Illinois High School Track & Field Weekend Highlights - May 4, 2025

 

By Michael Newman

 

In some parts of this state, athletes and coaches are wondering when the warm weather will come. It is coming sooner than we think. But this is outdoor track in Illinois. You must learn to deal with the elements and persevere in those moments. This is not the sterile atmosphere of the indoor track. The IHSA will not be building banked curves on the Big Blue Oval at Eastern Illinois University. Sorry to burst that bubble for some of you.

 

There were top performances achieved across the state on a windy but misty night in the Chicago area meets. Saturday’s meets we saw the sun with the winds deciding to stick around for just one day longer.

 

Here are highlights of some of the meets that took place over the weekend. We head into next week with conference meets for the Girls teams and the last weekend of invitational meets for Boys team. Things are heating up as we head to Charleston where the fun will begin.

 

Tiger Invitational @ Wheaton-Warrenville South – The 47 edition of this meet put up some great performances that started in warm weather, temperatures dropped when rain hit during the hurdles and 1600 and then turned calm allowing a great 4x400 Meter Relay. Prospect won the team title for the second year in a row scoring 137 points finishing ahead of Huntley (80 points) and Lincoln-Way East (76.5 points). The meet started with the state’s best time in the 4x800 Meter Relay. Lincoln-Way Central pulled away from the field in the second half of the race as they ran 9:22.33 to claim the win. Wheaton-Warrenville South ran 9:31.28 (IL #8) to finish second. Prospect (9:32.75) and Huntley (9:38.48) finished third and fourth. Prospect did not run their full lineup in the 4x8. We did see their strength in the 800 Meter Run. Four runners ran under 2:15 in this race. Three of those runners came from Prospect. Meg Peterson took the lead in the final 200 meters to run 2:12.61 (IL #3) for the win. Mary Laba ran 2:14.54 (IL #11) to finish second with Lily Hodneland of Hinsdale Central running 2:14.84 (IL #16) and Veronica Znajda running 2:14.90 (IL #17) finishing third and fourth.

 

Prospect was not affected by the cooler weather in the 4 x200 Meter Relay. The Knights ran 1:39.03 (IL #3) to win the race and set a new meet record. Bolingbrook finished second (1:43.86) ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (1:45.04). The meet ended with a fast 4x400 Meter Relay. A strong anchor leg from Alaina Steele helped Lincoln-Way East run 3:57.37 (IL #5) to claim the win. Glenbard West ran 3:58.42 (IL #7) to finish second ahead of Prospect (4:01.50). Steele earlier in the meet ran 57.53 (IL #13) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Bolingbrook ran 48.16 to win the 4x100 Meter Relay ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (48.57), Lincoln-Way East (48.71), and Downers Grove South (48.76).

 

Amina Hadziahmetovic of Prospect was the only double event winner in this meet. The senior ran 12.29 into a headwind to win the 100 Meter Dash placing ahead of Grace Murphy of Lincoln-Way East (12.48). Hadziahmetovic came back with her second season’s best of the meet running 44.82 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles holding off Kyra Hayden of Lincoln-Way East (45.26) and Amy Carhee of Schaumburg (46.55). Carhee and Hayden came across the final hurdle in the 100 Meter Hurdles together. Carhee edged Hayden (14.74-14.76) in that race. Hayden’s time is currently ranked in the top 10 in the state. Prospect captured the top three places in the 200 Meter Dash with Anna Niebrugge winning (24.90) ahead of Nikki Niebrugge (25.12) and Samantha Skowronski (25.52).

 

Naperville North won both distance races in this meet. One of the best performances in this meet came in the 3200 Meter Run. Freshman Georgia Karstens ran over a 20 second personal best as she ran 11:15.61 pulling away in the final lap to win the race ahead of Isabella Ciesla of Huntley (11:18.16) and Alyssa Novak of Glenbard West (11:21.70). Emma Berres held the lead from the start in the 1600 Meter Run. The senior won this event for the second year in a row running 5:04.20 for the win. Lola Satre-Morales of Naperville Central (5:07.12) and Nia Ortega of Downers Grove South (5:10.33) finishes second and third.

 

Field event winners included Courtney Clabough of Yorkville in the Shot Put (38-9), Sienna Robertson of Huntley in the Discus (134-8), Kaylee Meyer of Schaumburg in the High Jump (5-5.75), Brooke Neri of Prospect in the Pole Vault (11-9.25), Dominique Johnson of Huntley in the Long Jump (18-3), and Karen Boakye of Downers Grove South in the Triple Jump (37-7.25).

Wanner Knights Invitational @ Prospect HS – One of the top Boys meets of the weekend. New Trier won the team title (92.5 points) ahead of Prospect (89 points) and Naperville Central (85.33 points). The next four teams were separated by less than seven points led by Neuqua Valley (78.5 points) ahead of Barrington (75.5 points), Oak Park-River Forest (74.5 points), and Rockton Hononegah (71.5 points).

 

The feature event was the 4x800 Meter Relay. Payton Prep ran the fastest time in the state in this race winning with a time of 7:44.63. The Grizzlies won by 12 seconds as Naperville Central ran 7:56.27 (IL #5) in finishing second. Four other teams finished under eight minutes in this race led by Whitney Young (7:57.25, IL #9) and followed by Hersey (7:57.71), Oak Park-River Forest (7:58.40), and New Trier (7:59.20).

 

Ben Crane of New Trier won a close race in the 3200 Meter Run. Crane ran 8:53.48 pulling away for the win. Francesco Benelli of Batavia ran under 9 minutes for the first time running 8:56.20 (IL #2) to finish second. Nicholai Martino of Winnebago ran 9:06.23 (IL #8) to finish third. A strong final lap from Max Sudrzynski of Jacobs gave him the win in the 1600 Meter Run with a 4:15.37 time (IL #9). Crane doubled back to run 4:18.09 to place second ahead of Patrick Clune of Naperville Central (4:19.69). Mark McGinn of Barrington won the 800 Meter Run (1:58.16) with Blake Salbilla of Lakes running 1:58.40 to place second.

 

Barrington ran 42.22 to win the 4x100 Meter Relay edging Neuqua Valley and New Trier who finished second and third both timed at 42.30. Jacobs ran 1:28.16 (IL #6) to win the 4x200 Meter Relay finishing ahead of Batavia (1:28.65) and Prospect (1:30.29). Hononegah finished the night winning the 4x400 Meter Relay with a 3:21.82 time (IL #3). Batavia ran 3:22.36 (IL #7) to place second with Zion-Benton running 3:24.24 to finish third.

 

It was a close finish in the 100 Meter Dash. William Landwer of New Trier ran 10.87 to edge Matt Scardina of Jacobs (10.91) and Mekhi Newman of Springfield (11.00) for the win in the event. Newman came back to run 22.15 to win the 200 Meter Dash ahead of Daniel Robinson of Neuqua Valley (22.25) and Miles Lyons of Loyola Academy (22.34). Five runners went under 50 seconds in the 400 Meter Dash. Chase Cutler of Hononegah ran 48.50 to win the 400 Meter Dash ahead of Nolan Lamoureaux from Lockport (48.93) and Adam Lyon of Barrington (48.93). Lyons (49.03) and Newman (49.53) finished fourth and fifth. Cooper McGinnis of Neuqua Valley ran 14.33 (IL #2) in winning the 110 Meter Hurdles. Matthew Vergamini of Glenbrook South (14.85) and Nathan Cichy of Prospect (14.88) placed second and third. Thomas Woodard of Batavia ran 39.50 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles with Vergamini running 39.67 placed second.

 

Logan Farrell of Hersey unleashed a 56-3.75 mark on his third attempt to win the Shot Put. Enijel Shelton of Evanston Township and Gavin Pecor of Batavia had 55-7.75 puts to finish second and third. Ferrell also threw 182-2 (IL #3) to win the Discus. Ben Blank of Naperville Central threw 176-3 (IL #8) finishing second. Lukas Braunc of Oak Park-River Forest cleared 15-5.75 to win the Pole Vault. Maxwell Warner of Whitney Young was a double winner jumping 44-10.25 to win the Triple Jump and reaching 22-6.5 to win the Long Jump.

 

New Trier Girls Invitational – Late season meets as we approach championship season have teams show us some different lineups. Saturday in this meet Homewood-Flossmoor took home the team title (114 points) ahead of New Trier (96 points) and Whitney Young (82 points). Diamond Childress was a double winner in the hurdles races. The Homewood- Flossmoor sophomore ran 14.80 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles by over a second. Childress came back to run 47.02 to win the 300 Hurdles again winning by over a second. Angelina Bullocks of Whitney Young ran 11.67 in her win in the 100 Meter Dash ahead of Homewood-Flossmoor’s Aniya Mullins (12.03) and London Willingham (12.24). Homewood-Flossmoor won the 4x100 Meter Relay (47.72) winning by almost four seconds. Jaloni Wiley of Homewood-Flossmoor won both weights. Wiley threw 123-1 to win the Discus. She came back with a 39-6.5 put to win the Shot Put.

 

Triad Knight Invitational @ Troy Triad – There were several great performances in this meet that were the best in the state on Friday evening before Saturday’s meets. Belleville West achieved a state best time of 1:27.05 to win the 4x200 Meter Relay ahead of Cahokia (1:28.06, IL #4), and Chatham-Glenwood (1:29.04). Belleville East ran 42.28 to win the 4x100 Meter Relay ahead of Chatham-Glenwood (42.50) and Mascoutah (42.62). Cahokia dominated in the 4x400 Meter Relay running 3:20.46 for the win (IL #2). Belleville East ran 3:23.30 to place second.

 

Defending Class 2A champion Louis Yohannes of Triad ran 14.34 (IL #4) to win the 110 Meter Hurdles. Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East ran 14.39 (IL #6) to place second. Donaldson came back to run 38.15 (IL #2) in winning the 300 Meter Hurdles. Tyjaire Kellum of Murphysboro won the 100 Meter Dash (10.77) finishing ahead of Edwardsville’s Clayton Lakatos (10.92) and Cincere Ruffin (10.96). Troy Mclean of Belleville West ran 21.84 for the 200 Meter Dash win again with Edwardsville’s Lakatos (22.13) and Ruffin (22,18) second and third. Alex Lacke of North Point MO was timed in 48.90 to win the 400 Meter Dash. Four runners were under 50 seconds in the race led by Jaylen Pennington of Cahokia (49.04) followed by Logan Smallwood of Limestone (49.45) and Brady Moser of Chatham-Glenwood (49.61).

 

Chatham-Glenwood stepped into the spotlight in the 4x800 Meter Relay running 7:53.56 (IL #3) ahead of Herrin (8:02.88), Highland (8:08.28), and Roxana (8:08.45). Drew Twyman electrified his home crowd as he ran 9:24.10 to win the 3200 Meter Run. Liam Bettis of Taylorville ran a personal best of 4:18.13 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Max Weber of Althoff Catholic (4:22.66). Leo Cozzi of Mascoutah ran 1:57.28 to win the 800 Meter Run.

 

Edwardsville’s Gavin Stukenberg (53-11 and Iose Epenesa (52-7.75) took the top two places in the Shot Put. Epenesa came back to throw 188-2 to win the Discus. Devin Habermehl of Collinsville threw 176-6 to place second. Freshman Logan Thompson of Althoff Catholic jumped 22-6.5 for the Long Jump win. Victreze Thomas of Cahokia jumped 45-5 to win in the Triple Jump.

 

Hunt Invitational @ Plainfield Central – Plainfield North concentrated on achieving good relay times in this four team meet featuring all the Plainfield schools. North started off with a meet record in the 4x800 Meter Relay running 9:30.16 (IL #6) winning the race by more than a minute. Their quartet in the 4x100 Meter Relay was next as they ran 47.03 (IL #4) to win that race ahead of Plainfield East (48.76). The quartet of Kaiya Bradshaw, Lauren Dellangelo, Aniya Poindexter, and Taylor McClain helped Plainfield North to a 1:38.76 (IL #2) win in the 4x200 Meter Relay winning by more than 10 seconds. They concluded the meet by running a state leading 3:50.76 to win the 4x400 Meter Relay ahead of Plainfield East by 18 seconds. Marlie Czarniewski ran a solo 5:02.58 to win the 1600 Meter Run. Taylor McLain of Plainfield North ran 1203 to win the 100 Meter Dash.

 

Dylan Buturusis of Plainfield South ran 1:55.91 to win the Boys 800 Meter Run. Plainfield North swept the top two places in the 1600 Meter Run. Quinn Davis ran 4:17.69 to the win with Thomas Czerwinski running 4:17.83 to finish third. Austin Cory of Plainfield South ran 4:20.64 to finish third. The 3200 Meter Run was electric as Dylan Maloney of Plainfield South ran 9:03.70 for the win with Aidan Connors of Plainfield North running 9:10.71 to place second.

 

Morton Distance Gala @ Morton HS – It was Morton High School’s turn to host their annual distance meet featuring some of the top runners form the central part of the state. It was Abe Martin of Morton that might have stolen the spotlight in this meet. Martin won the freshman mile last week at Palatine. In this meet, the freshman ran 1:55.04 (IL #8) to win the 800 Meter Run. AJ Ince of Normal Community ran 1:55.87 in finishing second ahead of Ben Gorsage of Washington (1:56.72). The finish of the 1600 Meter Run required a review of the photo. Elmwood’s Darwin Herman ran an 11 second personal best of 4:17.75 to break the meet record and win just ahead of Christian Harris of Morton (4:17.89). Fisher Rinkenberger of Washington ran 9:34.85 to win the 3200 Meter Run with his closest competition coming from Mika Nelson of Elmwood (9:37.05).

 

Brooke Zeibert of Rochester set a new meet record of 2:14.63 to win the 800 Meter Run. Abigail Jackson of Normal West finished second (2:18.69) and Lily Cavanaugh of Normal Community (2:19.02). Sophia Ramirez of Washington won the 1600 Meter Run (5:06.29) ahead of Zoe Carter of Normal University (5:08.92) and Aver Braker of Morton (5:11.30). Abby Tudeen of Dunlap ran 11:05.66 to set a meet record by over two seconds to win the 3200 Meter Run. Meghan Zopel of Peoria Notre Dame (11:16.52) finished second.

 

Red Ribbon Classic @ Waubonsie Valley HS – 16 mph northeast winds gusting at point up to 25 mph played a part in the sprints in this meet. It did not phase Amari Williams of Wheaton-Warrenville South in the 300 Meter Hurdles. He is the defending champion in Class 3A. Williams made up the stagger by the third hurdles, then pushed towards the finish into the wind. He ran the state’s fastest time of 37.75 to win by over three seconds ahead of Luke De Simone from York (40.62). The 110 Meter Hurdles were wind affected as De Simone ran 15.32 for the win ahead of Patrick Fitzgerald of Marmion Academy (15.44) and Williams (15.62).

 

York won the team title (140 points) ahead of Yorkville (117.33) and Waubonsie Valley (98.17 points). York captured the first two events to help them on their way to the title. The Dukes had an eight second lead heading into the final leg of the 4x800 Meter Relay. Yorkville had Owen Horeni anchoring. Horeni ran the first 400 in 53 seconds and closed the gap to three seconds heading into the final 150 meters of the race. York held on to run 7:59.56 for the win with Yorkville running 8:05.79 to finish second. Horeni also ended the meet running a 48.8 anchor leg to give his team the win (3:23.88) ahead of Metea Valley (3:27.57) and York (3:28.66). The second relay win for the Dukes in the 4x100 Meter Relay. Great exchanges helped the Dukes run 42.13 for the win ahead of Metea Valley (42.86).

 

Everett Sinson of York held off the closing pack to run 1:59.99 to win the 800 Meter Run finishing ahead of John Daffenberg of Marmion Academy (2:00.02), Sam Kehoe of York (2:00.28), and Braedon Koerner of Waubonsie Valley (2:01.05). A move in the final 100-meters of the 1600 Meter Run led to a 1-2 finish from Marmion Academy’s Michael Whitacre (4:27.27) and Joesph Dorando (4:27.45). Patrick Hill of York finished third (4:28.07).

 

Palatine Relays @ Palatine HS – Carter Hayes of Palatine was the Boys athlete of the meet as he won both the 800 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run on his final time on his home track. Hayes ran 1:56.93 to win the 800 Meter Run with Cole Bonham of Carmel Catholic (1:59.05) his closest competition. Hayes also ran 4:20.08 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Henry Thuet of Niles Notre Dame (4:23.11). Shane Conroy of Portage IN ran 9:24.34 to win the 3200 Meter Run 10 seconds ahead of Alex Krieg of Palatine (9:34.45).

 

Aisha Kazeem of Palatine was the big winner in the Girls meet winning three individual events. The junior ran a season’s best of 14.48 (IL #4) to win the 100 Meter Hurdles ahead of Tori Robinson-Thomas of Proviso East (14.85, IL #10). Kazeem’s second hurdle win came when she ran the fastest time in the state (42.93) to win the 300 Meter Hurdles with Robinson-Thomas running 45.08 (IL #10) finishing second. Kazeem’s third win came when she ran 24.68 (IL #8) to win the 200 Meter Dash. Palatine’s Elizabeth Garrett ran 11:08.41 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Stella Davis of Evanston Township (11:14.72) and Hudson Szymonik of Jacobs (11:15.54). Sophia Galiano-Sanchez of York ran 2:17.84 to win the 800 Meter Run. Leija Matijevic of Eanston had a 41-0.5 best (IL #3 to win the Shot Put.

 

Pete Struck Classic @ Sandburg HS – The big race at this Friday night meet was the 1600 Meter Run where the top four placers are ran faster than 4:21. Downers Grove North’s Grant Schroder (4:16.46 and Will Surratt (4:16.71) took the first places in the race. Gavin O’Connor of Brother Rice (4:19.80) and Mateo Ramiro-Garcia of Sandburg (4:20.87) finished third and fourth.

 

Weekend Notes

 

Nina Brown of Champaign Centennial ran 24.72 (IL #8) to win the 200 Meter Dash Friday evening at the Urbana Girls Invitational. Madalyn Marx of Mahomet-Seymour ran 25.36 to finish second. Champaign Centennial ran 47.95 (IL #09) to win the 4x100 Meter Relay. Kankakee ran 1:39.78 (IL #5) to win the 4x200 Meter Relay finishing ahead of Belleville West (3:58.29, IL #6),

 

Tommy Nitz of Huntley ran his outdoor season’s best in the 3200 Meter Run at the Rolling Meadows Mustang Classic on Friday. Nitz ran 9:05.53 (IL #7) to win the race by 48 seconds. Highland Park’s Brian Hatoum (4:21.05) and Dylan Dominguez (4:23.90) finished first and second in the 1600 Meter Run.

 

Zion Morrison of Homewood-Flossmoor ran a state leading 14.27 to win the 110 Meter Hurdles in the Dick Beebe Invitational on his home track. Homewood-Flossmoor ran 41.90 (IL #5) to win the to win the 4x100 Meter Relay.

 

Anthony Lusciatti of Lincoln-Way West ran 38.36 (IL #4) to win the 300 Meter Hurdles Friday at his home invitational. Teammate Brendan Vlasak ran 38.90 (IL #8) to finish second.

 

Lyric Jones of Belleville East had a great breakthrough Friday at the Lady Kahok Invitational at Collinsville High School. Jones ran 56.03 (IL #2) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Lily Gilbertson of Father McGivney ran 57.43 in finishing second. Elena Rybak of Father McGivney ran 4:56.50 to win the 1600 Meter Run. Ali Londrigan of Chatham-Glenwood ran 5:00.30 for second overall. O’Fallon was timed at 1:42.24 (IL #7) to win the 4x200 Meter Relay. Belleville East ran 3:53.39 (IL #2) to win the 4x400 Meter Relay.

 

Two great Girls distance races made the Herscher Invitational Friday night even more special. Klarke Goranson of Manteno ran 2:13.12 (IL #5) to win the 800 Meter Run finishing ahead of Mikayla Chambers of Dwight (2:18.29) and Kelly O’Connor of Herscher (2:20.52). Sundara Weber of Sandwich ran IL #2 time of 4:46.29 to win the 1600 Meter Run. Goranson ran 4:59.55 to finish second.

 

Rockford Boylan ran a school record of 9:29.13 (IL #4) to win the 4x800 Meter Relay Friday at Woodstock’s Steve Erwin Invitational.

 

St. Charles North ran 9:29.65 (IL #5) to win the 4x800 Meter Relay at the Kane County Girls Meet. Batavia ran 9:34.78 (IL #10) to finish second. Four runners finished within two seconds in the 1600 Meter Run. Julia Rodney of St. Charles North ran 5:08.21 to capture the win with Sofia Borter of Geneva running 5:09.38, Avery Hacker of Batavia (5:10.25), and Kara Glenn of St. Charles North (5:10.65) finishing behind.

 

Ashlyn Denney of Tolono Unity ran a personal best on Friday at the Lady Sages Invitational held at Monticello. The senior ran 2:13.79 to win the 800 Meter Run which had five runners under 2:20 in that race. Lily Woolery of Shelbyville ran 2:14.78 to finish second followed by Emily Decker of Tolono Unity (2:15.90), Savanna Franzen of St. Joseph-Ogden (2:18.31), and Aly Douglass of Shelbyville (2:19.40). Zoe Carter of Normal University ran 5:07.88 to win the 1600 Meter Run. Tolono Unity ended the meet running at 4:00.33 (IL #10) to win the 4x400 Meter Relay.