Last weekend Principia College hosted a low-key invite with Troy (Triad) High School that turned out to be a solid indoor co-ed affair. In that meet, there were two all-time records set in the field events. Lena Giger (Sr., Highland) broke the girls mark in the shot put with an enormous 49-9 effort. On the boys side, it was Ja’Mari Ward of Cahokia who took matters a step further in the triple jump. Ward broke the national sophomore record with an unbelievable 50-2.50 leap.
This time the Normal West Wildcat Invitational will kick off the weekend in a “BIG” way at the Shirk Center on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. Meet action kicks off at 5pm.
The Wildcat Invite will indeed wake up a chilly, deep freeze, and sleepy track fandom of Central Illinois with some big time boys’ track and field action.
Here is a sample of what is expected this evening in Normal:
Key teams to watch for: Cahokia, Minooka, Edwardsville, Plainfield North, Belleville West, Normal Community, Normal West, others.
Sprints and hurdles could be interesting Thursday evening-
In looking at several of the 60m seed times, some of the coaches may have thought that their athletes were going to run the 55m dash. For example, there are several emerging sprinters seeded with 7.05 and faster times. Of course marks are for seeding purposes and times don’t count on paper. Devin Ingram (Sr., Minooka) is no mystery though. He has run 7.04 so far on the young season back in January at the University of Arkansas. Some resistance could come from Brett Charlton (Eureka) and Thomas Harris (Plainfield North).
Ingram is not in the “championship" heat of the 200m despite running 22.55 this season. That could be by design. Christian Neal (Bloomington) and Phillip Hassell (Champaign Centennial) are expected the battle the clock and penultimate heat foe Ingram for the crown.
Varsity newcomer Tyran Lyons (Jr., Cahokia) leads the 400m heap with a 51.13 mark. But Minooka sprint relay anchor ace Chris Wilson is back for more in his senior year. Wilson has 50-point potential if he is ready to roll. But Lyons is a confident guy who ran on the one time underclassmen 4x4 relay that lead the state rankings for awhile last year.
60HH-
Notable competitor William Session (So, Belleville East) is the favorite here in more ways than one. The up and coming Session had a tremendous summer track circuit last year that allowed him to gain confidence and produce some fine times in the 110HH like the sweet 14.49. Oh yeah, he is the son of the legendary E. St. Louis Senior hurdler Rodney Session. The elder Session single handily willed his team to a team state championship in 1996. William has run 8.33 for 60H so far this year- good for third in the state. Minooka senior Shabari Bailey will be a worthy opponent with IL#5 8.43 season best.
Minooka speed ace Chris Wilson will be part of the Hunted and the Hunter at the slick Normal West Invite
Relays central-
The 4x800m relay gauntlet had been laid down by the competition at last week’s Proviso West Invite with Lane Tech, Lake Park, Neuqua Valley, and Lyons Township all under 8:15 and holding the state’s best marks. Cahokia ran 8:21 last week in their easy victory at Triad. If they load up they will more than likely produce a fast time along with Belleville West who has a tremendous trio. Evan Alcorn, Chris Jackson, and Josh Freivogel logged 1:59.56, 2:01.11, and 2:01.30 at the University of Kentucky Invite. Add in Naperville North with Kerrry Gschwendtner and Ryan Drendel for event depth. The winning team could be under 8:05.
Cahokia general Leroy Millsap has been miffed by his 4x200m relay all winter for their inability to get crisp handoffs and transitions in. “We are going to work on blind exchanges for the rest of the indoor,” he said in reference to a better outcome during the outdoor campaign. The Comanches can put up astronomical numbers when they execute. “We ran 1:30 at Arkansas but we got disqualified for a lane violation,” he added with frustration. Clean handoffs or not Section Five with Plainfield North, Edwardsville, and Belleville West will be tough to beat. They all have marks rightfully seeded at 1:32 or faster.
The 4x400m relay may be the most exciting race of the day with area foes Cahokia and Belleville West going at it. The Maroons clocked 3:25.48 at Kentucky and the Comanches busted out with a 3:26.40 in Arkansas. Homewood-Flossmoor will have a solid lineup as well.
Matt Aniywo makes debut in his main event-
Aside from the super talented Ja’Mari Ward, senior Matt Aniywo of Homewood-Flossmoor will be the biggest name in the Shirk Field House. Aniywo has the top returning time in the 3A classification (1:52.03) and he will have an eye on the state’s top mark of 1:54.09 by senior Johnny Leverenz of Danville. Even if Aniywo misses the state best he should be in striking distance of it with some help from the field. JD Lafayette (Sr., Normal University) and Jalon Monigan (Sr., Cahokia) are two guys who can help Aniywo with a fast opening pace.
Don’t ever sleep on the field events-
Ja’Mari Ward will headline the horizontal jumps and he will be worth the drive and admission too. It is well documented by now of Ward’s exploits this season in the long and triple jumps. He only ranks US#4 and 2 in the respective events. He only leaped a ho-hum 23-11 and 50-2.5 national sophomore record in the latter. He is only becoming a legend in the making before our eyes. And the meet records 22-0.75 and 46-5.25 are toast.
In the high jump, Tim Heinz (Naperville North) will be opposed by Manny Bofah (Plainfield North). Heinz leaped 6-8 last year to Bofah’s 6-5. It should be a good battle between the two standout athletes.
Shot put meet record holder senior Kyrin Tucker of Normal West is back. He is seeded at his personal best 57-0. Let’s see if he can put on a display in his season debut.