The CPS Trials 100m semi-final gave a glimpse of what is to come on Saturday... fast times! (Neil Hernandez photo)
The Chicago Public Schools is a unique entity in itself because it's the third largest school district in the country. In the past the bureaucracy of said entity often caused more harm than good. There was no point lower in the CPS track and field world when then esteemed Chicago Tribune sports columnist Barry Temkin wrote a lightening rod piece that contained these comments: "That mission is to breathe significant life into track and field in Chicago's public schools, where it has all but hit bottom in the years since gas cost 50 cents per gallon. That was the cost in 1974, when Richard Nixon was trying to run from Watergate..."
The piece that Temkin wrote was in 2008, just prior to the re-emergence of a dead sport. At the time the comments infuriated a bunch of coaches and athletes who thought they had arrived. They had not. However, the tide began to change within the last generation of a new era of student-athletes (since 2009) who responded to great coaching and discipline. These stable coaches instituted new and improved innovative training techniques that others outside the "league" had been doing for years. The CPS has a gold mine of talent and that now is being discovered.
Boys Trial highlights (Weds 5/7)-
- 100: Eric McMiller (Sr., Lane Tech) leads all qualifiers going into Saturday's final with a 10.96 clocking from the semi-finals; Dewayne Collins (Jr., Phillips) 10.85, Demoria Harris (Jr., Dunbar) 10.87, Terry Magee (Sr., N.Lawndale Prep) 10.87, Dontae Adams (Jr., Harlan) 10.98- run fast times in the first round and eventually advance to the finals.
- 200: Demoria Harris led the prelim and semi-final rounds with 21.89 and 22.10 clockings. Dontae Adams 22.18, Terry Magee 22.23, and Malik Hamilton (Jr., Lane Tech) 22.52 are key qualifiers.
- 400: Jeremiah Watson (Sr., Urban Prep) 50.35 runs fastest time ahead of Brandon Riley (Sr., Morgan Park) 50.74; it took 52.25 to make finals.
- 800: A timing system error forced the games committee to make a decision to add 16 athletes instead of the normal 12 to the finals. Lane's David Schmieg (Sr.) 1:57.7h sets the pace in prelim heat 1 with 58.8/58.9 splits; Kevin Ma (Jr., Whitney Young) wins heat 2 in 2:00.0.
The 4x1 qualifying produced five teams under 44.00 (Neil Hernandez photo)
- 1600: Kyle Maloney (Jr., Jones Prep) set the pace in what would be the fastest prelim race in meet history with his 4:27.55 out of heat 1. Maloney kicked up the pace tremendously on the final lap. Lane Tech junior Pavlo Hutsalyuk returned the favor in the second prelim with a 4:24.30. Hutsalyuk went 2:14/2:10; Deivi Tahiraj (Sr., Mather) 4:29.74, Jon Vara (Sr., Lane Tech) 4:29.97, and Will Sarchet (Jr., Jones Prep) 4:30.98 are the key qualifiers. In all 22 runners broke 5:00. In 2005, only 10 athletes broke 5:00 and the winning time in that championship was a paltry 4:38.55.
- Imani Payton (Sr., N. Lawndale Prep) is the state leader in the 300H breezed to the final in 39.51. Payton had achieved the fastest mark in the 110HH earlier in the meet with a solid 14.72.
- Phillps leads the 4x1 and 4x2 roost with sparkling 42.96 and 1:29.96 marks; N. Lawndale Prep runs 43.13, Lane Tech 43.26, Dunbar 43.49, and Young 43.97 are the teams to watch in the 4x1.
- Cazelle Elicke (Sr., Dunbar) is the leader in the long jump with a 21-0 effort; Matt Fleming (Jr., Simeon) is the only other jumper over 20-feet with 20'8".