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Date: Sunday, January 14, 2024
Location: Dr. Conrad Worrill Track & Field Center (formerly Gately); Chicago IL
Time schedule: field events- 10am; track- 10:30am
Meet program: HERE
An opening thought: The biggest challenge of the fourth installment of the Akinosun Elite Invitational may be the weather. The city of Chicago and the surrounding area got pretty hard by an angry "Old Man Winter" on Friday. He started by spewing a hateful amount of snow mixed with ice. He was not finished, adding a heaping topping of artic temperatures to say, "Take that so-called tough track and field fans."
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Key girls to watch out for:
Katelyn Lehnen (Jr., Chatham-Glenwood) will debut despite being in the prime of her basketball season. Lehnen was among the nation's top 60-meter dashers last year with a speedy 7.45. She competed in the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championship in Boston last March and nearly made the final. She is listed in the 200m and if time permits look for her to post a serious time.
Not to be outdone is "Ali" Allison Ince (Sr., Normal Community). The future University of Oregon product is a superstar right now and just like Lehnen, will be making her season debut. Ince plays basketball in the winter but somehow has been able to stay in shape and wants to contest the 1600m. Her seed time of 4:46 is well within her grasp when considering that her indoor personal best is 4:46 from a year ago. Ince could have her hands full against the talented Charlize Trinity-Mckenzie of Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Don't expect Annika Swan (So., Chicago St. Ignatius) to go easy on the competition in the 800m. The fast-starting Swan will look to set a quick pace and dip under 2:15 in her season opener. It will be a good indicator for Swan who is preparing for the HOKA Mile at the Misfits Invitational.
Trinty-Mckenzie deserves to be mentioned in a paragraph. She has already run 2:11 (US#1 at the time) in the half-mile several weekends ago and could be revving up for a fast 600m next weekend at the Misfits. CTM is no joke in the mile either. She has run a solo 4:39 1500m in December. If nothing else, she will give Ince some pressure for a good percentage of the race.
Key boys to watch for:
Logan Rosas (Sr., Mediapolis) travels from the state of Iowa where is the 2A state championship in the 800m. He earned All-American honors last summer at the AAU Nationals with a time of 1:54.91.
The final two sections of the 400m could be the event of the day. Expect the section one winner to be under 50 seconds which will be a great setup for the following. Shamar Heard of Clinton Township, Michigan is one of the nation's most prolific long sprinters. He will put his rep on the line and go after an incredible time. A sub 48-second effort is most definitely in the works.
Spencer Alf (Jr., McFarland WI) ran 4:19 for the 1600m as a sophomore which is bananas. He could go significantly faster in his first race of the season.
The 200 will be the final race of the meet and it is LOADED! Despite some late scratches, the opportunity for several dark horse runners is here. The initial 14 sections could be reduced but there are at least four that could put up some incredible efforts. Heard returns to battle Indiana champ Dominic Calhoun of Brownsburg. Calhoun clocked 21.30 last season.