Preview: 10 Storylines to Follow at the 2025 Illinois IHSA Boys State Track & Field Championships

 

By Michael Newman

 

We saw last weekend at the IHSA Girls State Track & Field Championships what can happen when athletes move from a season of miserable weather to compete into a weekend where sunshine prevailed and performances that were incredible and engulfed O’Brien Field.

 

It was a meet for the ages last weekend for the Girls Meet. We could see another meet for the ages when all is said and done in Charleston. Maybe 2025 will be a season for the ages.

 

Here are a look at storylines to watch for beginning on Thursday with the Class 1A Prelims.

 

Heights to go higher in a star packed Pole Vault Competition

Get to O’Brien Field early on Saturday morning to find a spot in the limited seating of East side of the facility. You won’t be disappointed. Three competitions will take place during this day starting at 10 AM with the 1A and 2A finals of the Pole Vault taking place. Then the 3A finals will be contested.

 

There are three athletes, one in each class, which have cleared past a 17-foot barrier. In fact, six athletes this year have cleared 16 feet while 19 athletes have cleared 15 feet in 2025. It will make Saturday’s finals even more exciting.

 

All eyes will be on the Class 1A pit beginning at 10 AM when unless something catastrophic happening, Isaiah Whitaker of Bloomington Central Catholic will be set to win his third Class 1A State Championship in the event. This competition is even more especially what this junior has accomplished this season. He set an all-time Illinois best clearing 18-1 at the Windy City Pole Vault Summit in March. Two weeks later at the New Balance Indoor Nationals he was crowned national champion. Two weeks after that, he cleared 17-6.5 to break Zach Bradford’s meet record at the Illinois Top Times Championships.

 

Zach Bradford’s record at this state meet will be in focus for Whittaker. He is most likely to shatter his Class 1A record of 17-0 that he cleared a year ago. Then he will go after Bradford’s state meet record of 17-6 that was set in 2018. Whitaker has flown past the 17-foot height now a record number of nine times, the most in a season for any Illinois High School Pole Vault athlete.

 

He won’t be able to celebrate afterwards. He will run on Bloomington Central Catholic’s quartets in the 4x200 Meter Relay and the 4x400 Meter Relay.

 

Andrew Nuyen of Rochelle cleared 17-1 at the Northern Illinois Invitational on May 9 and enters this meet with the top clearance in Class 2A. What has haunted him is that he no-heighted last March at the Illinois Top Times Championships. Nuyen is hungry for this meet to erase that memory and we could see that happen this weekend. Kyle Quad-Bowman of Glenbard South has a best of 16-4.25 and could be Nuyen’s chief competition. Ty Clark of Mahomet-Seymour, Jacob Ross of Sandwich, Zane Meier of Triad, and Brandon Shaner of Sycamore have all cleared past 15 feet and will have a say on who wins.

 

Lukas Brauc will not only be going after a 3A State Championship in the Pole Vault but also trying to help Oak Park-River Forest points to win a second straight state championship. Brauc cleared 17-3 at Hinsdale Central on May 9 and is ready for this challenge. Nathan McLoughlin of St. Charles North and Edwardsville freshman Parker Owens have cleared past 16-feet and will challenge for the win. There are eight other athletes in Class 3A that have cleared 15 feet led by Will Viken of Rolling Meadows and Ryan Stiglic of Lincoln-Way West in a competition that will be interesting to follow.

 

Payton Prep and their quest for Gold in the 4x800 Meter Relay

Payton Prep has stepped on the main stage several times in the past two years in the 4x800 Meter Relay resulting in great success. The Grizzlies quartet of Vaughn Collier, Declan Slavin, Tra'Monti Williams, and Preston Ellis set a new Class 2A Meet record of 7:42,68 at last year’s meet. They went to Nike Outdoor Nationals where they finished fifth earning All-American honors. They felt slighted last March when they were put in an earlier section of the relay New Balance Indoor Nationals where they finished fifth running a seasonal best of 7:43.52 using the same order, same runners.

 

The Grizzlies could be on the verge to doing great things from these four runners on Saturday. They ran 7:44.34 at Prospect at the beginning of the month ready for this moment. Williams, Slavin, and Ellis are among the top eight in the open 800 Meter Run all under 1:56. Collier ran 4:21 in the 1600 last week and could run under 1:56 on his leg. The overall IHSA State Meet Record is 7:37.36 set by Sandburg in 2016. Could that record fall? Mahomet-Seymour is the only 2A team that has run under 8:00 and will push Payton in this race. Lincoln, Mascoutah, and Herrin will challenge for top five spots.

 

Downers Grove North is the defending Class 3A champion in the 4x800 Meter Relay and then went out to win in the Nike Outdoor Nationals. Their approach has been different this season. The Trojans did us the lineup of John Courtney, Will Surratt, Philip Cupial, and Grant Schroder that ran 7:43.28 indoors to win the Mustang Relays. They have not used that lineup yet this outdoor season substituting Schroder for Owen Kelly at last week’s sectional where they ran 7:56.31 to qualify. Even with that time, the Trojans still could be the team to beat.

 

Plainfield North ran 7:48.50 at Aurora East with Naperville Central a second behind. Lincoln-Way Central, Normal Community, and Chatham-Glenwood are some of the teams to watch in what could be a wild final Saturday morning.

 

Rockford Christian has not ramped up their 4x8 relay since winning Illinois Top Times in March where they easily won. The Royal Lions peak at the right time and we should see a top performance with them in the Class 1A race. Elmwood, Auburn, and Pleasant Plains look to be the teams to chase Rockford Christian.

 

King of the Sprints on Saturday

The times have exploded in the past few weeks in the 100 Meter Dash some of those performances were helped with tail winds. Nevertheless, we have seen some fast times and an equal number of qualifiers ready to see who the King of Sprints is this Saturday.

 

66 runners qualified for state in Class 3A last year making it harder to get to the finals. This year it dropped back to 37 runners as we will five heats to whittle down to nine runners in the finals. Caleb Schulz of Oak Park-River Forest is the defending champion and will look to defend. He ran a wind aided 10.38 in his conference meet to show he is ready. William Landwer of New Trier ran 10,51 last week at Deerfield and has the top sectional qualifier. Joe Owusu of Plainfield East, Clayton Lakatos of Edwardsville, Oreoluwa Sobodu of Dundee-Crown, and Dontrell Young of Oswego are some of the runners that will challenge for the win.

 

The numbers are lower in Class 2A with only 30 runners qualifying. Tyjaire Kellum of Murphysboro ran 10.48 early in April, which has stood the entire season. He leads all state qualifiers after running 10.61. Akeelan Dowell of Cahokia has a 10.67 time and has been running faster with every meet. Aidan Wyzard of Sycamore also has 10.67 and is hungry for the win. Jaiduan Crawford of Metamora missed a month of racing after injuring his hamstring at Illinois Top Times. He was a surprise winner in the 60 in that meet. He has only raced three times in May including running 10.79 last week on his home track. Keep an eye on him this weekend.

 

Levi Milder of Morrison is the list leader in Class 1A having run 10.72. Zane Hoffman of Ridgeview has the top sectional time at 10.79. There were only five runners that ran under 11.00 making state. The times will be faster on Thursday and Saturday.

 

The 12-pound shot will be going deep outside of O’Brien Field

The Shot Put has been a strong event this year especially in Class 3A where five athletes have put the ball past 60 feet. Michael Kpomassy of East Moline United at his conference meet unleashed a 66-7 mark that leads the state and is also ranked #10 nationally. Joe Atkins of Washington heated it up in his sectional with a personal best of 64-3.75. Zach Morrisroe of Oswego East, Gavin Pecor of Batavia, and Logan Abrams of Cary-Grove all have marks past 60 feet. You know that Logan Ferrell of Hersey, Dionte Shaw of West Aurora, and Devin Habermehl of Collinsville are near 60 feet and go past that this weekend. It might take a 62-foot put just to get a sniff at a top three finish.

 

Andrew Kinsman of Benton has been the leader of Class 2A most of this season with his 60-9 put the leader of the pack. There are four athletes that are over 55 feet but with Kinsman three feet ahead of the pack. Ryan McCombs of Jacksonville, Will Rosenow of Sycamore, Sam Gentz of Byron, and Luke Barnhart of Carterville all will challenge for a top three finish.

 

Graham Meister of Dwight is close to a lock in Class 1A. His win at the Seneca Sectional raised the sophomore up to a 63-0 best. He is more than five feet ahead of Josh Coulby of Maryville Christian and Sawyer Woodard of Tuscola will go after second. There are four more athletes that have best marks of 54 feet behind the top three.

 

The highwire event of the relays

There are times where speed kills on the track. The nervousness of waiting for a teammate to get you the baton hoping you don’t leave too early. The 4x100 Meter Relay is the event that if you are a coach it can age you in that 40+ seconds of the race. Its not like a distance race where you fall you can get right back up. This relay is falling of a tightwire with no net. One slip up and you are history.

 

The relays are amazing this year in all three classes. There have been 18 teams this year that have run under 42 seconds. I think we could see all nine finalists in this race all in the 41’s. There are five teams under 41.6 led by York the list leader at 41.50 followed by Barrington (41.53), Homewood-Flossmoor (41.55), Kenwood (41.50), and Dundee-Crown (41.60). Edwardsville has the top sectional time of 41.69 followed by Dundee-Crown (41.72).

 

There are six teams that have run 42 seconds or faster led by Mascoutah running 41.74 in April. Richland County (41.83) and Sycamore (41.82) will be in the mix for the win. The top three sectional times in Class 2A came from the Triad Sectional. Host Triad ran 41.83 to win ahead of East St. Louis (41.86) and Cahokia (41.90). Mascoutah ran 41.93 at their own sectional to make things a little more interesting on Friday.

 

Morrison will be tough to beat in 1A. The defending state champions ran 42.39 in their sectional win and the list leaders in the event. Bloomington Central Catholic, Lena-Winslow, and Mercer County are all with times under 43 seconds with BCC almost four tenths of a second behind Morrison. That sort of difference makes Morrison the favorite.

 

The change up to the 800 Meter Run could be a difference maker for Lockport’s Lamoureux

It is a different year for Lockport senior Nolan Lamoureux after earning all-state honors by finishing third in the 400 Meter Dash. This season has been different as he has only run a season’s best of 48.46 to finish second at the Southwest Prairie Conference behind 400 list leader Austin Rowswell. Lamoureux has run the 800 Meter Run three times. His best time is at the beginning of May with a state leading 1:51.92 time. He leads all sectional qualifiers running at 1:52.45 on his home track.

 

Owen Horeni of Yorkville will be running this as his only event. He comes in at 1:52.99 and will be the chief competition for the Lockport senior. Mateo Ramiro-Garcia of Sandburg and Grant Schroder of Downers Grove North put up fast times at Aurora East and will challenge up front with Nathaniel Gabriel of Joliet Central.

 

Abe Martin of Morton is a Class 2A distance sensation as a freshman with the second fastest time in this event. The question is will he either be in this race or the relay? Tra’Monti Williams and Preston Ellis have done this double in this meet and will still be in the hunt for the win. Luke Smith of Waterloo has a 1:55.56 best that could take him to the win. Jude Toft of Mt. Zion, Zach Born of Metamora, and Darius Ivy of East St. Louis are some of the runners to watch for in the finals.

 

The Class 1A race is wide open. Joe Faris of Dwight has the top list time at 1:55.79 at a small home meet at the beginning of the month. Faris ran 1:56.42 to win his sectional race. Evan White of Rockford Christian ran 1:57.64 at Palatine at the end of April but come run away with the state title. Corie Green of Delavan could be a big threat having won at Illinois Top Times at the end of March and coming into this race with a 1:57.82 1A #3 best. Only seven runners have run under 1:59 this season with any 12 runners able to win the state title.

 

Times they are a changing in the 110 High Hurdles

Qualifying times will take a deep dip in 2026, especially in this event. 49 athletes qualified for state in Class 3A where it could be tougher to make it to Saturday with six heat winners and three more time qualifiers. Four runners have run under 14 seconds including list leader Jalyn Cole of Belleville West who ran 13.76 last week, Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East, Zion Morrison of Homewood-Flossmoor, and Cooper McGinnis of Neuqua Valley. Rockford Jefferson’s Janardie Turner ran 14.14 and could be a threat for the win.

 

Louis Yohannes of Triad is back as the defending Class 2A state champion and could defend. He has a season’s best of 14.20 and ran 14.34 as the top seed out of sectionals. Parker Campbell of Lincoln, Keaton Koch of Mt. Vernon, Amauree Williams of Southland College Prep, Patrick Fitzgerald of Marmion Academy, and Hayden Little of Marion all have times at 14.61 or under and could be among the top three in this race.

 

TJ Larson of Bloomington Central Catholic had the top Class 1A sectional time the only athlete under 15 seconds (14.87). Larson’s sectional time is third overall in Class 1A behind Landyn Mitchell of Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran finished sixth in last year’s state meet so his improvement down to 14.53 as the list leader in this event is not that much of a surprise. Keep an eye on him along with Mason Booker of Sullivan and Karson Zerrusen of Teutopolis.

 

Distance Doubles – Class 3A

Do we see a double in the 3200 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run. 43 runners qualified out of sectional with three sections being raced as similar as last year.

 

This will be a crazy set of three section races. Dylan Maloney of Plainfield South ran 9:00.23 at Arcadia in April but ran his sectional in 9:31.08. He leads the first section with Brady Faulkner of Hoffman Estates and Carson Kaiser of Kaneland the top two seeds. Will we see all-state races coming from this section?

 

Aidan Noel of Wheaton-Warrenville South and Illinois Top Times champion Santiago Chavez of Reavis are the top two seeds in the second section. The one notable runner is Francisco Benelli of Batavia who ran 8:56.20 at Prospect at the beginning of the month. He ran 9:22.84 at Lake Park putting him in the middle section.

 

14 runners are in the final section led by 3A State XC Champion Ben Crane of New Trier who ran a state leading 8:49.02 at Arcadia. Finn Richards of Benet Academy ran 9:09.11 last week and will challenge for a top finish. Rory Gaan of Fremd has a best of 8:59.64 and will push Crane for the win with Palatine’s Carter Hayes and Alex Krieg and Aidan Connors of Plainfield North ready for the challenge. Josiah Narayanan of Wheaton-Warrenville South was all-state last year and will be in the hunt up front. Defending state champion in this event Joe Bregenzer of Barrington has run 9:07.54 and is set to try to defend his state title. Liam O’Connor of Oak Park-River Forest has run under 9:10 and someone also to watch.

 

The 1600 Meter Run prelims is always one of the highlights in the Friday 3A prelims. There are always surprises of runners making the finals and the runners who will miss out.

 

Section 1 includes Max Sudrzynski of Jacobs (#5), Patrick Clune of Naperville Central (#6), Jameson Tenopir of Cary-Grove (#9), Carter Hayes of Palatine (#14), Cole Tupper of Elgin (#21), Thomas Czerwinski of Plainfield North (#26), Conrad Saner of Downers Grove South (#30), and Joe Bregenzer (#33).

 

Section 2 is led by Jacob Barraza of DeKalb, who missed most of the season, but has come back to finish second at Huntley. His time of 4:12.75 (#4). Defending state champion Philip Cupial of Downers Grove North ran 4:14.13 (#10) last week and again will be a factor. Also, in this field includes Rory Gaan (#2), Aidan Murphy of Wheaton North (#13), Quinn Davis of Plainfield North (#24), Landon Harris of Granite City (#31), Judah Binger of Belvidere North (#34), and James O’Sullivan of Palatine (#41).

 

Section 3 is led by Tommy Nitz of Huntley who is the top seed in this event and the top time in the state (4:10.12). Also, included in this section include Jesse Kramer of Belvidere North (#3), Ben Crane (#7), Will Surratt of Downers Grove North (#12), Alex Rodriguez of BC Morton (#23), Patrick Hill of York (#27), Andrew Raistrick of Huntley (#35), and Matt McGee of Marist (#37).

 

Distance Doubles – Class 2A

The 3200 Meter Run in this class also will contain three sections making the first hour before the 4 x800 Meter Relay. Jack Lyons of Latin and Jack Fisher of St. Joseph-Ogden lead the field in the first section. Cayden Bostic of Clinton, Max Kirby of Peoria Notre Dame, and Alex Belha of Sherrard all are seeded within three seconds of each other.

 

The second section should be fantastic. Max Carter has run 9:26.74 and in #8 in Class 2A. Cutler Swanson of Morris has run 9:38.33 this year (#17) and should challenge a possibly finish in the top nine at the conclusion on the event. Aaron Conderman of Dixon and DuQuoin’s Hayden Swiney and Caiden Cook are runners that should be watched.

 

Gabriel McLain of Benton and Simone Lane of Chicago University look to be the favorites in the final section. McLain ran 9:06.07 at Arcadia while Lane ran 9:08.68 in the same meet. You will see both runners also in the 1600 Meter Run. Raphael and Gabriel Greer of Marion have run 9:10 and 9:12 this spring and will challenge the two front runners. Liam Bettis of Taylorville has run 9:14 and will challenge also in the front. Max Weber of Civic Memorial, Drew Twyman of Triad, and Quaid Berger of Richland County are part of the eight of the top nine 2A runners that are in this section.

 

Lane enters the 1600 Meter Run with the fastest time in the state this season at 4:10.70. Lane will be in the second section along with section top seed Declan Slavin of Payton. Micah Weiss of Latin, Dean Geiger of Dixon, Boston Beyer of Morton, and Ellery Shutt of Woodstock.

 

Gabriel McLain will run in the third section. He ran 4:13.17 behind Lane at Distance Night in Palatine a month ago. Vaugn Collier of Payton, Augustus Gaudio of Mahomet-Seymour, Andrew Aldeman of Normal University, Jack Swiatek of Aurora Central Catholic, and Max Weber of Civic Memorial are some of the runners that you will see in this section.

 

The first section could be the roughest with Christian Harris of Morton (#3) and Raphael (#5) and Gabriel Greer (#7) all with times under 4:20. Michael Wilson of Greenville, Henry McMurry of Mahomet-Seymour, and Ben Gibson of Latin will also be in the mix in the front.

 

Distance Doubles – Class 1A

The one runner that might pull of the double is Nicolai Martino of Winnebago who was all-state last year in both events. Three runners will be the ones to watch in the first section of this event. Evan Eberhart of Nashville, Braeden Bowe of Riverdale, and Lane Hubbard of Pleasant Hill are some of the runners to keep an eye on.

 

The second section will be a race against the clock for Chaz Oberkfell of Gillespie. The 1A State Champion from last fall ran 10:04.57 to win his sectional race. That time places him in this section where he will set the standard for the final section.

 

Martino will be doing this by himself. He ran 9:00 solo at Winnebago three weeks ago. Peter Kipp of Northridge Prep and Mika Nelson of Elmwood will be the closest runners to him. It will be a race against the clock for the Winnebago senior.

 

Chaz Oberkfell will be in the first section in the 1600 Meter Run where he should qualify easily. Adin Gillers of Rochell Zell, James Barder of Northridge Prep, and Karson Shrum of Kewanee Wethersfield are some of the runners to watch in this race.

 

Darwin Herman of Elmwood has the second fastest 1A time (4:17.75) and will lead the second section. A tough field with Aiden Faulkner of Elmwood, Johnathan Iacobazzi of Sullivan, Peter Kipp, and Evan Cook of St. Teresa some of the runners to watch.

 

Martino should qualify easily out of the final section having run 4:11 this season. It’s a good final section with Will Fuson of Cerro Gordo-Bement, Andrew Kurien of Rockford Cristian, and Dax Ulm of Farmington part of that group.