This weekend is guaranteed to be action packed... and scary for some foes around the Illinois globe (Colin B. photo)
The Illinois indoor season is finally in full swing as all parts of the state will be hosting key meets from now until the Monday if you count that day as part of the weekend extravaganza. Take a look at the key weekend action from around the state (editor note: additional info may be added Friday evening and night to preview).
Thursday (3/6)-
Last night Bureau Valley hosted a girls’ meet last night in the far western part of the state at the Westwood Fitness and Sports Center in Sterling. Here are some key highlights of the Bureau Valley Open:
• Maple Park Kaneland senior Lauren Zick was the star last evening after completing a four event sweep by taking the 60m (8.06), 4x200m relay (1:49.37), 200m (26.67), long jump (17-5). Zick’s relay team now has the fourth fastest time in the state and she holds the ninth best mark in the long jump.
• Rachel Colbert (So., Erie-Prophetstown) takes the 400m in 1:01.88- one of the fastest times in Class A.
Friday (3/7)-
Proviso West is hosting a boys 7-team mini-invite featuring Proviso West, Lyons Twp., Downers Grove South, Rolling Meadows, Oak Park-River Forest, Palatine (JV/Frosh).
York Boys will be hosting their annual Friday night invite inside the Joe Newton Field House. Nearly a dozen teams will take dead aim at one another in perhaps the weekend’s top distance laced meet.
• The distance events will be the story here as it almost always is. The 1600m will feature Luke Schroer (Sr., Wheaton-Warrenville South), Graham Brown (Jr., Palatine), David Rodriguez (Jr., Arlington Heights Hersey), Matt Plowman (Jr., York), and Zack Dale (Jr., Hoffman Estates Conant). Something has to give here and the winner is likely to bust the 4:20 mark for the first time this season. Schroer ran 4:22 several weeks ago in a low-key affair. Brown has been waiting to bust off the rust all winter. Now here is his chance. Dale, Plowman, and the other key guys will be in the mix.
• The 3200m could be as exciting as the 1600m with the likes of Nolan McKenna (Sr., Wheaton-Warrenville South), Andrew Phillipose (Sr., Arlington Heights Hersey), Mike Anderson (Jr., Mt. Prospect [Prospect]), and several others. McKenna is the heavy favorite here if he decides to push the pace from the beginning. The winning time could be under 9:20 for the first time in 2014.
• York senior Reid Smith will be the spotlight field event athlete as he is entered in the three events: pole vault, high jump, and long jump. Smith could sweep all three events, but he will have a tough challenge in the pole vault with Kaleb Kirby (Sr., St. Charles North) already clearing 14-0 on the season. The high jump will feature foe Tim Heinz (Sr., Naperville North). The former Neuqua Valley performer jumped 6-8 last season and has already cleared 6-6 during the current campaign.
• Minooka will duke out the sprints/sprint relays with York on the strength of senior trio Devin Ingram, Shabari Bailey, and Chris Wilson. They will collide with the Dukes in the hurdles, 55m, 200m, 4x2r, and 4x4r.
Saturday (3/8)-
Champaign Centennial feature-
Champaign Centennial Invite is the Milesplit Illinois featured meet of the week and it should be a good one. The Charger Invitational, as it is also called, is a three-tiered meet conducted in A, B, C format. Level A is considered the fast section. There are no tiers for relays.
This will be the first high school invitational conducted inside the University of Illinois Armory this season and the times and marks should be solid across the board. Some of the top teams to watch out for are Belleville West, Plainfield North, Lane Tech, Waubonsie Valley, Danville, Bloomington, and Edwardsville.
• Relays: 4x8- Belleville West has by far the best seed time at 8:17. Even if they don’t run their best guys they should win pretty comfortably; 4x2- this race should be the relay event to watch with Plainfield South, Belleville West, Edwardsville, and Centennial. Belleville West gets the early favorite nod but Edwardsville has several stud speedsters on its roster to make things interesting. The meet record is 1:31.90. It could very well be taken down; 4x4- Belleville West is once again the heavy favorite and it will depend on what type of mood they are in when the showstopper arrives. Will the Maroons run it half-throttle despite holding a 3:25 time on its resume? Stay tuned late Saturday afternoon.
• Sprints/hurdles: 60m- Trent Sherfield (Sr., Danville), Leland Groves (Sr., Normal West), and Romello Hatter (Jr., Belleville West) are guys you better watch closely. They have clocked 7.04-7.12. Sherfield is coming off an amazing performance at the Thornwood Open last weekend in the 60 and 200; 200m: Sherfield stole the show at Thornwood in this event winning with a personal best 22.80. Craig James (Sr., Edwardsville) will be the key opposition along with Thomas Harris (Jr., Plainfield North); 60HH- James is surrounded by good talent in the hurdles but he is the favorite with an 8.27 winning performance at Normal West Invite last Thursday. Actually Tevin Graham (Sr., Edwardsville) comes in at 8.27. It could an error in seeding by his coach considering he ran 8.77 for 60H and 8.13 for 55H.
• Distance: 3200- All-State runner Dan Lathrop (Sr., Plainfield South) will make his debut in this event. The University of Illinois commit will fit right in at his future home as he goes after the meet record of 9:26.57; 800- David Schmieg (Sr., Lane Tech) will make his season debut in this event. Let’s see if he can improve on his seed time of 1:59 and meet the challenge of an emerging field; 1600- The deepest event on the docket is here. Lathrop will welcome the challenges from Johnny Leverenz (Sr., Danville), Jon Davis (So., Fithian Oakwood), Alex Keeble (So., Mahomet-Seymour), and Pavlo Hutsalyuk (Jr., Lane Tech). If no one from Friday evening cracks 4:20, it could happen in the Armory. Leverenz sat on a slow pace last week at Thornwood and won in 4:27. He is the type of runner who can set a fast opening pace and push the others to really good marks. Davis got a special entry into the meet so he can try and achieve a qualifying mark into the Top Times.
• Field: High Jump- Manny Bofah (Sr., Plainfield North) cleared 6-4 last week at Normal West. Let’s see if he and Taylor Adway (Jr., Hillcrest can get up and over 6-6; Pole Vault- This event will feature the Bloomington-Normal area flavor leading with Steven Bradford (Sr., Bloomington). Bradford won the Normal West Invite with a clearance of 14-3 last week; Ryan Ashenbremer (Fr., Normal West) was fourth. Ashenbremer has cleared 14-0 on the season.
• Hononegah Girls Invitation: This meet is going to be large and will feature some of the top teams and individuals in the state. Check back Friday night or early Saturday for an update as the meet officials continue to sort out heat sheets and assignments.
• Illinois State University HS Invite: Another quality meet in the central part of the state despite the absence of senior Briyahna Desrosiers and her Chicago North Lawndale Prep mates. Head Coach Zontavious Johnson wants his kids to stay local and get focused on the upcoming New Balance Indoor Nationals.
Saturday (3/7-3/8)- SIU High School Invite
• Southern Illinois University HS Invite: [Girls 3/7] Distance- Kyandra Chandler (Jr., Nettleton HS; Jonesboro, Arkansas) may spoil the season debut of the cross country phenom Anna Sophia Keller (Fr., Effingham St. Anthony) in the 1600m. Chandler won the Arkansas and Vanderbilt Invite miles in 5:03 and 5:02 respectively. Don’t be surprised if the top time in all of Illinois comes from this race. 800m- Tami Cardenas (Jr., O’Fallon) will light up the track with Chandler and Keller; relays- O’Fallon entered a time of 4:01 for the 4x4 which indicates they are looking to run a very fast mark. Rock Island and O’Fallon will clash in the 4x2 as well; Sprints: Rock Island senior speedster Mystique Thompson will be among the favorites in the dash races. Belleville West senior Jasmine Berry will be prepping for New Balance Indoor Nationals in the 400m and 60H. Cahokia jumps are good too!
• Boys 3/8- No Ja’Mari Ward. The sophomore sensation from Cahokia will not be competing in the jumps or anything else this weekend. Instead he will be holding a clipboard and tugging along with his coaches. In fact, there will be about eight key holdouts according to head coach Leroy Millsap. He wants to make sure his top brass will be fresh and sharp for New York next weekend for the New Balance Indoor Nationals.
• Alex King (Sr., Massac County) will be ready to clear 7-0 after reading and watching Jonathan Wells' (Sr., Grant) grand performance of 7-2 last weekend.
• Patrick Perrier (Sr., O’Fallon) is ready to run a good time on Saturday morning in the 1600m and 3200m. Let’s see if he can chase after a state best.
• Champaign St. Thomas More seniors Sam Powers and Nick Hess will be in the 800m. Hess will double back in the 1600m
• Cahokia and E. St. Louis Sr. will close out the competition in the 4x400m relay