4x100m-
2019 State Champion: Spring Valley Hall 42.74
Key Teams: Dakota, Forreston, DuQuoin, Princeville, DuQuoin, Arcola, Clifton Central, Chicago (Leo), Chicago Hope Academy, Camp Point Central, Spring Valley Hall, El Paso-Gridley, Belleville (Althoff Catholic), Aledo (Mercer County), Maroa-Forsyth, Newton, Sparta, Williamsville, Christopher, Warrensburg-Latham
Outlook: The most interesting event for each year may very well be this one-lap affair. We often see teams exceed pre-season expectations... or flop but nevertheless go to excite the fancy or disappoint all in one breath. Things like incoming freshman and football players that come out for track for the first time can change the dynamic of a team's potential very easily.
A team that may see that incoming freshman impact may very well be one of the most dominant 1A sprint teams from the past two decades: Chicago Leo. They return all four members of their 44.07 relay that they had last season, and they also have two of the best 100m runners in the classification with senior Dorian Woods who went 11.17 and Tobias Sample who went 11.19 last year. The real X-Factor for the Lions though has to be incoming freshman star Jahad Henderson who tore up the summer circuit this past year going 11.82. With some high school training under his belt, there is no telling how fast this kid can become his freshman year of high school.
Chicago Hope Academy will be climbing uphill this year after the loss of one of its top runners to transfer as top 100m runner Lafabian Fain transferred to Chicago Phillips. Still, the Eagles have some star power on their squad. With returning 200m all-stater Neil Campbell still a part of their relay, as well as two others from their 43.95 performance last May, they should have nothing to worry about.
Dakota could very well be the wildcard this year as they return three members of their 43.66 relay from last year. They do lose their 11.23 star in Cade Kloster, but already have few replacements that they can plug-in.