Thursday -
Big Northern
Most of the points in this meet will be scored by Winnebago and Rockford Christian, but Rock Falls looks to remain competitive as well. Rockford Christian's Bjorn Carlson (Sr.) has continued his long sprints dominance this year, but Supreme Muhammad (Jr., Winnebago) is a recent emergent athlete to vie for athlete of the meet honors. Muhammad's supporting cast, led by Brandon Wiggan (Jr.), has produced fantastic relay marks for 'Bago. The throws will include a good shot match between Camden Rosche (Sr., Rockford Christian) and Matthew Warkins (Sr., Dixon) but Rosche is the heavy favorite in the discus. Winnebago features 14-foot vaulter Brady Schaller (Sr.). The distances should be highlighted by Rockford Christian's Weston Forward (Jr.) and Aidan Sosnowski (Sr.).
Black Diamond
Flora, Hamilton County, and Carmi-White County lead this conference. An event worth following is the high jump, where two 6-3 or better jumpers Trent Bliss (Jr., Fairfield) and Landon Webb (Sr., Vienna) will go at it.
Central State Eight
Glenwood is the team to beat and will be trying to upset Lanphier in the 4x400 on their way to multiple relay victories. Glenwood's highlight so far has been a 7:54 4x800, led by Will Patzia (So.) and Van Schneider (Fr.). Glenwood has also run 1:30 and 43.2 on the strength of eight different relay legs. However, it's Lanphier with the best weapon, senior James Harris bringing 10.8, 22.04, and 51.02 conference-leading speed. Cale Smith (Sr., Eisenhower) is a candidate to pick up multiple distance wins. In the field, Normal University's Zach Hoffman (Sr., 52' SP), Glenwood's Matthew Lindberg (Sr., 6-4 HJ), and Rochester's Evan Alexander (Sr., 14-2 PV) are notables.
Dupage Valley
Early in the season, Neuqua Valley was a trophy favorite, separated from the pack. The party has gotten more crowded since, but the Wildcats can re-establish their position with a strong DVC showing especially as Austin Belle (Sr.) returns, coming off a 21.59 state lead at the DuPage County champs. Can Daniel Pere (Jr., Metea Valley) make Belle work in the 100 and 200? The distance fields are strong. DeKalb duo Jacob Barraza (So.) and Riley Newport (Sr.) can run any of the distances and will likely match with Zac Close (Jr., Neuqua Valley) eventually. But it's Naperville Central with the real-distance muscle. Luke Noren (Sr.), Foster Shelbert (Jr.), Samuel Barnard (Sr.), and Tyler Browning (Jr.) combine forces to produce a 7:48 relay and impressive times throughout the distances, particularly Shelbert's 1:54 and 4:18. A big part of the Wildcat's trophy hopes is James Ammenhauser (Sr.), the 3A leader in the long jump and potential TJ scorer. His matchup in the LJ against Brody Squires (Sr., Waubonsie Valley) will be fantastic after Ammenhauser got the best of Squires at DuPage County. Finally, keep an eye on Maverick Ohle (Jr., Naperville Central), the junior class leader in the disc at 55.25m.
Interstate 8
Kaneland, on the strength of the field, and Sycamore on the strength of the track, will go at it for the conference team win. Caden Emmert (Sr.) can slide in anywhere for Sycamore, while Pierce Reinhard (Sr.) will lead them in sprints. Meanwhile, Kaneland has vaulter Brayden Farmer (Sr.), throwers Brett Larson (Sr.) and Brady Betustak (Jr.), and high jumper Fredrick Hassan (So.) as event favorites. Good hurdle races between Noah Smith (Sr., Morris) and Weston Averkamp (So., Ottawa) await as well.
Mid-Suburban
Distance races highlight a strong MSL meet that will be a good team race between Prospect and Schaumburg. The field includes Mario Torres (Sr., Buffalo Grove), Joe Bregenzer (So., Barrington), Vijay Krishnamoorthi (Sr., Conant), Liam Naughton (Jr., Hersey), Theodore Cunningham (Sr., Fremd) and Rory Gaan (So., Fremd) to name a few. Omarion Jones (Sr., Schaumburg) is the sprint favorite trying to hold off a deep prospect attack including Colin Diversey (Sr.,), Aidan Orlando (Sr.), and Dominik Balenda (Sr.). Will Nolan (Sr., Hersey) will try to narrow the gap between his throw and the 60' barrier, and Esad Sengun (Sr., Schaumburg) continues to position himself among the pole vault favorites in one of the deepest vault fields ever in 3A.
Northern Illinois Conference-10
The favorite in this Rockford-area conference is Belvidere North. Evan Horgan (Sr., Belvidere North) is by far the best 3200 and 1600 athlete in the field. His teammate Nico Bertolino (Jr.) has run 10.97 and 22.26 and is a sprint favorite. Jaidyn Nguyen (Jr., Guilford) and Rasheed Johnson (Jr., Boylan Catholic) can challenge Bertolino for the sprint wins. North also has Braeden Brown (Jr.), a potential sub-50 400 runner and 6-4 high jumper. Jacob Klink (Sr., Hononegah) is the throws favorite.
Northern Lake County
What will Trey Sato (Jr., Grayslake Central) decide to do? The breakout junior is the conference leader in every event from 400 to 3200 and a pillar of Grayslake Central's relays. One of his best competitors comes in the form of Payton Whitehead (Jr., Lakes) in the 800. Great field events await, especially in the jumps where Kaiden Miller (Sr., Grayslake Central) and DeAndre Neely (Sr., Grayslake North) jump off. Paul Migas (Jr., Lakes) begins his postseason run as a vault favorite, as does Kosta Zografos (Jr., Wauconda) in the high jump. Zach Weitgenant (Sr., Grayslake North) and Matthew Brooks (Jr., North Chicago) square off in the sprints. North and Central have already gone blow-for-blow in the 4x400. What will these two 3:24 squads have in store at the conference?
North Suburban
Two established state medalists, Caleb Levy (Sr., Warren) and Dylan Myers (Sr., Lake Zurich) headline the meet. Myers is the 3200/1600 favorite and Levy has been a staple in the 800 for a few years now, and added a 49.32 400 best now to his resume. Warren's relays have impressed and could win the 4x1, 4x2, and 4x4. Marcus Caselberry (Sr., Stevenson) is a favorite in both hurdles.
Northwest Upstate Illini
The star sprinter in the NUIC is Bradey Huseman (Jr., Galena), but Noah Dewey (So., Forreston) is a young gun that could take him down. Dewey is joined by McKeon Crase (Sr.), and combine for relays that will compete with Lena-Winslow, a 1:31.7 squad on the year. Forreston has run 3:28 in the 4x400. Pecatonica's Max Milbrath (Jr.) is a potential TJ medalist and will try to pass 44' this meet.
South Suburban Blue
This meet will have some nice hurdles, especially from Quinton Peterson (Jr., Lemont) as a sub-40 300h athlete, and Ajani Rush (Sr., Hillcrest), 14.63 in the 110h. T.F. South has the most sprint depth, a squad including Jason Jones (Sr.), Nazheer Moore (Sr.), and Jaleel Lewis (Sr.). There will be compelling 4x100 and 4x200 races between this group, Hillcrest, and Lemont.
South Suburban Red
Oak Lawn provides a balanced field event attack, and this is headlined by a 1-2 high jump punch of seniors Robert Wagner and Jake Franzen, both 6-5 or over. Ozzie Gamboa (Sr.) is Community's throws leader and Franzen also mixes it up in the horizontal jumps, where Terry Mcherron (Sr., Shepard) is the conference leader. On the track, it'll be Owen Forberg (Sr., Richards) as the heavy favorite but Jose Lozano (Sr., Reavis) has quietly had a very strong season, running PBs in 9:39 and 4:27. Finally, the sprints duel will be between Davonte Evans (Sr., Argo) and Charles Campbell (Sr., Reavis), both sub-11 runners this year and in the ballpark of 22 seconds for the 200.
Upstate 8
Last weekend's DuPage County meet saw Notre Dame football signee Cameron Williams (Jr., Glenbard South) set a new state long jump lead with a 24-3.75 winning leap. Williams is also the conference leader in the 100, but the best overall outdoor sprinter has been Joey Rosenthal (Jr., Glenbard East). Williams and Rosenthal both anchor strong relays that should have compelling matches, especially in the 4x100. Glenbard South has the best distance crew, including Jaden Frederick (Jr.) and Tim Jochum (Jr.).
West Suburban Gold
The best WSC-Gold conference mark came at the Bill Jackson Invitational last Friday, when Chris Williams (Jr., Downers Grove South) was a barely wind-aided 10.73 100 to win, before doubling a second place with 22.84 in the 200 (wind-legal). DGS is quite dominant in the distance events, led by Josh Poeschel (Jr.) and Carter Smott (Sr.), but Morton has a decent crew too. Willowbrook features some good field performers like Jaden Royal (So.) and Jordan Pate (So.) in the jumps. Willowbrook is also the conference's best shot to break up a relay monopoly for DGS.