Above Photo: The biggest surprise of Saturday night’s meet was the IL #1 2:12.83 run by Highland Park’s Stephanie Kriss (center) in an early section of the 800 Meter Run (Mike Newman photo)

By Michael Newman, ILXCTF.com Editor

[email protected]

Palatine – It was a joyful sight as athletes entered Palatine High School’s Chic Anderson Stadium and looked to the south end zone where the flag pole stood. Athletes had suffered the past three weekends with high powered winds that knocked some performances. On this night, there was no action on the flag on the pole. It is the sight that any distance runner wants to see.

Palatine Coach Chris Quick had formed this meet for the opportunity for Illinois runners and those in the Midwest to come to the northwest suburbs of Chicago to run fast distance races. With the temperatures in the mid-40’s and no wind, it is a sin for a distance runner to waste an opportunity like that. Sprinters would have hated the conditions running in the cold. The distance runners in this meet welcomed the opportunity to rip off their sweats and get to the starting line.

Hall of Fame Coach Harvey Braus said while standing in the infield, “This meet is like Christmas…again and again and again.”

There were unbelievable times in the second edition of this meet. What was even more unbelievable of how deep the race fields were and how great the performances were.

The early races before the “Main Event” portion of the meet card brought one shocking performance. Stephanie Kriss of Highland Park stepped to the starting line for Section 2 of the Girls 800 Meter Run with a personal best of only 2:21.99 for the distance. He freshman had only run 19:34 for 3 Miles in her conference meet last fall. The gun went off, so did Kriss taking the lead immediately. She passed by 400-meters in 64.2 seconds with Clinton’s Payne Turney right behind her and York’s Sarah May another two seconds back.

You would think that with a pace that fast that the front runners would come back to the pack. Kriss did not. She continued to extend her lead in the next 200-meters. As she approached the finish line, the clock read 2:06 with 50-meters to go. One would think that there was a malfunction with the timing. There was not. Kriss crossed the finish line with a huge personal best of 2:21.83 as well as the fastest time in the state. The improvement on her personal best was a staggering nine seconds. After the finish, she did not comprehend how fast she ran. After a few seconds, it hit her.

“I kind of felt bad (that first 400). I thought I was going slow,” Kriss said. “All I was trying to do as just run under my personal best of 2:21. I thought I was going to run something like 2:18, but not 2:12.”

That race was an indication of what was going to happen on this night. Ethan Kern of York set a new meet record in the Freshman Boys 1600 Meter Run but it was no easy. He had the lead with 300-meters to go but found himself boxed in as teammate Daniel Klysh went by him. Kern found his way out of the box and re-took the lead with 150-meters to go. He finished in 4:28.67 with the win. Klysh was passed by Batavia’s Damian Rodriguez for second (4:29.31) just ahead of Klysh (4:29.61).

Shepard was in third place in the Boys Distance Medley by the time Caleb Washington got the baton to run the 1600-meter leg to end the race. The Shepard senior worked his way to the front taking the lead with 700-meters to go. He did not look back as he led his team to the win for the second year in a row (10:30.30) ahead of Whitney Young (10:36.14) and Mundelein (10:36.95). Whitney Young finished second despite the fact they dropped the baton during the race.

That was just the beginning of great races that were to come. Here is a look at each of the championship races in the order that they happened.

Girls 800 Meter Run

Rebecca Odusola of Mather and Emily Stegmeier of Elk Grove paced the pack through the first 400-meters in a quick 64.8 seconds with a pack led by Aurora Central Catholic’s Abby Fioresi just a second back. Defending 2A champion Rachel Hickey of LaSalle-Peru was in a predicament in fifth place but was boxed with no exit possible. Hickey found a spot where she could make her way to the outside lane and then she could make her move to the front. She took the lead with 150-meters to go but had ten runners breathing down her neck. Hickey’s great finishing speed was the difference as she crossed the line with the win. She was second in this race last year.

“Did I run a personal best,” she asked teammates and coaches after the race. When she found out that she had run 2:13.69, she fell to the infield in joyous jubilation.

“I was comfortable with the pace. I was more concerned with the position. I was in sixth place and I did not know half of the girls in front of me,” Hickey said. “I got my bearings around 300-meters to go. I felt like I had a ton left. I was ready for tonight. I was just hoping that no one would come up on me.  I just ran a PR. I’m ecstatic.”

How deep was this field? Less than a second separated the next five runners behind Hickey. Fioresi closed the gap at the end to finish second (2:13.99) holding off a charging Emma Milburn of Lake Forest (2:14.40) and Loyola Academy’s Margo Dooley (2:14.43). Oduosa and Stegmeier, who led early in the race, finished fifth and sixth. Seven runners finished under 2:15 in that race.

Boys 800 Meter Run

Arthur Santoro of Jones Prep ran 1:54.86 two weeks before at Arcadia in California and was the favorite heading into this race. He had command of the race at 400-meters along with Rolling Meadows’ John Gerardi as the two passed in 55.2 seconds. Santoro, who has run 50+ seconds in the 400 extended the lead on the back stretch. As he came out of the turn. Josh Cable of Rochester came out on the outside to try to take the lead. Santoro matched that. Out of nowhere came Waubonsie Valley’s Wes York in Lane 3 as he tried to sneak by the Jones Prep senior. Santoro held on for the win but the margin was only sixteen hundredths of a second. Santoro’s winning time was the exact time in his California race.

“I was in a good position the first lap. I knew I did not have to push it because we were running a good pace,” said Santoro. “We got to the back with 300-meters left and I just went after it.”

The surprise in this race was Waubonsie Valley’s York who was one of the last runners to make the championship race. York won a big race the week before at Minooka’s #SmithStrong Invitational, but the winning time was only 2:05 due to the high winds. On this night, he lowered his personal best down three seconds to 1:55.01. Those who did not know him before this race know him now.

“I was a little nervous about this race. I was a little sick yesterday after my race and felt trashed this morning. Luckily, I was able to get a little run in and stay hydrated during the day so I felt better,” York stated afterwards. “I was in eighth with 300 to go. I just stayed confident, kept myself in it, and pushed at the end.”

Cable rounded out the top three running a season’s best of 1:55.59. There was depth in this field as well as the top 11 runners in this race all were under 1:57. 13 runners overall in the meet for this distance went under that time barrier.

Girls 3200 Meter Run

Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Allison McGrath pushed the pace for the first 1200-meters before Sarah Barcelona of Lyons Township took over. The sophomore passed through 1600-meters in 5:22.9 and had the race under control with leads as much as seven seconds for the next three laps. Grant’s Danielle Osmon made a push in the final 800-meters but Barcelona had built up too big of a lead. She finished in 10:43.80. It was an improvement of ten seconds on her personal best that she ran last year in her sectional race.

“The pace went out pretty fast but I was expecting that. I just held back. 1200-meters in I decide to go,” Barcelona said. “I could feel that I was starting to slow down. I just tried to pick it up and stay on pace. I was trying to hit 80’s. I did not know how close Danielle (Osmon) was to me. I just tried to kick it in the last 100-meters.”

Osmon’s second place time of 10:45.78 was also a personal best. Barcelona’s teammate Emily Henkel, also a sophomore, ran 10:48.31 to finish third. There were ten runners last year that ran 11:10 or faster in this race. It was 15 this year including 12 runners who ran 11 minutes or faster.

Boys 3200 Meter Run

This was one of the spotlight races of the meet. Clayton Mendez of Whiney Young had run 9:01 indoors. He was looking to run faster than nine minutes for the distance. He had made two tries to get under the mark but with no avail. With the conditions almost perfect, maybe the third time would be the charm.

The question would be how would his legs be feeling for this race? He had run a great double the night before at Downers Grove North winning the 800 Meter Run in 1:55 and then coming back less than 60 minutes later to run 4:17 to win the 1600 Meter Run.

He looked good from the start of the lead taking the lead and not relinquishing it. It was Matt Pereira of Lake Zurich at first that was on his side. Then Brayden Hamblen of Rock Falls came along side Mendez wanting to push the pace. It was that point when Mendez decided to ramp up the pace a little faster. By the time he passed 1600-meters in 4:30.9, he had opened a three second lead on the pack led by Hamblen.

This was the point of no return. Mendez was on his own going after an elusive sub-nine-minute race. His lead kept growing at 2400-meters as he had a 13 second lead on the pack led by Hoffman Estates Jack Worman and Alex Makrounis. Mendez was keeping up 68 second laps as he passed with one lap left in 7:54.5. He had the race won. He was going to set a new meet record. He just needed a 65.5 or faster lap to achieve his goal.

He found that speed in the final lap as teammates crowded at the finish line. He crossed in 8:59.46. Mendez had done it as he was swamped by his teammates. The final lap was close in 65.0 seconds. That did not matter. He had done it.

“I was a little stiff this morning after the races last night. I was mentally ready to race. I was good to go by the time I got here,” Mendez said after the race. “I wanted to go out in 4:24 for the first 1600 but when we went by the 800 in 2:15, I knew I had to pick I up. I knew I did not want to negative split in the last mile. I feel like a million bucks right now. Mentally, I’m on top of the world.”

Mendez splits: 66.8, 2:15.9 (69.1), 3:23.6 (67.7), 4:30.9 (67.3), 5:37.6 (66.7), 6:46.1 (68.5), 7:54.5 (68.4), 8:59.46 (65.0) / 4:30.9 – 4:28.7

The final lap got interesting with a Class A feel at the finish. Logan Hall of Arthur-Lovington got there as he improved his personal best by 11 seconds (9:11.06) ahead of Wyatt McIntyre of Athens next in 9:11.32. Matt Pereira came in with them in fourth (9:11.79). The top five runners in this race were all under last year’s winning time of 9:13.65 run by Colin DeYoung.

Girls 1600 Meter Run

Katelynne Hart and Claire Hamilton earlier in the day at Glenbard West had run an epic race at this distance with Hart running the state’s fastest time (4:50.72) with Hamilton close behind (4:51.15). The race in this meet did not match up to that but it came close.

The pack was close together for the first 800-meters of the race as Hersey’s Sarah Harden and Oswego’s Isabelle Christiansen led them through in 2:28.1. The group was still together over the next 400-meters as only a couple of seconds separated the group of ten runners. Brooke Wilson of Prospect moved up to the front to take the lead with Maine South’s Olivia Niziolek. It was the junior from Maine South that made the big move of the race. Nizolek ran the final circuit of the track in 70 seconds to improve her personal best by nine seconds and running under five minutes for the first time in winning the race (4:54.85, IL #3).

“I was hoping to run better than my PR. I did not think I was going to run that good,” she said after the race. “It was a little nerve wracking because that front pack was so tight. My main concern was that I had enough room to get to the outside. I had room to do that on the backstretch. I saw the clock in the last 100 of the race and I knew I just had to hammer it in. I am so proud of myself.”

Three runners went under five minutes compared to two in last year’s meet. Daly Galloway of Dwight was all smiles after she ran 4:59.10 to finish second. Isabelle Christiansen, only a sophomore, went under five minutes for the first time recording a 4:59.45 personal best. This race was so deep. 10 runners ran 5:06 or faster on this night. Less than five seconds separated fourth place to tenth place.

Boys 1600 Meter Run

There were hopes that there would be a sub 4:10 winning time in this race. If that was going to happen, it was going to depend on Grayslake Central’s Jack Aho who had the fastest seed time entering this meet. The rest of the field was content to let Aho control the pace. He went through the first 400-meters in 61.2 seconds with Finn Gessner of Madison La Folllette (WI) close on his shoulder. The rest of the pack was another second back. Nothing had changed as Aho went through 800-meters in 2:05.4. Gessner was still on his shoulder but the pack was now two seconds back going through in 2:07.

The action started with 450-meters to go when Gessner tried to take the lead but Aho would not allow it. The two went through with one lap to go in 3:10.7. It was another 65-second lap but that pace was about to pick up. The pack stared to string out with Lake Zurich’s Brian and Kyle Griffith and Sterling’s Jacob Gebhardt remaining in contact. Gessner made a more definitive move with 350-meters to go taking control of the race. Aho stayed close hoping to have one more chance to get the lead back.

Gessner had the lead going into the final 100-meters but Aho had one more gear to shift. He caught the Wisconsin runner with 50-meters to go and the two stayed even all the way to the finish. It was the lean that got Aho the win by just nine hundredths of a second ahead of Gessner (4:12.05 – 4:12.14).

“I wanted to go out in 60 seconds. I really wanted to go after Torpy’s record. I knew I had to do it all myself. I was just trying to make it a hot pace,” Aho said after the race. “When he (Gessner) made that move, I just let him go. I know he is a phenomenal runner. I just hung with him and felt good with 100 to go. I just found that last gear and he held me off until the 10-meters left. It was a really fun race.”

Brian Griffith was coming off a meet the night before where he ran a 1:53 split in the 4x8 and then 50 seconds in the open 400. He had enough in his legs to run 4:12.93 to finish third. Jacob Gebhardt and Kyle Griffith both crossed the line in 4:14.51 with Gebhardt getting fourth. The Sterling junior had a big weekend. He ran a personal best of 4:20.74 to win at Metamora on Friday night. He lowered it another six seconds on the Palatine track. Only seven runners went faster than 4:20 in last year’s race. It doubled this year to 15 runners in this meet for 1600 Meters to go under that mark.