By Michael Newman

When you go to as many meets as I do, events kind of blend into each other. But there are moments that when time stands still. This past Saturday was one of those occasions. I had been at the WSC-Silver Boys Meet at Proviso West (more on that in a little) and I returned home to write my recap, load the results and try to get some sleep. I checked my e-mail at 12:01 AM on Saturday and got the results from York and the Girls WSC Silver meet. I was curious to see how Fisher and Perez had run.

I saw the time and I start kicking myself…I should have been there.

Thus started a Saturday that I will remember. Each result that I received Saturday night seemed to come in slow motion. One great performance after another. I wish I had an answer of why some many great performances. Were the stars and the moons lined up perfectly to make what happened in track in Illinois so?

So it’s time to reflect on the little things from the last week that make track & field so special.

Breaking news!

Just as I was ready to go to sleep last night, I received an e-mail about the exploits of Sarah Bell (Bloomington Central Catholic HS, Bloomington). Last night at the Clinton Last Chance Meet at the Shirk Center, Bell achieved a new all time indoor best in the state in the Pole Vault when she cleared 13-2.

She will get to compete on her “home” runway and pit this Saturday for one last time at the Illinois Top Times Championship. Get there early on Saturday. You will not want to miss her going after another new state record.

Fantastic freshman

The focus in the past few months has been on girls distance running in the state and the amazing times that are on the leaderboard. New Trier Coach John Burnside had mentioned to me at a meet last September that the times were so good because of the great senior class that Illinois has.

Well maybe we should look ahead to three years when we may see another year like this. The class of 2016 is already making their names known in distances in the state.

I think we have already talked about Skyler Bollinger (Yorkville HS, Yorkville) who is the top runner in the class. Who can argue with running 10:36 and 5:10 especially as a freshman?

If you look at the listings in the 1600 Meter Run for the state, you will find five freshmen within the first 20. Usually if you see two in the top 20, it is cause for suspicion. There is no suspicion with these runners.

As of now, Bollinger is not the fastest 1600 freshman runner (as of now). That honor belongs to Kaitlyn Ko (Buffalo Grove HS, Buffalo Grove) who ran 5:09.74 at the MSL Indoor. Right behind her in that race was Meagan Biddle (Hoffman Estates HS, Hoffman Estates) who has surprised some with running 5:14.42 at the same meet. The next runner in the sub 11 club could be Lindsay Graham (Glenbard East, Lombard). At the DVC meet, she negative split her way to an 11:02 3200 and then came back to run 5:12.47 in the 1600. Adrienne Brauer (PORTA HS, Petersburg) is currently ranked #20 in the 1600 running 5:15.11. She is going to be the future of 2A distance running on the track. Grace Maletich (Downers Grove North HS, Downers Grove) and Meagan McNicholas (Rochester HS, Rochester) are two runners that I would keep an eye on as well.

It’s just going to get faster in the distances if these runners have a say in that.

Another freshman to watch

Hannah Cohn (St. Ignatius Prep, Chicago) is not a name that you know in the sprint heavy Illinois world of Aailyah Brown, Shamier Little, and Charday Crawford. But if she keeps performing like she did at the GCAC Indoor Championships in Chicago last Sunday, she will turn more than a couple of heads. She is ranked in the top twenty in the state in all of the three sprint races. No other freshman in the state can say that.

One reason to watch her and the potential that she has is the 400 that she ran at GCAC. She finished in 59.92 which is currently ranked #20. She was only a couple of tenths off of the meet record set by Regina George , the all-state runner from St. Gregory and now 13 time All-American at the University of Arkansas.

“If you get close to a record to Regina George and you are only a freshman, that has to be something,” said St. Ignatius Coach Erin Luby. When asked if she will be doing that kind of triple again for the state series, I received the answer that I expected from Luby. “It’s too early to tell,” she said. “We have a good 4 x 2 squad. We will see how the season progresses on what she will run.”

Don’t Finish the Race without it

One of the things that I saw at the many meets that I was at this weekend was in a relay. I won’t mention the names or the schools or the meet. It would not be right.

There was a battle as the two runners headed to the finish. Either of the runners could have won. About ten meters from the finish, runner “A”  lost the baton and it fell to the track. Both runners finished but Runner “A” finished without a baton. Under the rules, Runner “A” was not finished because he did not cross the finish line with it.  The assistant starter stood by the baton on the ground waiting for the runner to come back. He did but another team had finished in the process.

It was just something that happened. No fault what so ever. It was just a learning moment for the younger athletes that were watching the race: Always have the baton in your hand when you cross the finish line.

Yes…I did get in

As a writer, the last thing that you want to be is the center of attention. I prefer just to lurk near the finish line and find my story and interview throughout the meet. It works better that way. When I was at Proviso West and the WSC-Silver Meet, I must have received 40 comments in the line of “So they let you in?”

At the end of the February, I wrote a piece that appeared in Illinois Prep Harrier where I criticized Proviso West and their track Coach Terrell Henderson about how the meet was run. The big part was at the end of the meet. I am not going to rehash that again.

Friday was breath of fresh air. The meet ran smoothly. It actually ended fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Coach Henderson was on the track for most of the meet helping out with the running of the events. It was 180 degree turn from what had happened three weeks before. I talked to a Proviso West official who wished to remain anonymous and said that it was an emphasis by the school that this meet was run off with no problems. Meeting after meeting went on to address what had happened.

You did a great job last Friday Coach Henderson and the entire Proviso West team and staff. I can’t wait to attend another indoor meet at Proviso West next winter.

And finally…

This week traditionally for me has been called “Hell Week”. It was the week before the IPTT Classic for which I had a part of running the meet. Most of the pressure went to Bob Geiger, who would spend the majority of his time getting it ready to go. That is what a meet director does. I would be going crazy making sure that all results were input immediately so that we had the right athletes in. I would also have to go back and confirm performances compared to the times that the coaches entered. Thank goodness for TFX.

That was not the case this year. A group of gentlemen from Central Illinois have taken on the challenge of putting on the meet this year. I know the work that Randy Anderson, Roland Brent, Dan Andrews, and Marchan Adkins have put in. For the first time in many years, I could spend this last weekend covering the sport and not worrying about the meet. When I saw Bob Geiger at the MSL meet that he was timing, he was also looking for the quiet week.

Perhaps the biggest area for criticism by some has been that there was no entry standards for the meet. I know I have received phone calls from coaches that have been critical of the process. No names. Not worth that. I was worried in a way with the process as well. But I was not part of the meet and I would let these gentleman deal with the running of it. It was one of those things that I was anxious to see how it turned out hoping that the light at the end of the tunnel was something good and not a freight train.

When this meet started, the entries were based on the top runners. No entry standards. The guys that set it up this year did it that way. It is tough for people to accept change since you are used to a way that things are run. This was the case here for some.

The first thing this morning that I did after reading my devotionals was look at their meet page and the athletes that had confirmed to participate. I am starting to get excited. ITT has done a great job in getting quality fields together. It will be fun to go down there and watch this meet.

I was also looking forward to watching Grant Nykaza run that 3200 at the Mustang Relays a few weeks ago. He ran a good time but I was not happy that it was run the way it was in the meet. I was critical of that. I was not going to ignore the fact of that by wearing blinders. Yet, a few people blasted me privately for changing my mind. They could not understand why I would do that. It is good to investigate why things do not work. It makes us grow on how we do them in the future.

I am keeping an open mind on when I travel to Bloomington to cover this meet. I always do that for a meet. Being that I am on the outside looking in for the first time in a long time, it will give me a different perspective on how I cover the meet. I always look for the positive. There are always negative aspects of running a meet, but let us hope the good far outweighs the negative.

So that is what I ask all of you that have been critical of this meet to do. Let’s keep an open mind. The meet might not be your cup of tea. Some are ready to move forward to the outdoor season and this meet does not fall into their plans. But let’s not be negative about this event because of what has happened in the past or the changes that were made for this meet this weekend. The main thing is that this meet ends on Saturday night positively for those running, jumping, throwing, coaching or watching it.

No tornados…no thunderstorms…just sunshine. Does that make sense?

Have a good week everyone!

msn