ILXCTF.com 2022 IHSA Boys Track & Field Previews - 2A Sprints/Hurdles

By Michael Newman [email protected]

New faces in races. That could be the storyline in Class 2A for the sprints and the hurdles for this 2022 season. The 400 Meter Dash has six all-state athletes coming back. Compare that to the 100 Meter and 200 Meter Dashes where there are only two all-state athletes coming back.

That means there is a door that is WIDE open for athletes to find success in these five events by the time we get to the state series in May. Townsend Barton of Carterville could be the one athlete to watch in these disciplines. Barton will see success on the next level in multi-event competitions. He could sweep both hurdle races in this classification. Alec Sledge of Mt. Vernon could be his chief competition.

Here is a look at the five events that will take place in the sprints and hurdles for Class 2A this season.

100 Meter Dash

Notes – Five athletes are back in this event that ran between 10.9 and 11.0 last season. Christian Keyhea of Mt. Zion had a 10.91 best that also included finishing second at the state meet. Kenneth Buchanon of East St. Louis-Senior finished sixth last year as a freshman. Big things should be ahead this spring as a sophomore. Vinson Newsom of Marion has the fastest time back at 10.90 at Carterville at the end of May. Newsom did not make it out of his sectional. He could be hungry in this his senior season.

Jacob Tackett of Monticello and Nathan Hippard of Mascoutah are back with times just under 11 seconds. There are a number of athletes that are under 11.2 including Kaleb Brown of St. Rita, Stephen Brown of Fenwick, Sean Abracia-Wendel of Genoa-Kingston, Keegan Fogarty of Princeton, and Corey Phillips of Kaneland. All of this group and maybe more could step into the spotlight this spring making it to the finals in Charleston.

400 Meter Dash

Notes – This could be the most competitive of the three sprint events with six all-state athletes all coming back. Zac Schmidt of Burlington Central, Jackson Gilbert of Urbana, and Bryson Wilson of Marion all are back with times under 50 seconds. Gilbert has the fastest time back (49.29). Schmidt finishing second has the highest finish returning. Any of these runners could dip into the 48’s this spring.

Timothy Cross of East St. Louis-Senior, Garrett Slack of Lincoln, and Marcus Price of Breese Central left Charleston last June with all-state medals. Look for these three runners to improve on their places in 2022.

There are 10 runners back that have times faster than 52 seconds. The opportunity is there for some of them to take the next step up the ladder. Some of the runners to keep watch for include Jackson Burroughs of Marmion Academy, Spencer Lay of Rochester, Plamendi Nseka of Galesburg, and Riley Chrostoski of Herrin.

200 Meter Dash

Notes – This is an anybody’s guess kind of event. John Green Jr. of Agricultural Science finished eighth last year. Kegan Fogarty of Princeton finished ninth. They are the only two all-state athletes back. EJ Nwagwu of St. Rita ran 22.32 to win his sectional and has the fastest returning time. He did not have his best race at state finishing 14th in the finals.

The talent in this event is deep with 20 runners with times under 23 seconds. Nine of those runners are between 22.55 and 22.75. Daniel Crawford of St. Viator, Jacob Tackett of Monticello, Kenneth Buchanon of East St. Louis-Senior, Nathan Hippard of Mascoutah, and Adrian Williams of St. Laurence are some of many athletes that could end the season as all-state athletes in this event. Williams finished 12 last year in the 3A Finals.

110-Meter-High Hurdles

Notes – Three athletes are all-state and back as well as having times under 15.1 seconds. Alec Sledge of Mt. Vernon has the fastest returning time (14.54) and also finished fourth in the state finals. Townsend Barton of Carterville should be Sledge’s chief competition. Barton finished sixth in last year’s finals and also has run under 15-seconds (14.92). Jaden Bossie of Mt. Carmel (Chicago) finished ninth and is the only other all-state athlete back.

Demarlynn Taylor of East St. Louis-Senior finished in the top 12 last year and should challenge a finish in the top three. Keshawn Lyons of Cahokia, DeWayne Johnson of Pontiac, Ajani Rush of Hillcrest, Jason Huang of Benet Academy, and Matthew Marcum of Rock Falls are some of the other hurdlers to keep an eye on this season.

300 Meter Hurdles

Notes – Townsend Barton of Carterville appears to be the class of this event. Barton is one of three all-state athletes coming back with his second-place finish in 2021 one of the reasons why. He is a second ahead of the rest of the field entering the season having run 38.54. We could see him in the 37’s this spring.

Matthew Marcum of Rock Falls and Alec Sledge of Mt. Vernon return as all-state athletes in this event and should be Barton’s chief competition. There are only these three athletes that have times under 40.1 seconds. None of the other returning runners have bests under 41 seconds. That should change as the season progresses. Bryce Cox of Jacksonville, Keshawn Lyons of Cahokia, Nolan Milas of Burlington Central, Matthew Lojko of Sycamore, Michael Pittman of Mt. Vernon, and Bayley Pierce of Freeport are some of the athletes that we could see at 40.5 or under this spring.