Boys 2A State Championship Preview

The all-time state meet record for team score is 94.33 points set by Cahokia set against E. St. Louis Sr. who copped 48 in 2006.  The rout was in the old 2A system when the depth of talent was centralized.  The overall talent of 2A is still not as good as it was with two classes which makes the Comanches even more deadly.

Key team capsules-

Cahokia-

Head Coach: Leroy Millsap

Key qualifiers: Ja’Mari Ward (Fr.), Chris Moore (Sr.), Antonio Pierce (Sr.), Darren Payton (Sr.), Jalon Monigan (Jr.), Gary Hickman (Jr.), Chris McGee (Fr.), Shayeen Edwards (Sr.), Jamauri Hare (So.), Tyran Lyons (So.), Trey Story (Sr.).

Key events: LJ, TJ, HJ, 4x1r, 4x2r, 4x4r, 4x8r, 100, 200,400, 110HH, 300H, 800

Outlook: On paper and in real time there is no team regardless of classification is as deep, strong, fast, and dominant as this collection of pure talent.  In fact, if the weather conditions hold up, the thousands in attendance may witness one of the most dominating team performances in IHSA history.

It will start with the field events for Cahokia who potentially could sweep the long and triple jump and score 36 points before the first track race goes final.  Freshman sensation Ja’Mari Ward and senior seasoned veteran Chris Moore are ranked #1 and #2 in the state in both jumps.

Antonio Pierce should be able to squeeze a few points in the high jump aimed at pointing tremendous pressure on ESL and the competition.

The sprint relays will be a dominant force as the deep Comanche’s are expected to either sweep or place top two or three in the 4x1, 4x2, and 4x4.  The 4x4 should see Cahokia blitz the field.

It will be more than sprints and jumps for the Comanches.  The 4x8 relay has the top time in the state at 7:54.19.  Also, Darren Payton (Sr.) is the classification leader in the 800.

Distance running exploits to be on display by Riley McInerney-
 

If you are wondering where the 2012 cross country champion Chicago Jones is, you will have to search the 3A leaderboards.  This will leave open the endless possibility of what is going to go down in Charleston.

Riley McInerney (Sr., Charleston) is expected to lead the charge of fast times.  He has turned an average junior year into a monster senior season.  The local distance hero started his school calendar off with a third place finish in the cross country state meet.  He followed matters up by winning the Illinois Top Times 1600m.  The gravy train has not stopped during the outdoor season as McInerney has rocked the classification with state leading 9:06.61 and 4:16.68 marks in the 3200m and 1600m.  Jake Brown (Sr., Mt. Zion) will be the chief competitor in the 3200.  As for the 1600, the competition will be more competitive as several runners have broken 4:20.  Marc Maton (Sr., Chatham-Glenwood) has run 4:17.50 this season and is now showing signs of life like everyone thought he would.  Junior J.D. Lafayette of Normal University will have to come back from running a leg on his team’s 4x800 relay.  But his season best 4:18.66 proves that he has the talent to do so.

The 800 will see Darren Payton as the sectional leader but he will be running at least two other races over the weekend.  Lafayette will have to concentrate on the 1600 and 4x8 so that will leave the unsung specimen Malik Lee (Sr., Chicago Brooks) as someone to watch.  Lee ran 1:56.54 at sectionals.  B.J.  Smith (Freeport) ran a personal best 1:55.86 this season.

Sprints will be fast if the weather holds up-
 

The times and the competition will be good, but it would be a shame to see everyone compete well without Jonathan Boey (Sr., Decatur McArthur).  Boey was the state’s top speedster until he went down with a leg injury late in the season.  Boey has a history of leg injuries and hopefully he will be able to recover in time for the biggest races in his career.  Meanwhile, Boey’s nemesis Reggie Brayton threatens to repeat as state champion in the 100m. He clocked a classification 10.53 at sectionals.

The 200 is a little more uncertain with Boey leg’s not 100%.  Although Trey Story (Sr., Cahokia) has the best time in 21.46, he will have his hands full in other duties.  Most track fans may not be aware of Chicago Lawndale’s Deshaun Jordan (Sr.) and Terry McGee (Jr.).  They are arguably the state’s best sprint duo.  Watch for them in the 4x100 relay as well this weekend.  Dion Hooker (So., Sycamore) is the sectional leader at 21.77 and must be taken serious.

The one-lap affair will see Marlin Brady (Jr., Cahokia) and Ryan Olsen (Jr., Burlington Central) share the sectional and classification best 48.72.  It will be interesting to see how their duties play out as Brady will be running four events for team’s title chase.   Aquintis Williams (Sr., Decatur McArthur) is one to watch in the title chase.

100H will see D.J. Duncan (Sr., Harrisburg) as the heavy favorite.  He blitzed a good field at the Salem Sectional in 14.04.

Duncan is equally favored in the 300H running 37.81 at sectionals. Marcus Greer (Sr., E. St. Louis Sr.) will attempt to use his Penn Relays experience to run the race of his life at O’Brien Field.  The field will be littered with good talent and should be fun to watch names such as Devaughn Dix (Sr., Bloomington), Gary Hickman (Jr., Cahokia), Imani Payton (Jr., North Lawndale), and Yemi Ogunbameru (Sr.), Dolton (Thornridge).
 

Relays will be crucial to Cahokia’s chances to win-
 

Let’s start with the first relay on the track, the 4x800 relay.  Cahokia has the classification and sectional best of 7:54.19 and once again they will lean on Darren Payton (Sr.) to anchor the team in the finals.  It will not be an easy walk in the park for the Comanches as there are plenty of teams capable of upsetting them.  One of those teams happens to be Maple Park Kaneland who dropped a sweet 7:55.09 in their sectional meet.  Normal University has been good when they stacked their relay team this season.  The Pioneers have a season best 7:55.33 produced during the regular season.

If there is any weakness in the relay game for Cahokia, it will be the 4x100.  The Comanches come in with the second fastest time from sectionals at 42.36- less than a tick off of Midlothian Bremen’s 42.32.  Dolton Thornridge has run 42.37.  The feeling is this event is always a crapshoot because of the high degree error with dropped batons and suspect exchanges.  The thing for Cahokia will be getting the stick around the track safely and through each transition satisfactory. 

The 4x200 allows for a higher degree of difficulty.  For teams trying to chase down Cahokia and their 1:27.96 clocking, it may be their best to pull all legal tricks out of the bag to make it happen.  Lake Villa Lakes may be the only team capable of derailing the Comanche express.  The Eagles burned their sectional foes with a 1:28.68 school record.  They will be a key team to watch for in the prelims and finals.

The 4x400 allows for more daring and chance playing.  However, none of that will be necessary for Cahokia who has the top time in all classifications.  The 3:17.02 could have been 3:15 high or 3:16 low if not for a bad exchange at anchor.  Regardless, no team in the state on their best day will beat the Comanches if they are rolling on all cylinders.  E. St. Louis Sr. will be a team to make things look interesting with their solid 3:19.41 clocking.  Kaneland is the only other team to break 3:20 at 3:19.99.

Field events will be hot-
 

We have already discussed some of the key Cahokia players in the long and triple jump.  But we did not detail them yet.

The long jump will be one of the most exciting events to watch this weekend.  Once again Cahokia will have two dynamic jumpers ready to jump out of the pit.  Chris Moore and Ja’Mari Ward leaped season bests 24-8.5 and 24-2 very respectively at their conference meet less than a month ago.  According to coach Leroy Millsap, Moore hit a 25-footer in his series but it was called a foul at the last second by the judge.  If this is indeed true, a possible IHSA record could be in jeopardy.  The only threat to Moore and Ward may be the new digs.  There has been mixed feelings last weekend from the girl jumpers about the wall at the end of the pit.  A few leapers experienced some anxiety seeing a cement structure just beyond the pit.

Moore and Ward will look to duplicate their efforts in the triple jump.  They both are the only leapers above 48-feet on the season jumping 48-10.25 and 48-6.5.  James Smith (So., E. St. Louis Sr.) will attempt to keep things honest with his 46-10.5.

Justin Kretchmer (Sr., Waterloo) has been an outstanding season in the high jump.  He has improved incrementally from a 6-9 jumper last year to 7-1 so far going into the state championship. 

What ever happened to Tyler Ginger (Sr., Stanford Olympia)?  Actually he is still among us and he is still leading all qualifiers with 15-9.  However, Ginger is capable of clearing 16-0 if the weather conditions are solid.  It will be very interesting to see if he will go after some big personal bests this weekend well after he wins the competition.  That’s if Andrew Roney (Jr., Mahomet-Seymour) and Tyler Jourdain (Jr., Salem) don’t derail him.  They both have personal bests over 15-0.

The indoor champion Mike Hyc (Sr., Burbank St. Laurence) has enjoyed a great senior year that has netted him a big personal best 61-11.25 achieved at sectionals.  However, the defending state champion Josh Augusta (Sr., Peoria HS) is back.  In limited action, he was able to heave 64-9.  His mark is currently the third best in the country.  Brendan Duncan (Sr., Waterloo) is the other thrower over 60-feet with a personal best 61-8.

This year’s discus competition will probably be the most competitive in IHSA history regardless of classification.  There are four throwers over 190-feet which mean competition breeds great marks.  Ryan Njegovan (Sr., Sandwich) made huge noise around the state when he threw a then state best 196-5 in a small home meet.  The video footage showed his tremendous spin technique.  Coleman Nelson (Sr., Rockford Christian), Luke Vaughn (Sr., Champaign Centennial), and Brendan Duncan are all capable of eclipsing the 200-foot barrier this weekend.