Photo: Downers Grove South started out the season running 8:15.9 in the 4x8 at York on Saturday.

By Michael Newman

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Super Bowl weekend is usually the kickoff to the IHSA Regular Track & Field season. Most of the top performances occurred outside of the state with a few meets within the state.

Action should pick up this weekend with small but strong Girls Meets at Wheaton-Warrenville South and York. Rockford Auburn will host their second meet of the season, this a Girls event on their spacious 200-meter track. Boys Meets will be low keyed this weekend with action at Lockport, Evanston Township, Plainfield South, and Proviso West to name a few.

If you like relays, head to Proviso West where their Co-Ed Valentine Relays will take place.

Here are some highlights from the past weekend.

Big River Running HS Qualifier #2 @ University of Missouri

Illinois athletes traveled west hoping to achieve some personal bests tis earlier in the season Sunday at the University of Missouri’s Hearnes Center.

That they did.

Connor Artman of Illini West led the way in the Long Jump improving on his personal best by almost half a foot. His mark of 23-10.50 won the event by more than a foot and is currently ranked fourth nationally. Artman came back to finish third in the 60 Meter Hurdles with a personal best 8.14.

Bret Dannis of Peru St. Bede stepped into the national spot light along with Artman with an impressive performance in the 60 Meter Hurdles. While Artman finished third in that race, Dennis ran 7.97 (US #5 Tie) for the win. Dannis came back to run 22.65 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

Hamilton Warsaw’s Andrew Bird had a big afternoon in the two weight events winning both. Bird started with a put of 54-0 for the win in the Shot Put. He won by only one quarter of an inch ahead of Jackson Sheckler of Illini Bluffs. His mark of 53-11.75 was a personal best by almost two feet. Sheckler finished seventh in last year’s 1A finals.

Bird improved his personal best in winning the Weight Throw. His effort of 52-8.75 moved him into the 100 nationally.

Vanderbilt High School Invitational

Ronald Reed of Decatur MacArthur made the trip east to Nashville, Tennessee and came away with top ten national performances in the 60 Meter Dash in this meet. Reed, who missed last year’s state finals in the 2A 100 Meter Dash by one spot, looks to have a chip on his shoulder and ready to show his junior season was a fluke.

Reed improved his personal best in the 60 Meter Dash by 12 hundredths of a second by running 6.88 to have the fastest prelim time in the event. It was a close final as Reed ran 6.87 (US #8) for the win by just one hundredth of a second ahead of Seth Holloway from Fayette County GA.

Jerry Lowe Invitational @ Rockford Auburn HS

Deerfield won three individual events to help them win this meet with 58 points. St. Laurence scored 48 points to finish second while Hoffman Estates was third (45 points). Henry Boudreau won the Shot Put (48-10) while Mark Mahoney jumped 22-2.75 to win the Long Jump. Mahoney also cleared 6-0 along with Marist’s Steven Rowe to tie for the win in the High Jump.

Two-time state sprint champion Declan Rustay of Hoffman Estates competed in just one event. He opened the season by running 51.63 to win the 400 Meter Dash ahead of teammate Connor Kiley (52.01).

Defending 1A 800 Meter Champion Riley Wells of Rockford Christian was impressive in the two events that he ran in. He pulled away early to win the 800 Meter Run (1:59.37) to win by five seconds ahead of Payton Prep’s Matthew Marchbanks (2:04.78). Wells went out in 58.2 for the first 400-meters and rolled from there.

A collision on the first exchange put Rockford Christian in the hole in the 1600 Meter Relay. Wells ran a 51.8 anchor to secure a third-place finish. Marchbanks was part of the winning relay squad for Payton Prep along with Richard Alvarez, Mario Wiggins, and Jerome Seebeck. Their winning time was a quick 3:30.41 and two seconds ahead of Proviso East (3:32.51).

Alex Tam of Libertyville also had a standout performance with his win in the 1600 Meter Run. Tam’s season opening time of 4:28.74 was seven seconds ahead of second-place Eli Minsky of Grayslake Central.

York Boys Quad

This low-keyed season opener with Bolingbrook, Downers Grove South, Naperville Central, and host York produced some fast times especially in the distance races. Downers Grove South’s distance squad started out on a strong note especially in the 3200 Meter Relay. The quartet of Eddie Siuda, Ryan Gage, Akhil Ghosh, and Stephen Pipilas lapped the field in running 8:15.9 for the win. Pipilas’ solo anchor of 2:01.0 was the best split for the team. Siuda came back later in the meet to win the 600 Meter Run (1:26.1).

Naperville Central’s Thomas Shilgalis was disappointed with his 92^nd place finish in last November’s 3A State Meet at Detweiller Park. That could spur him on to some big things this spring. It started with a double win in this meet. Shilgalis was in control in winning the 800 Meter Run (2:00.7) ahead of teammate Seth Klein-Collins (2:03.0).

Ghosh and Pipilas pushed the pace early in the 1600 Meter Run while Shilgalis set back in third for most of the race. Shilgalis took the lead with 300-meters to go and pushed the final 200-meters in 31 seconds to win the race (4:30.7) ahead of Pipilas (4:32.6) and Ghosh (4:33.5).

The closest finish of the day was in the 3200 Meter Run. Bolingbrook’s Tyler Cushing took the lead at the beginning of the race with the York trio of Sean MacGregor, Ethan Kern, and Tim Stevenson close behind. Stevenson passed Cushing with 300-meters to go with Cushing reclaiming it with 100-meters left. The two were side-by-side approaching the finish with Cushing taking the win (9:46.4) ahead of Stevenson (9:56.8).

Bloom and Naperville Central Pole Vault Meets

Pole Vault Meets at Bloom and Naperville Central produced some good early season performances. At Bloom’s Vaultpoleooza, Providence Catholic’s Gavin Jaime won the Boys event clearing 14-0 and finishing ahead of teammate Nico Planeta (13-6). Samantha Spencer mad it a sweep for Providence Catholic as she cleared 11-0 to win the Girls event ahead of Oak Park-River Forest’s Margaret Dring (10-0).

At the meet at Naperville Central, Plainfield Central’s Tanner Evatt and St. Charles North’s Gilbert Bragila both cleared 12-6. Evatt won the Boys event on fewer misses. Megan Gale of Schaumburg won the Girls Event clearing an indoor personal best height of 10-0.