Grant's Jonathan Wells 7'2" US#1 high jump inside the dinky jump area captivated the fans there and around the state
This winter season remains as the #worsteverwinter clime-wise as it is the third coldest and snowiest on record, but inside things are beginning to heat up as the 2014 calendar turns over to March.
Thursday 2/27-
Lyons Triangular Girls meet:
• The Downers Grove North 4x800m relay produced the season’s top time in a small quad on a 160m tight track at Lyons Township running 9:38.3. The Lady Trojans deployed Emma Moravic (Fr.)- 2:21, Kaitlyn Bonfield (So.)- 2:26, Stephanie Urbancik (Sr.)-2:23, and Zayna Jan (Jr.)- 2:26. Coach Tim McDonald is back at it again in the middle-distance game and may be in line for another set of good medals. DGN won the state title in 2011 in which Urbancik is the only holdover from the team.
• Oak Park-River Forest freshman Mary Blankenmeier started her season off in impressive fashion winning the 1600m in 5:14.8. She also ran a leg on the 4x8r that polished off a 9:53.5
Hononegah Indoor Open:
• Jesse Reiser (Jr., McHenry) tried the low-key approach in his season debut but it didn’t work. He hit the first mile in 4:42 and won the 3200m by nearly 40-seonds in 9:22.6. Reiser said he ran in his training shoes because the track surface is made up of some type of plastic.
Normal West Wildcat Boys Invite:
The build up to the BIG weekend actually started on Thursday, February 27 at the Shirk Center hosted by Normal West. The Wildcat Invite featured some outstanding performances from around the state.
• Five of the top ten 60m marks were laid down inside the Shirk Center as Belleville West junior Romello Hatter (Belleville West) led the way in 7.06. Normal West senior Leland Groves put some serious pressure on the “fast section” when he won section one in 7.07. Christian Neal (Jr., Bloomington) 7.11 and Brett Charlton (Jr., Eureka) 7.14 take third and fourth.
• Devin Ingram (Sr., Minooka) edged out Michael Giovannelli (Sr., Chatham-Glenwood) in section five of six in the 200m 23.19-23.23.
• Matt Anyiwo (Sr., Homewood-Flossmoor) cruised to victory in his first 800m of the season 2:02.23. Although the final verdict had Jalon Monigan (Sr., Cahokia) on his heels, he knew that his effort was not up to his par.
• Edwardsville won a slick 4x200m relay in 1:32.40. Plainfield North 1:32.97 was second and Homewood-Flossmoor took third in the previous section clocking 1:34.26 to hold off Minooka 1:34.41.
• Cahokia won the 4x400r in 3:28.38.
• Manny Bofah (Sr., Plainfield North) won the high jump on less misses to defeat Peter Andreano (Jr., Minooka) who both cleared 6-4.
• Steven Bradford (Sr., Bloomington) won the pole vault in 14-3
- Ja'mari Ward (So., Cahokia) completes another "ho-hum" day at the office in the triple jump and long jump with 47-5/23-1.75 meet record marks. Ward also kicked off his team's victorious 4x4r.
- Kyrin Tucker (Sr., Normal West) wins his third shot put title in a row in his season debut 55-10
Friday 2/28-
- New Trier senior Chase Silverman clocked the state best in the 1600m by running 4:20.9
- 4x160m relay conversions are hard to do but the 1:15.5 that Niles North put up is fast. It will be interesting to see what the quartet does on a 200m oval.
- Chicago Brooks senior Ebony McClendon rocks another fast 55m (7.12) and anchors her team to victory in the 4x400 relay (4:16.46) with a 58.9 second leg split.
Bloom Girls Friday Night Lights:
- Khalia McIntyre (Jr., Palos Heights Shepard) gets IL#4 LJ 18-4 win; Shepard's second jumper Chasz Wells (Jr.) leaps 17-2
- Chicago Heights Bloom Township's 4x200m relay on the strength of senior Brittany Thomas runs #IL 1:49.46 on a 160m track
- Thomas sweeps 55m and 200m dashes with 7.37/26.25 efforts
Saturday 3/1-
Thornwood Open:
- The big story here is Jonathan Wells of Fox Lake Grant. The University of Illinois commit is the defending 3A state champion in the high jump who came into the meet at Wheeling HS to compete in the high jump. Wheeling has very small indoor facilities as their track is 150m in diameter. The long jump pit is in the field house near the start of the dashes on the inside of the track. So his feat is amazing because of very limited space. Wells started at 6-4 then 6-7, 6-10, 7-0, 7-1; he cleared 7-2 on third attempt- no misses until 7-2. Now that's amazing!!! The high jump is fun to watch when it's in sequence form like what Wells did. VIDEO HERE.. Wells also won the long jump in a fine 22-7.5.
- Lauren Vlierbergen (Jr., Algonquin Jacobs) had her own impressive performance winning the 800m in a state best 2:14.7. If that wasn't eye popping enough for you, she came back later to capture the 1600m in 5:10.5- winning by 17 seconds.
- Brittani Griesbaum (So., Lakes) took the long jump title in 17-6.
Glenbard West Girls Triangular:
- Glenbard West junior Lindsay Graham is the second Hilltopper to break 5:10 for the 1600m (Madeline Perez ran 4:58 last week) with a winning 5:06.7
- The Hilltoppers 4x8r logs 9:48.2 for IL#3
- Maddie Perez took care of the 800m in 2:18.6
- Angel Estrada (Sr., Highland) leads 1600m charge with 4:28.25 win over Ben Mohrdieck (Sr., Vernon Hills) 4:29.61.
- Dustin Macuiba (So., Warren) beats the heralded Kyle Whitney (Sr., Vernon Hills) in the 3200m 9:47.46-9:49.61.
- Chicago Phillips runs 1:33.04 for 4x200m
Sunday 3/2-
- Brady Bobbitt (Jr., Marmion Academy) leads 18 runners under 5:00 in the 1600m. Bobitt's winning time was 4:30.32.
- Chicago St. Ignatius sweeps 3200m on the strength of Chris Korabik (Sr.) and Daniel Santino (So.) who ran 9:38.22 and 9:41.57 respectively.
- Conor Dunham (Sr., St. Ignatius) runs fast IL#4 7.65 in 55H.
- Chicago Brother Rice junior Marcus Jones makes big statement is sweeping flat dashes in 23.37 and 6.53. The latter is the fourth fastest time in the state.
- It's another day at the office for New Lenox Providence Catholic senior Mike Monroe in the high jump. He won in 6-7.
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Andy Jatis (Providence Catholic) wins the PV with a personal best 14-0.