By Michael Newman

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The final session of the Illinois Top Times Championship should provide the most fireworks. That happens when you have two national champions and an athlete that has the best indoor performance nationally competing.

Zachery Bradford of Bloomington comes off his national championship with a chance to break the meet record as well as going close to the 18-0 barrier like he did in New York.

Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West used her kick to win the 1-Mile championship two weeks ago. The sophomore faces two tough fields as she attempts a double win in the 800 Meter and 1600 Meter Run.

John Meyer of Lockport Township became the first Illinois high school athlete to go past 70-feet in the Shot Put. He will look to go farther in this meet.

Here is an event by event look at Saturday’s 3A Meet.

 

Meet Program | Meet Schedule | Live Webcast

 

SPRINTS/HURDLES

GIRLS

 

60 Meter Hurdles – I think that this event could be closer than people think. All eyes will be on the junior from Bolingbrook Kayla Walters. The junior competed in the New Balance Indoor Nationals running a 3A best 8.85 in the prelims. There is a jam up of talent behind her as five athletes are only a tenth of a second back and only five hundredths of a second within each other. Kaylah McCall of Homewood-Flossmoor leads the group with the 8.98 that she ran last week in her conference meet. LaQwasia Stepney, who transferred to Belleville West from Cahokia, has run 9.03 this winter and could be a threat for the win.

Victoria Spagnola of West Aurora is only a freshman, but her 9.03 that she has run makes her threat up front. Kionnah Weaver of Glenbard Esat ran a 3A state best 8.39 for the 55 Meter Hurdles last week at the Upstate Eight Conference Meet. Halle Bieber of Naperville North ran 8.58 to win the DuPage Valley Conference Meet. Both Weaver and Bieber could be among the top five when all is said and done. Natasha Bennett of Lane Tech and Maggie Schutte of Quincy should also be watched in the front.

60 Meter Dash – The top three finishers from last year’s meet are back led by defending champion Ozzy Erewele of Springfield. In last year’s final, Erewele ran 7.56 for the win. She has run 7.58 indoors this winter but is capable of 7.5 or under. Ameia Wilson of Danville has the top time in the state (7.56) and is looking for the win after placing third last year. Nya Carr of Buffalo Grove ran a meet record 7.08 for 55-meters at last Saturday’s Mid Suburban League Meet. Carr finished second last year and will be in the discussion again for the win. Ebony McClendon set the record of 7.45 four years ago. That record is not out of reach.

Aurora West’s Dajour Miles will be in the hunt for the win having run 7.65 this season. Lyn’Nikka Vance of Crete-Monee, who finished fourth in last year’s meet, ran 7.71 to win at Charleston and could also be a threat. This is a good field with Olivia Oliver and Jacqueline Bassey of Homewood-Flossmoor, Taylor Tilmon of Lakes Community, Ayanna Tommy of Antioch, and Annie Walsh of Prospect all talented to make the finals and possibly the top five.

400 Meter Dash – All eyes will be on Dajour Miles in this race. Miles has the state best time of 54.14 running on the oversized track at the University of Kentucky. Miles, who earned All-American honors by finishing fifth at the New Balance Indoor Nationals, has run 56.04 on a flat 200-meter track in state. That time is still more than a second ahead of the rest of this field.

Ashanti Denton of Homewood-Flossmoor and Mikenna Robinson of Neuqua Valley both ran under 58-seconds in out of state meets will be in the chase for second along with Janii Jenkins of Warren Township and Taylor Wright of Lincoln-Way East. Taylor Tilmon along with DeKalb’s Sierra Long and Kyra Ozier will be in Section 3 and could finish in the top four. Alexis Knight of Wheeling is fast enough to get into that top four in this event.

200 Meter Dash – This is Ameia Wilson vs. Ozzy Erewele vs Dajour Miles Part 2 in this meet. Wilson ran the state’s fastest time (24.58) in winning last week at the Gene Armer Invitational. Miles is also under 25-seconds running 24.63 at the University of Kentucky. Erewele ran 25.07 at the beginning of the month at Jacksonville. It could take 24.4 or faster to win this race.

Oliva Oliver and Taylor Tilmon have run 25.3 or faster this winter and will also be in the last section with the “big-three”. Nya Carr or Brimonet Buggs of DeKalb could find their way into a top five finish.

 

SPRINTS/HURDLES

BOYS

 

60 Meter Hurdles – Donovan Turner of Neuqua Valley and Matthew Lewis-Banks of Homewood-Flossmoor have the top two times on the DyeStat TFX Leaderboard but are not entered in this meet. It could be JT Lowder of Oak-Park River Forest that may have the advantage in this meet. The senior ran 7.67 for the 55 Meter Hurdles in winning last week at the WSC-Silver Championships. Victor Cameron of Crete-Monee could be his chief competition. Cameron ran 8.35 last week at Huntley and could end up the winner here.

Tyrone Treadwell of Springfield and Peyton Frankenreider of Yorkville both have run 8.38 and are also capable of winning. Ivan Colbert of Richards and Lukas Bolas of Huntley will also be in the hunt in this wide-open event.

60 Meter Dash – Plainfield North’s Marcellus Moore won this event at last year’s meet as a freshman and will look to repeat on Saturday. Moore ran the state’s fastest time of 6.81 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. He ran the IL #1 time at 55-meters (6.43) in winning last week at the Southwest Prairie Championships.

Declan Rustay of Hoffman Estates is the defending champion outdoors at 100-meters. He was not pushed last week in running 6.49 at 55-meters in the Mid Suburban League Meet. Moore and Rustay pushing each other could get them past Jonathan Boey’s 6.78 meet record.

Jamal Safo of Crete-Monee has run 6.48 for 55-meters and could be a threat in the front. Dubem Anikamadu of Huntley dropped his time down to 6.93 at his conference meet and should push for the win in this race. Cedric Rowzee of Wheaton-Warrenville South has a 6.53 best for 55-meters and defeated Rustay at York at the beginning of March. He could be a surprise in this race. Jermarrion Stewart of Collinsville also has hit times under seven seconds (6.97) and will be another to watch. Bobby Nuzzio of Mundelein, Tre’Von Petty of Waubonsie Valley, and Deonte McGoy of Alton could find their way to the finals in this tough field.

400 Meter Dash – The name of the game is getting to the lead at the end of the first circuit in this two-lap race. Declan Rustay of Hoffman Estates proved that last week in winning at the Mid-Suburban League Meet running 50.54. Brandon Adams of Minooka will be the runner that will have the bulls-eye on his back. He has the top time in the state (49.20) running on the banked track at the University of Arkansas. Adams has run under 50-seconds three times already this winter.

The one runner that has gone under the radar indoors has been Grant’s Jason Thormo. He ran the third fastest 3A time (50.47) in winning his conference meet. Thormo would not be a surprise if he won. Brendan Turner of Bolingbrook, Donte Rooks of Joliet West, and Michael Smith of Grant all are in the last section and could be in the top three. Joshua Bruce of Oswego East heads Section 3 and could be among the top finishers.

200 Meter Dash – Marcellus Moore will also look for the repeat in this event. Moore earned All-American honors finishing fourth at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. He could be tough to beat on Saturday. He ran 22.01 on the tight turns of Lewis University last Saturday. It still is faster than any other athlete in this field. He has a seasonal best of 21.30.

Declan Rustay ran 22.31 to set the meet record at the Mid-Suburban League meet. Brandon Adams ran 22.39 finishing behind Moore. Both will be threats in this race. Dubem Anikamadu ran 22.18 on the University of Kentucky track and will be a force in the front. Cedric Rowzee and Jermarrion Stewart should also be watch in this four-section event.

 

DISTANCES

GIRLS

 

3200 Meter Run – Meet record holder Katelynne Hart and or DyeStat TFX leaderboard #1 Sarah Schmitt are not in this event. This race could be wide-open with top six entries all within five seconds of each other. Lindsey Payne of Glenbard West finished second last year in this event and has the third fastest 3A time (10:52.92). Melissa Manetsch of Libertyville ran 10:54.54 last week in Wisconsin. Emily Shelton of Minooka edged Isabelle Christensen of Oswego last week at Plainfield North. All three runners are capable of winning this race. Katie Hohe of Glenbard West has run 10:57.96 and finished second behind Payne at the WSC-Silver Championships. Don’t count her out.

The wild-card in this race is Argo’s Abby Lopez. The sophomore stepped into the spotlight last fall winning the 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional then finishing sixth in the 3A State Meet. This is her first year of running track. She ran 10:56.11 on her home track at the end of February. She could be the one to push the pace in this race.

Brenna Cohoon of Downers Grove South, Julianna Stogsdill of Plainfield North, and Alex Morris of Naperville North are some of the runners to watch for in the front. The winning time in this race could be in the low 10:40’s.

800 Meter Run – This will be the most anticipated race of the weekend. Madison Marasco of Schaumburg owns the fastest state time (2:11.74) run last week at the Mid Suburban League Meet. She did that after running a 2:13.9 split for her team in the 3200 Meter Relay. Marasco will be doing the same double in this meet.

Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West has done the impossible in her time in high school races. The 3200/800/1600 triple outdoors last season comes to mind. This will be the first of two races for Hart on Saturday. She ran 2:13.64 last week and could be angling for a time in the low 2:11’s. Enyaeva Michelin of Evanston Township has run 2:14.39 and should be challenging Marasco and Hart. We could see Lauren Van Vlierbergen’s four-year-old meet record of 2:11.80 falling in this race.

Stephanie Kriss of Highland Park ran 2:16.01 in winning her conference meet last week. Remember, she ran 2:12 outdoors as a freshman at Palatine. She could be someone to watch. The field is loaded with Hinsdale Central’s Grace McCabe and Reilly Revord along with Danville’s Shanice Garbutt and York’s Sarah May part of this race.

1600 Meter Run – Katelynne Hart is the defending champion as well as the national champion indoors at 1-mile. It is hard to see anyone getting close to the Glenbard West sophomore. Hart has run under 4:47 twice for a full mile. She has the top time in this field by 16 seconds. Regardless that she will be coming back an hour after the 800, she is still the runner to beat.

Enyaeva Michelin is also coming back from the 800 Meter Run and will be the one runner closest to Hart. Michelin ran 4:59 last week at the Gene Armer Invitational after running 2:14. She is not out of the picture in winning this race.

Corinna Pena of Neuqua Valley ran a personal best 5:00.73 to finish behind Sarah Schmitt last week at DuPage Valley Conference Meet. She could go under five-minutes in this race. Hannah Ricci of Naperville North and Erin Reidy of Downers Grove South lead the next pack that could be close to five-minutes. Katherine Olsen of DeKalb, Yorkville’s Helena Kleronomos and Emily Eberhart, Lauren Katz of Vernon Hills, and Mackenzie Brownrigg of Lincoln-Way Central all have the talent to run 5:05 or faster.

 

DISTANCES

BOYS

 

3200 Meter Run – The big three of Danny Kilrea, Dylan Jacobs, and Clayton Mendez along with event list leader Zach Kinne are not entered in this meet. This race could be a repeat of the competition at Batavia Distance Madness two weeks ago. In that race, Tyler Cushing of Bolingbrook and Matt Blanco of Oswego East were only separated by two hundredths of a second with Cushing winning. Cushing ran 9:21.23 finishing five seconds behind Jacobs at last week’s Southwest Suburban Conference Meet. It could be Thomas Brady of Maine South that I would want to watch for. Brady pushed Mendez at the Proviso West Invitational as they crossed the line together in 9:26.56.

This is a sneaky-good field. Jack Becker of Crystal Lake South, Matt Richtman of Kaneland, Akhil Ghosh of Downers Grove South, and Conor Pereault of Niles North have all run under 9:30 this indoor season. I think we could see two or three runners under 9:20 in this race with a time near 9:15 winning.

800 Meter Run – Four runners under 1:58 and within one second of each other makes this race hard to predict. Franky Romano of Edwardsville has the third fastest 3A time and the fastest seed time in this meet with the 1:57.05 that he ran at Principia College two weeks ago. Grant Jensen of Prairie Ridge ran 1:57.89 to win at the Fox Valley Mett two weeks ago and could be a threat. Phillip Hall of Danville ran 1:57.98 at the beginning of March and could come away with the win.

The hottest runner in this field is Charles Harders from Lyons Township. The senior won Batavia Distance Madness at this distance two weeks ago (1:57.91) and then came back to run 4:21.50 to win at the WSC-Silver Championships last week. A runner to watch in this race.

Tyler Dunn of Normal West has run 1:58.53 and Wes York of Waubonsie Valley has run 1:58.56. Both could finish in the top three with the possibility of winning it. Watch for the tactics in this race. There are so many evenly matched runners in this field. Will someone take the pace out quick or will we see a 59 second opening 400?

1600 Meter Run – This is the event where mystery is all over the place. Six of the top seven runners in this field are underclassmen with Alex Tam of Libertyville the senior in the group. Tam ran 4:22.09 last week in Wisconsin and is capable of winning this race. He does have an outdoor personal best of 4:15.87.

Zach Albrecht of Jacobs has the top seed time in this meet (4:19.82) that he ran at the Fox Valley Conference Championships. Eddie Siuda of Downers Grove South finished second at Batavia running 4:20.37. He will be pushing the pace. Jadon Conroy of Huntley finished second behind Albrecht at Fox Valley and has a 4:21.42 personal best to his credit. Andrew O’Keefe of Granite City ran 4:22.94 to win last week at the Gene Armer Invitational. He will be a factor. Antioch’s Charlie Smith and Sam Rivera of Whitney Young could be a surprise in this race. 4:16 to 4:18 is the range where the winner crosses the line.

 

RELAYS

GIRLS

 

4x800 Meter Relay – Downers Grove South and Schaumburg are the top two teams in this field and teams in the race to watch. South ran 9:25.32 to win the Mustang Relays with Erin Reidy running a 2:13.9 anchor split. Schaumburg won last week at the Mid Suburban League Championships (9:28.39) with Madison Marasco closing with also a 2:13.9 anchor. It will be interesting if the two teams are even coming to the final 800-meters of the race.

Yorkville ran 9:30.89 to finish behind Downers Grove South at the Mustang Relays. They could change up their line-up for this meet. They could go six-deep with any number of runners able to run without skipping a beat. Glenbard East, Naperville North, and Prospect are some of the teams that could challenge for a finish in the top five.

4x200 Meter Relay – Homewood-Flossmoor should be the queens of this relay with the fastest seeded time (1:41.91) by close to three seconds ahead of the rest of the field. DeKalb and Proviso West have run under 1:45 and could pressure for the win if the Lady Vikings have an off race. Kenwood Academy and Wheeling could be surprise teams in this race.

4x400 Meter Relay – This will be a close race. The six teams in the last section of this event are within two seconds of each other. Homewood-Flossmoor enters this race with the fastest seed time (4:04.20) followed by Naperville North and Proviso West. Whitney Young, Aurora West, and Glenbard North are the other teams in that section all capable of winning.

Lincoln-Way East and Downers Grove South are two of the top teams in the first section. One or both teams could finish in the top four in this race.

 

RELAYS

BOYS

 

4x800 Meter Relay – It should come down to two teams in this race as Glenbrook North and Metea Valley are more than six seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. Glenbrook North ran their 7:58.79 at the Mustang Relays with Metea Valley’s time (8:01.97) run in the same meet.

Mundelein has run 8:08.07 and has the talent to go under eight-minutes in this meet. Jacobs will have Zach Albrecht anchoring while Downers Grove South will have Eddie Siuda part of their equation. Both teams have run under 8:11 and could finish in the top three.

4x200 Meter Relay – Get to the lead. Maintain that lead. Have great handoffs. That is the formula for the indoor 4x2 relay. With a deep field like we have in this meet, execution of those three things is essential for the win.

Crete-Monee and Plainfield North are the top two teams in the field with the two squads separated by only six hundredths of a second. Crete-Monee (1:31.37) will have Jamal Safo leading off while Plainfield North (1:31.43) starts with Marcellus Moore. Lockport Township and Minooka are under 1:33 and could challenge up front.

That was only the last section. There are many talented teams that could come away with the win from the other three sections. Bolingbrook and Huntley are among the Section 3 teams that could finish in the top three. Even Yorkville from Section 2 could be a team to watch to finish among the leaders.

4x400 Meter Relay – The final race of the night should again provide us some suspense. Minooka has the top time in the state when they ran 3:24.62 at the Mustang Relays behind Brandon Adams and his 48.3 anchor split. Grant is deep with Jason Thormo and Michael Smith part of that quartet. They have a 3:27.95 best and a team of the future. All four runners scheduled to compete are underclassmen.

Glenbrook North ran 3:27.75 at Mustang Relays while Crete-Monee has a 3:29.24 to their credit. Both teams could challenge for the win. Lockport Township and Bolingbrook are some of the teams to watch in this event.

 

FIELD EVENTS

GIRLS

 

Long Jump – Hannah Morris of Bloom Township has a state championship and All-American honors that she achieved as a sophomore. She finished second at state last May and is on the way to big things in 2018. Morris jumped 19-10 (US #6) to win last week at the Gene Armer Invitational. She is close to Jaimie Robinson’s meet record of 19-11 of last year. She may have to go into the 20-foot range to set the record depending what happens in the 2A meet earlier in the day.

Ameia Wilson is almost a foot behind Morris and could go into the 19’s in this meet. The same can be said about Lyn’Nikka Vance who could get into personal best territory. Olivia Oliver and Downers Grove North’s Isabel Maletich are some of the jumpers to watch in this event.

Triple Jump – This could be good with five athletes at 38-feet or longer. Isabelle Kennedy of Lake Park is a name to get used to at the top of the Triple Jump leaderboard. She did not make it to the state finals last spring but enters this meet with a personal best of 39-3.75 to lead these entries. A jump close to 40-feet is not out of the question on these fast runways of the Shirk Center.

Kyla Griggs of Bloom Township achieved a personal best 38-10 at the Gene Armer Invitational last Satutrday. Kate Oteng-Bediako of Belvidere North has jumped 38-4.75. They are athletes to watch to challenge Kennedy. Riley Ammenhauser of Neuqua Valley could be a surprise. The freshman jumped 38-3.5 in her conference meet. Isabel Maletich has jumped 38-0 and could go longer on Saturday.

High Jump – This is event is wide-open with any number of athletes capable of winning this title. Jenna Pauly of McHenry and Madison Myrick of Homewood-Flossmoor both have cleared 5-6 and are the top two seeds in this event. Erin Oleksak of Palatine and Emma Ludwig of Glenbard East both have cleared 5-5. 12 athletes are competing. All have cleared 5-3 or better. Anything is possible.

Pole Vault – Brooke Misukonis of Bloomington should be the favorite in this competition. She leads all 3A athletes this winter with an 11-6 best. Rose Fritz of Naperville Central and Maggie Dring of Oak Park River Forest both have 11-3 clearances to their credit. Both could challenge for the win. Claire Barenie of Oswego, Megan Gale of Schaumburg, and Cierra Kuipers of Kaneland are some of the athletes to watch to challenge in the top three in this event.

Shot Put – Bloomington’s Ellie Weltha could be the class of the field. Her 45-5.5 best at the Homewood-Flossmoor Invitational gives her the #2 effort in the state. Jasmine Mitchell of Thornwood could be Weltha’s chief competition. Mitchell had a 43-5.75 mark at the beginning of the season. Mitchell’s only loss indoors came from Weltha at the beginning of March. Jalah Morris of Zion-Benton has a 42-3.5 as her best this season. She could be among the top three at the end of this competition. Sarah Wastek of Naperville North, Alisa Fallon of Maine West, and Thornton’s Kindle Miles & Alexis Hutchins are some of the athletes that could be over 40-feet in this meet. That could result in top five finishes.

 

FIELD EVENTS

BOYS

 

Shot Put – I think we know what John Meyer has done this indoor season. Last week’s 70-4.25 just put him on another level of the state’s all-time bests. He will be the big favorite in this event in what is a solid field. There could be two to three athletes that could go past 60-feet and still be light years behind Meyer if he is on his game which he has been in 2018.

Clayton Hannula of Kaneland is one that could go past 60-feet with a 59-5 throw this season as his best. Jamir Gibson of Zion-Benton, William Rezny of Rolling Meadows, and Brian Keyes of McHenry all have 58+ foot marks to their credit. All could get close to 60-feet. Sam Liokumovich of Deerfield has a 57-11.5 put this winter. He could also finish in the top three. A do not miss event in this meet.

Pole Vault – This event begins at 4:15 PM on Saturday. If you are waiting to see Zachery Bradford compete, you may have to wait some time. Bradford has been started his competition at 16-6. All the other athletes in the event at that point have exhausted their attempts. That’s nothing against the rest of this field. Bradford is just in another stratosphere.

The national champion came back from his 18-0.5 clearance three days after clearing 17-6 at his conference meet in the Shirk Center. The question will be how high will he go? Phil Hanson’s 17-1.5 meet record should be history by the end of the night.

Jared Middleton of Oswego improved his personal best by almost two feet with his 15-6 clearance last week at the Southwest Prairie Conference Meet. We will see if 15-0 is again in his vision or maybe higher. Declan Ritzenhalter of Loyola Academy has cleared 15-0 and will look for that second-place finish. Thomas Paprocki of Lake Park and Matt Ogilvie of Oswego could join the 15-foot club in this meet.

Long Jump – Frank Massey of Bloom Township and Jamal Safo of Crete-Monee are the only athletes entered that have gone past 23-feet this indoor season. Safo jumped 23-7.5 last week at Huntley. Massey jumped 23-10 on his home track at the end of February. Do we see a 24-foot jump in this meet?

Geremiah Lawson of Plainfield Central jumped 22-10.5 at the Ted Haydon Classic in December. His best jump since that was 22-3.5 at the University of Kenticky HS Invitational. He could pop a 23-foot plus jump in this meet. Connor McCarthy of Lockport Township and Mark Mahoney of Deerfield have both jumped 22-2 or better. Both could be factors in this event.

Triple Jump – Three athletes past 46-feet makes this event interesting to watch. Peyton Frankenreider of Yorkville jumped a lifetime best of 46-8.75 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals two weeks ago. 47-feet plus may be in his future starting on Saturday. Jonathan Wilburn of Evanston Township was all-state last year and has the current #3 jump in the state (46-8). He is an athlete to watch in this meet. Frank Massey finished behind Wilburn at the Evanston meet jumping 46-4.25. One of these three athletes should come away with the win. Myles Molette-Hughes of Oak Park-River Forest has jumped 46-2 indoors. I would not count him out.

Xavier Jones of Romeoville leads a group of jumpers that have gone 45-feet or better. It could take 46-1 or longer to finish in the top five in this deep field.

High Jump – There are no real favorites in this event as 13 athletes entered in this event have cleared 6-4 or higher. Alex Babbington of Plainfield East and Stefan Baldwin of Crete-Monee have cleared 6-6 and are the top seeds in this event.