Jeremiah Davis flashed the neon yellow suit and then sped off against the competition in the 100 and 200 (Colin Boyle photo)
Boys-
The excessively long day was set up by a week long extravaganza of track and field trials that featured nothing but cold, rain and wind. Although Saturday's mild climes was nothing like the 40s on Wednesday it was less than idea for the athletes. But regardless the favorite Morgan Park could care less as they came into the affair qualifying 13 individuals and four relays. The Mustangs force was packed chock full of talent as was the defending champion Whitney Young who had eight individuals and three relays. Long shot Lane Tech produced 13 individuals and three relays though they were not as potent as the aforementioned favorites.
Last year Jeremiah Davis (Sr., Collins) finished a very quiet and humble third place to the mighty Demoria Harris (Dunbar) and Johnathan Stokes (N. Lawndale Charter). The soft spoken Davis did not make any predictions in this new season. Instead he did the talking with his feet as he had all year long. The first event on the docket was the Century where he won in 10.84 and later the 200m in a personal best 21.65. Davis attributed his growth to improved block starts- something that his coaches have drilled into his program time after time. It certainly has paid off.
Clayton Mendez (So., Whitney Young) did his very best in contributing to two victories to the Dolphins title cause scoring 20 points. The first race: 3200m could have been considered a snore fest if you were a sprint fan because of the snail pace during the first half of the race. However if you are a distance running connoisseur the first half of the race could have been termed a "chess match." Weather did play into a pace that enter the first half mile in 2:29 led by a renegade from Von Steuben named Johathan Fernandez. He covered his eyes against the wind on the backstretch as he led by over 20m. By the time the 1200m rolled around he was captured by the pack which eventually swallowed him up at the mile in 5:12. Jeremy Adams (Jr., Jones College Prep) made the first bold move entering the second half of the race but it was quickly covered by Mendez and others. Eventually it would come down to Mendez and Adams duking it out in the last several laps. Mendez would prevail in 9:55.21. Adams took second in a comfy 10:03.16.... Mendez would later return in the 1600m and needed every bit of energy during the final lap to overtake Danny Rosen (Sr., Northside Prep) just steps from the finish line in 4:29.73. The finish produced a raucous applause from the appreciative crowd. Rosen ran 4:29.87.
The relay times were not overly impressive time wise but considering the conditions they were solid. The CPL will look to continue their dominant ways in the relays when the state series arrive in two weeks. In the meantime Morgan Park won the 4x1 easily in 42.84 over Urban Prep who ran 43.72. The Mustangs got out well and crisp hand offs took care of the rest... Urban Prep got a bit of revenge on the 4x2 field with a blistering third exchange and held off a hard challenge from Phillips 1:30.95-1:30.95-1:31.52... Whitney Young needed just two legs put away the competition in the 4x8 and won comfortably in 8:36.75... the 4x4 would have been sweet icing on the cake for Morgan Park who initially won. However, an overzealous bunch of Mustang teammates got caught running alongside the anchor Greg Howell. The infraction: aiding the runner was called and the Morgan Park was disqualified. The win was subsequently awarded to Urban Prep who ran 3:35.08.