FTTF Chargers Boys Invite Puts A Charge Into The Competition

The "A" 1600m was a fine execution of strength and finishing speed 

Champaign IL-

The University of Illinois Armory Track and Floor was the scene of a unique track and field meet hosted by Centennial High School. The unique invitational which runs in an ABC format allows up to three athletes. It also affords coaches to disperse their best athletes and show off depth.

Mahomet-Seymour had a strong presence in the vertical jumps, especially in the pole vault. In Class A, senior Corey Cebulski placed third with a vault of 13' after coming in with seed height of 12'6." Colin Balbach, a senior, placed first in the Class B pole vault with a height of 12'9", and senior, Grant Brown won Class C with a vault of 11'6." Both Balbach and Brown entered the meet with a seed height of 12'. In the Class A high jump, sophomore CJ Shoaf battled with Jalen Bowen, a senior from Bloom Township High School, but cleared 6'3", an inch higher than Bowen, to win the event.

In the shot put, Mahomet-Seymour junior Hunter Hendershot won Class A with a throw of 56'9", and beat the field by a little over 5 feet. Amari Brooks of Edwardsville and Francis Richman of Plainfield South took second and third in the event. Brooks had a throw of 51'8.50" and Richman had a throw of 49'11.75". In Class B, senior Jacob Uhlman from Geneva had a throw of 46'0.75" to win the class. Cody Thomas of Galesburg took second with a throw of 42'9.75". The event winner in Class C was Jack Parquette with a throw of 43'10".

In the high jump, CJ Shoaf cleared 6'3" on his first attempt to win Class A. From Bloom Township, a senior, Jalen Bowen cleared 6'2" to take second place, and senior Antonio Buchanan from Centennial took third place with a jump of 6'. The winner of Class B was a freshman, Caden Belcher from Dunlap. Dunlap cleared 5'8" as did Mello Law from Centennial. Law finished in second place. Jason Griesemer, a junior from Bloomington, cleared 5'6" to take third place. Folahanmi Ilori, a sophomore from Lane Tech cleared 5'9" to win Class C. Ryan Peck of Normal Community West cleared 5'8" to take second place.

Myles Lincoln of Plainfield South was not entirely thrilled with his performance in the triple jump, but he still walked away as the winner of Class A with a jump of 43'10.75. Second place was Khalil Ross of Springfield (Lanphier) with a jump of 42'7". Samuel Raheem of Bloom Township jumped 42'5.50" to finish third. In Class B, Brian Dickerson of Bloom Township jumped 42'0.25" to beat Lawi Djuma of Geneva and Maurice Green of Galesburg. Both Djuma and Green jumped 41'7.25" to tie for second. Niko Bravo of Lane Tech jumped 41'4.50" to win the Class C triple jump. Jordan Brooks of Edwardsville jumped 39'0.75" and Dewon Pulley of Galesburg jumped 38'4.50" to take second and third places.

The emerging Kenyon Johnson of Edwardsville jumped a new PR of 21'3.50' to win the Class A long jump. The second place jump was 21'2.25" by the speedy Kaden Turner of Bloom Township, and Deante Pulley of Galesburg jumped 20'5.50" to take home third place. In Class B, Freshman Charlie Nolan of Normal Community West took home the win with a jump of 20'2.75". Ahbren Resendez of Bloom Township placed second with a jump of 19'9.75", and Bravo jumped 19'9.50" for a third-place finish. Ilori returned after his high jumping to get into the sand pit- jumping 19'5' to win the Class C long jump. Cody Machlet, the junior from Geneva jumped 19'3" to finish in second place. Kishawn Donald Wheeler, the freshman from Rantoul jumped a new PR to finish third. Wheeler jumped 18'9'.

As much as the field events appeared to be the centerpiece of the meet, the track action had several enlightening highlights. The traveling superstar known as Marcellus Moore made his presence felt for the second weekend in a row in Central Illinois. The Plainfield North junior fine-tuned things in lieu of the massive New Balance Nationals Indoor Championship in New York March 8-10. Moore started the rodeo with an easy 6.94 winner in the 60m. About 45 minutes later he anchored his 4x200 to another sizzling win in 1:32.35. Perhaps the most thrilling moment of the afternoon was the 200m. Cellus zipped around the track like Flash in 21.76 which brought the crowd to its feet and peer acknowledgment just past the finish line.

The 1600m is always one of the featured events at a track and field meet. The "A" section composed 3A cross country all-stater Christian Knowlton of Plainfield South. Knowlton and a fairly decent sized group toured the track for four of the eight laps in a pedestrian manner. The first half was about as slow as you can run in 2:18. Lane Tech's Julian Higueros made a move on the fifth lap that severely stretched out everyone except Knowlton. The pair would battle until the end with Higueros prevailing 4:31.69-4:32.05... earlier Roland Prenzler of Edwardsville led three runners in the 3200m under ten minutes as he clocked a solid 9:30.47- two seconds clear of Charlie Wetzel of Normal Community West who ran 9:32.72.

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