3A Boys State Recap: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The "Showstopper" never fails to thrill the crowd at the end of a long championship

RESULTS I PHOTOS I VIDEOS

Track-

4x800: The best event was back and strong as ever. When the dust settled there were 21 teams under 8:00 (19 of them 3A) and six rated among the top 50 in the nation. So it was no surprise that the hyped-heaped-up Hinsdale Central and Orland Park Sandburg were the real deal, especially considering their amazing performances at the sectional round. Count in Chicago Lane Tech and Downers Grove South for kicking up dust.

There was a feeling in the air that the opening pace was not going to be a sit and kick affair of past seasons. The word on the street was the deployment of stud runner setting the tone. Hinsdale Central rolled the dice with Aden Bandukwala (So), Lane with Jack Klein (Sr), Sandburg using Sean Marquardt (Jr), and Downers South tapping Joey Puccillo (Sr). There were five schools running 1:56 or faster and a total of 11 of the 12 units under 2:00.

The second leg saw Hinsdale Central try to run and hide with Michael Skora (Jr) opening a strong gap in the first 100. Lane's Emmett Kennedy (Sr) responded with a blazing 25 second initial 200 that changed the complexity of the race. It was a tight battle between Hinsdale Central, Lane Tech, Sandburg, and Downers South crept into the picture. 

The third leg was where Sandburg aggressively inserted themselves in the picture on the strength of Trent Anderson (Sr). Lane closed hard as well. The anchors saw Brock Rice of Sandburg, Colby Revord (Hinsdale Central), and William Archer (Lane Tech) were within striking distance of one another. Downers South Tim Neumann joined the party. But Rice shifted with 200 to go and opened a gap on the field and streaked home for the win in 7:44.03.

4x100: Top seed Homewood-Flossmoor powered their way to a convincing win in 42.01. Naperville Central 42.28, and Champaign Centennial 42.44 earned silver and bronze medals.

3200: The fan-favorite Ryan Watts (Sr., Edwardsville) helped set a strong early pace in 4:35 with the likes of Luke Wiley (Sr., Warren), Micah Wilson (Sr., St. Charles East), Nick Falk (Sr., New Trier), and a few others. With two laps remaining, Watts opened up his cadence and dropped 62 and 63 second laps. The final verdict was a sub 9:00 performance- 8:56.66.

110HH: Collin Forrest (Sr., Minooka) got better as the season went along and his grindmanship attitude earned him the state title and IL#1 14.03 (+0.8).

100: Reece Young (Sr., Wheaton-Warrenville South) was a relatively unknown speedster this time a year ago. This year he was one of the favorites to take the title and he did with relative ease in 10.58 (+1.4).

800: When you play with fire you will get burned. In the case of this event, no one moves unless Daniel Watcke (Jr., Hinsdale Central) does. The defending state champion has most of his opponents shook enough to not follow their game plan. One such competitor who is not phased is Brett Wasick (Sr., Bolingbrook). He gained confidence in narrowly losing to Watcke at the Lockport Sectional. Watcke could have chosen a front-running tactic like 2A's Garrett Slack of Lincoln did in completely dismantling the field to win in 1:51.42 (IL#1).

Watcke allowed the pace to crawl to 57 seconds and get congested. It was officially a kicker's race and as expected, he and Wasick powered into a full-out kick to the finish. Watcke tied up and lost his balance to the aggressive Wasick who won the unbelievable race of his life in 1:52.64.

4x200: Notable miscues at the sectional round and later in the prelims reduced this event to just a two team battle. Crete-Monee and Homewood-Flossmoor dueled once more but this time it was the Warriors that took down HF 1:27.39-1:27.71. 

400: A two-section final because of a tie in the prelims forced entrants of three and six. Daniel Lacy (Jr., Champaign Centennial) won section 1 in 49.23. Future Northern Illinois University footballer Elijah Reed of Downers Grove South and Jonah Fallon (Sr., Batavia) pulled away from the field with 150 remaining. Reed held a slight lead in the closing stages of the race and held on for the win 48.13-48.49.

300H: Ian Kelley (Sr., Oak Park-River Forest) completed an undefeated season and was the only performer of 38-seconds with a PB 37.99. Pre-season favorite Gabe Czako (Sr., Lockport) took second in 38.22

1600: The most competitive race of the day was right here. Different scenarios with a ton of runners doubling back from other events. Roy Llewellyn (SR., Downers North) did not run in his team's 4x8 final, Marcellus Mines (So., Joliet West) ran only one race entering the final. On the other hand, there was Ryan Watts returning from his masterful "deuce" win earlier in the meet. Luke Wiley was there as well.

The front-running Llewellyn took to the front and powered through the first 400 in 61. Wiley joined Llewellyn and they passed the halfway point in 2:04. Wiley took the lead shortly thereafter and pushed the pace through the 1200 in 3:08. The entire chase pack led by Micah Wilson and Watts was moving up and ready to strike. 

There was a ton of pushing and jostling which meant this would be one of the more evenly matched affairs and setting up guys to have a big payday. But it was Watts who made the final dash with 150 to go and steamed passed Wiley and Llewellyn for the victory in 4:11.16. The race was so close that Ethan Summer (Sr., York) ran 4:14.45 for 10th place.

200: Jettason Rose (Sr., Quincy) said that he wants to be a pilot one day. Well, he put on the jets out of the homestretch curve and held off Tyler Colwell for the win in 22.04 (-1.1).

4x400: The last race of the day was the showstopper and the Batavia fans were on their collective feet for this one. As expected, it was the Broncos and Hinsdale Central dueling and how fitting to have Watcke and Fallow on anchor legs. Fallow held on with a sizzling 47.92 leg and the win in 3:19.81 (IL#1)

Field-

High Jump: Evanston senior Matt Cless was thrilled to get his first state title after leaping 6'7" and upsetting the defending state champion Rob Pulliam of Moline. Cless almost bowed out at 6-5 before coming up clutch on his final attempt.

Long Jump: Kemoni McCullough (Sr., Champaign Centennial) did not compete in the state series a year ago. This time he is a state champion jumping a personal best 23-2.75.

Triple Jump: Jalen Buckley (Sr., Batavia) helped turn the tide of the meet for his team with a victory on his final attempt (48-8.75). Buckley was especially thrilled after admitting that he dropped the baton in the 4x200 prelims.

Discus Throw: Last year he was just a 150-foot performer, now he is one of the elite throwers in the state, senior Jonathan Young of Andrew tossed a PB 181'11.75" (IL#3). The state leader Lucah Jones (Sr., Lake Park) placed third with a best of 176'11.5".

Shot Put: The state's top shot putter did not disappoint, defending his state title with another 60-foot-plus effort. Kyle Clabough (Sr., Yorkville) won with a 61-5.75.

Pole Vault: He was the indoor champion at Top Times, and now he is the official state champion with a 16'0.25" clearance- Charles Cruse (Sr., Normal Community) brings home another title to the Bloomington area.