Photo: Lyons Township (pictured) proved they will be a team to contend for the 3A Boys state title with a strong performance in winning at Prospect Friday night (Mike Danner Photo)

By Michael Newman, ILXCTF.com Editor

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Well, one of the two weekend days that meets were held throughout the state had good conditions to compete in. Friday night was under 50 degrees in the northern part of the state with no winds. Distance runners took advantage of those conditions with some great performances. Meet in the rest of the state were not so fortunate as some of the meets were cancelled and some meets crawled along with less than optimal weather.

The northern part of the state joined the rest of the state in the world of “suckiness” Saturday with high winds, rain, and temperatures in the 40’s. The Red Ribbon Classic was stopped after the 100 Meter Dash when conditions were just so bad. They still ran the 800 Meer Run and then the 1600 Meer Run before the meet was called off. Kyle Thompson of Wheaton-Warrenville South ran 4:29 to win the 1600 Meter Run in what was a great race considering how bad it was to run. The Palatine Relays went off completing all events. That did not surprise me since they have run that meet off in worse conditions.

Boys teams tune up for conference meets this week. Girls teams get ready for their sectional qualifying meets with conference meets. The Chicago Public League Championships are scheduled with prelims on Tuesday and Wednesday and finals on Saturday. The weather will be hopefully better this weekend.

Here are some of the highlights from this weekend. You can also read about the fast distance times at the Wanner Knights Invitational.

Tiger Girls Invitational @ Wheaton-Warrenville South

Cool conditions were surrounding Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Red Grange Field Friday night. There were some great distance races. Athletes in those events took advantage of the no wind that made the times even faster. Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West was once again a part of those fast times in the 1600 Meter Run. The freshman ran the fastest time in the state and the third fastest nationally when she ran 4:48.66 to win the race. Hannah Ricci of Naperville North also went under five minutes recording a 4:55.66 time to finish second. The top eight runners in this event were 5:10 or faster.

The 3200 Meer Relay was another hot race with Glenbard West and Naperville North running the fastest times in the state. Glenbard West’s quartet of Lindsey Payne, Claire Kenwood, Janie Nabholz, and Hart broke Schaumburg’s six-year-old meet record with a 9:13.17 time to win the race. Naperville North, with Claire Hill, Gabby Champion, Jillian Fitz, and Claire Hamilton part of their quartet, was under 9:20 running 9:19.20 to finish second. Five schools ran 9:40 or faster in that event. Grace McCabe of Hinsdale Central won the 800 Meter Run (2:17.19) just ahead of Schaumburg’s Madison Marasco (2:17.95) and Glenbard West’s Janie Nabholz (2:18.95). Glenbard West’s Katie Hohe ran 11:09.74 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Downers Grove South’s Katie Stapleton (11:18.42).

Claire Young of Bolingbrook was the only individual double winner in this meet. She ran 12.54 to win the 100 Meter Dash just three hundredths of a second ahead of Proviso West’s Tanayea Kimbrough and another hundredth of a second ahead of Moline’s Megan Pittington. Young also cleared 5-5 to win the High Jump. Pittington had a great night winning the 400 Meter Dash (58.13) as four runners ran under 60 seconds. Pittington also finished second in the 200 Meter Dash behind Carinne Parker of Morgan Park who ran 25.94 for the win.

Proviso West won two of the sprint relays in this meet. The Lady Panthers’ first win came in the 800 Meter Relay when they ran 1:44.99 for the win ahead of Hinsdale Central (1:45.72). The two WSC-Silver teams switched places in the 400 Meter Relay with Hinsdale Central (49.46) just eight hundredths of a second ahead of Proviso West (49.54) and Bolingbrook (49.57). Proviso West ended their night running the third fastest time in the state (4:00.31) ahead of Hinsdale Central (4:03.67) and Glenbard West (4:04.73). Halle Bieber of Naperville North won the 300 Hurdles by two seconds running the second fastest time this season in the state in this event (44.66).

Palatine Relays

Rain, cold, and high winds were the story in this meet. Perseverance was the name of the game as this meet was one of the few that completed their entire schedule of events. The top performance of the meet was from Proviso East’s Deonte Bryant as he jumped 23-3 to win the Long Jump. Palatine scored 142 points to win the Boys team title ahead of Barrington (125 points) and Fremd (100 points). Barrington had two double individual winners in this meet. John Stefan handled the weight events throwing 56-2.5 to win the Shot Put and a 155-1 throw to win the Discus. Nick Laning ran 10:02.61 in the rain to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Mundelein’s Robert St. Clair (10:06.19). Laning came back to run 4:32.05 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Dillon Quinones of Portage IN (4:33.11).

Evanston Township won the Girls Meet (98 points) behind the two wins by their star distance runner Enyaeva Michelin. The junior ran 2:17.42 to win the 800 Meter Run (2:17.42) by almost nine seconds ahead of Sandburg’s Casey Jensen. Michelin came back to win the 1600 Meter Run (5:12.81) by 12-seconds ahead of Barrington’s Jocelyn Long.

New Trier Girls Invitational

New Trier won the team title in their own meet with 121.5 points ahead of highly touted Homewood-Flossmoor with 112 points. Jaimie Robinson of Homewood-Flossmoor was the star of this meet winning three individual events. The University of Alabama signee controlled the horizontal jumps going 18-9.75 to win the Long Jump by two feet and then jumping 39-9.5 to win the Triple Jump by four feet. Her third win came in the 200 Meter Dash (24.85). Robinson was also a part of Homewood-Flossmoor’s winning 800 Meter Relay (1:43.84) that won by almost five seconds ahead of New Trier.

Triad Invitational

Thunderstorms affected this meet as it was postponed after the completion of the 110 Hurdles. It did produce a couple of great performances. Normal University ran the third fastest time in the state (7:56.51) to win the 3200 Meter Relay by 16-seconds ahead of Metamora (8:11.91). Morgan Park won the 400 Meter Relay (43.30) just two hundredths of a second ahead of Edwardsville. Normal University’s Jack Franklin ran a personal best of 9:25.70 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of the pack by 40-seconds.

Rolling Meadows Mustang Classic

This meet took place down the road from the high powered Wanner Knights Invitational. Two athletes who starred last week at Distance Night in Palatine had great races in this meet. Jack Aho of Grayslake Central stepped down in distance in winning the 800 Meter Run (1:56.93) ahead of Rolling Meadows’ John Gerardi (1:58.13). Shepard’s Caleb Washington easily won the 1600 Meter Run (4:23.26) by eight seconds ahead of Fitz Laurie of Highland Park.

Glenbrook North Spartan Relays

Lake Zurich loaded up their 4x1600 Meter Relay producing the second fastest time nationally in this relay only meet. The quartet of Matt Pereira, Kyle Griffith, Patrick Burns, and Brian Griffith ran 17:19.89 to easily win the event by 77-seconds ahead of Stevenson.

Kane County Girls Championships

Dajour Miles’ three individual wins helped host West Aurora to win the county championships with 142 points. Geneva, with 100 points, finished second ahead of Batavia (95 points). The talented sophomore is fully healthy after a hamstring injury sidelined her for almost two months. The 100 Meter Dash was close with Miles running 12.34 to win by just one hundredth of a second ahead of Elgin St. Edward’s Bella Uscila. West Aurora took the top two spots in the 400 Meter Dash with Miles winning (57.03) ahead of teammate Tamia Rayford (58.31). Miles completed her individual triple by winning the 200 Meter Dash (24.67) ahead of Uscila (25.22). Miles also anchored her team’s 1600 Meter Relay that finished second (4:08.05) behind the 4:07.70 winning time from Aurora Central Catholic.

Geneva’s Georgia Reed was a double winning the 100 Hurdles (16.11) and then the 300 Hurdles with the fifth fastest time this season in the state (45.53). Abby Fioresi, who anchored Aurora Central Catholic’s winning 1600 Meter Relay, also won two events. She ran 2:16.86 to win the 800 Meter Run. Fioresi came back to win the 1600 Meter Run (5:08.02) in which the first seven runners were within four seconds of each other.

Pete Struck Classic @ Sandburg

Dylan Jacobs ran 4:16.87 on his home track to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Downers Grove North’s Ryan Birkmeier (4:20.99) and Sandburg’s Martin Skucas (4:22.40). Downers Grove North took the first three places in the 3200 Meter Run with Jacob Ridderhoff winning (9:35.42) ahead of Miles Christensen (9:42.14) and Jack Roberts (9:42.83). Solomon Wilson-Walls of Tinley Park ran 14.35 to win the 110 High Hurdles ahead of Joe Keys of Downers Grove North (14.95). The two switched spots in the 300 Intermediate Hurdles with Keys winning 39.28) ahead of Wilson-Walls (40.42).

Sterling Night Relays

It was individual performances that ruled the night in this relay meet. Deion McShane of Freeport, the defending 2A state champion in the 110 & 300 Hurdles, ran the fastest time in the state in the 300 Hurdles (37.40) winning the event by almost three seconds. Two of the top 2A distance runners faced off in the 1600 Meter Run as Brayden Hamblen of Rock Falls ran a personal best of 4:17.64 to win the event ahead of Sterling’s Jacob Gebhardt (4:18.75).

Jered Allison of Freeport achieved a personal best of 58-9.5 to win the Shot Put. Allison had to settle for second in the Discus (162-5) behind the 175-8 wining throw by Ottawa’s Eric Fox.

In the Girls meet, Maggie McPherson of Sterling ran a 5:07.90 personal best to win the 1600 Meter Run by almost 19-seconds behind Dixon freshman Nicquelette Fazekas. Tayla Schwarz of Dixon won both weight events throwing 119-8 to win the Discus and a 42-8 season’s best to win the Shot Put.

Lake County Girls Invitational

After running the fastest 800 time in the state last weekend a Distance Night in Palatine, Highland Park freshman Stephanie Kriss achieved a new personal best in the 1600 Meter Run (5:14.88) for the win ahead of Libertyville’s Melissa Manetsch (5:15.33) and Lauren Katz of Vernon Hills (5:15.78) Thursday night. Manetsch won the 3200 Meter Run earlier in the meet (11:13.46) nine seconds ahead of Grant’s Danielle Osmon.

Spartan Classic @ St. Joseph-Ogden

Joe Lopez of Tuscola ran the fastest 1A 400 Meter Dash in the state (49.94) in winning the event ahead of Mt. Zion’s Alex Cutler (50.77). Weather hit hard in the 1600 Meter Run but did not affect Arthur-Lovington’s Logan Hall. The junior ran a personal best of 4:20.23 to win the even 12-seconds ahead of Tolono Unity’s Nathan Seiler (4:32.81). Steven Migut of Tolono Unity ran 15.19 to win the 110 High Hurdles and then came back to run 39.66 to win the 300 Intermediate Hurdles. Mt. Zion’s Harley Russell was a double winner throwing 166-2 to win the Discus and 48-2 to win the Shot Put.

Roger Washburn Invitational @ Eureka

Elmwood-Brimfield’s Jackson Harkness won both weight events throwing 53-10.5 to win the Shot Put and then throwing a personal best 165-1 to win the Discus. A personal best was also achieved by Alec McElyea of Illinois Valley Central when he jumped 22-9.5 to win the Long Jump.

There were double winners all over the Girls division in this meet. Courtney Heffren of Eureka ran 59.52 to win the 400 Meter Dash and then 26.61 to win the 200 Meter Dash. She finished second in the 100 Meter Dash behind the 12.89 winning time from Farmington’s Jordan Peckham.  Bureau Valley’s Saige Barnet threw 35-3.5 to win the Shot Pu. She came back to throw 105-2 to win the Discus. Abby Camp, a junior from Illinois Valley Central, ruled the horizontal jumps with 35-6 winning the Triple Jump and 17-0 to win the Long Jump.

Freshman Anna Heffren of Lewistown ran a great race in the 1600 Meter Run with a personal best of 5:09.91 winning the event by four seconds ahead of Shelby Siltman of Stanford Olympia (5:13.37).

Conant Girls Twilight Invitational

Mackenzie Callahan of Minooka ran under five minutes for the first time in the 1600 Meter Run recording a 4:59.76 to win the even ahead of Belvidere North’s Madison Diercks (5:12.03). The Belvidere North freshman also won the High Jump (5-1). The 800 Meter Run was good with Belvidere North’s Jenna Lutzow winning the race (2:19.79) just ahead of Anna Miller of Hoffman Estates (2:20.78). Lutzow, earlier in the meet, anchored Belvidere North’s team to a win in the 3200 Meter Relay (9:33.6 hand timed) ahead of Minooka (9:48.3).

Jade Mayes of Westinghouse Prep tuned up for this week’s Chicago Public League Championships running 15.41 to win the 100 Hurdles and 46.09 to win the 300 Hurdles.

Monticello Lady Sages Invitational

Mattie Lieb won the sprint double on her home track running 27.13 to win the 200 Meter Dash and 13.48 to win the 100 Meter Dash into a strong headwind. Clinton freshman Payne Turney also won two events running 2:23.85 to win the 800 Meter Run and 5:22.77 to win the 1600 Meter Run.