Nationals and more top a busy weekend for Illinois athletes

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

There is not a large number of Illinois athletes heading east to the New York Armory for this weekend’s New Balance Indoor National Championships. It could be that quality could be better for those athletes venturing to this national meet

Ja’Mari Ward (Cahokia HS) is coming of a big meet two weeks ago when he jumped a national #2 50-5 in the Triple Jump at Proviso West. Ward also holds the nation’s best effort in the Long Jump (24-7 ¼). His expectations are high in both events in this meet.

Zach Dale (Conant HS, Hoffman Estates) will be in Section 1 of the 2 Mile Run Sunday morning. His 9:14 that he ran in February and then the 4:21 1600 he ran solo last Friday at York show that he is in a good fitness level to drop well under 9:10. We could see some more personal bests from the three Illinois athletes competing in the Pole Vault. Adam Coulon (Tri-Valley HS, Downs) cleared 15-9 last Saturday at the Windy City Pole Vault Summit. He looked good at his three attempts at 16-0 & 16-3. He is capable of getting to 16 in this meet. Sophomore Ryan Ashenbremer (Normal West HS) achieved a 15-3 PR last Saturday at the same meet. He will look to go higher this weekend. Matt Knipfler (St. Joseph-Ogden HS) has cleared 15-4 so far this season. He looks to be 100% and ready to improve on his personal best.

Homewood-Flossmoor has high expectations this season. The Lady Vikings will take several tests this weekend to see where they need to go from here. Jayla Stewart will be busy in both the 60 Meter Hurdles and the 200 Meter Dash. Stewart currently has the second fastest time in the Hurdles within the state and in the top 50 nationally. Teammate Antoinette Broughton will race also in the 200 Meter Dash. These two athletes, along with Aliyah Mickens and Olivia Oliver, will compete in the 800 Meter Relay. Homewood-Flossmoor currently has the second fastest time in the state (1:43.83) behind the Lincoln-Way East time (1:41.90) from last Monday’s Mustang Relays. The Lady Viking are looking to go under that time in that meet.

Brooke Catherine (Normal Community HS) is coming off of a record breaking performance at the Windy City Pole Vault Summit. She cleared 13-4 at the Reno Pole Vault Summit in January. She could pop into the top five in this meet. Her club teammates Nikki Ogorek (Normal Community HS), Betsy Lovett (Clinton HS), and Cassie Wilson (Tri-Valley HS, Downs) will be competing in the Emerging Elites Pole Vault Competition on Friday.

Maya Neal (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) is having a good start of the season being ranked high in the state in the Long Jump and the 55/60 Hurdles. She will test herself in the Indoor Pentathlon on Saturday. Kathleen Young (Warrensburg-Latham HS) is having a great season in the Shot Put. She is currently ranked fourth nationally in the event (48-6 ¾). She will be looking for a top three finish this weekend. Young will also compete in the Emerging Elites Weight Throw on Friday.

Karina Liz (Aurora Central Catholic HS) and Cassie Mundekis (Midwest Central HS, Manito) started off their seasons strongly. Mundekis ran 2:13.12 (US #12) to win the UK HS invitational 800 in February. She could go lower at this meet. Liz has run 2:16 this season and could drop to 2:14 or better in this meet. Michaela Hackbarth (South HS, Downers Grove) ran 2:18 last week at North Central College. She will compete in the Emerging Elite 800 Friday evening.

~~~

The action continues to pick up. We should see more great performances at meets throughout the state this weekend. The big Boys Meet is the Edwardsville Tiger Invitational Friday at Principia College. The sprint and hurdle events are lights out. The top five hurdlers so far this season are set to line up in the 60 Meter Hurdles. Isaiah Michl (Edwardsville HS) ran the state’s best time in the event last weekend at the University of Illinois (8.12). William Session (East HS, Belleville) ran 8.21 to win the Normal West Invitational two weeks ago and will be a threat to Michl. Another threat will be Eric Walker (St. Rita HS, Chicago). He accepted an invitation earlier this week to compete. He should be right in the mix. He defeated Korrion Session (Cahokia HS) at the Proviso West Invitational running 7.48 for 55 Meters. He ran 8.30 at Kentucky. He will challenge for the win in this meet along with Session.

Three of the top four athletes in the state will compete in the 60 Meter Dash. Andre McGill (Madison HS) has the fastest time among all of the seeds (6.95). Cary Lockhart (Bloomington HS) is coming off of a personal best 6.97 to win the Big 12 Boys Meet on Tuesday. Deshon Buchanon (West HS, Belleville) ran 7.01 to finish right behind Lockhart at the U of I last Saturday. Do not forget about Adam Nelson (Triad HS, Troy) who has run 7.03 this season. Lockhart, McGill, and Buchanon will race against each other in the 200 Meter Dash. Lockhart ran 22.34 last Tuesday and will be the guy to beat.

Also watch the relays in this meet. Cahokia, East St. Louis-Senior, and Belleville West will challenge each other in the 4 x 400 Meter Relay. Add Bloomington in the 4 x 200 Meter Relay with these three teams. The track may need to be resurfaced after this meet is over. The speed that will be in this meet could burn holes on the track surface.

The 1600 Meter Run could be a great race. Dorrion Gordon (O’Fallon HS) and Brydon Groves-Scott (Edwardsville HS) will be the favorites in this event. Keep an eye on Will O’Keefe (Granite City HS). He ran 1:25 in the 600 last Saturday at Homewood-Flossmoor. O’Keefe could be the surprise in this event.

~~~

The top Girls meet in Illinois this weekend should be the Proviso East Lady Pirates Invitational Saturday. The sprints should be strong. Anna Sloan (Trinity HS, River Forest), Jessica Watkins (Bolingbrook HS), and Tyjuana Eason (Kankakee HS) should be among the favorites in the 55 Meter Dash. The 200 Meter Dash is loaded. Alexis Pierre-Antoine (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort) has the fastest seed time. It could be someone from an earlier section like Yakira Love (Westinghouse Academy, Chicago) could come away with the win. The sprint relays should belong to Lincoln-Way East. The Lady Griffins dominated their two races at the Mustang Relays last Monday.

~~~

A sneaky good meet to go to on Friday night if you are not traveling to Edwardsville is the Batavia Distance Madness Meet. There will be only three events contested and all distance races. It will give a chance for athletes of any ability to run a fast time on a quick 200 Meter Batavia track.

The Girls 1600 Meter Run will feature Judy Pendergast (North HS, Naperville), Skyler Bollinger (Yorkville HS), and defending 3A champion Annie Zaher (Central HS, Hinsdale) will be the top runners in that event. The Boys race should also be a good one with Jake & Luke Hoffert (Yorkville HS) will be the favorites in this race with Ryan Wieties (Batavia HS), Blake Evertsen (Central HS, Hinsdale), and Keagan Smith (Huntley HS) some of the top runners that will challenge the Hoffert brothers.

~~~

There will be other great meets throughout the state. The Charleston Girls Invitational at EIU will have some of the top athletes in Class A along with a strong 2A / 3A field in the afternoon. The Byron Preview Meet will have good competition in the Girls Meet in the morning and the Boys meet in the afternoon.

Good luck to all athletes that will be competing this weekend.