2025 Illinois National Highlights

New Balance Nationals Outdoors: Results | Videos

Nike Outdoor Nationals: Results | Videos

By Michael Newman

Downers Grove North left the Nike Outdoor Nationals with several memories as well as winning the Boys Championship race in the 4x800 Meter Relay. The Trojans easily win the national title in this race by a wide margin. It was a little closer on Saturday night.

Downers Grove North overcame a three second deficit in the final leg to overtake fellow Illinois school Payton as Downers Grove North had the edge in 7:34.78 ahead of Payton and their 7:35.71 time. This was the fourth straight time that an Illinois team had won this event in this meet. It was also the fourth straight time that a team from the West Suburban Conference Silver Division had won a title. Hinsdale Central won in 2022 and 20233. This was the third All-American finish for Payton who finished fifth in last year’s race as well as fifth indoors at New Balance Nationals Indoors.

It was not a slam dunk for these two teams in this meet. Temecula CA had the lead after the opening leg of the race with a 1:55.49 from Jacob Brown. Payton with an opening leg from Vaughn Collier of 1:57.49 was in fifth. John Courtney of Downers Grove North disclosed in a post-race interview that he had been sick all week but still run. “All I wanted to do and go out there and keep the team close,” Courtney said afterwards. He ran 1:58.02 to keep the Trojans in the hunt in seventh.

The second leg defined the rest of the race especially for the two Illinois teams. Declan Slavin took the lead for Payton as he ran a incredible 1:51.93 leg. Will Surratt kept Downers Grove North in the hunt running 1L51.58 to stay within a tenth of a second of the Chicago school. 2A State 800 Meter Run state champion Tra’Monti Williams took charge of the third leg running 1:51.63 tp give Payton a three second lead. Williams had earlier run 1:54.84 in the Emerging Elites 800. Grant Schroder for North stayed close after he ran 1:53.57 to finish third in the same Emerging Elite race. He handed the baton off to Phillip Cupial after his 1:54/6 split.

Preston Ellis took off after he received the baton from Williams. The margin stayed the same over the Ellis and Cupial through the first lap both runners 53 seconds. Somehow Cupial made up the margin on the final circuit of the track. He caught Ellis with 15 meters to go. His 1:50.55 anchor leg brought Downers Grove North their second straight national title with a US #6 7:34.56 time. An exhausted Ellis finished just a second behind at a 7:35.64 time. Cedar Falls IA was closest to the two Illinois teams as they ran 7:44.09 to finish third.

“I knew I was not making any ground up on Preston (Ellis) on that first lap,” Cupial said after the meet. “I knew I had to dig down and do it for my teammates, my brothers. I knew what I was capable of. I had run the 800 six hours before. I knew I could get him. I was just showing everyone that I am still here after the season I had. It was good to get the job done.”

Some of that confidence that he gained came from the championship sections of the 800 Meter Run earlier on Saturday. Cupial was in fifth place when he made his move with 250 meters left in that section. Cupial came off the final curve taking the lead and the win. His time of 1:50.08 was a personal best by almost three seconds and the lead in the event. He ended up finishing seventh overall earning him All-American honors. The NSAF recognized the top eight finishers in the Championship at Nike. The NSAF recognizes the top six at New Balance.

Courtney did not run in the 1 Mile Run on Sunday. The other three relay members did in the championship race. Will Surratt ran 4:14.02 ahead of Grant Schroder (4:15.94) and Philip Cupial (4:31.03).

Plainfield North also had a big weekend in Oregon competing in four relay events. They left Nike Outdoor Nationals earning All-American honors in all four relays.

The Tigers started out Friday in the 1600 Meter Medley Relay. Kayla Bradshaw was followed by Taylor Mclain in the opening 200 legs followed by Tessa Russo running the 400 leg and Lindsey Wenz anchoring in the 800. North ended up running 4:07.23 to finish sixth overall.

Saturday was a busy day running in the 4x200 Meter Relay finals and the prelims of the 4x100 Meter Relay. The Tigers did not run their fastest time of the year in the 4x2. The team of Bradshaw, Lauren Deangelo, Aniya Poindexter, and McLain ran 1:39.89 to finish second overall. The same quartet ran in the prelims where they ran 48.26 to win their heat and make it to the finals finishing fourth in the four heats. North had spectacular handoffs in Sunday’s finals running 46.82 to finish second.

Their fourth All-American honors came at the end of the meet in the 4x00 Meter Relay. The quartet of Dellangelo, Russo, Poindexter, and Wenz ran 3:52.96 to finish seventh overall. The is the first time that an Illinois school has earned four All-American honors in this meet.

Belleville West was an All-American team in the Boys Championship 4x400 Meter Relay. The team of Morquez Bulliner, Bradley Missey, Calvin Nolan, and Troy Mclean ran 3:17.64 to finish third. Mclean ran a 46.87 anchor split to bring his team from fifth to third. Bulliner earned All-American honors in the 200 Meter Dash to finish eight overall. Mclean ran 48.00 to finish fourth overall in the third section and 17th overall in the 400 Meter Dash.

One thing that was not expected happened in the Boys Championship Pole Vault at Nike on Saturday. Rain hit Hayward Field Saturday afternoon putting a halt on field events. There were thoughts that the Boys Pole Vault events would move to Sunday. Rain let up allowing the Pole Vault to be contested into the night. The big surprise was that three-time Illinois Class 1A champion Isaiah Whitaker of Bloomington Central Catholic failed to clear his opening height of 16-0. Lucas Brauc of Oak Park-River Forest finished fifth clearing 16-6 to finish fifth.

Distance events took center stage for Illinois athletes in Philadelphia at the New Balance Nationals Outdoors. Thursday had over a two hour delay due to thunderstorms that hit the Mia Sirois of Barrington concluded her great sophomore year with another great performance on the national stage this time in the 5000 Meter Run. This was the first time for Sirois on the track at this distance. It did not seem to affect her as she took the lead just before the opening 1600 of the race. The sophomore held the lead until Calysta Garmer of Webb of Knoxville TN passed a lapped runner on the inside gaining the lead and an advantage in the final 400 meters of the race. The Tennessee junior held on to run 16:18.14 for the win just ahead of Natasza Dudek of Ann Arbor Pioneer MI (16:18.78) and Sirois (16:22.88).

“I did not get into Philadelphia until 3AM this morning so planning got messed up especially after the meet delay. I just wanted to come int thi9s race and put up a good fight,” Sirois said after collecting her third All-American honor of her sophomore year. “I did not know what to expect being this was my first 5k on the track. You never know unless you try. I used concentrated on each section of the race which worked out well for me.”

Sirois came back on Sunday to run in the Championship 1 Mile Run. Her time of 4:51.28 in the penultimate eighth section placed her tenth in that race.

Sundara Weber of Sandwich stepped into the national spotlight at Arcadia when she finished fourth in the 3200 Meter Run in that meet. This race at New Balance Nationals was a pressure cooker with the amount of national quality runners that did not phase her one bit. When the pace picked up before the first mile, she stayed with the three other runners that broke away from the field. She passed by the first mile in 5:00.99 then held on to become an All-American running 10:04.65 to finish fourth.

The same applied for Ben Crane of New Trier in the Boys 2 Mile Run in this meet. His comfort level grew during his final high school campaign willing to push the pace of a race and display a newly found speed at end of races that he could not locate the year before. Crane pushed the pace the first three laps of the race then stayed in a pack that passed the first mile in 4:32. Crane was in fourth entering the final lap in fourth. He ran the final 400—meters in 59.56 finishing third (8:56.42) and earning his first All-American honors on the track.

Other highlights from Philadelphia and Eugene

Kwabena Obei-Yeboah ended his Oak Park-River Forest high school career on a high note finishing among the top 12 athletes in strong fields in both horizontal jumps at Franklin Field. He competed in the Triple Jump on Saturday posting a best of 47-7.75 jump into a -1.9 m/s head wind. He also went past 47 feet on his third jump at 47-5 this time with a tailwind of +1.2 m/s. Obei-Yeboah finished 12th overall in the event. His second-round attempt Sunday was also his best as he jumped 23-0.5 in the Long Jump to finish tenth overall.

The IHSA Class 3A 800 and 1600 champion Annika Swan of St. Ignatius College Prep ran the same two events in this meet. Swan ran in the final section of the Championship 1 Mile Run on Saturday finishing 11th with a 4:47.69 time. She finished 17th overall. Swan came back on Sunday to run 2:11.18 to finish fourth in the sixth section of the 800 Meter Run.

It was the freshman distance runners in Philadelphia that made statements. Patrick Hill of York in the final section of the Boys Freshman 1 Mile Run led all Illinois freshman running 4:21.87 to finish tenth overall ahead of Judah Binger of Belvidere North (4:21.94) and Carson Kaiser of Kaneland (4:22.00). Also, in the event included John Reinbold of Aurora Central Catholic (4:25.81), Quaid Berger (4:27.34) and Tristan Butler (4:37.24) of Richland County.

Kaiser competed in all three freshman distance events. His race in the 2 Mile Run might have been his best as he ran a personal best of 9:19.33 to finish second in the 2 Mile Run. Kaiser also ran 2:00.85 in the 800 Meter Run. Binger also ran in the 2 Mile Run who had a 9:26.95 time to finish sixth overall in that race. Brennan Monohan of Lyons Township ran 9:40.69 in the event.

Kara Glenn of St. Charles North ran 5:07.19 to finish 11 overall in the Girls Freshman 1 Mile Run. Glenn came back to run 11:00.89 to finish sixth in the Freshman 2 Mile Run. Victoria Tavara of Barrington ran 11:20.91 in the same event. Klarke Goranson in the Championship Mile ran 5:07.26 in her section. Earlier in the meet, she ram 2:12 90 to finish third in the Girls Freshman 800 Meter Run.

Rockford area All-State runners Nicolai Martino of Winnebago and Jesse Kramer of Belvidere North both competed at Nike Outdoor Nationals in distance events. 2-time Class 1A State champion Martino ran 8:22.16 to finish third in his second section, 15 overall in the 3000 Meter Run. Kramer ran 8:34.60 to finish ninth in the Emerging Elite 3000 Meter Run. Martino ran 4:11.92 in the Boys Championship 1 Mile Run. Kramer ran 4:13.32 in the same event.