Lincoln-Way Central Boys and Girls Make Statements With 4x800 Wins; Reynolds Wins Shot Put On Final Attempt; Atkins Monster Effort In Shot Put; Jenke Runs State Best Time In 800; Raglin Fastest Of The Day In 60-Meter Dash

By Michael Newman of DyeStat

Kevin Dorsey PHOTOS

Bloomington, Ill – It did not matter who was entered in the Boys 4x800 Meter Relay for Lincoln-Way Central’s quartet. “We did not care who was on the starting line with us,: senior leader and anchor man Braden Hoff. “All we wanted to do on this day was make a statement.”

The Knights did that on Saturday afternoon in the 3A session of the Illinois Top Times Championships running 7:54.34 to win the race and have the fastest time at Shirk Center and the fastest time on this day in the state. Their time also established a new meet record. The old record was set by Schaumburg of 7:56.2 in 1990.

It was one of the many exciting things that happened in the second of two days of this championship. Meet management confirmed that this was the largest crowd in the meet’s history to attend the Illinois Top Times State Championships in this venue.

Meet Results | Meet Videos

“Our goal today was setting a new meet record,” said relay member Kyle Friedl. They accomplished that. Belvidere North claimed the lead until Jack Galminas made the pass on the final lap of the second leg. Bryce Counihan and Braden Hoff extended the lead meaning it was “Knight-Knight” for the rest of the field. Belvidere North came back by a strong anchor leg from Jesse Kramer to finish second (7:58.92). Chatham-Glenwood (8:01.28) and Edwardsville (8:02.31) were also close finishing third and fourth.

Lincoln-Way Central’s Girls team set the table for the Boys team with an impressive win in the Girls race. The Knights took the lead at the end of the second leg with a strong runs by Ava Dughetti and Mia Forsyth who took the lead ahead of Lockport and Minooka. The 2:19.6 leg from Keira Faxel extended that lead. Another 2:19 split from Jillian Davies gave her team the win (9:26.04). Lockport made a charge at the end to run 9:28.79 to finish second. Washington, who was one of the last entries in this event, improved their seasonal best by 24 seconds running 9:35.95 to place third ahead of St. Charles North (9:38.92) and Minooka (9:40.70). Lemont got better as this season progressed indoors and it showed again on Saturday running 9:42.90 to place sixth.

“We won’t worried about the rankings today,” said all-state 800 runner Mia Forsyth. “We just wanted to come to this meet and show everyone what we got…and we did that.”

Reynolds closes the Girls Shot Put with repeat win

Marco Reynolds of Normal Community was moving around the sideline during the sixth round of the Girls Shot Put. She was the defending meet champion in this event and the top seed heading into the meet. Her best of the day came in the opening round when she had a put of 41-7 placed her in second. Joi Story of Edwardsville opened with a 42-00.50 best in the opening round taking the lead. She fouled on four of her next five attempts.

 “I told my coach before my final attempt I had to go out with a bang,” Reynolds said afterwards. “That was my first time in that situation. I think I might have to do that now even more.”

Reynolds stepped into the ring not showing any nerves and unleashed a 42-8 put to overtake Story and claim her second straight win in this meet. Story finished second overall in this event ahead of Courtney Clabough of Yorkville (39-0.25) and Ashley Wrublik of Lemont (38-11.50).

Expectations in the Boys Shot Put were fulfilled with four of the top five athletes ranked in the event ready to compete inside of the Shirk Center. Four of the top five finishers in the event achieved new personal bests.

Joe Atkins of Washington did not have the start as he was in 12th place after the first round. He moved up to take the lead in the fourth round with a 60-0.25 best. He dropped to second in the fifth round as Logan Ferrell of Hersey dropped a personal best of 60-7.25 to take the lead. Atkins followed in his final attempt of 61-1.50 to capture the win. Ferrell, with his personal best placed second. Devin Habermehl of Collinsville achieved a personal best of 57-0.25 to finish third ahead of Michael Kpomassy of East Moline United (55-9) and Rodrigo Gonzalez of Lake Park (55-2.75).

Jenke runs state’s fastest indoor time in Girls 800 Meter Run win

Keira Jenke of Benet Academy found her legs at the end of the indoor season ending this part of her season running a pair of personal bests. Jenke and Emma Berres of Naperville North provided the capacity crowd at the Shirk Center with one of the top races of the meet.

Berres likes to command the race pace from the start and displayed this in this race with Berres and Jenke at 66 seconds. Berres had three tenths of a second lead passing the bell lap at 1:38.7. Berres held that lead coming into the final straight where here legs wobbled just as Jenke passed her to win the race.

“I really did not care what I ran today. It mattered about racing against this great competition,” Jenke said. “Emma (Berres) was really working this pace today; She is an incredible runner. I felt good coming in. I talked to Emma before the race, and we knew we would be one and two. I’m really excited about this race.”

Jenke’s winning time of 2:12.78 was the fastest time indoors this year in the state. Berres ran a fantastic race earning a season best and sixth in the state at 2:13.96. Gwen Hobson of St. Charles North (2:17.19) and Mackenzie Gilbert of Glenbard West (2:17.44) led the pack finishing third and fourth.

Sprint / Hurdles Highlights

Rayla Raglin of Alton came into Illinois Top Times as one of the race favorites in the Girls 60 Meter Dash. The junior set the standard in the prelims leading qualifiers with a 7.51 time with Nina Brown of Champaign Centennial next at 7.77. The two runners repeated those finishes in the finals. Raglin ran the fastest time in the state on this day with an electrifying 7.48 for the championship win. Brown ran a personal best of 7.69 in placing second.

Sophomore Cody Muhlbauer of Normal West stepped into the Class 3A sprint spotlight in winning the Boys 60 Meter Dash, Muhlbauer got out of the blocks first on his way to running a season’s best of 6.85 for the championship win. Colton Ladage of Chatham-Glenwood ran 6.92 for a personal best and a second-place finish. Justin Johnson of Evanston Township ran 6.98 finishing third.

Kyla Motley of Shepard had a busy Saturday winning two events. She switched back and forth from the hurdle prelims and the Long Jump. Moxley had the fourth fastest time (9.22) in the hurdles prelims. Sophia Shapiro of Edwardsville led all qualifiers running 8.94. Motley responded in the finals getting off to a great start from the finals. Moxley’s winning time of 8.83 finished just ahead of Shapiro (8.89), and Sophia Dalrymple of Wheaton North (9.08). Janardie Turner of Rockford Jefferson ran 8.15 to win the Boys 60 Meter Hurdles. Adrian Cooper of Moline (8.24) and Michael Mavec of Normal Community and Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East (8.28) finished second through fourth.

Motley controlled the long jump from start to finish. Her first jump of 18-18.75 put her in the lead. She had three of the five longest jumps in the competition with her best being 19-3.25 for the win. Tamryn Farmer of Crete-Monee jumped 18-9 to achieve a personal best and finishing second ahead of Gabi Karvelis of Neuqua Valley (18-6.50).

Lena Schultz of Niles West took the lead on the final curve to run 59.04 to win the Girls 400 Meter Dash finishing ahead of Elizabeth Wende of Batavia (59.04) and Gabrielle Brown of Benet Academy (59.73). Bruce Thomas III of Bolingbrook dipped under 50 seconds for the second time in as many meets on a flat track. Thomas III was timed at 49.96 to win the Boys 400 Meter Dash ahead of Springfield’s Deandre Brown (50.17) and Dallas Amos of Evanston Township (50.30).

Nina Brown dipped under 25 seconds in the Girls 200 Meter Dash timed in 24.93 to capture the championship. Raya Raglin ran 25.21 to place second with Iye Adaramola of Chatham-Glenwood and Olivia Stewart (25.88) finishing third and fourth. D’Mario Jackson of Danville ran 22.41 winning the Boys 200 Meter Dash. Justin Johnson ran 22.54 to place second.

Brown second win of the day came as she was part of Champaign Centennial’s quartet that ran 1:45.56 to win the girls 4x200. Edwardsville (1:46.95) and Champaign Central (1:47.72) finished second and third. Chatham-Glenwood claimed the Boys 4x200 (1:31.66) finishing ahead of Belleville East (1:32.48) and Kaneland (1:32.74).

Lockport Township ran 4:02.91 to hold off Batavia (4:03.59) to win the Girls 4x400 Meter Relay. Naperville North (4:07.10) and St. Charles North (4:07.30) placed third and fourth. Bolingbrook, led by Bruce Thomas III split of 48.73, came from behind to win the boys 4x400. Springfield (3:27.29) and Evanston Township (3:28.61) finished second and third.

Distance Events Highlights

Amelie Ojeda of Willowbrook pushed the pace early in the Girls 3200 Meter Run pushing past 800 in 2:31 and then 1600 meters in 5:22. By that point, Delilah Helenhouse of Benet Academy and Madeline Bialko of Hersey had caught up to the lead and passed her 50 meters later. Helenhouse took the lead, then Bialko entering the final 400-meters of the race. Bialko closed with a 37 second final lap to run 10:51.33 to claim the win. Helenhouse ran 10:56.83 to finish second followed by Elizabeth Hall of Neuqua Valley (11:02.00) and Ojeda (11:03.92). Lily Baibak of Waubonsie Valley moved from seventh to fifth in the final two laps to run 11:08.52.

Santago Chavez of Reavis made lemonade out of the lemons he gave himself in the Boys 3200 Meter Run. He arrived at the Shirk Center 10 minutes before the race not having time to get his meet packet with his bib and just checked in to the clerk as the rest of the competitors headed to the track instead of having his number spelled out in hip stickers. The sophomore did not get a chance to warm up.

Chavez held on to stay with the pack led by Evan Nosek of Kaneland and Bryant Lester of Vernon Hills who passed 1600 meters in 4:42. Chavez took the lead with four laps left leaving the pack in 7:08 at 2400 meters. Two laps later, he had a six second lead. The Reavis sophomore ran 9:26.61 to win the race. Brady Faulkner of Hoffman Estates ran 9:30.37 to finish second ahead of Jackie Clark of Crystal Lake Central (9:31.65) and Hugh Davis of Edwardsville (9:31.88).

Normal Community showed their 800m strength as the Ironmen took the top two places in the 800 Meter Run. Bo Breed of Oswego controlled the lead for the first 500-meters of the race before Normal’s Drew Patterson and AJ Ince took over. The two teammates came in together at 1:56.74 and Ince at 1:56.87 placing first and second. Breed ran 1:57.67 to finish third. Ben Gorsage of Washington, who won the first section in 1:58.11, finished fourth overall.

Both 1,600 meters races were dynamically fantastic. The girls race caught the fans attention inside of the Shirk Center. Ali Londrigan of Chatham-Glenwood took the lead at 600-meters and held the lead the next two laps passing 800-meters at 2:31. Maya Ledesma of Minooka, Alexa Novak of Glenbard West, and Keira Jenke all stayed close to Londrigan with three laps left in the race. Jenke, who had raced 45 minutes earlier winning the 800, took the lead with two laps left at 3:49 as Ledesma and Novak passed Londrigan. Jenke had the lead into the final lap with Jenke and Novak waiting to the final curve to make their move.

Ledesma moved into the second lane to make a pass one that Jenke refused her to pass. Novak was in the third lane and lost her advantage. Just before the finish Ledema snuck into the inside to claim the title (5:00.89) by just six hundredths ahead of Jenke (5:00.95 and Novak (5:01,62). Londrigan also finished with a strong time at 5:05.86 to finish fourth.

It was Jesse Kramer of Belvidere North, who was the top seed in this field and had earlier run on his team’s 4x800 relay, the runner to watch in this race. Kramer went wire-to-wire to win the Boys 1600 Meter Run. Kramer and Santiago Chavez, who had earlier won the 3200 Meter, the runners to run the pack through a 2:12 opening 800. It was Kramer that pulled away after that passing 1200-meters with a 65 499 and 3:17 with two laps to go. His lead was over second ahead of a charging Caleb Mathias of Champaign Central who was closing fast on the senior. Kramer closed in a 63,3 on the final two laps timed in 4:21.47 for the win. Braden Hoff of Lincoln-Way Central ran 61.9 on his final two laps to run 4:22.49 in finishing second. Joey Yaros of Normal Community (4:23.43), Mathias (4:23.86), and Chavez (4:26.25 finished in the top five.

Field Events Highlights

Eva Bach of Lake Park was nearly flawless in the Girls Pole Vault. She made her first three heights on her opening attempt including 12-3.50 which won the event. Bach had the bar raised to 13-0.25 where she cleared on her second attempt. It was the first time she had cleared 13-0 or higher in her career. Reese Wolfe of Chatham-Glenwood and Yane Jansen Van Rensburg of Barrington both cleared 11-9.75 and tied for second.

It was a freshman that was acting like a senior that won the Boys Pole Vault. Parker Owens of Edwardsville cleared 15-1 on his final attempt to win the state title. He came in at 14-3.25 and clearing on his first try, He also cleared 14-9 on his first attempt. Evan Lagana of St. Charles East cleared 14-9 to finish second.

Kaylee Meyer of Schaumburg had a great indoor season finishing it by tying for the New Balance Nationals Indoor and last week at the MSL Indoor Met. Saturday she added one more title by winning the Girls High Jump clearing 5-7 for the Illinois Top Times Championship. Meyer was clean in her attempts clearing on her heights on her first attempt including her opening attempt. She missed on all three attempts, which were good, at 5-9.25. Samantha Yuh of Dunlap cleared 5-5.75 in finishing second clearing 5-5.75. Voldy Makabu of Champaign Centennial cleared 6-6.75 on his final attempt to win the Boys High Jump. Devyon Hill Lomax of Edwardsville, and JJ Lewandoski of Champaign Centennial both cleared 6-5.5 to finish second and third.

Joshua Hill of Crete-Monne fouled on his first two attempts, then hit a 23-2.75 jump in the third round to win the Boys Long Jump. Larry Wills of Chatham-Glenwood jumped a personal best of 22-11 in the opening round to take the early lead before Hill’s jump. Wills had a good series in this competition jumping over 22 feet on four of his six attempts.

Hill was also a part of the Triple Jump where lightning struck twice on the same runway as the Long Jump when Hill took the lead again in the third round with a 46-2.50 effort. He had the lead until the sixth round when David Nkwogu of Thornton Fractional South jumped 46-9 on his final attempt to win the Boys Top Times Championship title. Icone Logo of East Moline United had a 45-10.5 best to finish third.

Gabi Karvelis of Neuqua Valley fouled on her first two attempts. Her third-round attempt of 38-1.5 won the Girls Triple Jump. Her consistency showed on her four final tries jumping between 37-11.50 and 38-1.50. Veronica Walkosz of Lockport Township jumped 37-7.5 to finish second while Mackenzie Fodrey of Glenbard East jumped 37-5.25 to finish third.