The "Deuce Dogs" will be the stars of the Arcadia Invite on Saturday night (Dana Embree photo)
Preview assisted by Carson Vittorio
3200m-
Nikita Smyrnov (Sr., Stevenson HS)
Rated 3200m
Logan Hall (Sr., Arthur-Lovington HS) Invitational 3200m
Wyatt McIntyre (Sr., Athens HS) Seeded 3200m
Charlie Parrish (Sr., Freeburg HS)
Rated 3200m
Sean O'Connell (Sr., Hinsdale Central) Rated 3200m
Danny Kilrea (Sr., Lyons HS) Invitational 3200m
Tommy Brady (Jr, Maine South HS)
3200m Confirmed
Jacob Gebhardt (Sr., Sterling HS) invitational 3200m
Zach Kinne (Jr., Neuqua Valley HS) Invitational 3200m
Dylan Jacobs (Sr., Sandburg HS) Invitational 3200m
-It is going to be a great time with many of the top names in the nation in this premier event. All three top IL dogs will be in the field. Danny Kilrea, Dylan Jacobs, and Clayton Mendez will show and prove once again on the national stage. Emerging national elite Zach Kinne is here as well. 1A stars Logan Hall and Wyatt Mcintyre will battle for sub 9:00. Believe it or not only Mendez has broken 9:00 at 8:59.46. And he is ready for something big according to his coach Billy Poole-Harris. "I think after the Texas Distance Festival Clayton is in great shape to run really fast this weekend," said Poole-Harris.
Check out what Jacob's coach John O'Malley has to say:
"It's still early in the season, but we wanted to make sure he was a part of a high powered 3200 and there is no better 3200 race than Arcadia. So while it's early in the season and Dylan will still have a lot of improvement to make, I am confident he can get in a quality performance. He looks good in practice and is ready to start some racing.
The field is going to be crowded, so he will need to stay out of trouble, be aggressive and risk big. You don't fly to California to race safe. It looks like there are 30 guys capable of breaking 9:00, and while that likely won't occur for all of them, it conveys the strength of the field. You know a handful of those guys are going to be on their A game even though it's only April 7. We're also running a 4 x 800 on Friday. It should be a lot of fun and a great experience for our relay and Dylan on a national level."
Appetizer menu-
Tyler Bombacino (Sr., Neuqua Valley HS) 1600m
Myles Gascon (Sr., Neuqua Valley HS) 100m
Dakota Getty (Sr., Neuqua Valley HS) 800m
Ryan Kennedy (Sr., Neuqua Valley HS)
4x1600m Confirmed
Wes York (Sr., Waubonsie Valley HS)
800m
-If desire undercard menus you will enjoy this one for sure. There is some speed, some relays, and of course distance running. Charles Harders has had a tremendous season to this point. Let's see if he can get into the sub 4:15 range. Sam Rivera is ready for a breakout time. How about Wes York? Sub 1:55 is ready for him.
Relays-
Sandburg 4x800
Chicago Jones College Prep DMR
Chicago Jones College Prep 4x1600m
Neuqua Valley 4x1600m
-Could Dylan Jacobs' Saturday 3200m performance be compromised by competing in Friday night's invitational relay for his beloved Sandburg crew? Who really knows, but what we know is he will see it as a warm for a fast individual performance the next day. And it will be interesting to see how well the Eagles can go in their first stacked race of the year. Neuqua Valley will have Zach Kinne running on the 4x1600 and that could have some adverse effects for the invite 3200m Saturday evening. It is much harder to recover from a hard "mile" than an 800. Jones will get in the lion's den with two relays on deck.
KK Hart will be out for blood when she toes the line at the Arcadia Invite (Kyle Brazeil photo)
Girls-
Katelynne Hart (So., Glenbard West HS) Invitational 3200m
Corinna Pena (Sr., Neuqua Valley HS) 1600m
MiKenna Robinson (Sr., Neuqua Valley HS)
800m
Arielle Summitt (Sr., Urbana University HS)
Invitational 800m
Brooke Delahanty (Sr., Aurora Rosary) 800m
-The undercard races leading up to the main girls event: 3200m should be entertaining. For starters, Corinna Pena is an emerging name that you should pay attention to. She broke 5:00 at the Illinois Top Times last month and will look to increase her stock. Her teammate Mikenna Robinson will be heard from as well. Robinson dropped a personal best 2:14.90 indoors and certainly can go faster. She could walk away with an IL #1. But let's hold up! Arielle Summitt will be in the invitational section and she indicated that she is ready to run fast in the California sun... Katelynne Hart is the one that we are here for in terms of prime time viewing. Hart has enjoyed a tempered and calculated 2018 campaign so far. She won the NBNI indoor mile title so the leg strength is great. She has clocked 10:14 for a full 2 miles indoors, so the resume is updated and masterful. Watch for her at the very least challenge for the US #1 time which is 10:18.80 by Californian Tori Gaitan of Great Oak. Full girls 3200m field.