Due to her incredible 10:41/5:05 doube, we had to make Madeline Perez the cover of this week’s Distance Roundup.
Welcome to the newest Milesplit IL weekly feature, the Distance Roundup. We here at Milesplit IL want to keep you up to date on the action across the Land of Lincoln. Here’s how it will work. For each distance event (800,1600,3200,4x800) there will be a write-up as well as the top ten national elite times from across the state. There will also be a short summary of each event. Due to it being early March, ten athletes achieved the national elite standard for the guys and girls 800ms, so the list is a little shorter than usual.
Boys 800 Meter
The 800 meter on the boys side saw the fastest five times of the state recorded this weekend. Blake Hale of Robinson moves into the top spot in the state after his 1:57.93 victory at the SIU HS Invite. He beat Cahokia’s Darren Payton, who goes to fourth place after a fast ICOPS invitational on Sunday. Kyle Hause won that race, nipping Kevin Grahovec by .02 seconds. For now, Hause sits second in the state with Marmion’s Grahovec third.
Boys National Elites (2:00.20)
1. 1:57.93, Blake Hale, Robinson, SIU HS Invitational
2. 1:57.99, Kyle Hause, Marist, ICOPS Invitational
3. 1:58.01, Kevin Grahovec, Marmion Academy, ICOPS Invitational
4. 1:58.55, Darren Payton, Cahokia, SIU HS Invitational
5. 1:59.06, Cody Dyer, Plainfield South, Charger Invitational
6. 2:00.06, David Sias, Springfield, Jacksonville Invitational
7. 2:00.10, Jack Peters, Glenbard East, Maine East Invitational
Girls 800 Meter
It’s a strange week as Courtney Clayton actually doesn’t have the fastest 800m time from this past weekend. That honor goes to Emma Reifel, Glenbard West Senior, who won the Proviso West Girls Invite in an IL#2 time of 2:16.50. After a solid performance in Seattle last week, Clayton kept herself busy running four events on Saturday at her home meet, including a 2:19 800m victory. Four other girls ran under the national standard, including Lindsay Graham who ran a PR of 2:22.30 to crack into the top ten into the state.
Girls National Elites – 2:22.40
1. 2:16.50, Emma Reifel, Glenbard West, Proviso West Girls Invitational
2. 2:19.63, Courtney Clayton, Hononegah, Hononegah Girls Indoor Classic
3. 2:20.30, Lindsay Graham, Glenbard East, Glenbard East Triangular
4. 2:21.22, Stephanie Urbancik, Downers Grove North, York 6-Team Meet
5. 2:21.39, Shianne Baggett, Whitney Young, Whitney Young Girls Quad
6. 2:22.36, Torree Scull, St. Charles East, Coach Heimsath Invitational
Boys 1,600 Meter Run
The boys came out to play this weekend. Who doesn’t want to have the top mile time in the state? Coming into the week, Zach Smith had the top time with a 4:22.30. As more and more results came in, we saw a multitude of times around that mark. Marc Maton gained a temporary IL#1 with his gigantic 10 second victory at Jacksonville. Of course, Jack Keelan was running the next day at ICOPS. Keelan ran a strong beating out Marmion Academy’s John Graft to move into 37th nationally (including mile times).
1. 4:16.29, Jack Keelan, St. Ignatius College Prep, ICOPS Invitational
2. 4:21.42, Marc Maton, Chatam-Glenwood, Jacksonville Invitational
3. 4:22.98, Riley McInerney, Charleston, ISU HS Invitational
4. 4:23.07, Christian Zambrano, Palatine, York Invitational
5. 4:24.42, Chris May, York, York Invitational
6. 4:25.60, John Graft, Marmion Academy, ICOPS Invitational
7. 4:26.24, Alex Bashqawi, York, York Invitational
8. 4:27.83, Ryan Paris, Lakes, Antioch Invitational
9. 4:27.94, Joe Sulentic, Conant, York Invitational
10. 4:28.58, Ryan Kearns, Hersey, York Invitational
Girls 1600 Meter
No IL#1 here but that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a lot of great 1600m times. Kaylee Flanagan had the top mile time of the week, running 5:04.59 at Hononegah in flats. While Madeline Perez didn’t improve on her season best, she did run 5:05.90 as part of a stellar double. One thing to keep an eye on as we move forward is the girls distance crew at WWS. McKenna Kiple and Hope Schmelzle went 1-2 at Hinsdale South recording the 4th and 7th fastest times in the state.
1. 5:04.59, Kaylee Flanagan, Lake Park, Hononegah Girls Indoor Classic
2. 5:05.90, Madeline Perez, Glenbard West, Proviso West Girls Invitational
3. 5:09.10, McKenna Kiple, Wheaton-Warrensville South, Hinsdale South, Hinsdale Central Quad
4. 5:11.22, Christina Santiago, Prospect, York 6-Team
5. 5:11.70, Hope Schmelzle, Wheaton-Warrensville South, Hinsdale South, Hinsdale Central Quad
6. 5:16.26, Mimi Smith, New Trier, York 6-Team
7. 5:17.40, Kelsey Hjorth, Oswego, Argo Invitational
8. 5:17.92, Ashely Bruner, Waubonise Valley, Aurora City Invitational
9. 5:18.28, McKenzie Yanek, Pleasant Valley, Quad Cities Indoor Invitational
10. 5:18.40, Jill Hardies, Hinsdale Central, Hinsdale Central Quad
Boys 3200 Meter
Running in a 4x800m relay, Grant Nykaza recorded the states top time last Monday. While he did say he felt like a time trial, it was one heck of a time trial. The fastest 3200m race had to be at York on Friday. This race saw 8 guys going sub 9:47 including the states #2 and #3 times from York’s Scott Milling and WWS’s Nolen McKenna.
1. 9:14.37, Grant Nykaza, Beecher, DGS Mustang Relays
2. 9:17.28, Scott Milling, York, York Invitational
3. 9:18.70, Nolan McKenna, Wheaton Warrensville South, York Invitational
4. 9:26.57, Caleb Beck, Oswego, Charger Invitational
5. 9:28.81, Jonah Hanig, Highland Park, Antioch Invitational
6. 9:33.58, Zach Dale, Conant, York Invitational
7. 9:33.83, Billy Thomas, Hoffman Estates, York Invitational
8. 9:36.79, Jesse Hahne, Schlarman, SIU HS Invitational
9. 9:37.12, Andy Philipose, Hersey, York Invitational
10. 9:39.28, Johnny Leverenz, Danville, Charger Invitational
Girls 3200 Meter Run
The Girls 3200m run is just fierce in Illinois. It’s the beginning of March and five girls have broke 11! Madeline Perez ran 10:41.10…..the same meet she ran 5:04. It’s March. How fast can she go? Emma Fisher, who has the fastest time in the state, won her home meet in another strong time of 10:44.24. The fifth girl to join the sub-11 club this year was Tess Wasowicz. Tess, who has run a couple of 600m, 800m, and 1000m races this season found success in the 3200m, just dipping under 11. Jessica Ackerman made her season debut with an 11:14 in the same race as Emma Fisher. Watch for her to continue to improve as she gets more races under her belt.
1. 10:41.10, Madeline Perez, Glenbard West, Proviso West Girls Invitational
2. 10:44.24, Emma Fisher, York, York 6-Team
3. 10:59.90, Tess Wasowicz, Palatine, Glenbard East Triangular
4. 11:11.14, Lindsay Graham, Glenbard East, Coach Heimsath Invitational
5. 11:14.53, Jessica Ackerman, New Trier, York 6-Team
6. 11:21.44, Kendall Cast, Metea Valley, Coach Heimsath Invitational
7. 11:23.59, Katie Adams, Marengo, Hononegah Girls Indoor Classic
8. 11:24.00, Lisa Luczak, Glenbard West, Proviso West Girls Invitational
9. 11:28.01, Allison Wilson, Waubonise Valley, Aurora City Invitational
10. 11:33.90, Veronica Boswell, St. Ignatius, Argo Invitational
Boys 4x800m
Coaches, I have news for you. If you want to run a fast 4x800m early in the season all you have to do is go to the DGS Mustang Relays. Well that might not be it, but it seemed to work for a lot of teams! Sandburg moves into the top time in the state after their 8:02.08 clocking which puts them 41st nationally. Joining them in the top fifty is West Aurora, only two tenths of a second back from Sandburg. A couple of teams of note outside of that meet is Cahokia and York. Both powerhouses in this event, Cahokia won the SIU HS Invite by four seconds with York winning their home meet by over 10 seconds.
1. 8:02.08, Sandburg, DGS Mustang Relays
2. 8:02.29, West Aurora, DGS Mustang Relays
3. 8:03.89, Cahokia, SIU HS Invitational
4. 8:04.45, York, York Invitational
5. 8:05.11, St. Ignatius, DGS Mustang Relays
6. 8:07.66, St. Thomas More, SIU HS Invitational
7. 8:07.97, Niles North, DGS Mustang Relays
8. 8:08.29, Hinsdale Central, DGS Mustang Relays
9. 8:08.29, Lane Tech, DGS Mustang Relays
10. 8:10.15, Minooka, DGS Mustang Relays
Girls 4x800m
So basically I copied the DGS Mustang Relay results for the top ten list here. With the addition of the two top teams from Proviso West, the Monday meet swept the best times from the week. Yorkville just cracks into the top 50 with their time. Lane Tech, a team that just missed on making it to the finals last year at state, moves into the second best time in the state ahead of a slew of strong teams such as Lake Park and Minooka.
1. 9:35.66, Yorkville, DGS Mustang Relays
2. 9:42.13, Lane Tech, DGS Mustang Relays
3. 9:43.38, Minooka, DGS Mustang Relays
4. 9:44.63, Lake Park, DGS Mustang Relays
5. 9:45.32, Sandburg, DGS Mustang Relays
6. 9:46.80, Glenbard West, Proviso West Girls Invitational
7. 9:48.17, Naperville North, DGS Mustang Relays
8. 9:48.50, Naperville Central, Proviso West Girls Invitational
9. 9:48.84, Lyons Township, DGS Mustang Relays
10. 9:49.18, Whitney Yong, DGS Mustang Relays