By Michael Newman, [email protected]

There were not as many Illinois athletes competing on the 291-meter rack at the Nutter Fieldhouse as there have been in the past. Those that competed at Saturday’s UK High School Invitational from the Land of Lincoln did take advantage of the situation and left with some great performances especially so early in the season. They also came away with some impressionable wins.

The biggest performance came from Katelynne Hart (Glenbard West, freshman) who won over a great field in the Girls 1 Mile Run and then demolished the field in the 2 Mile Run with one of the fastest times ever in the event for an Illinois girls’ prep athlete. She also set a national indoor record for a freshman in the event (10:21.42).

“Last weekend I raced in the 400 and the 4x800, some shorter stuff,” Hart said after finishing the 2 mile. “I just wanted to get into the mile and the 2 mile, experiencing this great meet, and having some fun. I did not know what to expect being this is the first time running track as a high-schooler.”

She did have fun in the 1 Mile Run pulling away from a good field for the win in 4:54.30 which was a personal best for the freshman. Alena Sapienza-Wright (DuPont Manual KY, junior) ran 5:02.18 to finish second just ahead of Kaitlyn Lacy (Louisville Male KY, junior) who ran 5:02.92). Hart’s winning time is currently ranked #12 nationally in the event. Considering that in an interview last week Hart expressed that one of her goals this year was to run under 4:50, she is well on her way to doing that.

Hart’s 2 Mile Run win was a little more mind boggling to the fans at the meet. She pulled away from the pack early in the race continuing to expand it as the race progressed. Think about the significance of Hart’s time of 10:21.42 is. We were all wowed by what Judy Pendergast ran indoors last year when she ran 10:11.56 at the DuPage Valley Conference Meet last March to set a new Illinois state best in the event. Hart, just a freshman, ran the fourth fastest time ever for an Illinois Girls athlete behind Pendergast, Kayla Beattie, and Maria Cicero. She did surpass the 10:23.46 freshman record time that was run by Michelle dela Vina (Merrillville IN) in 1997.

We are only in February. Her time is the best in the nation. Only time and races will tell how fast she could be.

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DaJour Miles (West Aurora, sophomore) ran in this meet last year as well as a small meet at Wheaton-Warrenville South that following week. That is the only high-school racing experience she has up to date even though she has been tearing it up on the club scene. It was different for her as she ran 54.25 to win the 400 Meter Dash just nipping Shaianne Sipsey (Warner Robins GA, sophomore) by just seven hundredths of a second. It is the second fastest time nationally so far in this indoor season.

Miles did come back to finish seventh in the 200 Meter Dash later in the meet. Her time of 24.56 is currently the fastest prep time for the event in Illinois. Those are fast times this early in this season. What makes it more amazing is that she has been playing basketball all winter for Wes Aurora. Her season ended last Wednesday.

“I was so happy. That was my best race ever. That girl (Sipsey) pushed me so hard in that 400,” Miles said. “I felt the same as I did last year coming into this meet. I had been playing basketball. I was nervous. These girls have been training and I haven’t. My expectations were to run a low 54 and I did that.”

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Kathleen Young (Warrensburg-Latham, senior) continued her winning ways this indoor season conquering both weight events at the meet. She went over 50 feet for the fifth time in 2017 with a 50-8 winning put ahead of the rest of the competition by nine feet. Young was close to her personal best in winning the weight throw (55-9). She threw 55-9 ¼ last week in Ohio. Her weekend is not done. She will compete Sunday at the Big River Series Championships at the University of Missouri.

Jaimie Robinson (Homewood-Flossmoor, senior) also had a big day at this meet. She jumped 18-6 to win the Long Jump. She came back to win the Triple Jump in a seasonal best 40-9 which is now ranked sixth nationally.

Marcellus Moore (Plainfield North, freshman) will be making some noise on the Illinois scene in the next four years if Saturday’s performances are any evidence. Moore finished fifth in the finals of the 60 Meter Dash (6.89) with the fastest time in the state so far in this season. He came back to run 21.95 to finish seventh in the 200 Meter Dash. It also is the fastest time in the state so this indoor season for that distance.

He won the 1A title last spring in a convincing fashion. Now Bret Dannis (Peru St. Bede, junior) is off to make fans notice not only on a statewide level but also nationally. The junior ran 8.08 in the prelims of the 60 Meter Hurdles. Dannis came back to run a personal best 7.98 (US #6, IL #1) to finish second in the finals. Dannis also ran 22.15 (IL #2) in the 200 Meter Dash. Landon Keefover (Antioch, senior) also qualified for the finals where he ran 8.28 (IL #2) to finish seventh.

Danville also brought their team down to Lexington for the meet to start their season. Their distance medley team ran 11:01.37 (IL #1) to finish third.

Jenna Diers (Lincoln-Way West, senior) ran an indoor personal best 2:17.78 (IL #1) to finish seventh in the 800 Meter Run. Shanice Garbutt (Danville, junior) ran 2:21.62 in the event with Brooke Delahanty (Rosary, junior) running 2:22.15 and Emma Milburn (Lake Forest, junior) running 2:24.41.