Big John Meyer will be a major highlight in the field events this weekend
Let's breakdown the 3A events:
Long Jump-
This is a throw up between three people; Frank Massey, Jamal Safo, and Geremiah Lawson. It is interesting that Geremiah Lawson is in this field. Lawson told us that his indoor season was basically over. He didn't jump at the SPC Conference meet and almost didn't compete at New Balance Indoor Nationals due to a IT Band injury but, apparently that injury heeled faster than expected and he is ok to compete at Top Times. Jamal Safo is the only All-Stater in this field. The Crete-Monee athlete, took 5th place at the 3A state championship last season when he was a sophomore. Massey has been undefeated in Long Jump this season. Massey's best meet had to have been his breakout meet in Long Jump when he jumped a 23-10 at the Bloom Track Madness Invite.
Pole Vault-
Sorry to everyone else competing but no one is beating Zachery Bradford (Bloomington HS). Bradford is coming off the meet of his life two weeks ago when he won an New Balance Nationals Indoor Nationals title vaulting vaulting a massive 18-0.25. That's an Illinois High School Record and a US#2 mark. The battle for 2nd will be good. Watch for Jared Middleton (Oswego), Declan Ritzenthaler (Loyola Academy, and Thomas Paprocki (Lake Park) to all compete to take that 2nd place spot behind Bradford.
High Jump-
This is one of the hardest events at Top Times to try and predict a winner in. Honestly anyone in this field could win. Their PR's are all just two inches away from each other. The two biggest names on the docket are Maki Mohr (McHenry) and Alex Babbington (Plainfield East). Babbington has been a workhorse for the Bengals this season. At the SW Prairie Conference, Babbington competed in the 4x200m, High Jump, and 60HH. He will only have to focus on the 4x200m and High Jump. It will be interesting to see what Babbington can do in less events. Mohr is the only returning All-Stater in this field. Mohr jumped a 6-5 in his season debut this past weekend after getting done with his basketball season.
Shot Put-
This is a bold prediction very possible but John Meyer (Lockport) could win this thing by over 11 feet. Meyer is the current state all-time record holder in shot put and is the first school boy to break 70 feet. He is only the 11th high schooler to ever break 70 feet. The scary thing is that this is a very stacked field. There are 8 US Top 100 Shot Putters in this field and it is possible that Meyer could crush them. That is crazy. Watch for Clayton Hannula (Kaneland), Jamir Gibson (Zion-Benton), William Rezny (Rolling Meadows), and Brian Keyes (McHenry) to all compete for that 2nd spot. If you are a fan of throwing, make sure you are there to watch this event.
Triple Jump-
Two names come to mind when thinking about this field: Peyton Frankenreider and Jonathan Wilburn (Evanston). Frankenreider and Wilburn are both returning All-Staters from last year. Wilburn took 8th place while Frankenreider placed 9th place. Frankenreider jumped great at New Balance Indoor Nationals taking 3rd place with a 46-8.75 in the Boys Emerging Elite field. A dark horse in this field could very well be Frank Massey (Bloom Twp.). He has jumped in the 46's this year and and is a candidate to steal the title.
3200m-
The favorite in this race has to be Tommy Brady of Maine South. Brady took 3rd place at the 3A XC State Championship this past fall. Brady ran his best race this year in the 3200m at the Proviso West Boys Invite when he took 2nd to Whitney Young's Clayton Mendez with both of them running a 9:26.56. Brady is not the only person that can win this event though. Watch for the emerging Tyler Cushing of Bolingbrook, along with Matt Blanco of Oswego East, and Matt Richtman of Kaneland; to all challenge Brady to win this race. Blanco will be looking to one up Cushing after losing to him at the Batavia Distance Madness in the 3200m by .02 of a second. Richtman is flying under the radar when people talk about this race. Richtman won the 2A XC State Championship this past fall. That may change after this weekend.
60HH-
This is going to be an ok race. It is not the most stacked field when it comes to hurdles. We still have some decent names with the likes of Peyton Frankenreider, Victor Cameron, Nieko Carter of Shepard, and JT Lowder of Oak Park-River Forest. Frankenreider is the only returning All-Stater in the field when he took 9th place in the 300H last year. Carter is a dark horse that could have a breakout meet and compete for a top three spot and possibly even win the event. Lowder is the favorite in this event. Lowder has been undefeated in hurdles this year. Lowder has only ran the 55H this year and it will be interesting to see if he can continue his dominance in the 60H.
60m-
This could be the best event for 3A Boys on the track. This field is stacked with the likes of Marcellus Moore (Plainfield North), Dubem Anikamadu (Huntley), Bobby Nuzzo (Mundelein), Jermarrion Stewart (Collinsville), and Declan Rustay (Hoffman Estates). Everyone's favorite is "Baby Holyfield" Moore. Moore has had a great indoor season this year. He was an All-American in the 60m at New Balance Indoor Nationals taking 7th place with a 6.81. We will have to see if last week was too much for him as he did 3 meets in 8 days. He ran the 60m Prelims, 60m Semi-Finals, 60m Finals, 200m Prelims, and 200m Finals at New Balance Indoor Nationals. Then, that next Tuesday he ran the 55m Prelims, 55m Finals, and 4x200m at the Plainfield Fr/So City Championship. Then finally, finished up his week on Saturday with running the 55m Prelims, 55m Finals, 4x200m, 200m, and 4x400m at the Southwest Prairie Conference Championship. Even after this great season so far, Moore is not unbeatable. The only two people to beat Moore in the 100m last season are in this field. Declan Rustay won the 3A State Championship last year, beating Moore in the process. Anikamadu was the first person to beat Moore that was an Illinois Athlete last year at the Bill Jackson Invite in the 100m. Will March Madness come to Top Times and can we see someone upset Moore?
4x800m-
Glenbrook North is the favorite coming into this meet. The Spartans are returning 3 members of their All-State team from last year. They all have great chemistry with each other too. Not only are they Glenbrook North's top 4x800m but they are also Glenbrook North's top 4x400m. They hand off to each other all the time. Expect Glenbrook north to definitely be a top 2 team. A sleeper in this race is Minooka. They are returning 3 of the 4 members of their Top Times Championship 4x800m team from last year. They are replacing the former NAU runner Soren Knudsen with State Qualifier Jason Hoffman on their team.
800m-
This will for sure be the best 3A Distance Race at Top Times this year. It is filled with the likes of Franky Romano, Grant Jensen of Prairie Ridge, Charles Harders of Lyons Twp, Phillip Hall of Danville, and Wes York of Waubonsie Valley. They all have a chance at winning. The underdog that should be the favorite is Harders. With superstar teammate Danny Kilrea not racing the indoor season due to his long XC season that went into January, Harders has stepped up and has been the the Lions top distance runner for the indoor season. He currently undefeated in the 800 and 1600 this year. Romano has stepped up and put himself as the favorite to win the Top Times title. The only problem is he lost to Hall and Kyle Foley of Glenbrook North at the Charger Invite.
4x200m-
All the talk has been about Plainfield North and Crete-Monee winning this race. The do put up very good reasons why they could possibly win this event but, no one has been talking about Huntley to win this event. Huntley is returning three members of their All-State team from last season. They are in the "slower" heat but as we saw at the Mustang Relays, Neuqua Valley showed us that you can win the event from the "slower" heat.
400m-
Brandon Adams of Minooka is a man that wants redemption as he showed at the Southwest Prairie Conference Championship this past weekend. He ran a 50.50 to win the 400m, gave Marcellus Moore the toughest race he has had in Illinois this year when he finished .19 of a second behind him in the 200m and split a 50.00 in the 4x400m. It is hard to see the current IL#1 not win the 400m. It will be very interesting to see how Declan Rustay will do in the 400m. Rustay has been wanting to add the 400m to his belt and he will have one of his biggest challenges in the 400m this Saturday.
1600m-
This is not a very stacked field for the Top Times meet. Some of the favorites have to be Zach Albrecht of Jacobs, Alex Tam of Libertyville, and Andrew O'Keefe of Granite City. Albrecht is the biggest favorite in this field. The Junior is the only runner in the field that has ran sub 4:20 this season. Albrecht is undefeated in the 1600m this year. O'Keefe and Tam both qualified for state last year in the 1600m. This is going to be interesting to see who wins but the winning time will be around a 4:18.50.
200m-
Section 4 of the 200m will be a great race. It contains three sprinters that can win this race. In the race is Brandon Adams, Declan Rustay, and Marcellus Moore. Moore is the favorite in this race. He took 4th place at New Balance Indoor Nationals in the 200m. Moore will want to beat Rustay in the 200m after Rustay beat Moore at the 3A State Championship last year. Adams gave Moore a test at the Southwest Prairie Conference Championship this past Saturday finishing .19 of a second behind him.
4x400m-
Minooka is the favorite to win the if Brandon Adams runs in it. Adams is also declared in the 200m which is right before the 4x400m. Adams may choose to do both as he did at the Southwest Prairie Conference Championship. It is where he ran a 22.39 in his 200m and a 50.00 split in his 4x400m. Glenbrook North is a a squad that can make things tough on Minooka. Remember the Spartans 4x400m team is the same team as their 4x800m team. They have a lot of chemistry and it will be interesting to see if they can pull off a rare double win.