2018 Class 3A Boys Pre Season Sprints & Hurdles Preview

In the background is the top returner and all-stater Matthew Lewis-Banks

110HH-
2017 State Champion: Travis Anderson (Edwardsville) 13.79 [+0.7]
Key Returners: Matthew Lewis-Banks (Homewood-Flossmoor), Albert Yen (New Trier), Sam Conger (Batavia), Donovan Turner (Neuqua Valley), Jaden Jackson (Sr., Palatine Fremd), Lukas Bolas (Sr., Huntley), Victor Olaitan (Sr., Schaumburg), Victor Cameron (Jr., Crete-Monee)
Season Outlook: The all-time great and two-time state champion Travis Anderson has graduated. In fact the top seven finishers are all gone and the next best returner- Matthew Lewis-Banks- has a personal record of 14.41. Yikes! No problem because this event has been strong for a long time. Illinois has some of the best hurdle coaches in the nation, and you can bet they have been in the lab working on the next crop of talent. There are 10 sub 15.00 performances back and we expect to see at least half of them push the sub 14.30 threshold. Don't be surprised if one of these mad scientist coaches try and convert one of their top 100 men to the barriers.
Top returning performers:

The entire state finals field was under 40 seconds 

300H-
2017 State Champion: Travis Anderson 37.83
Key Returners: Jaden Jackson (Palatine Fremd), Albert Yen (New Trier), Matthew Lewis-Banks (Homewood-Flossmoor), Peyton Frankenreider (Yorkville) Jermaine Maegdlin-Ferguson (Jacobs), Joe Zubak (Sr., Wheaton-Warrenville South), Nate Rittenbacher (Sr., Lincoln-Way Central), Nieko Carter (Sr., Shepard)
Season Outlook: This event faces the same predicament as its short statured kin 110HH in terms of heavy graduation followed by many unknown returners. One big bright spot that jumps off the paper is Jaden Jackson whose 38.06 is a step in the right direction. He is a pretty good athlete who should get into the low to mid 37-second range. Peyton Frankenreider played diverse roles with relays, jumps and open races. If he can concentrate more here, he has an opportunity to really step out. Yen and Lewis-Banks will see the largest percentage gains of the lot.
Top returning performers