By Michael Newman

 

It was tough to put out a Newms Notes last week with everything that was happening in Boston and throughout Illinois with this crazy spring weather.

 

There are a few things that happened that we will look at in this week’s blog. So let’s get started.

 

Mid-week updates

Last Friday at the Buzz Bradley Invitational at Sparta, Kyle Landon (Chester HS, Chester) started his outdoor season by only clearing 6-0 in less than optimal conditions in the High Jump. Area rival Justin Kretchmer (Waterloo HS, Waterloo) won the event clearing 6-6. The two would meet four days later at the Monroe-Randolph Bi County Meet at Columbia. The heights cleared at this meet would be higher…much higher. Landon became the first athlete in Illinois to go over 7 feet by clearing 7-2 at this meet on Tuesday. His performance is currently #3 in the nation. Kretchmer ONLY cleared 6-11. A great jump. The two will not face each other at state in one month. Landon will be the favorite in 1A> Kretchmer will be challenged by Alex King (Massac County HS, Metropolis) in 2A.

 

Brendan Duncan (Waterloo HS, Waterloo) also took advantage of the season conditions at the Bi-County meet. His Shot Put of 61-8 won the event and placed him #2 in the state…also #6 nationally.

 

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Sarah Bell (Bloomington Central Catholic HS, Bloomington) cleared 13 feet outdoors for the first time this season clearing 13-1 at the InterCity Championships at Bloomington. That performance currently places her #6 in the United States.

 

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Chanday Crawford (Southeast HS, Springfield) was hampered by injuries slowing her down during the indoor season. She looks to be back on track after some fast times Wednesday at the Springfield Girls City Championships. She won both short dashes (100-12.49, 200-25.86) along with being part of her schools winning 4x1 and 4x2 relays.

 

Mid Suburban League Divisional Championships

The weather pushed the meet from Tuesday to Wednesday, but that did not seem to bother most of the athletes competing as some great performances were achieved.

 

At the MSL-East Boys meet at Prospect, the host Knights repeated as the division championship behind the multiple wins of Dave Kendrieza and Quentin Schaffer. Kendrieza captured both the horizontal jumps winning the Long (22-5 ½) and the Triple Jumps (43-8). On the track, he was sizzling winning the 110 High Hurdles (14.1) and 300 Meter Intermediates (37.9). Both races were hand timed.

 

Schaffer used the kicking strategy looking forward to the Wanner-Knights Invitational this Friday. He kicked down two Hersey runners to win both the 3200 and 1600 Meter Run. He was able to move ahead of Andy Philipose to win the 3200 (9:42.0 – 9:42.8). Schafer did come back to run down Jack O’Neil to win the 1600 (4:26.1-4:26.9). Prospect also captured the 4x8 relay over Hersey winning in 8:07.4.

 

Prospect also captured the Girls crown at the meet held at Buffalo Grove by over 60 points to Hersey. There were two multiple winners in the meet in the individual events. Morgan Keller (Rolling Meadows HS, Rolling Meadows) won both the Shot Put (41-6 ½) and the Discus (128-7). Sydney Keith (Wheeling HS, Wheeling) won both the 100 (12.6) and the 200 (26.2) along with being a part of the winning 4 x 1 relay for Wheeling.

 

Host Palatine held an 8 point lead over cross town rival Fremd heading into the final two events at the MSL-West Boys meet. A 3-4 finish in the 200 Meter Dash by Jake & Kyle Lewis and a win the 4 x 400 Meter Relay gave Fremd the repeat win in this divisional meet.

 

The distances were in the spotlight in this meet. Palatine held on to win in the 4 x 800 Meter Relay (8:09.61) over Barrington. Christian Zambrano (Palatine HS, Palatine) won the 3200 Meter Run on his home track moving away from Ryan Burgoon (Barrington HS, Barrington) in the latter stages of the race for the win (9:36.22-9:39.01). Zambrano was not as lucky in the 1600 Meter Run as sophomore Konrad Eiring (Barrington HS, Barrington) sprinted by in the last 50 meters for the victory (4:22.30-4:22.71). Barrington also received another distance win by David Cerney in the 800 Meter Run. The Barrington exchange student won (1:57.71) the race by over a second over Conant Super Soph Zach Dale.

 

Palatine repeated in the girls meet held at Hoffman Estates winning by 70 points over Barrington. Banki Oginni (Hoffman Estates HS, Hoffman Estates) was a double winner in the Shot Put (45-1) and the Discus (106-10). Perhaps the most competitive race of the evening was the 1600 Meter Run. The first five places were separated by less than four seconds. Ali Gutt (Schaumburg HS, Schaumburg) came away with the win (5:13.4) over Liz Cox (Palatine HS, Palatine) and Megan Biddle (Hoffman Estates HS, Hoffman Estates). Biddle had earlier won the 3200 Meter Run (11:15.7).

 

Update on Jessica Jump

The last time we saw Jessica Jump (Metro-East Lutheran HS, Edwardsville) she was in extreme pain after winning the 200 Meter Dash at the Illinois Top Times Championships in Bloomington. Recovery of her injured hamstring has been coming along smoothly according to her coach Dave Redden. In a meet on Monday, she raced out of the blocks for the first time in the 100 Meter Dash with a 12.4 time. She used a stand up start in the 200 (28.0) and the 400 (60.4) along with anchoring the 4x4 Relay.

 

“The blocks still hurt a little but she is getting stronger,” said Redden. Jump also decided on where she will be going to college committing to SIU-Carbondale.

 

No respect

How much respect do the running programs within Chicago get? They are getting more and more throughout the state, but not from the administration of the Chicago Public Schools and especially in the sports administration.

 

“After we won the state championship last fall, we received acknowledgement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett,” said Andrew Adelmann coach of the 2A state champion boys cross country team. “We have never received any acknowledgement from anyone from the CPS Sports Administration.” In actuality, Lavertis Robinson, who is the CPS director of Cross Country, never said anything to Adelmann and Jones College Prep Cross Country team. Neither did Calvin Davis, the old director of the CPS. Thomas Smith, who is the head sports administrator of the CPS did congratulate Adelman before the start of the track season.

 

It has been a little different for the two basketball teams Morgan Park and Simeon who won the 3A & 4A team titles in the state. Thomas Smith was at the basketball championships in Peoria.  I never saw Robinson or Davis at Detweiller Park in November. From reports that I have read and various tweets from team members of the two squads, the players have already been sized for their championships rings. The same cannot be said for the Jones College Prep athletes or at least the process did not go as swiftly for this program. Davis promised Adelman and his team that they would get sized for and get their rings. That still has not happened.

 

There has been equality within Boys and Girls sports, but when it comes to Chicago sports, basketball is king in the public league. It should not be that way. When a school wins a state championship, should the same treatment be made for the athletes? Of course it should. Considering that it was the CPS’ first cross country championship in almost 50 years, more of a deal should have been made within the CPS sports administration. But for the time being within the CPS sports administration, ignorance has prevailed…again.

 

A sneak peek

I know it is the end of April, but I had to take a quick look at what cross country in the fall of 2013 in Class 3A. O’Fallon finished second last year behind York. Their runners have improved dramatically this outdoor season. Patrick Perrier has run under 9:10 this spring and will be the runner to watch this fall in the state. Dustan Davidson, only a freshman, has run 1:57 and 4:32 this track season. Throw in Adam Becker, who did not run in the top 7 last fall, ran 9:46 last week at the Winston Brown Invitational. Could be that O’Fallon will be the pre-season #1?

 

On the girl’s side, Naperville North right now looks like the team to beat. They got a little bit stronger with the addition of freshman Emory Griffin, who has run 2:18 and 5:14 this outdoor season. Griffin did not run at Naperville North during cross country. She did run cross country but at Central Bucks West HS in Pennsylvania where she finished 21^st in the state’s 3A meet. She was also the first runner on her team. The rich get richer from this out of state transfer.

 

And finally…this weekend…

It looks like the weather will be good for this weekend. Thank goodness!

 

This weekend is the kickoff weekend of some great meets that will move us closer to the state meets in a couple of weeks at Charleston.

 

The biggest girl’s meet of the weekend is the 36^th annual Tiger Invitational at Wheaton-Warrenville South HS in Wheaton. Some of the top athletes in the state will gather guarantying that the performances will be fast. Last year, 12 runners finished within 10 seconds of each other. Courtney Clayton (Hononegah HS, Rockton) will be competing along with Madeline Perez (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn), Hope Schmelzle & McKenna Kiple (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Wheaton) and Emma Fisher (York HS, Elmhurst) leading a strong field in the distance events.

 

New Trier Girls Invitational will be one of the top girl’s meets on Saturday. Courtney Ackerman (New Trier HS, Winnetka) will be the one runner to watch in this meet.

 

The Palatine Relays, one of the oldest relay meets in the nation, will have some great competition on both the Boys and Girls Meet. One runner to watch on the Girls side is Brenna Detra (Richwoods HS, Peoria) who is one of the top multi-event athletes in the state.

 

The top Boys meet on Friday is the Wanner Knights Invitational at Prospect HS. The distance races are usually in the spotlight at this meet and this year will be no exception.  The big race should be the 1600 Meter Run. Jack Keelan (St. Ignatius Prep, Chicago), Jamison Dale (Jones College Prep, Chicago), and Quentin Schaffer (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect) will be three of the top 3 runners in this event. Looking at the fitness level that Keelan exhibited last week when he ran 4:15 in snowy conditions on his home track, it would not surprise me if Keelan flirts with 4:10 in this race. We could have4-5 runners that dip under 4:20.

 

The 4 x 800 Relay could be better. Lane Tech, the defending 3A champ, is back and sport a strong quartet led by Marcelo Burbano. Lyons Township, led by Alex Lima, York, led by Alex Bashqawi, Hinsdale Central, St. Ignatius, and Springfield will be five teams that will chase Lane. Keep a close eye on Barrington, they did not run their full squad at MSL-West yet run 8:10. Add David Cerney and Ryan Burgoon in this four and they could challenge. Also watch for Prospect. This host school points for this race every year.

 

The Pete Struck Eagle Classic at Sandburg tonight will feature a great 1600 with Zach Smith (Downers Grove North HS, Downers Grove), Pat McMahon (Sandburg HS, Orland Park), and Kyle Hauser (Marist HS, Chicago) leading the way. If the pace is right, we could see sub 4:20 in this race.

 

Great meets on Saturday are headed by the Jim Arnold Classic at Glenbard West. Wheaton North and Lake Park are two of the top teams at this meet led by Lake Park’s superb group of field event athletes. Oak Park-River Forest has a strong spring squad that is looking to pop some fast times.

 

The Red Ribbon Classic at Waubonsie Valleyshould see some great races with Neuqua Valley, Minooka, Thornwood, and Wheaton-Warrenville South heading a strong field.

 

To see the full list of meet throughout Illinois, click here

 

Good luck this weekend to all. Hope we see some fantastic performances throughout the state (and in Kentucky and Missouri) the next couple of days.

 

Stay safe…hopefully we can all grab some Vitamin D from the sunshine that we hope to get

msn