Landwer, Crane, Benjamin help New Trier win the Class 3A State Championship

Landwer sets new State Meet Record in 200 Meter Dash; Downers Grove North takes home second straight title in 4x800 Meter Relay with a state record; Mclean repeats as 400 champion; Williams last track race a repeat win in the 300 Meter Hurdles

By Michael Newman

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Charleston, Ill – New Trier Coach Andrew Schmidt it seemed was walking on air as he walked across the infield towards for his waiting team to collect their state championship trophy. “I had a great bunch of kids at the school I was at before,” a gleaming Schmidt said gleamingly. “We won this title not just in one discipline, but it was a team effort that got this done.”

It was a team effort that got to New Trier to a state championship scoring 45 points. It was the first state team title for New Trier in almost a century. New Trier won their last Boys’ State title in 91 years when they scored 19 points for the win in 1934. Homewood-Flossmoor finished second with 40 points. Belleville West scored 38 points to finish third ahead of Kenwood (29 points) and Edwardsville 27 points. WSC-Silver rivals Oak Park-River Forest and Downers Grove North both scored 26 points tying for sixth.

If there was one key to the Trevians in this meet it belonged to the success in the sprints from William Landwer. There are state meets where you see one athlete take over the meet when fans see an athlete in the blocks they say to one another that that guy is going to win. This year it was Landwer.

Winds were strong on Championship Saturday and there was doubts that any of the finals races. The Class 3A race gun went off and within a second of the start the wind showed as a 4.0 m/s way over the 2.0 m/s wind allowable for a record. Landwer got out of the blocks fast roaring towards the finish line. The clock on the scoreboard showed 10.24 and the fans roared in amazement. It is one of the fastest times ever performed by an Illinois athlete but not a record due to the wind. Zion Morrison of Homewood-Flossmoor ran 10.48 to finish second ahead of Clayton Lakatos from Edwardsville (10.51) and Dontrell Young of Oswego (10.57).

The winds lowered by the time Landwehr stepped into the blocks for his race in the 200 Meter Dash. The New Trier senior was even with the rest of the field as he came off the curved. He exploded down the home stretch as he crossed the line at 20.87 and a new State Meet Record with winds within the allowable of 1.1 m/s. Young ran 21.22 to finish second with Armond Boulware of Kenwood (21.50) and Morquez Bulliner of Belleville West fourth (21.53).

I still can’t believe I ran 10.24,” Landwer said after his 200 win. “I trusted my coach and I trusted my mechanics. I came here to win. When I started at New Trier, I thought of this as a dream. I continued to work out hard, and I came out good at the end. We needed those points so that also motivated me.”

Dylan Benjamin of New Trier was also a big surprise in the Triple Jump. Benjamin stood fourth after the prelims on Friday. His second attempt of the final round was a jump of 48-2.75 to win him a state championship. Icone Logo of East Moline United jumped 47-11.25 to finish second ahead of Joshua Hill of Crete-Monee (47-4.25), and Isaiah Brown of Batavia (47-3.75).

Downers Grove North were aiming for this Saturday at the Illinois IHSA State Meet in the 4x800 Meter Relay. They had run 7:43 indoors and did not run this group until they got to Charleston. This was their moment, and they knew it.

The first leg was fast as it should be in a race like this. Will Surratt took the lead for North running 1:54.23 ahead of Lincoln-Way Central’s Bryce Counihan (1:54.94) and Plainfield North’s Thomas Czerwinski (1:55.04). John Courtney held the lead until the final 50-meters of the second leg until Normal Community’s AJ Ince (1:53.89) slid by to temporarily take the lead.

Grant Schroder of Downers Grove North took command of the race from that point running 1:52.89 to give his team the lead two seconds ahead of Lincoln-Way Central’s Kyle Friedl. Philip Cupial had swept what happened in the 1600 Meter Run on Friday and bolted out to increase his team’s lead ahead of Brendan Hoff and Lincoln-Way Central. Hoff could not get close to Cupial. Hoff ran a great 1:54.90 split. Cupial closed in 1:52.94 to give Downers Grove North a second straight state championship and a new state meet record of 7:36.40.

“I was thinking on the final lap of what happened yesterday, I had a great realization afterwards that I get to come here today and run with the guys I’ve run with all year,” Cupial said. “All I was thinking about was that bond, the brotherhood that we had. I believed in this team and knew we would get this record. I felt so good to get this done today.”

Lincoln-Way Central finished second (7:40.18). Naperville Central finished third (7:46.23) ahead of Plainfield North (7:46.57) and Sandburg (7:46.91).

The dynamics of the 3200 Meter Run changed when the number of qualifiers were at 43 forcing the IHSA to go to three sections for the second year in a row.

Dylan Maloney of Plainfield South pushed the pace for the first five laps passing the first 1600 in 4:36. Carson Kaiser of Kaneland took over for the next lap before Sean Hanrahan of Lincoln-Way East took the lead with two laps to go. Hanrahan held off Kaiser to run 9:18.17 for the first section win and finishing tenth overall. Kaiser finished second (9:19.72).

Jack Jennings of Fremd was in fourth when the bell sounded for the final lap of section two. Evan Parker of Niles North paced the first 1600 in 4:33 Francesco Benelli of Batavia and Santiago Chavez of Reavis taking over after that. Jennings closed in a 63.4 final lap to run 9:16.24 to win the section as well as earning all-state honors finishing seventh overall. Brayden Kloeppel of O’Fallon ran 9:17.48 to finish second in the section and eighth overall. Chavez finished third (9:19.08) with Benelli fourth (9:21.72) ahead of Aidan Noel of Wheaton-Warrenville South (9:21.94).

The heat played a role in the final section of the event with temperatures at 82 degrees when the race started. New Trier’s Ben Crane had complete control of this race making sure the pace was honest. He passed the first 1600 in 4:31, He ran the first two laps in 66 and 67 before clicking off consecutive four straight 68 second laps. Josiah Narayanan of Wheaton-Warrenville South, Rory Gaan of Fremd, and Alexander Krieg of Palatine stayed up front before Crane threw in a 65 second seventh lap with Carter Hayes of Palatine responding to that surge. Hayes tried to get close to Crane. The New Trier senior would not allow it. Crane threw in a final 63 second final lap to get the state title (8:57.13) with Hayes (9:01.42) and Gaan (9:06.22) following. Krieg ran 9:11.84 to finish fourth ahead of Oak Park-River Forest’s Liam O’Connor who ran 9:12.57 to finish sixth.

“I wanted the 3200 to go fast. We had been repping 66’s in practice. I went kind of hard in the 1600 prelims yesterday,” Crane said. “I felt good today but did not get the time I wanted. I did get a goal of winning the state title which makes me happy. I was not really a short distance runner, but I improved on my speed.”

The 1600 Meter Run fell into Huntley’s Tommy Nitz lap with the first 800-meters going out in an incredibly slow 73 second opening lap. Gann picked up the pace running 63 seconds on the second lap with Nitz sitting near the lead as he waited for that moment. Gann threw in another 63 second lap as the 11 lead runners were separated by a second as they passed the bell lap in 3:19.

It was what Nitz had hoped for to use his potent kick. He could have doubled but he really wanted a state championship. He broke away from the back stretch still having runners close to him with the pack quickly dissolving. Nitz closed in a 56.37 final lap displaying championship racing at it’s best. Nitz crossed the line as state champion with a 4:16.24 time. Max Sudrzynski of Jacobs ran 4:17.24 to finish second ahead of Patrick Clune of Naperville Central (4:18.04) along with Jameson Tenopir of Cary-Grove (4:18.12) and Will Surratt of Downers Grove North (4:18.20).

“I ran that last lap in 56 seconds. I have trained for this moment all my life,” Nitz said. “I was prepared for the slow pace, the bumping, everything. I came off the final curve with the lead and knew no one was going to watch me. It was such a good feeling.”

Owen Horeni of Yorkville had a plan to take the pace out fast in the 800 Meter Run final. Horeni and Nolan Lamoureux of Lockport passed the first 400 meters in 53.2. The rest of the field led by Hank McClane of Alton was already two seconds behind. Horeni tried opening a gap on Lamoureux trying to take the kick out of him. Lamoureux stayed close and hut another gear down the home straight away to take the lead and the win in a 1:51.92 personal best. Horeni also ran a personal best of 1:52.22 to finish a close second. Ben Gorsage of Washington was a surprise in this race running 1:54.17 to finish third ahead of Mateo Ramiro-Garcia of Sandburg (1:54.34) and Grant Schroder (1:54.61) who ran a personal best after his 4x8 race.

Troy Mclean of Belleville West came to Charleston as the defending state champion in the 400 Meter Dash but an underdog especially the way that Austin Rowswell of Lincoln-Way West had been running during the year. Mclean finished behind Rowswell by five hundredth of a second in the preliminary heat. It was different in the finals as Mclean ran a season’s best of 47.98 to repeat as state champion with Rowswell running 48.18 to finish second. Miles Lyons of Loyola Academy ran 48.59) to finish third.

“In a way being an underdog, It helped me run faster,” McLean said. “I kept telling myself that they wanted my spot. I did not slow up in the first 200. This is emotional. I’m a senior. I wanted it to finish it in the right way.”

Jalyn Cole of Belleville West ran under 14-seconds for the third time this season as he ran 13.87 to win the state title in the 110 Meter Hurdles. Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East ran 13.91 to finish second just ahead of Janardie Turner of Rockford Jefferson (13.94) and Cooper McGinnis of Neuqua Valley (13.98).

Amari Williams of Wheaton-Warrenville South missed the month of the outdoor season before a state leading time at the Red Ribbon Classic at the beginning of May. The defending champion in the 300 Meter Hurdles ran his final track race before playing football at Northern Illinois University this fall. Williams ran another state leading 36.94 to win back-to-back state titles. Donaldson had a great Saturday running 37.42 to finish second ahead of Weston Averkamp from Ottawa (38.35) and Luke De Simone of York (38.86).

“I felt great this morning after my performance yesterday. I kept breaking my pr’s and that gave me confidence, Williams said. “I felt Donaldson and heard the crowd cheering. I just focused on getting through the finish. Looking back at this now, I blessed for my coaches. I am blessed just being here.”

This might have been one of the best seasons of the two sprint relays especially in Class 3A. Homewood-Flossmoor emerged in a big way in the 4x100 Meter Relay. The Vikings ran 41.00 to win the 4x100 Meter Relay missing the state meet record by fourteen hundredths of a second. Edwardsville ran their best time of the season running 41.10 to finish second. Kenwood (41.35) and Plainfield East (41.89) finished third and fourth.

Glenbrook North showed what they had in terms of the prelims in the 4x200 Meter Relay getting close to the meet record. They had the lead going into the final legs in the finals. North ran 1:26.63 to hold off Homewood-Flossmoor (1:26.91) for the state title. Kenwood (1:27.29) and Grayslake Central (1L28.58) finished third and fourth.

The final race of the day was close throughout the final for the 4x400 Meter Relay with all nine teams within two seconds of each other. Dallas Amos ran a 47.26 anchor split taking the lead in the final 10 meters to give Evanston Township the state title (3:17.73) winning ahead of Lockport (3:18.01), Neuqua Valley (3:18.84), and Oswego East (3:18.98).

Machi Nelson of Proviso West cleared was one of four athletes that had cleared 6-7 in the High Jump. He was the only athlete to clear 6-8.75 and on his final attempt to win the 3A state title. Frederick Hassan of Kaneland and McKenzie Doe III of Chatham-Glenwood both cleared 6-7 tying for second place. Christian Jaimes of Grayslake Central also cleared 6-7 to finish fourth.

Lukas Brauc of Oak Park-River Forest entered the competition at 15-5 with three other athletes remaining in the competition. He cleared 16-4.75 on his second attempt to win the state title but still went on. He cleared his final height of 17-0 on his final attempt. He missed three attempts at 17-7. Ryan Stiglic of Lincoln-Way West cleared a personal best of 16-0.75 to finish second. Parker Owens of Edwardsville cleared 15-1. Hayden Dahlin of Barrington and Cooper Bowman of Minooka also cleared 15-1 finishing fourth and fifth.

Zoelen Terry of Naperville Central jumped 23-02.50 on his opening attempt in the finals moving from ninth to take the lead and eventually the state title. Jordan Lampkins of Bolingbrook jumped 23-1.75 to finish second ahead of Braden Missey of Belleville West (23-0.75).

It was a monster final round throw that defined the Shot Put. Michael Kpomassy of East Moline United was second after the preliminary round. He took the lead with a 64-7.25 put on his opening attempt on Saturday. On his final attempt he had a big put of 67-11 to secure the state title that was state leading and fifth in the nation. Joe Atkins of Washington finished second (63-7.50) ahead of Zach Morrisroe from Oswego East (61-7.50).

Logan Farrell of Hersey was loving the weather that he was throwing in the Discus. “When you have winds that are so glorious, you have to take advantage of it,” Farrell said after his state championship win. He was in third place after Friday. He unleashed a state leading 1196-10 on his second attempt to win this event. Dionte Shaw of West Aurora threw 193-1 to finish second ahead of Devin Habermehl of Collinsville (190-9).