Photo: John Meyer during his State Record throw at Olivet Nazarene (Anthony Holler Photo)

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

It was only a matter of time before John Meyer would get the Illinois State Record in the Shot Put.

That day happened to be Saturday at the Olivet Nazarene HS Classic. We had an idea the week before in his first meet of the year on his home ring that he could get the record held by Jermaine Kline’s all-time state best when he threw 65-6 with two fouls with throws at 68-feet. Meyer blew away Kline’s record by a foot with his 68-4 put. It is also the top performance in the event this season nationally.

Meyer’s record of that distance is not that permanent. I am sure he will be going past that mark again and again and again this season.

This past weekend was the first weekend of big meets across the state. It will just keep getting better as this season progresses.

Here are some highlights from some of the meets. You can also read recaps of meets that we were at from Huntley and Proviso West.

OLIVET NAZARENE HS CLASSIC

Meyer’s mark was the top performance of this meet of what displayed many great times and distances. Let’s start with Marcellus Moore of Plainfield North who had a great day in the 60 Meter Dash and then the 800 Meter Relay. Moore’s 6.98 preliminary time was the second fastest time behind the 6.92 from Joshua Bridges of Homewood-Flossmoor. That order changed in the final as Moore equaled his seasonal best of 6.83 (US#7). Bridges was next at 6.91 followed by teammate Grant Floyd (7.00). Plainfield North did make a huge statement in winning the 800 Meter Relay. The quartet of Moore, Anthony Capezio, Canyon Bownes, and Brian Registe ran a state seasonal best of 1:31.43 to win the event by four seconds ahead of Lockport Township (1:35.44) and Homewood-Flossmoor (1:35.83). Bridges came back to win the 200 Meter Dash (22.30, IL #4).

Zach Kinne of Neuqua Valley followed up with the 4:17 that he ran in the 1600 last week with another great race in the 3200 Meter Run. The junior was by himself most of the race as he ran a personal best 9:09.74 (US #7) winning by almost 20 seconds ahead of teammate Ryan Kennedy (9:28.50). Kinne came back on a tough double in the 600 Meter Run as he ran 1:26.48 to finish sixth. The race was won by Phillip Hall of Danville who ran a quick 1:22.92 state best. Hall’s race showed that he could be in the mix for the 800 Meter Run when we get to the state series. His teammate Sincere Davis ran 1:25.17 to place second. Another Danville athlete, Quemarii Williams, made his presence known in the 400 Meter Dash. Williams won that event (50.53, IL #4) by more than a second ahead of Williams McMichael of Evanston Township.

A superior performance was turned in by another Neuqua Valley athlete. Donovan Turner, a junior, won the 60 Meter Hurdles (8.21) with the third fastest time in the state.

Homewood-Flossmoor edged Neuqua Valley 107-106 for the team championship in this meet. They had help from Cole Lewis who cleared 6-4 to win the High Jump. EJ Burruss also helped the Vikings’ cause as he jumped 22-4 to win the Long Jump. Lockport Township’s Conor McCarthy jumped 22-3 to finish second. Evanston Township’s Jonathan Wilburn jumped a season’s best 44-7 (IL #3) to win the Triple Jump.

This meet changed to Co-Ed this season but did not have the team size (six teams) that the Boys side had. There were still some good performances. Enyaeva Michelin of Evanston Township was a double champion winning the 800 Meter and 1600 Meter Run. Her win in the 800 Meter Run was a solo effort as she ran 2:15.97 (IL #3) to win by 14 seconds. It was a little closer for Michelin in the 1600 Meter Run. She ran 5:04.65 (IL #2) to win by ten seconds ahead of Mackenzie Brownrigg of Lincoln-Way Central.

Jasmine Mitchell of Thornwood had the state’s best mark in the Shot Put (43-5.75) heading into this weekend. She was in charge of the event on Saturday as she had a 42-0.75 put for the win by more than four feet ahead of teammate Morgan Reed (38-0).

The big winner in this meet was Taylor Wright of Lincoln-Way East who won four events. In the field events, Wright jumped 16-0 for the win in the Long Jump. She swept the sprints as she won the 60 Meter Dash (7.98), the 200 Meter Dash (26.31), and the 400 Meter Dash (59.62).

NORMAL WEST BOYS INVITATIONAL @ SHIRK CENTER, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

The closest event in this meet was the 800 Meter Run were only one hundredth of a second separated the top two runners. Jared Schuckman of Normal University had the edge (1:58.52, IL #3) over city rival Tyler Dunn of Normal West (1:58.43, IL #4).

Tyrone Treadwell of Springfield was a double winner as he captured the 60 Meter Hurdles (8.38, IL #6) as well as the Triple Jump (42-11.25). Zachery Bradford of Bloomington went over 17-0 again as he cleared 17-0 for the win. Callan Whitehouse of Mahomet-Seymour cleared a personal best of 15-0 for the second-place finish. Keep an eye on Liam McGill of Bloomington. Only a freshman, McGill cleared 13-6 to finish third. Aidan Oliver of Normal and A’Jonte Lee of Springfield Lanphier both cleared 6-4 in the High Jump with Oliver getting the win on fewer misses. Hunter Hendershot of Mahomet-Seymour threw 52-6 to win the Shot Put. The sophomore was at 53-0 the week before at a small meet at his home track.

Micah Amerson of Normal West was looking for the sprint double in this meet but a false start in the prelims of the 60 Meter Dash cancelled that. He did run 22.90 to win the 200 Meter Dash. He was also a part of his team’s 800 Meter Relay that ran 1:33.33 (IL #3) to win the event by four seconds ahead of Urbana.

HOMEWOOD-FLOSSMOOR A-B-C GIRLS INVITATIONAL

In this early season meet, top performances were expected from this meet. It started in the High Jump where three of the top four state performances were achieved. Imani Carothers of Brooks College Prep led the way as she jumped 19-11.75 (US #4) for the win ahead of Serena Bolden of Springfield Southeast (19-6, US #7) and Ameia Wilson of Danville (18-11.75). It was a surprise to see Carothers in the Triple Jump. She has not competed indoors in the event for the past two years. She did win the event with a 39-0.25 jump (IL #1) ahead of Bolden (38-2.25, IL #3). (Carothers also picked up a win in the 60 Meter Hurdles. Her time of 8.66 (US #10) was two tenth of a second ahead of Kayla Walters of Bolingbrook (8.86, IL #2). There was also a great performance in the Shot Put as Bloomington's Ellie Wertha achieved a personal best 45-5.5 put to win the event as also take over the lead state wide in the event.

Wilson had the upper hand in the 60 Meter Dash where four of the state’s top five times came from the finals. Wilson’s winning of 7.58 tied a seasonal state best just ahead of Whitney Young’s Amira Young (7.60, IL #3). Dajour Miles of West Aurora finished third (7.65, IL #4). In the B Level finals, Carothers took that race running a personal best 7.76 (IL #5).

Dajour Miles did earn two wins in this meet. The junior ran 25.35 to win the 200 Meter Dash just ahead of Homewood-Flossmoor’s Olivia Oliver (25.47). Miles dominated the 400 Meter Dash running 56.60 to win by more than three seconds ahead of DeKalb’s Sierra Long. Amira Young finished third in that race. Young was also a part of Whitney Young’s winning 1600 Meter Relay team (4:07.98, IL #3) that finished a second ahead of Homewood-Flossmoor. The Lady Vikings ran a state leading time in winning the 800 Meter Relay (1:43.09) ahead of DeKalb (1:44.78).

This was a sprint meet as showed from the distance results. Jocelyn Long of Barrington turned in two impressive performances in races where she was running by herself. Long ran 11:01.65 (IL #3) to win the 3200 Meter Dash lapping the field almost twice in winning by 67 seconds. She came back to run 5:13.79 (IL #10) to win the 1600 Meter Run by 28 seconds ahead of Whitney Young’s Ella Behrens. Barrington, anchored by freshman Molly FitzPatrick, ran the state’s second fastest time (9:47.46) to win the 3200 Meter Relay ahead of Whitney Young (10:01.65, IL #4).

JOLIET WEST BOYS INVITATIONAL

Dylan Jacobs of Sandburg made his 2018 track seasonal debut with little fanfare but a huge performance. The Foot Locker National Champion ran a solo 4:17.77 (IL #2) to win the 1600 Meter Run by 20 seconds ahead of teammate Nico Calderon.

ARTHUR L SULLIVAN INVITATIONAL @ ARGO HS

This small girls’ meet produced the fastest time in the state so far this season in the 3200 Meter Run. Distance novice Abby Lopez of Argo turned heads at the end of the cross-country season as she won the Hinsdale Central Sectional and then came back to finish in the top ten in the 3A State Meet. Lopez showed that those efforts were not a one time shot. The sophomore ran a state leading 10:56.11 to win the race by more than 40-seconds ahead of Fenwick’s Margaret O’Brien. Lopez came back to win the 1600 Meter Run (5:21.10) by 15 seconds ahead of Carmel Catholic’s Aileen Hull.

BATAVIA GIRLS QUAD

There were some good performances from this small meet on Saturday. Erin Riedy of Downers Grove South ran a seasonal best of 2:19.57) to win the 800 Meter Run by more than two seconds ahead of Oswego’s Isabelle Christiansen (2:22.02). A great “team” run came in the 3200 Meter Run as Olivia Borowiak ran 11:19.34 (IL #5) for the win just ahead of teammate Helena Kleronomos (11:19.45, IL #6). Yorkville also produced a fast 3200 Meter Relay as the Lady Foxes ran 9:55.31 (IL #3) for the win by 12 seconds ahead of Downers Grove South.

Claire Barenie of Oswego had one of the top field event performances in this meet as she cleared a personal best 10-6 (IL #9 tie) to win the Pole Vault.

BATAVIA BOYS QUAD

The Boys meet on Friday night showed some good performances on this fast facility. Defending 800 Meter Relay State Champion Batavia put up a 1:34.31 time for the win by a second ahead of Glenbard West (1:35.30) and Batavia’s “B” team (1:35.55). Elijah Green of Batavia also produced a personal best of 54-10 (IL #7) to win the Shot Put.

BLOOM FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS INVITATIONAL

Rich Central’s Jayla Campbell produced a double win in this meet. She jumped an indoor personal best of 38-10 (IL #2) to win the Triple Jump. She also ran 1:00.69 to win the 400 Meter Dash on the Bloom Trail 150-Meter track. Lyn’Nikka Vance of Crete-Monee won three events. She ran 7.31 (IL #3) to edge Campbell by three hundredths of a second (7.34, IL #4) in the 55 Meter Dash. Vance also won the 200 Meter Dash (26.57) and the Long Jump (18-6).

CUFFY EARLY BIRD INVITATIONAL @ KNOX COLLEGE, GALESBURG

There were some good field event performances on the Boys’ side of this Co-Ed Meet. Dunlap’s Jack Pompe cleared 15-3 in January at the Reno Pole Vault Summit. He started his Illinois season by clearing 15-1 for the win in this meet. Ethan Poston of Metamora tied for the seasonal lead in the High Jump by clearing 6-6 in this meet. Poston also jumped 42-6.25 to win the Triple Jump.

The Girls side of this meet had some monster performances led by a great jump from Geneseo’s Erika Furbeck. Her winning jump of 20-1.5 leads the state and is also second nationally. There was also a state leading performance in the 55 Meter Dash. Kiara Pauli ran 7.22 to win the event ahead of teammate Aanise Sajna (7.42). Pauli also won the 200 Meter Dash (26.50). Franny Verville opened her 2018 season on the track in leading Dunlap to the first four spots in the 1600 Meter Run. Verville’s time of 5:13.14 (IL #8) was two seconds faster than teammate Campbell Peterson (5:15.94).

BLOOM TRACK MADNESS INVITATIONAL

Frank Massey of Bloom Township jumped onto the national spotlight as well as on top of the leaderboard in Illinois in the Long Jump. Massey jumped a personal best of 23-10 (US #7) to win the event on Saturday. His jump was more than a foot longer than his previous personal best of 22-7.75 from last season.

ICOPS INVITATIONAL @ LEWIS UNIVERSITY

Some of the top Catholic schools in the Chicago area met on Sunday at Lewis University’s 200 Meter Track. The meet produced some great performances.

St. Laurence took home the team title with 98 points finishing ahead of Loyola Academy (83 points) and Providence Catholic (75 points). Part of their win came from a strong sprint group. The Vikings took the top two positions in the 55 Meter Dash as Tori Clinton nipped Brailyn Johnson for the win by one hundredth of a second (6.56-6.57). St. Laurence also won the 800 Meter Relay (1:33.38, IL #4). St. Laurence also picked up a win in the Triple Jump as Alex Saunders soared 43-1 for the win.

There was plenty of soaring over the crossbar in the Pole Vault. Declan Ritzenthaler of Loyola Academy cleared a personal best of 15-0 to win the Pole Vault. Gavin Jaime of Providence Catholic cleared 14-6 (IL #5 tie) to finish second. Jaime also had a good day on the track. He won the 200 Meter Dash (23.00) to edge Matthew Hamer of St. Laurence by four hundredths of a second (23.04). The 400 Meter Dash was just as close as Colin Dwyer of St. Laurence ran 50.29 (IL #2) edged Jaime by four hundredths of a second (50.32, IL #3) to win the event.