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. Some of the action concluded very late on Friday, but one thing for certain is this weekend is going to be fire!
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)-
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 Classic: This meet is going to be large and will feature some of the top teams and individuals in the state.
- Emma Spagnola (Sr., West Aurora) warms for NBIN with her specialty 60H, She is also entered in the 200H, 400m, and long jump. Spagnola is the defending state champion in the LJ.
- Sprints: 400m- This event is stacked with talent! St. Charles East junior twins Elizabeth and Allison Chmelik looked to take out hometown favorite senior Patrice Jones. Add Brittani Griesbaum (Jr., Lakes) and Spanola to the mix; Jones and Lauren Zick (Sr., Kaneland) will lock horns in the 200m near the end of the meet. But if you count out Jordan Shead (Sr., St. Charles East), the 400m specialist could steal the race.
- Distance: 800m- Alex Martel (Sr., Chicago Lane Tech) is back and ready for action. She ran 2:20 last summer and is poised for victory. Michaela Hackbarth (So., Downers Grove South) and Danielle Griesbaum (Jr., Lakes) may have other plans for Martel; 1600m- the 1600m will be the most interesting event on the track because of Skyler Bollinger. The Yorkville sophomore has been lowkey since the cross country season. Many legions of track enthusiasts will be watching her race close. 800m specialist Torree Scull (Jr., St .Charles East) moves up for a strength Challenge. Lane Tech's Joanna Podosek ran 5:13 as a freshman appears ready to bounce back in her senior campaign. Long distance specialist Kelsey Schrader (Sr., Dekalb) is ready to challenge for the win as will Amanda Thate (Jr., Downers Grove South).
• 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. They will run at De La Salle Co-Ed Invite Saturday morning.
Saturday (3/7-3/8)- SIU High School Invite
• Southern Illinois University HS Invite: [Girls 3/7]- Highlights from Friday evening:
- Effingham St. Anthony super freshman Anna Sophia Keller opens her IHSA track season by slaying the 1600m field winning in IL#2 time 5:04.66. Keller won by nearly 32 seconds.
- Rock Island sprinters made the cross state travel well worth it: Mystique Thompson (Sr.) wins the 60m with ease in 7.69. She came back to finish first in the 200m in 25.55. Her teammate Lacresha Linton (Sr.) finishes the sweep 25.95; the Lady Rocs run away from the competition on a slow SIU oval in the 4x200m in 1:43.32. Cahokia finished a distant second in 1:46.37.
- Jasmine Berry (Sr., Belleville West) warms up for the upcoming New Balance Indoor Nationals with a long sprint/hurdles win. Berry took the 400m in 57.64 and 60H in a solid time of 9.11.
- Cahokia upset the 4x4r favorites Belleville West and O'Fallon by winning in 4:12.49.
- Kelsey Shannon (Sr., Belleville West) rolls to a victory in the high jump with a leap of 5-4.
- Harrisburg senior Lindsey Murray, who is the state's top pole vaulter, wins on her future digs with a 12-0 effort.
- Hannah Willhite (So., Rock Island) improves to IL#2 in the triple jump with a 36-7 win.
• 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.