Aurora Flyers "DJ" Dontrell Young and Edward Mason work together early on in the 800m
====
The Boatright Holiday Classic was something in the making for quite a while but it finally came to fruition for the legendary Aurora Flyers Track Club coach (and ambassador) Thomas Boatroat. Hundreds of yearlings descended on the proviso West High School indoor field house for what is believed to be the first official competition of the 2022 season.
There was some hot action right out of the gate with the high jump. Brooke Probst (Sr., Indian Creek) got the crowd hype when she cleared a national leading 5'7." The bar was raised to 5'9" and several good attempts will hopefully yield confidence for bigger performances down the road. Overall solid performances in the field events: shot put, high jump, long jump, and triple jump were achieved.
Marissa Saunders won the Women's 55m hurdles with a time of 8.40, placing her in the top 5 nationally. This PR was almost 0.2 seconds faster than her competitors. KeVontae Walls-Burdine considered the MVP of the Boat Right Classic, ran his first 55 meter race in 6.51 seconds placing him in the top 10 nationally. He returned to the track to dominate the 200 meters running 23.34 seconds, also producing an impressive ranking of top 20 in the country. The incredible times did not stop at the boys; Symone Frison, Chicago's very own Lindblom Eagle, dominated the 55 meter final with a 7.24 placing her top 10 in the country.
After riveting sprints, the athletes started the 800 meters, continuing the impressive times. Andrew Regnier of Wisconsin won the men's 800 meter run, sprinting the last 50 meters to run a 2:01.24, which currently places him in the top 10 nationally. The meet was a great comeback to the indoor season after two years on Covid-19. As we watch these athletes transition into the rest of the season, we will continue to see impressive time upon the board.