Dannis will be a central piece in the 2A spectrum at ITT
2A Breakdown:
Long Jump-
Watch for Justin Houston of Chicago Brooks Prep and Tori Clinton of St. Laurence in this event this year. It will be interesting if Houston wins because there is the potential that Brooks College Prep can sweep the Long jump on both the boys and girls side if Imani Carothers can complete the task. Houston needs to jump like he did at the Plainfield South Boys Invite when he jumped a 22-3. Houston is undefeated in Long Jump so far this year. Clinton is more of a wildcard and should not be overlooked.
Pole Vault-
With last year's State Champion Tyler Carrel of Urbana not in this field, it leaves the door open for Callan Whitehouse and Jack Pompe to win the Top Times title. Whitehouse has won two meets this in Pole Vault this year and has taken 2nd place in three meets this season. The three times that he has taken 2nd place was to the National Champion Zachery Bradford. Jack Pompe is the only other vaulter from Illinois to go to New Balance Indoor Nationals that's name is not Zachery Bradford. He was part of the Emerging Elites section of the meet where he took 23rd place vaulting a 14-9.5.
High Jump-
This could be anyone's event this year, but it will most likely be Ethan Potson challenging for the win. Potson is coming off a huge weekend where he jumped a 6-10. This field is a good field but, not the best field at Top Times this year. It contains 3 returning All-Staters in Ethan Poston, Jonthan Decker, and Zhamond Lawson.
Shot Put-
The battle between Austin Klokkenga of Dunlap of and Hunter Hendershot of Mahomet-Seymour is one that we could possibly be talking about when the state championship rolls around in May. They were so close to each other last year at the 2A State Championship when Klokkenga took 6th and Hendershot took 7th. Both men are on a roll this season with both men being undefeated in four meets this season.
Triple Jump-
Andra Ward is the clear favorite in this event. The Cahokia standout athlete took 3rd place at the 2A State Championship last season. Ward has been on a roll this season. He is currently undefeated in the six meets that he has competed in this year. He is the current IL#1 in Triple Jump and it would be a huge surprise to see him not win. Watch Alex Saunders of St. Laurence and Rashid Moffett of Rantoul to compete for that 2nd place spot. Moffett is a interesting name to see possibly competing for 2nd place but he has flashed potential of being a great triple Jumper when he won the Charger Invite earlier this month. Saunders is coming off a great conference meet where he won the Chicago Catholic League title when he jumped a 2-foot PR of 45-8. Saunders just had a breakout meet and is looking to build off that performance at Top Times this year.
3200m-
Mahomet-Seymour has 2 big names in this race with Mathias Powell and Ryan Hodge. Powell has only raced one 3200m this season, but in that race, he is upset last year's 1A 3200m State Champion Logan Hall. Powell is the current IL#3 and he behind 2 great runners in Zach Kinne of Neuqua Valley and Foot Locker National Champion Dylan Jacobs of Sandburg. Hodge has also only run the 3200m at one meet this year. Hodge ran a 9:45.75 at the Mahomet-Seymour invite without much competition he won the race by 22 seconds. We will have to see what Hodge can do with some competition with him.
60H-
Bret Dannis of Peru St. Bede is the clear favorite in this one. He is the current IL#1 and US#11 in the 60H. Dannis is not happy that he had to miss New Balance Indoor Nationals this season. The defending 2A 110H State Champion had to miss the meet due to a nagging hamstring injury. He is coming back at Top Times and wants to bust out a good time. The crazy thing about Dannis is that he has only lost two 60H he has raced in the last three years. He took 2nd at the UK High School Invite in 2017 and at Top Times in 2016. Another man to watch is the current Illinois State Championship Record holder in the 300H, Deion McShane. McShane is wanting revenge against Dannis who beat McShane in the 110H last year at the 2A State Championship.
60m-
Ronald Reed of Decatur MacArthur is the favorite in this race. The 2017 AAU All-American in the 100m has only raced one high school track race this season due to some personal issues. Everything seems to be resolved now. Now that track and field is front and center, look for Reed to get back to the 6.87 form that he had in January. At last weekend's Charleston Invite, he blew out the field with a solid 6.89. Dawson Kaiser of Unity has broken 7.00 and will put some pressure on Reed. The next up and coming speedster is Christian Phillips of Urbana. The supercharged Phillips has improved each week of the season.
4x800m-
Marmion Academy should be the favorite in this event especially if Michael Ronzone runs in their relay. Ronzone is wanting a great track season after a heart breaking XC season that saw him take 26th place at the 3A State Championship. For all the people that don't know much about XC, the top 25 people at the State Championship go All-State meaning Ronzone was the last man out when it comes to be an All-Stater. Another team to watch in this one is Mascoutah. They may not have the best seed time, but they have experience on that team. Mascoutah's team has 3 All-Staters on it which means they have experience and being successful and sometimes that is very valuable at big meets.
800m-
If you are a fan of distance running you need to watch this race. This could be the race of the weekend when it comes to distance running. The likes of Nick Oakley of Charleston, Nick Swartzendruber of Geneseo, and Josh Cable of Rochester are the main favorites or this race. Oakley didn't have his best meet at the Charleston High School Invite when he took 4th place. Oakley needs to run like he did at the Apollo Conference when he won the 800m to win this Saturday. Swartendruber is undefeated in the 800m this season. Swartzendruber is trying to build off his win at the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference when he dropped a 1:58.17. Cable is the top returner from last year at Top Times. Cable is looking to defend the 800m title that he won last year at this meet. .
4x200m-
St. Laurence should be able to win this 4x200m this year. The only question mark about this 4x200m is how the team is going to do without Tori Clinton. Clinton is maxed with events as he is in Long Jump, Triple Jump, 60m, and the 200m. Watch for Urbana, St. Rita, and Burlington Central to compete for the win if St. Laurence can't win due to not having Clinton in the 4x200m. St. Rita and Burlington Central are interesting picks here but each team has two All-Staters in their relay and as we said in the 4x800m preview sometimes experience can lead to winning.
400m-
Gavin Jaime of Providence Catholic is most likely everyone's favorite to win the 400m. The returning 3A All-Stater in the 400m, dropped a new IL#2 in the 400m this past weekend. The only man to beat Jaime this year is in this field also, the current IL#4, Colin Dwyer of St. Laurence. Dwyer beat Jaime at the ICOPS Invite in February. Jaime got his revenge this weekend at the Chicago Catholic League Championship when he beat Dwyer in the 400m. Another man to watch is the returning All-Stater Brandon Bretz.
1600m-
Watch for Jacob Gebhardt of Sterling and the three runners from Mahomet-Seymour in this 1600m. Gebhardt is looking for his first State Title this spring after Matt Richtman has moved on to 3A and his path to that State Title starts at Top Times. Gebhardt has not had a big meet time wise. His season PR is currently a 4:28.24 but, Gebhardt has won both of his 1600m's this season. An advantage that Gebhardt has over Hodge and Powell is that Gebhardt is fresh for the 1600m. Hodge and Powell are both doubling, and it is the first time doubling for the duo this season. Mahomet-Seymour still has another hope to win the 1600m with Riley Fortune. Fortune would need a breakout race to win this race but, good news for Fortune is that he will be fresh for this race.
200m-
So not only did Gavin Jaime drop a new IL#2 in the 400m, he also dropped a new IL#7 in the 200m. He did it at the Chicago Catholic League Championship and won the race also. Jaime has ran the 200m two times this year and has won both. It looks like Jaime can remain undefeated and take home a Top Times 200m Title.
4x400m-
We will have to see if Gavin Jaime runs in the 4x400m this weekend as he is also in the 200m. It is not impossible we see Jaime do both as we saw Marcellus Moore and Brandon Adams do it this past weekend at the Southwest Prairie Conference Championship. If Jaime doesn't run the 4x400m there is no telling how Providence catholic will do but, if Jaime runs they will be in a good spot to win. Watch for Geneseo to also challenge Providence Catholic for the win in this 4x400m as they have two returning All-Staters on their team.