By Michael Newman, ILXCTF.com Editor

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The first session of the Illinois Top Times Championships on Saturday features team and athletes from Class 2A. The meet starts at 9:00 with field events. The east side of the Shirk Center should be rocking with some great action in the Shot Put. Latavia Maines is ranked third in the nation in the event and should be the favorite in the event. The Boys Shot Put follows with Sam Sikon who is ranked in the top ten nationally and could be going after the meet record.

Six-time defending 2A State Champion Cahokia is back again with a large amount of entries in the Boys events. Dunlap has athletes in 13 events in the Girls Meet. It could be a stepping point on their way to a possible team state championship in May.

Here is a look at each of the events that will take place on Saturday. You can also watch the meet via the LIVE WEBCAST on RunnerSpace +PLUS.

2A Meet Program

Field Events

Shot Put

Girls – The top three 2A athletes in this event are here led by Latavia Maines of Centralia. The senior achieved her mark two weeks ago at the Charleston Girls Invitational. The possibility of Maines going past 50-feet in this meet are good. Her sister Nikita achieved a 45-5 personal best in the same meet. Aveun Moore of Mt. Vernon has also gone past 45 feet this indoor season (45-2) and could push for one of the top two spots. DeAmbrea Brown of Peoria Manual has 44-7.50 season’s best and could be among the top three in this meet.

Boys – All eyes will be on Sam Sikon of Carbondale in this event. The two-time IHSA 2A State champion has a good chance to break Jeremy Kline’s six-year-old meet record of 63-6.5. Sikon achieved a personal best of 62-11 (US #8) in winning last week at the Gene Armer Invitational. Sikon has the best 2A mark in this meet by six feet ahead of Freeport’s Jered Allison. Clayton Hannula of Kaneland and Jack Bunting of Marion are athletes that could contend for the second spot.

High Jump

Girls – Diamonasia Taylor of Urbana could jump into the spotlight in this event. We will see this freshman for years to come hopefully. She jumped a season’s best 5-6 at the beginning of the month at Illinois State and has the top seed mark in this meet. Fellow freshman Carly Tucker of Metamora jumped on to the scene last Monday at the Shirk Center when she cleared 5-4. She will push Taylor for the title along with Charleston sophomore Sarah Flight who cleared 5-5 on March 11 at her home invitational at Eastern Illinois University.

Boys – This event is wide-open with all 12 athletes within three inches of each other. Nicholas Jackson of Champaign Centennial leads three athletes at 6-6 including Will Maidment of Woodstock and freshman Levi Cole of Erie-Prophetsown. A’Jonte Lee of Springfield Lanphier and Matt Haynes of Woodstock North are athletes to also keep an eye on.

Pole Vault

Girls – Aliyah Welter of Monticello cleared 12-6 at the Clinton Last Chance Meet last Monday and will be one of the favorites in this event. Josephine Held of Mt. Zion has a season’s best of 12-5.50 and could push Welter and herself to higher heights. They are the only two 2A athletes that have gone past 12-feet. Cori Uidi of Woodstock and Mara Pletcher of Mahomet-Seymour are two of the rest of the field that could challenge for the top three places.

Boys – Josh Getz of Peoria Notre Dame and Chandler Ifft of Prairie Central have both cleared 14-6 this season and look to be the favorites in this event. Danny Walker of Kaneland, who won the 2A State Championship in 2015, Tyler Carrel of Urbana, and Jack Pompe of Dunlap have all cleared 14-feet or better. Pompe cleared 14-5.25 at the University of Missouri in February and has the ability to also win this event.

Long Jump

Girls – Imani Carothers of Brooks College Prep jumped 19-3.75 to win this meet a year ago and look again to be the favorite. The junior has already jumped 19-3 (IL #2) this season and could get close to 20-feet on this fast runway. Serena Bolden of Springfield Southeast has gone past 18-feet along with Erika Furbeck of Geneseo and Aanise Sajna of Dunlap. Bolden jumped 18-7.25 last week at the Gene Armer Invitational and could go past 19-feet putting the pressure on Carothers.

Boys – The athlete that is the favorite is Nyrell Sullivan of Sterling who jumped 22-8.25 on March 11 on his home track at Sterling. He has the best 2A jump by almost a foot ahead of Marquis Murray of Cahokia and Theo Phipps of St. Rita who jumped 21-11.75 last Sunday at the Chicago Catholic League Championships. These two athletes could end up winning if Sullivan has an off day. The junior responded to his big jump with a 22-3.75 jump to win last week at the NIB-12 Conference Meet.

Triple Jump

Girls – Defending state champion Imani Carothers does not concentrate on this event indoors opening the door to the 12 athletes that are entered in this field. Sophomore Jayla Campbell of Rich Central has the best seed mark (36-10.75). Lalonda McMath of North Chicago has jumped 36-7.50 indoors this year. She could be Campbell’s chief competition.

Boys – Ja’Mari Ward ruled this event in the four years he was in high school. Now that he has graduated and moved on to the University of Missouri, this event could come down to three athletes that will contend for the win. They are the only three athletes that are entered that have gone past 44-feet. The first is Seth Groom of Marmion Academy that finished third last year at state and jumped 45-9.50 at Sycamore on March 8. The next is Trevell Whitehorn of Marion who jumped 44-3 on his home track at the end of February. Finally, there is Andra Ward of Cahokia. The sophomore, who has an older brother named Ja’Mari, has a season’s best of 44-7.5 and could carry on the Ward tradition with a win.

Sprint / Hurdle Events

60 Meter Hurdles

Girls – Imani Carothers looks to defend her title in this event as she ran 8.85 to win last year. The junior has the fastest time in the state at 55 Meters (8.14). She has only run this distance once this season running 8.83 (IL #1) to win at Homewood-Flossmoor at the end of February. Dontavia Howard of Springfield Southeast has run 9.12 and could be Carothers top challenger even though she is three tenths of a second behind Carothers’ best time. Jade Mayes of Westinghouse Prep and Tiarra Smith of Peoria Richwoods could challenge Howard for the second spot.

Boys – Bret Dannis of Peru St. Bede ruled Class 1A last year winning both hurdle events at the IHSA State Meet. Now a junior, Dannis has the best time in the state at this distance (7.98) and is the favorite in this event. Steven Migut of Tolono Unity, Solomon Wilson-Wills of Tinley Park, and Juwan Denton of Morgan Park all have the talent to challenge Dannis for the win. Chicago Catholic League champion Theo Phipps of S. Rita along with Stephon King of Peoria Manual could be surprises in this race.

60 Meter Dash

Girls – It looked a month ago that there would be no clear favorite in this event since Mariya Hudson of Cahokia and her teammates do not compete at this meet. That changed at the Big 12 Conference Girls Meet on the Shirk Center track when little known freshman Derria Edwards of Peoria Central ran a state leading 7.51 to win this event. Edwards followed that performance up with a 7.67 to win last Saturday at Galesburg. This is her first “big” high school meet. We will see how she handles the pressure. She is the favorite. Here is a good field to challenge her led by Tina Martin of Decatur Eisenhower who ran 7.64 at the Bloomington Girls Invitational on March 4. She ran 7.68 last week at the Gene Armer Invitational. Nicole Sreenan of Kaneland and Kiara Pauli of Dunlap also have the talent to win in this race. Both have run under 7.8 this season.

Boys – Ronald Reed of Decatur MacArthur has emerged as the favorite in this event having run 6.95 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals almost two weeks ago. No athlete in Class 2A has broken the seven second barrier this winter at this distance. The field will be tight after Reed with ten athletes within a tenth of a second of each other. Romell Clark of Dunbar Academy, Najee Sylvester of Hillcrest, Dawson Kaiser of Tolono Unity, and Nyrell Sullivan all could challenge for a spot in the top three.

400 Meter Dash

Girls – Two of the top Illinois Girls athletes at this distance face off in what could be one of the best 2A races of the meet. Elizabeth Drab of St. Viator is the defending IHSA 2A champion. She is already on track to a great senior season having run 55.00 (IL #2) at the USATF Youth Championships two weeks ago. Tina Martin ran 56.74 (IL #3) to win on this track at the Bloomington Girls Invitational on March 4. The next closest athlete, Kailyn Thrash of De La Salle Institute, is over two seconds behind the two. Watch Drab and Martin push each other to a time under 55 seconds on Saturday.

Boys – Isaiah Hunter of Lisle has jumped onto the Illinois scene in a big way for his senior season. He ran 50.54 (IL #3) at the New Balance Nationals on March 10. He is the favorite in this race as he has the fastest seed time by almost a second. After that, there is a close pack behind him all within a tenth of a second of each other. Brandon Bretz of Mahomet-Seymour, Brandon Roberson of Cahokia, and Charles Marks of Chicago University could be Hunter’s chief challengers. You should also watch the third section where Dearis Herron of Lanphier, who was All-State last spring in his event, could be a surprise.

200 Meter Dash

Girls – Elizabeth Drab has the fastest seed time at 25.13 and should be considered the favorite in this event. Nicole Sreenan and Kiara Pauli will challenge Drab for the win.

Boys – This event looks to be wide-open with Juwan Denton’s 22.90 the top seed time. Bret Dannis and Marquis Murray look to be Denton’s chief rivals in the final section. Isaiah Hunter will run in the third section and could have this event’s fastest time.

Distance Events

3200 Meter Run

Girls – Grace McLaughlin of Rockford Boylan won this race a year ago and will look to defend her title. The junior has the state’s second fastest time (10:42.18) and the fastest time in the field by almost 18 seconds ahead of teammate Delaney Appino. Franny Verville of Dunlap, Libby Cultra of Urbana, and Jordan Harmon of Tolono Unity are close to 20 seconds behind the Boylan duo but within a second of each other. They will battle for the third through five spots.

Boys – Brayden Hamblen of Rock Falls was slowed down last track season with injuries and illnesses. He has made up for lost time by winning the 1A State Cross Country title last fall and then starting out strong this indoor season. Hamblen won the Charger Classic at the University of Illinois running 9:18.02 (IL #6). He should be the favorite in this race having the fastest seed time by almost 20 seconds ahead of Matt Richtman of Kaneland and Charlie Parrish of Freeburg. Mahomet-Seymour’s Gabe Pommier and Brian Butcher along with Jacob Gebhardt of Sterling should challenge Richtman and Parrish for the second spot.

800 Meter Run

Girls – Defending 2A State champion Rachel Hickey of LaSalle-Peru has the fastest seed time by four seconds and should be the favorite in this race. The junior won the NIB-12 Conference Championships last week running 2:17.64 (IL #10). The remaining 11 runners in this race are within three seconds of each other. Abby Fioresi of Aurora Central Catholic, who finished second in this race last year, Brooke Delahanty of Rosary, and Gillian Fiene of Illiana Christian are some of the runners that could challenge for a second-place finish.

Boys – Chris Stanley of Cahokia will be one of the favorites in this race having the fastest 2A time (1:57.70) and third fastest in the state. He will be doubling back from the 3200 Meter Relay. Josh Cable of Rochester ran 1:58.20 at the University of Arkansas in January. He had problems in this race last year when he was bumped and lost his stride in the final 200-meters of it. Cable finished fourth overall. Jared Schuckman of Normal University ran 2:00.32 and could challenge for the win along with Brendon Sebastian of LaSalle-Peru. Schuckman has the third fastest time in this field. Only two seconds separate him and the rest of the pack. This finish could be tight.

1600 Meter Run

Girls – We could see another 1-2 finish by Rockford Boylan athletes in this distance race. Delaney Appino has run 5:03.41 and has the fastest seed time ahead of the rest of the field led by teammate Grace McLaughlin. Megan Safranski of Burlington Central, Lauren Katz of Vernon Hills, and Rachel Richtman of Kaneland could be part of a group that challenges for possibly second.

Boys – This could be a great race. Michael Ronzone of Marmion Academy ran a smart race at the Batavia Distance Madness Meet when he waited until the final 200-meters to make his move. His time of 4:20.30 (IL #5) won that race and is the fastest seed time for this meet. He finished third in this race last year. Brayden Hamblen will be doubling back from the 3200 Meter Run. He ran 4:21.54 at Sterling on March 11 and could be Ronzone’s chief competition. This field is a tough one with Zach Young of Marion, Jack Franklin of Normal University, or Jake Schwartz of Waterloo capable of winning this race.

Relays

4x800 Meter Relay

Girls – Four schools within six seconds of each other makes this relay a close one to say the least. Dunlap has the fastest seed time (9:52.96) and is deep with talent. Kaneland, Rosary, and Freeburg are all in that group and could challenge for the win. Urbana could also be a threat in his race. Washington is tough outdoors and is the defending 2A state champion. I would keep an eye on them.

Boys – Geneseo is the defending champion in his meet and has he fourth fastest seed time. I would not count out the Maple Leafs in his event. We know how strong and deep Mahomet-Seymour is in the distances from last fall’s state cross country championship team. The Bulldogs have the top seeded time (8:09.30) seven seconds ahead of perennial favorite Cahokia. Marion and Mattoon would be two other teams to keep an eye on.

4x200 Meter Relay

Girls – Dunlap has the fifth fastest time in the state in this relay and should be the favorite. Springfield Southeast has run 1:46.80 (IL #12) and Westinghouse are the teams that could challenge Dunlap for the relay win.

Boys – Cahokia has the experience in this event seemingly winning every year. The Comanches have the top seed time by over a second ahead of the rest of the field. Hey should be tough to beat. Morgan Park is the next closest team having run 1:33.63. The next teams are another two seconds back.

4x400 Meter Relay

Girls – Springfield Southeast has the fastest seed time having run 4:09.08 indoors. Dunlap, Westinghouse, and Washington are some of the schools to watch in the final race of the 2A session.

Boys – Cahokia usually has a good time cushion in this meet. It could be different this year as two other schools are within a second of them. Cahokia has a season’s best of 3:28.35 while Brooks College Prep has run 3:28.51 and Thornridge has run 3:29.71. Geneseo and Dunlap could be surprises in this race.