ILXCTF.com 2022 IHSA Boys Track & Field Previews - 3A Field Events

By Michael Newman [email protected]

Two athletes are back reading to defend their state titles in the two of six field events in Class 3A. Kyle Clabough of Yorkville dominated the Shot Put last year in his state title. He returns with a performance almost six feet ahead of the rest of the field.

Rob Pulliam of Moline was the hot jumper in the 3A High Jump last year. His 6-9 clearance in Charleston is the top returning mark. There are four athletes that are within three inches of him making this event interesting to watch as the season progresses.

Let’s look at the six field events that will take place in Class 3A for the 2022 season.

Long Jump

Notes – This event is wide-open even though there are five all-state athletes back in this event. In his final three meets last year, Jake Mackowiak of Lincoln-Way Central showed consistency with jumps between 22-10 and at state when he jumped 22-11.25 to finish second missing the state title by a quarter of an inch. His best jump last year was 23-0. Nathan Shapiro of Glenbrook South finished seventh in the state finals. He does return with a 23-3.5 best that happened at Deerfield in May.

Caleb Wright of Oswego jumped 22-6 last year while Toriano Tate of DeKalb jumped 22-5. They finished fourth and fifth at state and will be in the mix for a state title. The top newcomer last year was Dominik Ball of Palatine. The freshman was all-state last year finishing eighth and had a 22-6.5 best. Let’s see how much he improves during his sophomore season.

There are 14 athletes back that jumped past 22-feet in 2021. Jalen Buckley of Batavia, Daniel Lacy of Champaign Centennial, and Jack Maas of Andrew have three of the top five returning marks. Jahari Scott of Lake Forest, Aarion Jackson of Edwardsville, and Isaac Rice of St. Ignatius Prep are some of the other athletes to watch for.

Triple Jump

Notes – Only three all-state athletes are back in this event. It should be interesting in this event with the top four athletes back having jumped past 46-feet. There are three more athletes that are back that have bests that are past 45-feet.

Desmond Horton of Lake Park appears to be the athlete to watch in this event. Horton jumped a wind-aided personal best of 47-8 to finish second in last year’s final. All of Horton’s jumps went past 45-feet last year. He jumped 46-9.75 in his sectional win before his state meet performance.

Caleb Wright of Oswego finished fourth in Charleston. Josh Franklin of Crete-Monee finished eighth. They are the event’s only other all -state returning athletes Franklin is more than a foot behind Horton’s best. Jacob Bostick of Palatine and Jalen Buckley of Batavia went past 46-feet last year and will be athletes to watch to challenge for the state title. Some of the other athletes to watch for include Sam Bowerman of Downers Grove North, Jordan Brooks of Edwardsville, Josh Pugh of Yorkville, and Rob Pulliam of Moline.

High Jump

Notes – Rob Pulliam of Moline enters this season as the favorite in the High Jump. His clearance mark of 6-9 is the highest returning mark that won him a state title. There are four other athletes that are back that have cleared 6-6 or higher. Normal West’s Jonovan Findley and Charlie Nolan will be threats for the state title. Findley’s best last year was 6-8. Mark Cless of Evanston and Kacey Battle of Oswego East were all-state last year and will look to repeat that performance.

Mark Helwig Jr. of Stevenson only had a best of 6-0.75 during the regular season that included a trip to the state meet. Helwig had a huge clearance of 6-8.25 during a summer meet in July. It will be interesting to watch this senior progress over the next couple of months.

Some of the athletes to watch for this season include Darren Anderson of Minooka, Adreian Roper of East Moline, Chris Taylor of Normal Community, Jaisnav Rajesh of Waubonsie Valley, and Joel Anyan of Romeoville.

Pole Vault

Notes – It is hard to forecast this event. The state finals were affected by the heat. There are three all-state athletes that return. Charles Cruse of Normal Community returns with a best of 15-7 while Christian Sobecki of Oswego and Tim Gale of Schaumburg cleared 15-feet during the season. Gale tied for 15th in the State Finals while Cruse and Sobecki did not place with no heights on their three attempts. All three will play a factor this spring and especially in the state series.

Arni Grunert of Lincoln-Way East, Kyle Varga of Lake Park, and Nicholas Fortino of Batavia earned all-state honors in 2021 all having cleared 14-8 or higher. All three should also be watched for this season.

Some other athletes to keep an eye on include Luke Richards of Wheaton-Warrenville South, Andrew Undesser of Minooka, Jake Ryan of Lincoln-Way West, Josh Meister of Oak Park-River Forest, and Caden Smith of Grayslake North.

Shot Put

Notes – Kyle Clabough of Yorkville won the state title last year and did not have his best efforts on that day. His best was 65-5.75 at the beginning of the season. 12 of the 13 meets he competed in outdoors he passed 60-feet. His best mark at state was 61-6.5. He was still four feet ahead of the rest of the field.

Three athletes including Clabough went past 57-feet. Paolo Gennarelli of St. Charles North and Alex Sohn of Normal Community were the other two athletes that finished third and fourth at state. Jose Mejia of Barrington finished ninth at state. He is one of ten athletes that were between 50 feet and 54 feet.

We will see a number of athletes that will exhibit huge improvements this season. Some of those athletes to keep an eye on include Sam Mika of Waubonsie Valley, Zachary Marsico of Wheaton-Warrenville South, Jhermari Mabry of Palatine, Zach Petko of Cary-Grove, and David Mun of Vernon Hills.

Discus

Notes – This event is wide open led with three all-state athletes back. Maverick Ohle of Naperville Central had a breakout freshman season finishing fifth in the state finals. He had a best of 158-11.75 last year. Pretty impressive for a freshman. The sky could be the limit for him in his second year of high school competition.

Zach Petko of Cary-Grove finished sixth last year. He was one of three athletes including Kyle Clabough of Yorkville and Paolo Gennarelli of St. Charles North that went past 160-feet last year. Lucah Jones of Lake Park finished eighth last year and could be a factor in this event. Sam Mika of Waubonsie Valley finished 12 at state and could be in the hunt for a state championship. Some of the athletes that went past 150-feet and should be watched out for include Isaiah Isom of TF South, Martin Kiefer of Neuqua Valley, Alex Sohn of Normal Community, and Riley Lundgren of Machesney Park Harlem.