Last Thursday Milesplit Illinois announced the first recipients of the athletes of the week. Let’s just say that it drew a large attention. Our goal each week is to inspire someone to step up and perform to the best of her or his ability.
Grant’s Jonathan Wells leaps to new heights-
Fox Lake Grant senior Jonathan Wells is not new to sports as he comes from a very athletic family that started with his father Sean Sr., who was an outstanding athlete back in his day. Jonathan has an older brother, Sean Jr., running track at the Grand Valley State University (Michigan). Jonathan’s younger brother Octavian is also on the Grant track and field team. He mostly runs sprints and relays.
Jonathan is also an outstanding student in the classroom with his G.P.A. (grade point average) being well above the “perfect” 4.0. Wells will be attending the University of Illinois in the fall on an athletic scholarship. Now that his college choice is locked up, all Mr. Wells will need to do this spring is concentrate on his track goals- one of which is to defend his 3A state high jump title.
Last week at the Wheeling Relays, Wells grabbed the US#1 mark in the high jump with an amazing 7’2” leap. He also tied the best ever indoor clearance for an Illinois prep (Herrin’s Eric Thompson accomplished the feat in 2007).
Wells’ coach Tom Evans shared this moment on his pupil:
“Here was Jon's progression: 6'4", 6'7", 7'0", 7'1", 7'2". He did not miss until 7'2" on his first 2 attempts and then he made it on #3. After Jon made 7'2", our Jumps coaches and Jon thought that would be a nice height to go out at. We have a long season ahead of us and we want to be smart and make sure Jon's legs are fresh and ready to go as we get into mid-to-late May.”
Van Vlierbergen is on the verge of being a middle-distance superstar-
Algonquin (Jacobs) junior Lauren Van Vlierbergen is already a star in the Illinois girls running world. Last track season Van Vlierbergen produced one of the best all-around seasons from a distance girl in a long time. She clocked 2:13.67, 4:55.40, and 10:54.1- but none of these efforts were conducted fresh or with serious enough competition to be mind blowing. But what is mind blowing is Van Vlierbergen’s ability to come back on short rest and perform well. Now just imagine if she were able to race as an individual instead of the ultimate team player?
The Wheeling Relays was the place to be with Jonathan Wells jumping out of the gym on the boys’ side. Van Vlierbergen did the best impression on the girls end with a state leading 800m in 2:14.7 and also a 5:10.5 win the 1600m on a 150m track (13 laps to the mile).
Lauren’s splits:
800m: 63.1-71.6 – 2:14.7
1600m: 1:12-1:20-1:20-1:18 [2:32-2:38] 5:10.5
Coach Kevin Christian added these comments of his pupil:
“I was impressed with what she did on the 150m track no spikes. The most impressive part was how she looked going out at 63 for the first 400m. The 63 looked smooth and relaxed, last year that pace looked uncomfortable for her to go out in. If she was pushed I felt that she was capable of going faster. The 1600m was about an hour and a half later and she ran it being worried about her fitness level too much. She was facing an extremely good runner in Emily Leonard from Maine South in the 1600m so Lauren was unsure about how much she would have left for that race against such quality competition. She ran the middle 800m at a more conservative pace of 2:40 because she was not sure what she would have left. She felt good after that race and is more confident in her fitness level next time she tries that double. She is looking to do Top Times for at least the 800m and possibly doing both.”