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Hart runs Illinois All Time #2 time to win Girls 3200 at Arcadia Invitational

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ILXCTF - Mike Newman   Apr 8th 2018, 12:54pm
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Photo: Hart (center) is surrounded by Logan Hall, Jacob Gebhardt, Danny Kilrea, Clayton Mendez, Dylan Jacobs, and Zach Kinne after their races in the 3200 Meter Run Saturday night. (Jake Gebhardt photo)

 

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

 

It has come to the point that when ever Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart steps onto the track, something special happens. It happened again on a 65-degree evening on the Arcadia High School track in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Hart is only a sophomore but does not race like her age. In crossing the finish line in winning the Girls Invitational 3200 Meter Run in the second fastest time ever for an Illinois Girls athlete (10:02.56). Only Kayla Beattie and the 9:56.96 that she ran at the 2011 Girls State Championships is faster. After Saturday’s race, Hart will have her sights on that time. She has more than two years to cut six more seconds off her new personal best.

It was no surprise that Hart took the lead as soon as the gun went off. Corie Smith of Buchanan High School (CA), another sophomore, was the only runner that stayed with the Illinois runner after the first two laps. Smith is not your average runner. She won the California D1 State Championships in the fall. Then again, Hart is not your average runner either.

Hart went through 1600-meters in a blazing 5:00.1 suddenly moving away from Smith gaining five seconds in the next 400-meters. Hart as a freshman would stick at running 78-79 laps in the middle of the race. It’s a year later. She has more confidence in her talent. She has more desire not to et anyone finish ahead of her.

Her slowest lap was her seventh circuit around the track in 76.7. She responded with a 72.9 final lap. Even though Maria Castillo of Saugus (CA) was closing the gap in the final two laps, Hart at times in this race had a 13 second lead. Castillo finished in 10:09.12 but it seemed like she was light years behind.

“I did not now what to expect coming into this race. The atmosphere here was fantastic. There were so many great runners here,” Hart told the crowd after her race. “I just wanted to come here and do my best. I really wanted to push my last mile. I wanted to control myself in the beginning. I usually go out too fast, so I was pleased in how I went out today. I think I was 34 in the first 200. Doing that I knew that I would have more at the end.”

She did just that coming back to run 5:02.4 in her final four laps.

Just another special race from the kid from Glenbard West. I’m sure we will be saying that the next time she steps to the starting line.

Hart’s splits: 72.1 – 2:27.5 (75.4) – 3:43.8 (76.3) – 5:00.1 (76.3) – 6:16.3 (76.2) – 7:32.9 (76.6) – 8:49.6 (76.7) – 10:02.56 (72.9)

The Boys 3200 – Kilrea finally breaks through

Expectations were high in the Boys Invitational race for Illinois runners six of Illinois’ best stepped to the line just after Hart ran what she ran. Team Illinois was represented by Lyons Township’s Danny Kilrea, Sandburg’s Dylan Jacobs, Whitney Young’s Clayton Mendez, Neuqua Valley’s Zach Kinne, Sterling’s Jacob Gebhardt, and Arthur-Lovington’s Logan Hall. Kilrea and Mendez were coming off an under 14:40 5k’s three weeks ago in Texas. Jacobs tuned up for this race by running a 1:56.2 anchor leg in Friday night’s 3200 Meter Relay for Sandburg. Kinne ran a 4:15 1600-meters leg in Neuqua Valley’s 6400 Meter Relay that finished sixth. Kinne told his coach Paul Vandersteen afterwards that he felt loose and ready to go for this race.

There were 33 runners in the invitational field. The name of the game in this race was just staying close to the front and not let the leader slip away. Jacobs did that in the first lap of the race seeing that he was boxed on the inside of the pack. He found his way out into lane three and near the front as the group went through in 64.9.

The next three laps it was James Mwaura of Lincoln (WA) that was in control as he started to push the pace. He went through 800-meters in 2:13.8, 1200-meters in 3:19.8, and 1600-meters in 4:27.5. The pack stayed within two seconds of him with Kilrea, Mendez, Kinne, and Jacobs in position to make their move.

After the series 66-67 laps, the next lap started to slow down to 69 seconds (5:36.7). It was that point that Kilrea made his move starting to push the pace looking for separation from the group. Between 2000-meters and 2800 meters, Kilrea ran 2:12.5 making the difference in the pace in the race. There was still company behind him as the bell sounded for the final lap (7:49.2). It was Michael Mooney of Broomfield (CO) that went by him, then the Canadian Marcus Kemp of St. Mary’s HS in Kitchener, Ontario.

Kemp and Mooney pushed the final 100-meters not letting an inch of air between them. Kemp had the advantage over Mooney in the end but by only a hundredth of a second (8:50.95-8:50.96). Mwaura was next (8:51.62) as he was one of 16 runners that went under nine-minutes.

One of those runners was Kilrea. There were so many times that the Lyons Township All-American had tried last year to go under that barrier. In this race he did running 8:56.84 to finish in tenth-place.

“12th time is a charm,” Kilrea said after the race. “It was a little crowded in the beginning but I’m still happy nonetheless.”

There were three other Illinois runners that were under 9:10 in this race. Consider that we are so early in the outdoor season that those times take even more significance. Clayton Mendez just missed going under nine-minutes running 9:00.76. Dylan Jacobs ran 9:06.75 with Zach Kinne in 9:09.76. Logan Hall ran 9:21.88 followed by Jacob Gebhardt in 9:24.00.

Earlier in the evening, Athens’ Wyatt McIntyre ran in the seeded Boys 3200 Meter Run race and made quite an impression. The pace went out slow in his race as the group passed by the first 400-meters in 68.1. McIntyre took control of the pace in the next lap keeping the lead until the final 500-meters of the race. He crossed the line just missing his personal best by four tenths of a second as he ran 9:11.72. He ran even pace (4:36.5/4:35.2) showing that there are faster times ahead for the IHSA 1A State Cross Country champ.

Other Illinois Performances at Arcadia

The invitational section of the meet started out nicely for Illinois athletes Saturday night. Neuqua Valley’s Donovan Turner did not get off to the best start in the 110 High Hurdles seeded race. By the time he got to 50 meters, Turner had caught Warren Williams of Merrill West (CA). That surge continued through the finish line as Turner won the race with a 14.27 personal best as well as a school record. He had a slight wind (0.9 mps) at his back. Williams ran 14.37 to finish second. Turner’s teammate Myles Gascon was next in the Boys Invitational 100 Meter Dash where he ran 11.14 to finish eighth overall.

The invitational races in the 800 Meter Run had close to 20 runners in each of the Boys and Girls sections. Arielle Summitt of Urbana University went out in 65.4 for the first 400-meters but was in the back of the pack as the leaders went out in a fast 61.8 seconds. Summitt was able to pass some runners in the final 200-meters to run an outdoor seasonal best of 2:15.72 to finish 12th overall. The same applied for Wes York of Waubonsie Valley in the Boys race. He went out in 27.2 for the first 200-meters but the leaders went through in a quick 24.2. York went past 400-meters in 57.2 but it seemed it was an uphill battle for him considering the number of runners in that race. York moved his way up to finish 12th overall running a seasonal best of 1:57.39.

Illinois runners took part in the 1-Mile Run races earlier in the day. Charles Harders of Lyons Township took the lead after the first lap of the second section of this event. He looked good in his first outdoor race of the season as he ran 4:23.16 to finish fifth.

Ryan Kennedy of Neuqua Valley had suffered from some stomach problems Friday night running on Neuqua Valley’s quartet that finished sixth in the 4x1600 Meter Relay. Kennedy played it smart hanging back for most of the race but making his move in the final 300-meters. The senior crossed the line in an outdoor personal best of 4:21.01. Sam Rivera of Whitney Young was ahead of Kennedy for most of the race but finished crossing the line in 4:25.91.

Neuqua Valley’s Corinna Pena was also making her outdoor seasonal debut after running under five minutes two weeks ago at Illinois Top Times. Pena stayed close to the pack for the first 1000-meters of the race finishing eighth in her section (5:13.96). Her teammate Mikenna Robinson faired well in the 800 Meter Run during the afternoon session on Saturday. Robinson ran an outdoor personal best of 2:15.91 to finish tenth overall in the open section only two seconds behind the winning time.

Jones College Prep made the trip to California to run in two of the Boys relay events. The quartet of Jeremy Brown, Ryan DeSantis, Nicholas Rappe, and AJ Fundator ran 18:19.73 to finish ninth in their section of the 4x1600 Meter Relay Friday night. In the race before, the Neuqua Valley squad of Tyler Bombacino, Dakota Getty, Kennedy, and Kinne 17:46.60 to finish sixth in the championship race. Jones Prep, using the same four runners as Friday, came back in the open section of the Distance Medley. The Eagles ran 11:17.34 to finish 22nd overall.

There were some great performances by Illinois runners in one of the “rated” races in the 3200 Meter Run Friday evening. Hinsdale Central’s Sean O’Connell stayed close to the front pack in the third section of the event taking the lead with 800-meters left in the race. He did not have much left at the end but still ran an outdoor seasonal best of 9:23.77. Freeburg’s Charlie Parrish continued his string of great runs in this race after strong efforts at Illinois Top Times and then the Texas Relays last week. Parrish stayed in the pack for most of the race but charged on the final lap to cross the line in a school record and personal best of 9:17.74. Stevenson’s Nikita Smyrnov also had a break-through race in that section as he improved his personal best dropping it down to 9:20.51.

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