Two IL legends: Cahokia's Ja'mari Ward and Bob Jelks from Decatur MacArthur. Jelks is the former IHSA all-time 200m record holder set in 1986 (Jelks photo credit).
Athletes are being directed to the track quickly. As they set their blocks, the announcer reads each ones name and resume of accomplishments earned prior to this meet, like a current U.S. ranking or state title. You soon realize this is not a regular meet. The gun sounds and the deejay blasts the music like Original Mix by The 45 King. Man, if they did this when I was running, my times would have been even faster. The athletes hit the backstretch and the crowd turns on the "Oooh machine!" You know, the "Ooooh" you hear from the crowd as someone is being snatched. The banked curves beating up inexperienced teams and athletes can lead to crashing into rails, being trampled on during hand offs, officials hurrying to help, even rolling athletes out the way. This is the mecca of high school track. This is New Balance National High school Championships!
Jamari Ward jump here: http://il.milesplit.com/videos/78377
The Illinois highlight of the meet was the junior mega-star Jamari Ward of Cahokia in the long jump. Coach Leroy Millsap has done an outstanding job with him. The long jump can get lost in most meets if you are not watching and rarely do you even know what they jumped until it's over. However, when you are "The Man" it is a little different. Every time he touched the runway, even when there were other events going on, the announcer would say, 'now on the runway ladies and gentlemen, Jamari Ward!' The whole Armory was locked in on Jamari. I saw the previous jump that was a scratch, but I was sitting past the finish line and the pit was the opposite direction. I sat as the two jumpers before him stepped on the runway. I thought to myself, he is going to pop a big one! I jumped up and sprinted to the other end of the Armory with my camera. Jamari hit the board and floated; when he landed the crowd roared. Everybody knew it was big! The white flag was raised and he like everyone else anxiously awaited the measurement. The announcer says '25 "7 1/4!" That is a US #1 and #6 All Time jump! I went nuts screaming 'Illinois is in the Building!'
In my opinion, the most anxious moment for Illinois was wondering if Homewood-Flossmoor would silence their critics. Were they going to prove that they were on par with or better than Lincoln- Way East in the 4x200 relay? You must remember that last week they pulled out of a huge match-up with them for this moment in the Armory. I watched them warm up in front of the crowd. I even texted TJones saying, 'If they run the way they look, it's going to be fast.' Well, they would quickly disappoint -- the baton didn't make it around because of a bad handoff between the 2nd and 3rd legs. I witnessed a lot of athletes and teams have problems during this meet. The moment was just too big for them! Very few squads can run on flat tracks all season, facing very little competition, then go to NY, and compete on the banked curves. Even if they attended the open track the night before, the first two legs before the botched hand off did not seem to have a problem with the track.
If you are going to NY, you should face the toughest competition you can find beforehand. Go to a meet or two like the [University of] Arkansas to get used to the banked curves. I just do not think most athletes are used to this type of meet. There was I am sure nerves and a lack of experience. A lot of weaker-minded would have folded if they were there. When it is all said and done, we still do not know the answer of who is the best. Homewood-Flossmoor needs to regroup and put it behind them. As track fans, this works out beautifully. We can say LWE is better because they got the baton around the track and ran a nice time. Truthfully, we still do not know. Imagine the excitement when the 4x2 comes up at Top Times!
Olympic champion Charlie Greene representing the University of Nebraska (U of Nebraska photo credit)
On a personal note, I really got to enjoy the meet. An older gentleman from Virginia shows up and sits in front of me. We began to talk and he asked if I had run in college. I said "Nebraska." He then begins to tell me he used to train with the former Nebraska sprinting great Charlie Greene who earned Gold medal in the 4x100 relay and the Bronze medal in the 100m at the the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. He had trained with Charlie in the 70's at Ft MacArthur in San Pedro. He had all kinds of ol' school stories. It is a small world; shout out to Mr. Jordan Simmons.
As a track fan and part-time assistant coach to my brother Chris Jelks (Head Coach of KY Elite), I was a tour guide to the Armory, and hype man Bundini Brown (who was the hype man to Muhammed Ali if you don't know). I got to see what it was like to go to this meet as "The Man." I am sure Jamari knows. The officials treat you different; they know you on site and tell you how much they appreciated you coming to their meet. The announcer letting everyone know when you are about to perform and when you win it all. There are post-event, NBA interviews that don't allow coaches. The champion athlete is sized for their championship ring. I also want to give a big shout out to National HJ champion, Jaron Brooks (Lexington, KY) aka "One Mo". (Even had "One Mo' inscribed inside the ring). Here is Jaron's post-competition interview: http://usa.milesplit.com/meets/186760/videos/?id=77912#.VQmcEo7F-H5
No matter how many times I have been to this meet, it is the ultimate indoor high school meet. The atmosphere is unmatched. The meet is run precise and on time, with the best high school athletes in the nation and some from other countries. If you don't leave the Armory motivated to coach or as an athlete practice, something is wrong.
This Is... New Balance Indoor Nationals!