Ten Memorable Moments from the 2018 Illinois Top Times Championships

By Michael Newman for DyeStat

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Central Illinois was hit with a spring snowstorm Saturday, slowing some teams down or preventing teams from traveling to Bloomington for the Illinois Top Times Championships. Although there were snowflakes falling outside, inside the Shirk Center there were meet records falling left and right in the 30th edition of this meet.

Here are 10 moments that were the most memorable over the two-day meet.

1 - Carothers finally catches Little

The talk during Imani Carothers’ freshman year at Brooks College Prep in Chicago was that by the time she graduated, Carothers would be better than Shamier Little. We will leave that to the critics out there to decide. It has been a time that Carothers has been chasing in the hurdles. She finally caught that Saturday morning when she ran 8.54 in the preliminary heats in the 60-meter hurdles to surpass Little’s former meet record of 8.60.

“I’m so happy because I have worked so hard to get this,” Carothers said after her race. This was the fourth year in a row that the senior bound for the University of Georgia has won this event. She is the first athlete in the 30-year history of the meet to win four consecutive titles.  

2 - Marasco’s meet record in the girls 800 comes down to the final meters

It was expected that this race would come down to three of the top distances runners in the state. When the snowstorm prevented Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart from making it to the meet, there was something of a letdown with some of the fans in the Shirk Center. When the gun went off for the 3A girls 800 final, all that disappointment disappeared.

Evanston Township’s Enyaeva Michelin pushed the pace the first three laps of the race with Schaumburg’s Madison Marasco on her right shoulder. The pack quickly broke off after a 65-second opening 400 meters. The only runner that stayed with the two was Highland Park sophomore Stephanie Kriss. She was a surprise last spring when she ran 2:12 at Distance Night in Palatine. She was no surprise as she stuck with the lead pace.

Michelin and Marasco went through 600 meters in 1:38.3 with Kriss a stride back. Michelin would not give up the lead in the next 150 meters. Coming off the final curve, Marasco took matters into her own hands going into Lane 3 to pass Michelin for the win. Marasco in the process set a new meet record (2:11.44). Michelin was second (2:11.67) with Kriss third (2:11.83). It was the closest finish in that event in the meet’s history.

“I thought the pace was a little faster than last week,” Marasco said. “I just followed my strategy and kicked it in at the end.”

Michelin came back 60 minutes later to control the pace to win the 3A 1,600 with her fastest indoor time of the season (4:54.30).

3 - Consistency pays off for Bradford in pole vault record

Once the pole vault started late Saturday afternoon, all that Bloomington’s Zach Bradford could do was sit, relax and wait. Close to 90 minutes later and after Oswego’s Jared Middleton missed his final attempt at 16-1, it was time for Bradford to go to work.

It only took one attempt at his opening height of 16-7 to win the event. He had the bar raised to 17-2 where he set the meet record on his second attempt. He cleared 17-6.25 on the third attempt to re-break the record.  Three good attempts, but unsuccessful, at 18-0, and his night was over. It was not all about the competition but the process for him to get ready for future meets.

“I kept switching poles today on the lower heights warming up,” Bradford said. “I’m still getting used to the 16-1 pole and getting used to the timing with it.”

Bradford travels south this coming week to compete Friday and Saturday at the 91st Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.

4 - Meyer looking ahead after breaking meet shot put record

It seemed like fans/coaches were “let down” after the shot put competition. John Meyer seemed to be frustrated after his final attempt. Then again, Meyer set the meet record with a 68-0 put in the second round. His final four attempts were fouls. No one had hit or gone past that mark in Illinois before this season. Now Meyer has done it more than five times and we are just going into the outdoor schedule. Though frustrated, Meyer gave no excuses after the conclusion of the event.

“I was looking for another 70-footer today.  I threw 64-11 in the first round. I adjusted before my second throw. I was staying back more in the front. I was pulling my head up,” Meyer said. “I can’t complain about the ring. All you have to do is slow down. Anybody can throw in any kind of ring. It’s just the mental aspect of that.”

Meyer's next chance to return to 70-foot territory comes at Belleville West in two weeks.

5 - Ups and downs in 1A girls 60-meter dash

Bella Uscila of St. Edward entered the 1A competition Friday night with one of the top times in the state, regardless of classification, running 7.58 for 60 meters during the regular indoor season. She caught the meet’s attention in the first preliminary heat of that event when she ran 7.51 to set a new 1A meet record. Uscila just missed the meet record by just one-hundredth of a second. She had the fastest prelim time heading onto the finals by a whopping four-tenths.

Where there are ups, there will be downs. There was a down for the St. Edward senior.

Uscila got off to a great start and was on her way to the 1A title. At 40 meters, she grabbed her right hamstring and slowed down. She crossed the line and collapsed to the track in pain.

The runners had passed her and crossed the line and de-accelerated to the end of the track. They turned around, saw Uscila down, and ran back toward her to console their fellow competitor.

She finally got up with assistance, in tears.

That is what is so great about track. There is a fraternity/sorority of togetherness regardless of school that no other sport can understand. We hope that she returns to full health before the state series.

6 - Moore takes advantage of racing opportunity in 200 win

There was nothing that the Plainfield North boys team or their star sprinter Marcellus Moore could do. A spring snowstorm that had hit Central Illinois had slowed down teams getting to the meet. Plainfield North’s bus was 38 miles from the meet site when two trucks jackknifed blocking the entire road. There was nothing they could do. They sat in the same spot for more than three hours.

When they finally cleared the road, Plainfield North got to the meet just before the start of the prelims of the 60 dash. Moore was the defending champion in the event.

“There was no way that we were going to let him run,” Plainfield North Coach Tony Holler said. “There are bigger things ahead for him.”

There were bigger things in store for Moore in this meet. He led off Plainfield North’s relay with a 22.0 opening split and the lead. That is all that they needed as won the event in 1:31.57.

His race in the 200 was more memorable. Moore caught Hoffman Estates’ Declan Rustay by 120 meters. He pulled away down the stretch to finish in 21.61. He missed the meet record of Josh Eiker by three-hundredths. And he’s only a sophomore. Rustay finished in an impressive 22.22. Earlier, he had won the 60 (6.93).

“It was a long ride, but I had to keep my focus,” Moore said after his 200 win. “I just kept the goal in my head that I just wanted to compete. The team was great today. We were all on the same page. The handoffs were great.”

7 - Learning lessons in Furbeck’s 2A record long jump

The 2A girls long jump was loaded with three of the top 10 athletes in the nation competing. The action started in the second-round when Imani Carothers jumped 19-6.50 to set a new meet record.

That record only stood for five minutes.

Geneseo’s Erika Furbeck stepped to the runway. She had fouled in her opening attempt. Everything worked this time as she hit the board square on with a 19-8.50 jump to re-write the meet record.  That was enough to hold on for the win even though Serena Bolden of Springfield Southeast got hot at the end jumping 19-4.75 in the third and fourth rounds.

“I was mad at myself after the first attempt. With a field this good, I had to make good of every opportunity,” Furbeck said. “I just hit the board right.”

It did not go great for her in the final three jumps as she went in the low 18’s in the fourth and fifth round and fouled on her final attempt.

“I have a tendency of walking around in between jumps. It’s a nervous thing,” Furbeck added. “In a meet like this where there are six rounds, I need to do a better job to control that.”

Bolden came back in the triple jump to set a new 2A meet record with a 40-5.25 mark on her final attempt.

8 - Getting their kicks in the distance races

There were so many close finishes in the distance races in this two-day meet. Wyatt McIntyre of Athens waited for the right moment to pull away to win the 3,200 and 1,600 titles. “I have a new weapon, a new strategy,” McIntyre said. “It’s something that I have been working on.”

Rockford Christian’s Riley Wells has showed off his kick the past two years. He did again on Friday pulling away from Oregon’s Ian Hussung and Illini West’s Jacob Bryan to set a new 1A meet record in winning the 800 (1:55.71). He had the lead when he got the baton in the 4x400 relay, but that lead shrunk with Warrensburg-Latham getting closer. After the first 200 in 26.5, Wells cranked off a 25.2 final lap to seal the win for his team.

“It has nothing to do with the workouts that we do,” Rockford Christian Coach Randy Moore said.” That’s all him. He has so much heart when he is racing.”

The best moment of the meet “kicks” was at the end of the 2A 1,600. Dunlap’s Campbell Petersen was in fifth place entering the final lap. Two hundred meters later, Petersen snuck by teammate Franny Verville to win by less than a second.

Right after the race was over, Verville smiled shaking her head. “She did it to me again.”

9 - When you’re down, give the baton to Brandon Adams

Three weeks ago, at the Mustang Relays, Minooka’s Brandon Adams got the baton in third place for his anchor leg. He ran down the other teams with a 48.3 split to give his team the win.

History did repeat itself again Saturday night.

Adams got the baton again in third. He took the lead in the final 15 meters to give Minooka another big win in that relay. He split 48.6 on his leg. Earlier in the meet, Adams ran 49.80 to win the 400.

“It was a little embarrassing, but I twisted my ankle in PE yesterday. I wasn’t going to run today,” Adams said. “I believe in God. He told me to run. My coach (Nick Lundin) believes in me. When I get that baton, all I want to do is chase them down. I’m proud of my accomplishments and team’s accomplishments.”

10 – What do you do when you are stuck on a bus?

Minooka’s girls team was one of many team vehicles that were stuck on I-55 during Saturday’s snow storm. What do you do in a small contained area trying to stay focused for a meet?

“They started to work on relay exchanges,” Minooka girls coach Kevin Gummerson said. “They had fun passing the baton back and forth staying loose. It was fun to see."