Davis runs solo IL #1 3200; Owen, Tewes set their heights high in exciting High Jumps

By Michael Newman

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Bloomington, Ill --- If Friday nights action in the 1A is any indication on how the Saturday sessions will go at the Illinois top Times Championships, then let’s buckle up and get ready for a wild Saturday ride. Three 1A Meet records were broken along with a number of athletes with successful double wins.

The biggest double win of the night was the one by Anna Sophia Keller (St. Anthony HS, Effingham) in the 800 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run. This was two races that she wanted to try to win championships. “I really won’t get the chance to run a good 800 outdoors against these athletes,” Keller said. “Why not do it indoors where there is no wind.”

If did not look like Keller would be successful in this double. Well, if you just looked at the first 400 of the race then yes. She was in fourth two seconds behind race leader Aubrey Harrod (Hinckley-Big Rock HS) as they passed that first 400. In the next 200 meters, Keller pushed herself to the lead with Maraih Brodie (Illini West HS, Carthage) close behind as she approached the bell lap. Brodie tried making a move on Keller but the St. Anthony would not budge. In fact, she picked the pace up a little more. Brodie did not lose any ground in the final 100 nor did she lose any. Keller crossed the line in a personal best 2:15.95 (IL #3). Brodie was less than three seconds back in second (2:18.35, IL #7).

Keller 800 Splits – 34.6, 68.3 (34.1), 1:42.4 (34.1), 2:15.9 (33.5) – 68.3 / 67.6

There was no doubt who would win the Girls 1600 Meter Run when the gun went off. Keller shot to the lead immediately not wanting to mess around with any strategy. All she wanted to do was run fast. Daly Galloway (Dwight HS) was the only runner that dared to try to stay with Keller. That did not last long. By the time that Keller made it to the 800 in 2:28.9, Galloway was seven seconds behind. Two laps later, the lead had grown to eleven seconds.

On the third quarter of the race, it looked like Keller was struggling with the pace. It was an illusion. She continued to pump her arms quickening the pace as she shot around the track. Her final lap around the track was 34.7 seconds. Her finishing time was 4:52.15 breaking Katelyn Bassert’s meet record set nine years ago by two seconds. The time was a personal best for the multi state champion. Galloway finished

“Normally I see someone that goes out fast, today I just ran my normal pace,” Keller said. “It felt good. I had my fast strides. In the last 400, I felt like I had enough left in me. I thought I better let it all out now.”

Keller 1600 Splits – 36.6, 73.5, 1:51.4, 2:28.9 (75.4), 3:05.7, 3:43.4 (74.5), 4:17.4, 4:52.1 (68.7) – 2:28.9 / 2:23.2

Daly Galloway finished second (5:13.41) with a seasonal best by five seconds. Claudia Magnussen (Pana HS) finished third (5:17.48)

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There was no question that Jon Davis (Oakwood HS, Fithian) would win the Boys 3200 Meter Run. He wanted to answer the question in his mind if he could go under nine minutes in this race. It was something that he would have to do on his own since there was no one within 30 seconds in the seedtimes of him. The result was that Davis lapped the entire field on his way to shattering the meet record by almost 20 seconds crossing the line in 9:08.26 (IL #1).

“The good news today was that I felt good in the race,” Davis said afterwards. “The bad news was that I feel good right now.”

Adrenaline hit the Oakwood senior as soon as the gun went off. He shot to the lead covering the first 200 in a quick 31.1. It was a little faster than he wanted.  He calmed himself getting into the pace that he wanted mainly 33 and 34 second laps. He held that through the first mile of the race when he knew he would have to do all the work. His pace slowed down to 35 second laps but he spent most of his time running in lane two passing lapped runners. When he got to the final two laps, he needed to pass Tyler Johnson (Pleasant Plains HS) and Hunter Cobbley (El Paso-Gridley HS) who were currently in second and third to lap the field. Both runners would not let Davis by forcing him to pick up the pace even more. It was not a hindrance but something that benefited his final two laps in which he covered in 63.6 seconds.

“I know a sub nine will be coming to me soon. More like sooner than later,” Davis said. “I just wanted to settle in the pace after that first 200. I knew I was going to have to do all the work myself. It was tough to try to keep myself on pace and running in lane two lapping runners. I just tried to stay within myself.”

Johnson crossed the line in second (9:43.76) with an indoor personal best. Cobbley was next in third (9:46.19).

Davis 3200 splits – 31.1, 64.4, 1:39.5, 2:14.7 (70.3), 2:49.3, 3:23.6 (69.9), 3:58.2, 4:33.6 (70.0), 5:08.4, 5:44.3 (70.7), 6:20.1, 6:55.3 (71.0), 7:30.1, 8:04.6 (69.3), 8:37.6, 9:08.26 (63.6) – 4:33.6 / 4:34.6

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Both the Boys and Girls High Jump produced fireworks. When the bar was raised to 6-5 in the Boys competition, there were still six athletes still alive. Within a matter of minutes, that number shrunk down to one. Tyler Owen (Georgetown-Ridge Farm HS) was on a streak that high jumpers dream of. He could not miss. He had the bar raised to 6-11 ¼. He cleared that height on his first attempt breaking the 1A record of 6-11 set by Herrin’s Zach Riley seven years ago.

It was close in the Girls competition as Decatur St. Teresa freshman DaeLin Switzer and Hope Tewes (Pleasant Plains HS) had cleared 5-6. It was Tewes who was the last athlete standing as she cleared a personal best and a school record 5-7 to win the event.

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Highlights from the Boys Meet

There were three double winners on the Boys’ side of the meet. Kahlil Wassell (New Berlin HS) had the third fastest time heading into the final of the 60 Meter Dash, The story was different in the final as Wassell clipped Jeremiah Davis (Collins Academy, Chicago to win by one hundredth of a second (6.98 – 6.99). In the 400, Wassell was in Section 3 of the 4 section event. Wassell was struggling behind Deondre McNeal (Orr Academy, Chicago) heading into the last 100 of the race. Wassell passed McNeal on the curve, then held him off to cross the line first (52.02). Wassell had to watch the final section. Steven Gilstrap (Farmington HS) ran 52.08 to win the section, but finish second behind Wassell.

Jeremiah Davis did get his revenge in the 200 Meter Dash running 22.76 to win ahead of Wassell (22.98). Connor Icenogle (Williamsville HS) finished third (23.03).

Cody Landon (Carlinville HS) made it look easy winning both the 800 and the 1600 Meter Run. Landon hung back early in the 800 and slowly moved up front taking the lead just before the bell lap. David Plunkett (Pleasant Plains HS) tried to make a move but with no luck. Joseph Stone (Newton HS) tried to make a move for the lead on the final curve but this was Landon’s race. The Carlinville senior ran 2:00.95 to finish a half a second ahead of Stone (2:01.42). Plunkett was four hundredths of a second in third (2:01.46).

It helped Landon in the 1600 Meter Run that the pace went through the first 800 in 2:17.5. Landon hung behind Chris Ahlers (Newman Catholic HS, Sterling) just before the final lap. Nick Porter (Paxton-Buckley-Loda HS) tried to make to pass Landon on the right side but that did not happen. Landon glanced to the right, saw what was happening and took off. He crossed the line in 4:27.15 to complete his double. Porter finished second (4:28.83) just ahead of Ahlers (4:29.91).

Curtis Gordon Vandalia HS) was the final double winner in the Boys Meet. The junior ran a personal best 8.26 to win the race ahead of Bret Dannis (St. Bede HS, Peru). Gordon just missed the 1A meet record by two hundredths of a second. He went over to the Pole Vault to clear 15-0 to win his second event. Gordon’s teammate Ethan Meyer jumped a personal best 44-10 ¼ to win the Triple Jump one foot ahead of Anthony Hand (Illini Bluffs, Glasford) who jumped 43-5 ¼.

Nick Olson (Flanagan-Cornell HS) achieved a seasonal best of 54-1 ¾ to win the Shot Put ahead of the 52-7 put of second place Michael Ford (Rockford Christian Life HS). Kevin King (McNamara HS, Kankakee) dominated the Long Jump achieving a personal best (22-8 ¾, IL #6) more than a foot ahead of second place Brady Rude (Newman Catholic HS, Sterling).

The surprise in the Boys meet was the dominance of Dwight in the relays winning two of the three relays events. It started in the 3200 Meter Relay. Shelbyville and St. Joseph-Ogden continued to trade off the lead for the first three legs of the race. On the final 800 meters of the race, Dwight’s Michael Bennett came from fourth place to take the lead with less than 400 meters to go. His 1:57.9 anchor leg gave the Dwight quartet of Bennett, Blaine Livingston, Mike Malkowski, and Connor Livingston the win (8:15.44) six seconds ahead of Shelbyville (8:21.90) and St. Joseph-Ogden (8:22.98). “I thought we were going to run fast but not that fast,” Dwight Coach Larry Lane said after the race.

The Dwight magic came through in the 1600 Meter Relay. The same foursome won the opening section of the two section race (3:35.37). An exciting second section resulted in Paxton-Buckley-Loda winning their section (3:35.42) but falling short of Dwight by five hundredths of a second. Fulton used the same formula in the 800 Meter Relay winning the second of four sections (1:35.76) and then waiting for the final two races to see if they won. Decatur St. Teresa came the closest winning Section 3 a half second (1:36.25) of that of Fulton.

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Girls Meet Highlights

KD Young (Warrensburg Latham HS) had the lead when she had a 47-7 put on the first round of the Shot Put. She improved it in the third round when she went 48-4. That was more than enough to win her third straight 1A title in this meet. Abby Nicholson (Salt Fork – Jamaica HS) was the only other athlete over 40 feet as she finished second with a 42-0 ¼ put on her final attempt. Hanna Atwood (St. Joseph-Ogden HS) cleared 11-0 to win the Pole Vault ahead of the 10-6 clearance by Madi Quinn (Hall HS, SpringValley).

The horizontal jumps proved to follow the form charts. Pre-meet favorite McKendra Barthelme (Newton HS) jumped 17-8 ½ to win the event by five inches ahead of Jenny Kimbro (Salt Fork – Jamaica). Kimbro had a great day on the track running 8.84 in both her prelims and then in the finals (IL #1) to win the event by three tenths of a second ahead of Barthelme. Megan Reed (Cambridge HS) jumped a seasonal best 36-11 ¼ to win the Triple Jump more than a foot ahead of Argenta-Oreana’s Maddie Meyer (35-3 ¼).

Courtney Sockwell (Rockford Lutheran HS) dominated the 60 Meter Dash running a new 1A meet record 7.81 to win the event of 2015 event champion Mariah Woods (Seton Academy, South Holland). Woods time was 7.96. Sockwell ran a seasonal best (26.50) in the 200, but finished second behind event winner Erika Zimmerlein (Amboy HS) who ran 26.11 for the win.

Cherree Miller (Fairfield HS) came back from after finishing fourth in the 800 (2:21.22) to win the 400 Meter Dash (59.85) ahead of Bethany Wagenbach (Tremont HS, 1:00.65) and Hinckley Big Rock’s Aubrey Harrod (1:00.71).

Colleen Madden (Carlinville HS) pulled away from the pack just after the mile in the 3200 Meter Run. The Carlinville senior ran 11:30.75 for the win seventeen seconds ahead of Keri Burmester (Red Bud HS).

Springfield Lutheran continued their upward rise in the 1A distance ranks. A strong third leg by Brigid Tournoux put her team in an insurmountable advantage. The team ran a seasonal best 10:04.33 to win ahead of Deer Creek Mackinaw (10:08.23). A strong 2:21 anchor by Arielle Summit brought Urbana University from seventh when she received the baton to third (10:11.01) just ahead of Knoxville (10:11.58).

It looked like Luther North would win the 800 Meter Relay after winning the final section. An exchange zone violation disqualified them giving the win to Mercer County (1:49.53). Clifton Central missed the record in the 1600 Meter Relay by two seconds but did win the race (4:09.81) two seconds ahead of St. Joseph-Ogden (4:11.81).