Illinois HS Track & Field Highlights - March 3, 2025

 

Batavia hosts two great weekend meets featuring Mia Sirois on Saturday

 

By Michael Newman

 

March came in with a roar this past weekend as bigger meets started to ramp up the Illinois indoor track season as we head to the end of the month and the Illinois Top Times Championships.

 

The Proviso West Boys Invitational was one of the most competitive meets of the weekend. You can view videos and recap of the meet here. We also have video of the Girls Meet at Wheaton-Warrenville South from Friday.

 

Here are some of the highlights from this past weekend and some highlights from the past week.

 

Batavia Bulldog Girls Invitational (3/1) – The last time that Mia Sirois of Barrington ran in Illinois, she ran at Gately Park at the end of January in the 2 Mile Run at The Circuit-Chicago where she ran the second fastest time in the United States. Sirois ran in the 3200 Meter Run in Saturday’s race. The last-minute addition of Class 2A State XC Champion St. Ignatius College Prep to this meet added some more allure to this small meet and their great runners who continue to improve with every race.

 

Sirois pulled away from the field early in this meet last year running her first 3200 Meter Run race running 10:30.29. Saturday was the same thing as she pulled away from the field before 1600-meters into the race and went on to run a state leading 10:05.18 to win in her 11th race at this distance in her young career. The surprise of this race was the performance from St. Ignatius’ Ally Shutler. The freshman, who finished ninth last fall in the Class 2A State XC Meet and ran 10:50 on the track in a team time trial, ran her first competitive high school 3200 Meter Run race a 10:35.99 time (IL #2). Veronica Znajda of Prospect finished third (11:00.39, IL #5) with Ireland Wildhart of Prospect (11:22.23) and Audrey Casten of Downers Grove North (11:22.48) finishing fourth and fifth. Sirois was pushed in the 2 Mile at Gately Park. This time it was another solo effort.

 

What was also impressive was that Shutler came right back racing in the 800 Meter Run in less than an hour later. The freshman’s time of 2:16.54 (IL #3) won the race over a good field that included Scout Storms of Barrington in second (2:19.88, IL #10), Lily Eddington of Downers Grove North (2:23.94), and Sophia Galiano-Sanchez of York (2:23.94).

 

The 1600 Meter Run was a classic with the top three finishers within three seconds of each other. Meg Peterson of Prospect went sub-five running 4:58.69 (IL #4) to edge Annika Swan of St. Ignatius (4:59.38, IL #6), and Ava Gilley of Downers Grove North (5:01.10, IL #7). State leading St. Ignatius did not run their top group in the 4x800m Relay. Barrington showed their distance depth in this race running 9:45.81 (IL #2) to win the relay, York ran 9:46.32 (IL #3) to finish second. York’s “B” team ran 10:11.61 to finish third.

 

Yane Jansen Van Rensburg of Barrington and Kailee Roderick of Downers Grove South both cleared season best heights of 11-3 (IL #10 tie) in the Pole Vault. Karen Boakye of Downers Grove South jumped 18-1.5 (IL #8) to win the Long Jump. She came back to jump 38-1 (IL #4) to win the Triple Jump.

 

Amina Hadziahmetovic of Prospect ran 7.18 (IL #4) to win the 55 Meter Dash with Elizabeth Wende of Batavia finishing second (7.32, IL #8). Wende came back to run 25.73 to win the 200 Meter Dash and 58.88 (IL #3) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Hadziahmetovic ran 58.91 (IL #4) in that race ahead of teammate Nikki Niebrugge (59.60, IL #9).

 

Batavia 8 Entry Quad (2/28) – Downers Grove North, Lake Park, Homewood-Flossmoor, and host Batavia put up some great performances in this small meet. Grant Schroder of Downers Grove North ran a state leading time of 1:55.90 to win the 800 Meter Run leading five runners under two minutes. Edward Polaski of Batavia finished second (IL #7, 1:58.89) and Will Surratt of Downers Grove North (1:59.07, IL #10) finished third ahead of teammate John Courtney (1:59.40) and Francesco Benelli of Batavia (1:59.71).

 

Zion Morrison of Homewood-Flossmoor ran 6.49 (IL #2) to win the 55 Meter Dash ahead of Nathan Whitwell of Batavia (6.56) and Jayln McDonald of Homewood-Flossmoor (6.62). McDonald came back to run 22.89 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Seth Harris of Homewood-Flossmoor ran 8.05 (IL #5) in winning the 55 Meter Hurdles and Demari Richmond of Lake Park (8.17, IL #10 tie).

 

Batavia ran 1:31.96 to win the 4x200m Relay ahead of Downers Grove North who finished 1:32.23 (IL #8). Homewood-Flossmoor ran 3:29.28 (IL #5) to win the 4x400m Relay. Batavia ran 3:29.48 (IL #6) to finish second. James Michelini of Lake Park had a best of 56-8.5 (IL #4) to win the Shot Put.

 

Huntley Boys Invitational (2/28) – One of the top distance races happened in this state so far this season happened in this meet as the top two times were performed in the 1600 Meter Run. Tommy Nitz of Huntley ran a state leading 4:12.87 to win the race with Max Sudrzynski of Jacobs running 4:13.77 (IL #2) finishing second. Fremd’s Rory Gaan (4:21.33) and Jack Jennings (4:30.40). Joe Bregenzer of Barrington won by more than 30 seconds in the 3200 Meter Run with a winning time of 9:21.56 (IL #5).

 

Jacobs ran 1:31.95 (IL #6) to win the 4x200m Relay ahead of Plainfield East (1:33.42). Alexander Moser of Stevenson jumped 22-3.5 (IL #10) to win the Long Jump. Ben Blank of Naperville Central had a put of 54-7.25 (IL #9) to win the Shot Put. Nathan McLoughlin of St. Charles North cleared 16-0 for the first time (IL #4) to win the Pole Vault.

 

Homewood-Flossmoor ABC Girls Invitational (3/1) – This was a sprint heavy meet at Homewood-Flossmoor which included a new addition to the Vikings sprint squad Mariyah Robinson. This was the first meet for the junior who was a three-time all-state runner last year at Simeon before transferring to HF. Angelena Bullocks of Whitney Young ran a state leading 7.41 to win the A level of the 60 Meter Dash with Robinson running 7.45 (IL #3) to finish second. Kee’Lani Whitlock of Kenwood ran 7.66 (IL #6 to finish third with Courtney Mcdonald of Plainfield East (7.69), Symone Holman of Joliet Catholic (7.71), and Jillian Booth of York (7.72, IL #10). Robinson came back to run a state leading 24.32 to win the 200 Meter Dash. The junior won by over a second ahead of Holman (25.75). Aniya Mullins of Homewood-Flossmoor ran 25.31 (IL #8) to win the Level B division of that event. Robinson and Mullins were part of Homewood=Flossmoor’s quartet that ran a state leading 1:41.89 to win the 4x200 Meter Relay. Plainfield East finished second (1:44.29, IL #3) ahead of Kenwood (1:45.11, IL #5), and Huntley (1:46.34, IL #6).

 

Morgan Navarre of York won the 400 Meter Dash (59.74). Emma Berres of Naperville North is ranked #11 this year in both the 899 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run and last year was all-state in the 800 Meter Run. Berres took a step up and raced Saturday in the 3200 Meter Run. Berres went out to run a huge personal best of 11:04.42 to win the Level A division of the event. Josie Cahill of New Trier ran 11:10.83 in finish second. Maya Ledesma of Minooka ran a season’s best of 5:07.03 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Shaina Tandon of Naperville North (5:12.54) and Ainsley Carter of Lane Tech (5:14.67). Rianna Tandon of Naperville North won the Level B portion of the event with a 5:18.99 time. Minooka in the 4x800m Relay ran a season’s best of 9:47.60 (IL #4) for the win ahead of Huntley (9:56.42, IL #5), Naperville North (9:56.84, IL #6), and Sandburg (10:03.24, IL #9).

 

Dominique Johnson of Huntley jumped 18-8.75 for the win in the Long Jump. Jaloni Wiley of Homewood-Flossmoor had a 41-6 best in winning the Shot Put. Jordan Hamb of South Shore International ran 8.75 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles just one hundredth of a second slower that her state leading best of 8.74

 

Olivet Nazarene HS Invitational (2/26-2/28) – This three-day meet put up some great performances on the gentle curves inside the Perry Student Learning Center.

3A Boys – Austin Roswell of Lincoln-Way West put up one of the top performances in this division Thursday night. Roswell ran a state leading time of 49.53 to win the 400 Meter Dash with teammate Anthony Lusciatti running 51.23 to finish second. The two runners were also part of the quartet that ran 3:28.22 to win the 4x400m Relay. Lincoln-Way West also ran 1:33.13 to win the 4x200m Relay. Braden Hoff of Lincoln-Way Central ran 4:28.74 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Sean Hanrahan of Lincoln-Way East (4:29.07). Hoff anchored his team to the win in the 4x800m Relay (8:20.97). David Niwogu of Thornton Fractional South jumped 46-2.5 to win the Triple Jump.

 

3A Girls – Kyla Motley of Shepard achieved a seasonal best of 18-1.75 (IL #7) to win the Long Jump Friday evening. Amy Carhee of Schaumburg ran 8.90 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles with Motley running 9.12 to finish second. Nina Brown of Champaign Centennial ran 7.76 to win the 60 Meter Dash with Nevaeh Brown of Bradley-Bourbonnais second (7.92). Lincoln-Way East’s Kyra Hayden and Alaina Steele along with Alanah Smith of Lincoln-Way West finished third through fifth all running 8.02. Steele came back to run 1:40.74 (IL #4) to win the 600 Meter Run ahead of Lincoln-Way Central’s Katelyn Petoskey (1:41.16 (IL #5) and Jillian Davies (1:41.50, IL #7) finishing second and third.

 

Class 1A/2A – Jaiduan Cranford of Metamora may have had one of the performances on the opening day of this meet running 6.89 (IL #5) to win the 60 Meter Dash with teammate Evan Keil running 7.12 to finish second. Keil ran 23.37 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Rockford Christian had four of the top five times in the 800 Meter Run led by the 1-2 finish from Evan White (2:01.48) and Blake Lindberg (2:03.75). Cuyler Swanson of Morris ran 4:33.12 to win the 1600 Meter Run with Andrew Kurien of Rockford Christian second (4:36.34).

 

Kankakee swept the first four places in the 60 Meter Dash led by the individual win from Trinity Noble (7.75). Kankakee’s quartet of Naomi Bey-Osborne, Demariana Tooles, Jamya McMurtry, and Noble to fantastic time of 1:42.63 (IL #2) to win the 4x200 Meter Relay.

 

Knights Boys Invitational @ Principia College (2/28) – Troy Mclean of Belleville West ran 50.60 (IL #4) to win the 400 Meter Dash by more than two seconds. Elijah Teefey of Pleasant Plains ran 4:27.33 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of a close pack of Landon Harris of Granite City (4:31.85), Chaz Oberkfell of Gillespie (4:31.97), and Evan Cook of Decatur St. Teresa (4:32.00). Teefey was also a part of Pleasant Plains quartet that ran 8:26.04 to win the 4x800m Relay with Mascoutah (8:31.96) finishing second. Max Weber of Bethalto Civic Memorial ran 9:45.40 to win the 3200 Meter Run by 23 seconds ahead of Michael Wilson of Greenville (10:08.36).

 

Parker Campell of Lincoln won the 60 Meter Hurdles of a strong field. Campell’s time of 8.25 (IL #5) finished ahead of Jayln Cole of Belleville West (8.27) and Louis Yohannes of Triad (8.32). Noah Feldt of Mascoutah won the 200 Meter Dash running 22.37 (IL #7 tie).

 

Plainfield North Girls Invitational (2-28) – The performances on this track were great considering it was run on a 177.8-meter track. Marlie Czarniewski of Plainfield North ran a personal best of 5:04.40 (IL #10) to win the 1600 Meter Run. The Tigers took the first two spots in the 800 Meter Run as Lindsey Wenz ran 2:20.08) finishing ahead of Elsie Czarniewski (2:20.77). Lemont loaded their relay with their top runners including Hannah Farley and Niki Tselios to run 10:04.25 (IL #10) to win the 4x800 Meter Relay. Plainfield North in the 4x200m Relay ran on a fast time on their small track running 1:44.96 (IL #4) for the win by five seconds.

 

ICOPS Invitational @ North Central College (3/1) – This meet moved to the Res-Rec Center at North Central College after being at Lewis University for more than a decade featuring some of the top Catholic area Boys schools. The 60 Meter Dash was dynamite with four athletes under seven seconds. Luke Leverett of Providence Catholic ran a state leading 6.84 to win in the finals. Harley Rizzs of St. Laurence ran 6.90 (IL #7) to finish second ahead of teammate Monroe Thompson Jr. (6.97) and Thomas Christian of DePaul Prep (6.99). Christian came back to run 22.92 to win the 200 Meter Dash ahead of Brian E Smith II of North Shore-Country Day (21.21) and Rizzs (23.23). Smith earlier in the meet ran 50.70 to win the 400 Meter Dash.

 

Simon Lane of Chicago University has stepped up his game at the beginning of his senior season. Lane ran 4:18.92 (IL #10) to win the 1600 Meter Run with Finn Richards of Benet Academy running 4:26.82 to place second. Gavin O’Connor of Brother Rice ran 9:28.79 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Manuel Alvarez of St. Ignatius (9:39.26) and Andrew Straley of Brother Rice (9:40.07).

 

Coach Basting Invitational @ Shirk Center (3/1) – The field events took center stage at the site of the Illinois Top Times Championships in four weeks. Isaiah Whitaker of Bloomington Central Catholic has developed into one of the top athletes in the country in the Pole Vault. He made it look easy as he entered the event at 16-4.75 after all the athletes were eliminated from the competition cleared his opening height and 17-0.75 on his first attempts to win the event. He missed at three attempts at national leading 17-8.50. He took only five attempts in this meet. Voldy Makabu of Champaign Centennial cleared a state leading height of 6-6.75 on his third attempt to win the High Jump. Larry Willis of Chatham-Glenwood cleared 6-4.75 (IL #5) to finish second. Joe Atkins of Washington had a 57-5.50 put (IL #2) to win the Shot Put. Willis came back to jump 21-4.75 in winning the Long Jump. Shamond McLain of East St. Louis jumped 46-3.25 in winning the Triple Jump. Treycen Bownes of Plainfield North finished second with a 44-7.50 mark (IL #8).

 

Cody Muhlbauer of Normal West ran 6.90 (IL #) to win the 60 Meter Dash ahead of Darren Wilson of Edwardsville (6.98). It was a close finish in the 800 Meter Run as Darius Ivy of East St. Louis ran 2:00.70 to hold off Brady Moser of Chatham-Glenwood (2:01.06) for the win. Christian Harris of Morton ran 9:25.40 to edge Aidan Connors of Plainfield North (9:25.62) for the win by .22 seconds in the 3200 Meter Run. Harris took the lead on the final lap closing in a final 30 seconds to capture the win. Quinn Davis of Plainfield North ran a season’s best of 4:26.31 for the win in the 1600 Meter Run finishing ahead of Caleb Mathias of Champaign Central (4:29.12) and Tucker Hinkle of Eureka (4:29.81).

 

Normal U-High Invitational @ Shirk Center (3/1) – This meet was the nightcap of the two meets that were held at this facility. Natalie Bierbaum of Normal University started off her junior season by running 11:08.19 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Sydney Gertsen of Montini (11:17.88) and Avery Braker of Morton (11:21.62). Brooke Zeibert of Rochester ran 5:08.02 to win the 800 Meter Run with Zoe Carter of Normal University running 5:10.46 to finish second. CeCe Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic was timed in 2:20.54 to win the 800 Meter Run ahead of Delavan’s Annabelle LaFary (2:21.94).

 

Hannah Safranek of Normal University ran 7.90 to win the 60 Meter Dash edging Madalyn Marx of Mahomet-Seymour by one hundredth of a second (7.91). Marx came back to run 25.51 to win the 200 Meter Dash by more than a second. Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin won the 4x200m Relay (1:48.06) ahead of Mahomet-Seymour (1:48.16) and Normal University (1:49.24). Isabelle Bunting of Dwight had a 39-7 best to win the Shot Put. Samantha Yeh of Dunlap cleared 5-6.50 (IL #2) in winning the High Jump.

 

Sequoits Boys Showdown @ Lakes Community (3/1) – Ben Crane of New Trier did a little speed work as he gets himself ready for the New Balance Indoor Nationals in two weeks. Crane anchored New Trier to the win in the 4x800m Relay with an 8:02.15 time (IL #2). Deerfield ran 8:21.55 to finish second. Crane ran 2:00.12 to finish third in the 800 Meter Run behind top two finishers Adam Strombom of Crystal Lake South and Bo Breed of Oswego (1:59.87). Jackson Summy of Lakes ran a personal best 4:16.87 (IL #3) to win the 1600 Meter Run. Summy’s closest competition came from Jameson Tenopir of Cary-Grove who ran 4:22.98 (IL #9) to finish second. William Landwehr of New Trier ran 8.17 (IL #4) to win the 60 Meter Hurdles with Brandon Marks of Antioch running 8.33 to finish second. Landwehr came right back to 6.94 in winning the 60 Meter Dash.

 

Jess Gathing Kays Invitational @ Kankakee HS (3/1) – Dane Whitaker of Normal Community was a double winner in this Co-Ed Meet. Whitaker ran 7.04 to win the 60 Meter Dash. He came back to run 22.89 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Amauree Williams of Southland Prep swept both hurdles races by running 8.46 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles just edging Michael Mayer of Normal Community (8.52). Williams came back to run 26.73 to win the seldom run 200 Meter Hurdles. Normal Community dominated the 4x800 Meter Relay (8:07.84, IL #3) winning the race by 46 seconds.

 

Brooklyn Holmes of Marian Catholic ran 7.70 (IL #9) to win the 60 Meter Dash ahead of Kankakee’s Trinity Noble (7.86). Noble came back to run 1:00.59 to win the 400 Meter Dash just ahead of Teleyah Covington of Thornridge (1:00.65). An eye-opening performance came in the 1600 Meter Run. Freshman Klarke Goranson of Manteno ran a solo 4:56.76 (IL #2) winning by 36 seconds. Marco Reynolds of Normal Community had a best of 39-10.75 (IL #4) to win the Shot Put.

 

Other highlights

 

Zechariah Morris of Glenbard North ran a state leading time of 6.45 in winning the 55 Meter Dash at a Quintangular meet on his home track last Tuesday. Teammate Eduardo Gonzalez ran 6.54 (IL #8) to finish second.

 

Saturday’s meet at the Roger Minton Invitational at Marion produced some top performances. Andrew Kinsman of Benton had a state leading put of 59-2.75 to win the Shot Put. Gabe McLain of Benton ran 4:19.13 (IL #6) to win the 1600 Meter Run by 19 seconds ahead of teammate Cole Buchanan (4:38.94). Gabriel Greer ran 9:41.37 on his home track to win the 3200 Meter Run as his brother Raphael Greer ran 9:46.86 to finish second. Arion Hill of Centralia was in control in the 60 Meter Hurdles with an 8.14 winning time.

 

Aidan Wyzard of Sycamore jumped into a state leading 23-4.75 to win the Long Jump at a meet on 2/25 at Burlington Central.

 

The Reavis Triangular on 2/25 produced some fast times in the 3200 Meter Run. Alex Rodriguez of Berwyn/Cicero Morton ran 9:20.90 (IL #4) to win the race with teammate Orlando Sandoval running 9:21.92 (IL #6) to finish second.

 

Evalina Bach of Lake Park improved her best in the Pole Vault clearing 12-8.25 (IL #2) to win the event at the John Davis Relays at Glenbrook South on 2/27.