4:40.45) and Benjamin O’Donnell (4:44.67) are the top two seeds in the 1600 Meter Run. Lane is the top seed in the 3200 Meter Run (9:56.52) with teammate Alex Lopez almost a minute behind. Chicago University has the top seed in the 4x800m Relay (8:40.03 with Lindblom just three seconds behind. The next closest team is almost a minute back.

Friday, May 19

Genoa-Kingston – Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic ran the 800 Meter Run and 400 Meter Dash at last year’s state meet earning all-state status in both events. Hilby has stepped up the distance by entering the 800 Meter Run along with the 1600 Meter Run. Hilby has the best time in the state with a 1:52.32 in winning at Palatine in April. He will have competition in this race as Caden Emmert of Sycamore ran 1:55.19 (2A #3) to win on his home track at the Gib Seegers invitational almost three week ago. Emmert will push Hilby in this race. Hilby’s teammate Armando Acosta has a 1:57.49 best and should also qualify in this event. Hilby ran 4:18.84 (2A #3) two weeks ago at Kane County and will be the favorite in the 1600 Meter Run coming off the 800 double. Five runners are within four seconds of each other and will challenge for a ticket to Charleston. Corey Goff of Sycamore leads the pack with a 4:28.02 season’s best. John Daffenberg of Marmion Academy, John Kipp and Brady Kataoka of Northridge Prep along with Naif Al-Harby of Sycamore will challenge for performances under the state qualifying standards. Four teams are under the state qualifying standards with hopes of making it to state in the 4x800m Relay. Sycamore has the top time (8:13.81) followed by Aurora Central Catholic, Northridge Prep, Marmion Academy, and Burlington Central. Kaneland is four seconds away from qualifying. The Knights will need their best time of the season to make it in this relay to Charleston. Evan Nosek of Kaneland has the top time in the 3200 Meter Run having run 9:26.59 indoors. Teammate David Valkanov has a 9:42.92 best and could join Nosek at state. Connor Carlson of Marmion Academy is the only other runner in this field having raced under the state qualifying time.