Above Photo: Lyons Township celebrates their team win at the Proviso West Boys Invitational last Saturday (Mike Danner Photo)

By Michael Newman, [email protected]

The first real weekend of big meets turned out some great performances across the state. The national lists are starting to fill up with Illinois athletes among the top ten and this state is just getting started.

We also must remember that we are only at the end of February and we have many weekends ahead. But, it is fun to see what some of these athletes accomplishing isn’t it?

Here is a look at some of the highlights that took place this past weekend. You can also read recaps from the Lockport Boys Open and the Plainfield North Girls Relays.

You can see results from Illinois here.

Proviso West Boys Invitational

One of the best performances from this weekend happened at this meet in a meteoric way. Clayton Mendez (Whitney Young, junior) ran one of the best 3200 Meter / 2 Mile Run races by an Illinois athlete indoors. His 9:01.89 winning time is the best in the state and ranked second nationally.

“The workouts that he has been doing indicated that he was ready for a good race,” Whitney Young Coach Billy Poole-Harris said. “We did not expect that he was going to run that great.”

Danny Kilrea (Lyons Township, junior) and Irwin Loud (Oak Park-River Forest, senior) pushed the pace for the first 1800 meters of the race with Mendez lagging a couple of steps behind. The threesome went through the first 1600 in 4:33. 200 meters later, Mendez took over the lead and then took off. Loud finished second (9:12.77, US#9) while Kilrea was less than a second behind (9:13.43, US #10).

Mendez 400m splits: 66-69-68-70-66-67-67-66

Loud came back in a great double to finish second in the 1 Mile Run. Vince Zona (Lyons Township, senior) out leaned Loud to win by just three hundredths of a second (4:26.42 – 4:26.45).

Lyons Township showed that they will be a team to be reckoned with at state in May with a convincing win at this meet. They picked up four individual wins and two relays wins on their way to the meet team title with 98 points. WSC-Silver conference rival Oak Park-River Forest scored 83 points to finish second. Defending 2A champion Cahokia scored 74 points to finish third. York surprised some by finishing fourth with 72 points.

Besides the individual win by Zona in the 1 Mile Run, Lyons picked up wins by Antwan Thigpen in the 55 Meter Dash and the 200 Meter Dash. Thigpen ran 6.54 (IL #4) to win by just eight hundredths of a second ahead of Keith Freeman (York, senior) who ran 6.62 (IL #8). Thigpen came back to win the 200 (23.13) just nine hundredths of a second ahead of William Mojica (Proviso West, senior). Thigpen was also the anchor for Lyons Township in their winning 800 Meter Relay (1:33.05, IL #6) that finished ahead of Proviso East (1:33.51, IL #7) and Cahokia (1:34.01).

The Lions also picked up a win in the 3200 Meter Relay with the state’s best time (8:11.98) as of Monday morning. They won by nine seconds ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (8:20.36, IL #5) and Downers Grove North (8:26.42). LT’s other individual win came in the Triple Jump. Thomas Saggau, who is currently ranked second in the state in the event, jumped 46-4 to win by four feet ahead of Kevin Sherwood (Prospect, senior) and Patrick Robinson (Proviso West, senior).

Brandon Gage (Oak Park-River Forest, senior) ran 51.37 (IL #4) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Chris Stanley (Cahokia, senior) ran 1:59.88 (IL #5) to win the 800 Meter Run in which York all-state runner Charlie Kern finished fifth in the race. Kern came back to run 1:26.93 (IL #9) to win the 600 Meter Run by more than one second ahead of Andrew Denos (Hinsdale Central, senior).

Friday Night Madness @ Bloom Township

The Bloom Township duo of Jelena Rowe and Hannah Morris improved on their nationally ranked marks in this meet Friday evening. Rowe improved on her national lead clearing a personal best 5-11.25 to win the High Jump. Morris achieved an indoor personal best with a 19-9.5 mark in the Long Jump (US #8) that is now the best in the state. Lyn’Nikka Vance (Crete-Monee, sophomore) ran 7.33 (IL #3T) along with Naje Harper (Waukegan, junior). Vance came back to run 7.34 in the finals just one hundredth of a second ahead of Harper.

Marion Boys Early Invitational

Sam Sikon (Carbondale, senior) continued in his indoor season rush to seasonal bests. His 62-9.5 mark (US #8) gave him an improvement this season by almost a foot and winning by 10 feet ahead of Jack Bunting (Marion, senior) who achieved a personal best (52-9.5, IL #7). Nicholas Jackson (Champaign Central, senior) achieved a personal best 6-6 to win the High Jump (IL #2T). Zach Young (Marion, senior) captured two victories running 9:47.61 to win the 3200 Meter Run and then came back to run 4:34.94 to win the 1600 Meter Run.

Antioch Boys Invitational

This meet held on the campus of Wisconsin-Parkside produced some great early season performances. 2016 3A State Champion Cameron Ruiz (Lakes, senior) opened his season with a huge 48-0 mark (US #11) for the win by more than four feet ahead of Landon Edwards (Lake Forest, senior). Ruiz moved to the track to run 51.31 (IL #3) to win the 400 Meter Dash. He finished second in the 200 Meter Dash (22.86) behind the Bobby Nuzzio (Mundelein, junior) who ran 22.65. Nuzzio earlier in the meet ran 6.51 (IL #2) to win the 55 Meter Dash.

Jack Becker (Crystal Lake South, senior) had a strong start to his season with a pair of wins in the distances. He ran 9:43.19 to win the 3200 Meter Run more than three seconds ahead of Anthony Hurgoi (Dundee-Crown, junior). Becker looked impressive in the 1600 Meter Run as he ran 4:24.91 (IL #5) to win by almost 10 seconds ahead of Fitz Laurie (Highland Park, junior). Jack Aho (Grayslake Central, senior) began his season winning the 800 Meter Run (1:58.50, IL #3) five seconds ahead of teammate Eli Minsky.

Landon Keefover (Antioch, senior) ran the best time in the state in the 55 Meter Hurdles (7.80) in winning the event. Sam Peschke (Crystal Lake South cleared a personal best 14-6 (IL #5) to win the Pole Vault.

Homewood-Flossmoor Girls ABC Invitational

It was the sprint events that were in the spotlight in this meet Saturday afternoon. Note: Homewood-Flossmoor has a 200-meter track but athletes are not allowed to wear spikes. There were still some good times. Dajour Miles (West Aurora, sophomore) ran the fastest time in the state in the 60 Meter Dash in winning the event. Her time of 7.70 was just two hundredths of a second ahead of defending 3A 100 Meter Dash champion Amira Young (Whitney Young, junior) by just two hundredths of a second (7.72, IL #2). Miles came back to win the 400 Meter Dash (57.56) ahead of two time 2A 400 state champ Mariya Hudson (Cahokia, senior) who ran 58.05). Ololade Ayoola (Lincoln-Way East, senior) and Kelsey McLaurin (Barrington, senior) also were under 60 seconds finishing third and fourth.

Imani Carothers (Brooks Prep, junior) established the state’s best time in the 60 Meter Hurdles. The junior ran 8.83 to win the event by half a second ahead of Cahokia’s LaQwasia Stepney (9.36, IL #2).

For now, as we head into Monday’s DGS Mustang Relays, this meet produced some of the fastest Girls relay times in the state. Palatine ran 10:05.11 (IL #3) to win the 3200 Meter Relay. West Aurora won the 1600 Meter Relay (4:10.32, IL #2) two seconds ahead of Lincoln-Way East (4:12.34, IL #3). Oak Park-River Forest ran 1:49.27 to win the 800 Meter Relay ahead of Cahokia (1:49.98) and Springfield Southeast (1:50.03).

Carothers picked up her second win of the meet jumping 19-1.75 (IL #3) to win the Long Jump ahead of Homewood-Flossmoor’s Jaimie Robinson who jumped 18-11.75 to finish second. Mariya Hudson jumped 18-6.75 (IL #4) to finish third. Robinson picked up a win in the 200 Meter Dash (25.11) ahead of Amira Young (25.34). Laure LaDere (Lincoln-Way East, senior) moved into the top ten in the state in the Shot Put winning with a 41-7.25 put (IL #6). Kameesha Smith (Thornwood, senior) cleared 5-6 (IL #2T) to win the High Jump.

Huntley Boys Invitational

Dukem Anikamadu (Huntley, junior) picked up double wins in the sprints on his home track. He ran 7.01 (IL #3) to win the 60 Meter Dash and then came back to run 22.60 (IL #5) to win the 200 Meter Dash. Jayvious Johnson (Machesney Park Harlem, senior) ran 8.20 (IL #3) to win the 60 Meter High Hurdles.

Danny Peterson (Fremd, senior) ran 9:38.00 (IL #10) to win the 3200 Meter Run by five seconds ahead of Brett Lucas (Stevenson, junior). John Gerardi (Rolling Meadows, senior) won the 800 Meter Run (2:00.44, IL #8) by less than a second ahead of Caleb Oh (Stevenson, senior).

Johnathan Powell (Stevenson, senior) won two events jumping 43-8 to win the Triple Jump and 21-2.50 to win the Long Jump. The Shot Put was the best field event in this meet. John Stefan (Barrington, senior) had a 56-1.50 put (IL #3) to win the event by just half an inch ahead of Fremd’s Ethan Hanson (56-1, IL #4).

Joliet West Boys Invitational

Ayo Abiona (Sandburg, senior) achieved the best performance in the state in the Long Jump with a 23-5 mark. Dylan Jacobs (Sandburg, senior) opened his season running a solo 4:26.57 (IL #7) on Joliet West’s 160-meter track to win by 19 seconds.

ICOPS Invitational at Lewis University

Providence Catholic dominated this meet Sunday afternoon scoring 94 points ahead of second place St. Laurence who scored 57.5 points. Gavin Jamie led the Celtics with two wins in the sprints. He ran 51.21 (IL #2) to win the 400 Meter Dash just two tenths of a second ahead of the 51.41 (IL #5) run by Charles Marks (Chicago University, senior). Jamie came back to run 23.14 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Theo Phipps (St. Rita, senior) dominate the 55 Meter Hurdles running 7.84 (IL #3) to win the finals by more than half a second. Lenell Navarre (Marist, senior) defended his meet title in the 55 Meter Dash running 6.54 (IL #4) in the prelims and then running 6.58 to win in the finals.

Paolo Tiongson (Loyola Academy, senior) ran 9:35.16 (IL #8) to win by 15 seconds in the 3200 Meter Run. Michael Ronzone (Marmion Academy, junior) won the 1600 Meter Run (4:26.67) five seconds ahead of Andrew Niewiarowski (Loyola Academy, senior).

Cuffy Early Bird Invitational at Knox College

The Dunlap girls team looked good in this six-team co-ed meet. The Eagles ran 1:47.01 (IL #4) to win the 800 Meter Relay anchored by Kiari Pauli. The sophomore had a good night in the sprints running the best time in the state in winning the 55 Meter Dash (7.20). She came back to run 26.04 to win the 200 Meter Dash by almost a second ahead of Cindy Ladner (Galesburg, senior). Aanise Sajna, who was also a part of that relay, ran 7.47 in the 55 Meter Dash but also jumped 18-1.75 (IL #5) in the Long Jump.

WWS Boys Triangular

Tom Ansiel (Wheaton-Warrenville South, senior) became the second Illinois athlete to clear 16 feet this season in the Boys Pole Vault. Ansiel cleared 16-1 Friday evening to achieve a new personal best.