Photo – The finish between Declan Rustay and Marcellus Moore was decided by a photo review in Friday’s 3A 100 Meter Dash prelims (Mike Newman Photo).

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Charleston – It seemed like no team had a “clean” preliminary day Friday for the IHSA Boys State Track Meet 2A & 3A Prelims at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field. Some mishaps opened the door for wide-open battles for both classifications’ team titles on Saturday.

It started with six-time defending 2A champion Cahokia in the 2A morning session. It started in the Long Jump when Marquis Murray, who had jumped past 23-feet at last weekend’s Mascoutah Sectional, jumped only 20-0.25 failing to make the finals. Then it was the 3200 Meter Relay that failed to make it out of prelims when they finished sixth in their heat. It continued in the 400 Meter Relay when the Comanches finished fourth in the first heat. They finished tenth in the prelims missing the finals by eight hundredths of a second. Keondre Wells finished tenth in the prelims of the 110 High Hurdles missing the finals by

The final straw for Cahokia came in the 1600 Meter Relay on the final leg. Chris Stanley had built up a lead on the rest of the field. With 50-meters to go, Stanley slowed down and began to hop on one foot. His hamstring had begun to tighten up. Five teams passed him before he finally crossed the line in sixth place in the heat with the relay not making it into the finals.

“I could feel it (the hamstring) starting to cramp up,” Stanley said to his teammates and trainers. “I had to slow down.”

It is not the end of the world for Cahokia. Their road for their seventh straight 2A championship was made tougher as they qualified five individuals and one relay to Saturday’s finals. It is not impossible. They will just need to have a near perfect day to bring a trophy back home.

There are several teams lined up to challenge for the title. Myles Aldridge has he top prelim marks in the Long Jump and Triple Jump giving Normal University an advantage heading into Saturday. The Pioneers have four individuals and one relay onto the finals.

Freeport is in position to win based on four great performances from Deion McShane. The junior is currently in fifth place in the Long Jump. His 14.32 winning time in his heat of the 110 High Hurdles sets up a great final with Peru St. Bede’s Bret Dannis who ran 14.23 to win his heat.

McShane’s best performance came in the 300 Meter Hurdles where he had made up the stagger on his heat by the third hurdle just before the curve. McShane looked effortless coming down the final straight into a strong headwind. McShane ended up running 37.27 for the fastest preliminary time. McShane ended his day by winning his heat in the 200 Meter Dash (22.21) qualifying for the finals. Jered Allison also helped the Pretzels qualifying in both the Shot Put and Discus.

~~~

The 3A meet had just as much drama on the team side in the afternoon. Cary Lockhart had Bloomington on a roll. He anchored his team to the fastest prelim time in the 400 Meter Relay in winning heat 2 (41.77). Lockhart followed that with a win in the opening heat of the 100 Meter Dash (10.63). Lockhart received the baton for the anchor leg with a commanding lead in the 800 Meter Relay. As he crossed the finish line leading his team to the fastest prelim time (1:26.30), he grimaced in pain. He looked like he reaggravated a hamstring injury that had hampered him most of last year. It looks doubtful that Lockhart will be able to compete on Saturday as he had to scratch out of the 200 Meter Dash.

Bloomington is still in contention to win a trophy. Zachery Bradford easily qualified for the finals of the Pole Vault and is the big favorite in the event. Avery Lyons qualified in the 400 Meter Dash as well as leading the Purple Raiders to the heat win (3:18.78) advancing to Saturday’s finals.

Edwardsville’s hopes for a state championship took a hit in the 800 Meter Relay when their team could not complete the second exchange and did not finish. AJ Epenesa currently is second in the Discus but did not advance out of the prelims in the Shot Put. The Tigers still have Travis Anderson who had the fastest prelim times in both hurdles races. His 13.67 time in the 110-Meter-High Hurdles is more than a half a second ahead of the rest of the field. He also won Heat 2 of the 300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles with the fastest prelim time (37.89).

East St. Louis-Senior qualified for all four of the relays to the finals making them a contender for the team title. It did hurt that Willie Johnson did not qualify for the finals of the 400 Meter Dash. Sectional time leader Delano Anderson did not advance in the 300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles when he hit the second to last hurdle and had to stop.

Neuqua Valley and Lyons Township also had good days and are teams to watch in Saturday’s finals.

2A Highlights

Sam Sikon of Carbondale broke his own 2A record in the Shot Put with a 63-6 mark on his final throw of the preliminaries. He currently leads the field by more than five feet. Sikon is in third in the Discus behind Kaneland’s Clayton Hannula and his 172-9 leading throw.

~~~

The sprints remain wide-open after the preliminaries. Israel Adeoti of Plano has the fastest time into Saturday (10.80) just two hundredths of a second ahead of Rodrick McMiller of Chicago Perspectives/Leadership. McMiller ran 21.86 to have the fastest prelim time in the 200 Meter Dash. VanHarvey Vance of Rich Central owns the fastest prelim time in the 400 Meter Dash (48.72) by almost a full second.

~~~

Jacob Gebhardt of Sterling looks to be the guy to beat after an impressive win in the 1600 Meter Run with the event’s fastest time. The junior pulled away from the field in the second heat to run 4:18.99 for the win a second ahead of Normal University’s Jared Schuckman (4:19.95).

“I started going out fast after Distance Night in Palatine,” Gebhardt said afterwards. “I just wanted to see who would go with me. I am excited about Saturday’s final”

Brayden Hamblen of Rock Falls pulled away in the final 200-meters to win the first heat (4:20.92) ahead of Metamora’s Jake Gillum (4:22.94).

~~~

The relays in this classification should be exciting on Saturday. Thornridge ran 8:01.75 for the fastest time in the 3200 Meter Relay. Normal University (8:02.11) and Geneseo (8:03.24) were the other heat winners.

Rich Central had a great prelim day with the fastest times in the 400 and 800 Meter Relays. The Olympians ran 42.68 to win Heat 2 just ahead of Montini Catholic (42.73). Mascoutah (43.26) and Morgan Park (42.90) were the other heat winners in the one-lap relay. Rich Central’s time of 1:29.22 is ahead of other heat winners Cahokia (1:29.70) and Peoria (1:29.74).

With defending champion Cahokia out of the 1600 Meter Relays, it should be a tight final with Geneseo having the fastest prelim time (3:23.07). Plano (3:23.76) and Erie (3:23.97) were the other heat winners.

3A Highlights

The 3A distance prelims set up what should be a great Saturday of races. Neuqua Valley and Lake Zurich ran in the final heat of the 3200 Meter Relay and produced the fastest two prelim times. Neuqua Valley prevailed (7:48.20) just ahead of Lake Zurich (7:48.56). Fremd (7:51.48) won Heat 1 just one hundredth of a second ahead of Prospect. Sandburg was the winner of Heat 2 (7:53.33) ahead of Whitney Young (7:55.58).

Brian Kuehl of Geneva came back after helping his team qualify in the 3200 Meter Relay to run the fastest prelim time in the 800 Meter Run. The final heat was the fastest of the three as four runners went under 1:55 led by Kuehl’s personal best of 1:53.77. Charlie Kern of York ran 1:55.44 to edge Jon Prus of Crystal Lake South (1:55.46) and Arturo Bautista of Buffalo Grove (1:55.51) to win Heat 1. Antonio Davis of Bloom Township ran 1:55.11 to win Heat 2.

The 1600 Meter Run should be one of the premiere races of Saturday. Friday’s first heat was slow through the first 1200-meters as Jack Aho of Grayslake Central and Brian Griffith of Lake Zurich pushed the pace in the final lap. Tyler Dau of Geneva snuck by on the inside to win Heat 1 (4:17.86) ahead of Griffith (4:18.00). Six runners advanced from that heat.

Heat 2 was three seconds faster throughout the race. Irwin Loud of Oak Park-River Forest used a strong final 100-meters to win (4:14.58) ahead of Minooka’s Soren Knudsen (4:15.68). Six runners also advanced from that heat.

~~~

John Meyer of Lockport Township appeared tight in his three preliminary throws of the Shot Put but still has the top mark in the event. Meyer started with a 63-3 throw on his first-round attempt then increased that to 63-4.5 in round 2. His third throw was good with a 65-10.5 throw to solidify his lead. Ethan Hanson of Fremd was also hot throwing 62-7.25 in round two to have control on second-place. Meyer also has the lead in the Discus (189-5) ahead of defending champion AJ Epenesa (184-8).

~~~

Cary Lockhart’s possible absence in the sprints puts the spotlight on Hoffman Estates’ Declan Rustay and Marcellus Moore of Plainfield North. The two gave everyone a preview of what could happen in the final heat of the 100 Meter Dash. Both crossed the line in a state leading 10.40 with Rustay having the edge by six thousandth of a second. Dubem Anikamadu of Huntley had the fastest 200 Meer Dash prelim time as he ran 21.71 to win Heat 1 just ahead of Rustay (21.73). Moore also ran 21.73 to win Heat 2.

~~~

Davion Cross of West Aurora jumped a state leading 23-11.25 to lead all qualifiers in the Long Jump. Cameron Ruiz of Lakes is currently in second (23-7.5). The places switched in the Triple Jump as Ruiz jumped 48-7.5 for the lead in the Triple Jump ahead of Chatham-Glenwood’s Tony Rolfe (48-4.5) and Cross (47-2).