By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Hey gang! I first want to apologize to you all about not having a Monday Morning Finish Line last Monday. When I returned from Bloomington and the Top Times meet last Saturday night, my throat was not doing that great. After all, we did get some great interviews from some great athletes. You can check all of those out on the DyeStat Illinois video home page.

My Sunday was horrible. My voice was gone by noon. It did come back by Monday afternoon but it still hurt. At that point, I made a decision to not do it. It was not an April Fools’ joke or anything like that. I did not want to push it back at all.

So, you will see it back at its regular place on Monday Morning. I have paid “rent” on my throat so it will not hide away again this season…I hope.

Let’s look at some of the stories behind the stories that took place last week.

Meet Management

So if you had not heard, at last Saturday’s ITT 2A Boys 4 x 800 Meter Relay, athletes were put on the track one lap early for the final exchange of the relay. When it was announced to the coaches involved in the relay that the error was a “meet management error”, I kind of chuckled a little bit. That was a play on words right?

It had nothing to do with the meet managers. Randy Anderson, Roland Brent, and Dan Andrews were running the meet. Let’s be politically correct and call it an “officiating error”. It was an official that lost count of laps and put the athletes out too early. I have that problem counting four laps also. There were a couple of problems that also involved the officiating of the meet. In the 3A Boys 4 x 200 Meter Relay, there was a collision on the back stretch between runners from Thornton and Minooka. The Minooka runner fell. There was no foul that was called on this. The official ruling was that “we had four eyes on it, there was no foul. I went back and looked at the video. There was an official on the near curve that was watching the runners come around the turn. There was supposed to be another official at the end of the straight. They were not there. They were in the center of the curve not being able to see what occurred on the straight.

A section of the 400 Meter Dash had to be called back after 200 meters that there was a timing malfunction. The gun should have been fired earlier. Don’t blame the timer on that. He was trying to let the officials know.

There were too many errors for a “state meet”. We expect the best from our athletes in the biggest meets of the year. Why can’t we expect the same from the officials? Don’t get me wrong. I thought the officiating was good overall. It was just those three errors that clouded the meet.

Let’s hope for 100% excellence in May. The kids running at Charleston deserve that.

E  me

Eric Hofmann did a great job with some of the video that he shot last Saturday In the middle of the 3A meet Saturday afternoon, Eric comes over and informs me that Pekin’s Hannah Swift had just cleared 12-8 setting a new 3A meet record. I knew for Hannah that was a PR as well. I looked at the pit and saw that they were putting the standards down. I was thinking that the event was over. In actuality they were re-setting the standards to 13-0.

“Let’s go over and get an interview with Hannah,” I told Eric. I introduced myself and told her that she did a great job in clearing 12-8. I then asked her if we could do an interview with her.

“That would be great,” she said. “But can I take my attempts at 13-0 first?”

Ugh. I let Eric finish taping her attempts and then the interview. My bad.

Some of the things

There were some athletes that made a big impression on me from last weekend.

Miranda Marry of Fisher HS – She ran a great double winning the 400 and 200 in the Girls 1A race Friday night. She will not be running the 400 outdoors instead opting for the 300 Hurdles. The strength that she has gained from the last year makes her the one runner to watch in that race when we get outdoors.

Amelia Glueck of Tremont – She wins the Long Jump, second in the 60 and the 200. Then with less than 10 minutes of rest, she runs a 61.3 anchor to help her team win their section of the 4 x 400 Meter Relay. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Tremont could place in the top three at the state meet. One of the reasons will be because of Glueck.

Jon Davis of Fithian Oakwood – It is hard to tell that he is a sophomore. He runs with the experience of a senior. The confidence that he has gained from the cross country season was evident during the 1A Boys 1600 Meter Race where he waited to the last lap to outkick Nick Hess and Connor Ehnle to win the race. He was second in this event at state a year ago. He will be one of the guys to watch in this race at the end of May.

Sydney Billingsley of Normal U-High – This senior is heading to Illinois State this fall. Before that, she still has some work to do in track for her school. The last year for her has been an attempt for her to recover from injuries. She finally looked like herself in a convincing win in the 2A Girls 1600 Meter Run. She was overcome with emotions after the race maybe in misbelief that she was actually back. She could be the runner to watch in the 1600 this spring. She has the talent to be in the mid 4:50’s.

Briyanna Desrosiers of North Lawndale Charter – I think if the field was stronger, she still would have won the 3A 400 and 200 Saturday night. She spent most of last year running the short sprints. Moving her up to the 200 and the 400 could be the best thing for her. The transition from indoors to outdoors will be interesting to watch. She will make the 400 Meter Finals with Brittny Ellis and Parker English extremely interesting.

Ebony McClendon of Brooks College Prep – First time I got to watch her race this past weekend. I think we see some state records coming from her at the end of May. Then let’s see what she does on the national level. I think that she will be able to hold her own.

Lauren Van Vlierbergen of Jacobs – She had run so many fast times on small tracks this indoor season. When she stepped on the track late Saturday afternoon, I was expecting something special. I did when she ran 2:11 to win. She came back in the 1600 and could not handle Skyler Bollinger’s kick. Even after the race (she ran 4:59), Van Vlierbergen had a huge smile on her face. She was not disappointed even if she got second. That would hit some athletes hard. As she walked past, her coach Kevin Christian told me, “That is what makes her so special.” I would have to believe that.

Luke Winder of Plainfield Central – Even though he won the Pole Vault, he did not meet his expectations of going higher than the 17-5 the week before. He sat there for a couple of minutes trying to figure out what happened. He could have been quiet, but he decided to talk to me. I am sure he will come back stronger than ever outdoors. He will be vaulting at the Hinsdale Relays on the 12^th, then out to the Kansas Relays on the 19^th. You can watch for another 17-0 clearance if the conditions are right in one of those meets.

Early outdoor action

Lincoln-Way East escaped the cold Illinois air and enjoyed some great early times at the Texas Relays. Meagan Marias ran a state leading 12.20 in the 100 Meter Dash. Both of their relays ran great. Their 4 x 200 Meter relay finished seventh in 1:39.0 behind the amazing 1:33.43 that St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) ran. The Lady Griffins came back to run 48.63 in the 4 x 1. It is realistic to believe that they could get close to their state record in the 4 x 2 that they achieved a year ago.

Johnny Leverenz (Danville HS) started off his outdoor season by running 4:24.80 also in Austin. He finished twentieth. He was sick during the week. It was a good start for him despite the circumstances.

Despite the unseasonably cool weather in Edwardsville last Saturday, it was still a good thing that some Illinois schools were able to compete outdoors at the Southwest Illinois Relays. Belleville West ran a fast early season 42.73 to win the 4 x 100 Meter Relay. Rock Island swept up on the short sprints in the Girls Meets winning both the 4x1 (49.21) and the 4x2 (1:44.10).

And finally

The transition to outdoor track and field meets. I am counting the hours before I can watch a meet in the great outdoors. I am just hoping that the gloves stay in the bag or the car for the rest of May. I know it is a big hope but I think we could see some great weather this spring.

The one thing that I love about outdoor track is how the conditions dictate everything that you do in a race. I think that is the biggest transition the athlete has to go through when they race for the first time. It is a bigger transition the emotional feeling after the race.

As you know, there is a big difference between indoors / outdoors. The indoor track meet is a speed trap. The only variable is the size of the track. Will it be a big track? Is it a track that has a wide curve for the sprinters? The indoor track meet is a speed trap. You just go out and run your pace and hit some blazing times. As a distance runner, I always had that feeling.

Outdoor brings the element of tactics. Is it windy? You hope for the perfect evening but Mother Nature will have a say in how you race. The biggest thing is how you emotionally deal with the first couple of races. In some cases, your times could be slightly slower. Its how you deal with that is whether you succeed during the rest of the outdoor season is the key. If you are in the Pole Vault, it will not be as perfect as indoors. Will the wind be a cross wind causing havoc, or will it be at your back pushing you higher and higher?

The one thing that I like the best is when it gets to May. As you get later in the meet on a Friday night, the lights start to take effect on the track as the sun slowly sets. It’s a picture that I never get tired of.

Oh how I can’t wait for the outdoor track meet. Leave the gloves in the car please.