The Robinson siblings Mikenna and Isaiah have brought home hardware and fun sibling rivalry (Robinson file photo credit)
The battery of tests involving key Illinois contingents were semi-final and/or finals at Norfolk State University; Norfolk, VA
-The Aurora Flyers have given Illinois summer track fans what they have been yearning for in terms of respect and being competitive in national level competition. Club head man Thomas Boatright is not interested in qualifying a bunch of kids and taking them to a nice weekend venue to ultimately turning it into a "vacation." No it's business first followed by results. The results usually end up being a boatload of medals (no pun intended). Below are some highlights from key IL figures:
Dajour Miles (Aurora Flyers)- The Waubonsie Valley High School freshman to be this fall cruised her way into Saturday's 14 year old bracket 400m and 200m finals. The 400m was a mere hard stride out for Miles who only ran 57.21 to win heat 11. The win was by over three seconds and it is the fourth fastest time among the eight finalists;
Jazzmine Poole (E. Louis Sr.) improved from the regular school year in the discus to place second in the 15-16 year old division with a toss of 132-10
Boys 400m: Aaron Harris (Aurora Flyers/Lisle) 48.58 and Roosevelt Davis (ESL Greyhounds; E. St. Louis Sr.) 48.81 advanced to the boys 17-18 year old age group finals; Isaiah Robinson (Aurora Flyers) 49.46 and Jaquere Williams (Aurora Flyers) 49.64 advanced in the 15-16 age bracket. Robinson and Williams will be high school teammates at Neuqua Valley this fall. Williams transferred from Waubonsie Valley after the 2014-15 school year was over.
Girls 400m: Ashleigh Wilson (Aurora Flyers/Minooka/Illinois St) 55.72 and Morgan Harris (Aurora East/Oswego East) 55.92 continue their assault this summer on the meet clock as they both advance to the girls 17-18 age group finals. Harris, who completed her junior year, will be a big name to watch in 2016.
Ryan Ashenbremer (Normal West) took second in the boys 15-16 year old finals for pole vault clearing 14-5.25. Ashenbremer's club teammate Zachery Bradford (Bloomington) placed third.
The Aurora Flyers girls 17-18 year 4x400 relay nearly broke the meet record in the prelims with a smoking time of 3:40.69. The record of 3:40.43 is held by 5 Star Track Club of Virginia. The quartet of Ashleigh Wilson, Charlyncia Stennis, Morgan Harris, and Samara Miller will have their hands full in the final for sure, but helps to have an anchor leg that can run an automatic 54.43.
Robinson family pride: Isaiah Robinson (Aurora Flyers/Neuqua Valley) has followed the blue print of now former teammate Ty Moss since entering high school two years ago. While the extraordinary results that the "Golden Child" put up did not exactly trickle down to Robinson, the promise of future greatness has. Robinson missed a good portion of training and racing during the high school season recovering from surgery. Robinson has now taken the summer by storm with personal bests of 49.14 for the 400m (he made AAU final) and 800m 1:55.28. Robinson took third place in the latter race. Isaiah has a younger sister who is also a supreme athlete. Her name is Mikenna Robinson. Mikenna just completed the 8th grade and will be a freshman at Neuqua Valley this fall. Mikenna has slowly emerged as one of the top middle-distance runners in the country in the 14 year old group. Mikenna advanced to the 800m final running just a shade over 2:20. In the final, the younger Robinson fought hard with a flock of girls before holding on to place third in 2:18.60. Robinson will more than likely face Katelynne Hart in years to come in Illinois and national competition. Hart enters the 8th grade in Glen Ellyn. She will be a freshman at distance rich Glenbard West in the fall of 2016. Hart placed 9th in the 800m after winning the 1500m a day prior.
The #2 Illinois girls 100HH performer Imani Carothers (Brooks) completed a long freshman year than began back in January with a 3rd place effort in the 15-16 age group. Carothers ran 14.32 (-0.6).
Gillian Urycki (Metamora) earned a fourth place finish in the girls 17-18 division for high jump with a leap of 5'5".