Will Jaden Johnson pick up the short hurdles mantle this year?
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2018 State Champion: Soloman Wilson-Smith (Tinley Park) 13.98
Key Athletes: Finnigan Schirmer (Jr., Marengo), Jaden Johnson (Sr., Freeport), Steven Harris (Jr., Cahokia), Robert Hill (Fr., Cahokia), Stuart Adkinson (Sr., Marion), Colton Pischke (Sr., Geneseo), Brayden Forrest (Sr., Dixon), Andrew Johnson (Sr., East St. Louis), Donell Robertson (Sr., Rantoul), Pawel Janezcek (Sr., Ridgewood), Caleb Mullenix (Sr., Paris)
Breakdown: Many people are expecting a down year after three of the best hurdlers in recent time, Soloman Wilson-Smith, Deion McShane, and Bret Dannis have all graduated and are now off to college. Well to answer that, it will not be as strong as it has been in years past but, it will definitely have some great competitors as Finnigan Schirmer and Jaden Johnson are returning this year. Schirmer has been a star ever since his freshman year as he shocked many and ran a sub 15.00 performance at the McHenry County Meet with a 14.83. At sectionals last year he was locked into an intense battle with McShane that ended with McShane running a 14.11 and Schirmer running an amazing 14.12! Johnson was unable to defeat Schirmer last year but the Pretzel's sprinter was in the shadows of one of the all-time best in McShane learning from him. With him now being the top hurdler for the Pretzel's this year it will be interesting to see if Johnson takes his game up a notch. Also make sure to watch out for an incoming freshman by the name of Robert Hill who ran 14.08 at the IESA State meet last year on lower hurdles than high school regulated ones but, still destroyed the IESA State record by almost .4 of a second.