Day 1 at the Illinois state boys track meet

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By Shannon Heaton | Saturday, May 24, 2008 12:15 AM CDT | () comments

CHARLESTON, Ill. – A total of 60 Illinois metro and area boys track and field entries – both individuals and relays — took to the state’s brightest stage Friday afternoon for the first day of competition at the state meet.

Here’s an event-by-event account of how they fared:

Field events

Class A

Many of these were held up and altered by the weather delays early in the start of the day. In the long jump, Erie/Prophetstown’s Brad Bohms was the best in his heat, but did not qualify for finals, finishing with a jump of 20 feet, 8 ½ inches. Orion’s Matt Knoll and Aledo/Westmer’s Brandon Bolton were significantly below their bests in this event, as neither cleared 19 feet.

The pole vault — which was partially held indoors, partially outdoors — required a vault of 13-3 to make the final, and the lone local competitor — Annawan/Wethersfield’s Stephen Andris, a freshman — did not make the opening height of 12 feet.

Four locals had to hit 6-3 in order to survive the first day in the second heat of the high jump, and it was their heat that was hammered hardest by the weather delays. On his final attempt at 6-1, for example, thunder was heard just as Alexis United’s Scott Duncan was on his runup to the bar, and that had to affect him. Duncan no-heighted and Orion’s Nick Graber only cleared 6-1, but Bohms and Riverdale’s AJ Smith both made the 6-3 height safely.

The odds were long against either Brandon Coulter of Aledo/Westmer or Stark County’s Calvin Lewis to make finals in the shot; neither did, but Lewis — a freshman — did have the better throw, making 44-11 to Coulter’s 44-6.

The triple jump — mostly held indoors at the adjacent Krenz Rec Center — was not kind to Knoll, Bohms or E/P sophomore Dylan DeJonge. Knoll had a better effort in the triple, but was 1½ inches short of making finals, with a leap of 42-3. Bohms was an inch behind Knoll, with DeJonge’s best being 41-5 ¼. Knoxville’s Devon Brock was a ways back, with a leap of 37-7.

In the discus, Aledo/Westmer’s Coulter was eight feet short of qualifying, with a throw of 129-1.

Class AA

Outside of the triple jump, field events were a tough slog for Class AA competitors Friday afternoon and evening. Some AA events were started at around 1:30 p.m. — only a 90-minute delay from the scheduled time — but several didn’t end until well after 7 p.m., when usually the last of the 1,600 relays are wrapping up.

In the long jump, UT’s Quinton Musgrow had a solid jump, but not a spectacular one, finishing eighth out of 10 in his heat with a jump of 20 feet, 10¾ inches.

The pole vault was promising a nightmarishly deep field, and indeed it was the last field event of the day — almost the last event of the day — to conclude. United Township vaulters Luke Martinez (tied for 17th) and Chase Pavelonis (tied for 25th) could not clear 14 feet (finals qualifying was 14-3), as Martinez finished at 13-9 and Pavelonis at 13-3.

UT’s Michael Crabtree was one of seemingly a million high jumpers that had a sectional effort of 6-4, but he couldn’t duplicate it Friday. He did make 6-2, but bowed out at 6-4, one inch below the finals-qualifying height.

In a shot put field that saw a 63-foot-plus effort, UT’s Matt Wendt did finish in the top 20 overall, but his distance of 52-5 ¼ (good for third in the heat) was nearly 15 inches short of the distance needed to make finals.

3,200-meter relay

Class A: Both local competitors — Sterling Newman and Annawan/Wethersfield — were in the first of three heats Friday morning, and competed in mostly sunlight, unlike most of the rest of their Class A brethren the rest of the day. Newman was never further back than fourth place at any time, and briefly held second place during the 800s run by second leg Jake Trancoso and third leg Jon Welty. Their eventual fourth-place finish in exactly 8:19.00 was good for ninth overall, getting the Comets into today’s final. A/W started out in the middle of the pack in the heat and could never get any higher up than seventh, eventually finishing eighth in 8:33.70.

Class AA: The Maroons struggled in this one, staying in or near the back of the pack until a solid anchor leg by Jonathan Smith helped push Moline to a solid seventh in a deep field, with a time of 8:05.44. Two heats later, United Township just didn’t look in it at all, as none of the four legs really got out fast against their competition. The Panthers were never higher than eighth in their heat, finishing 12th out of 15 teams there.

400 relay

Class AA: A solid start and good-looking second leg ended in disaster for the United Township team, as third leg Josh Pope dropped the baton just a few steps into his leg, leading to a DNF for the Panthers just a few minutes before Pope’s heat race. In the third heat, Geneseo had solid handoffs but just couldn’t contend with the speed in that heat. The Leafs were fifth overall in the heat, with a time of 44.06 seconds, 1.6 seconds behind heat winner Wheaton North.

110 high hurdles

Class A: In heat 1, Stark County’s Tanner Ewing couldn’t clear out of the blocks very well – to his credit, he’d already had to deal with three stop-and-starts to his preparation, and his was the first race after a solid downpour had thoroughly soaked the O’Brien Stadium track. He got out of the blocks in fifth place in his heat, which is where he finished, in 16th place overall with a time of 15.66.

In heat 4, Aledo/Westmer’s Kyle Tompkins was in a pitched battle for fourth place in his heat, winding up edging out John Zadrzynski of Chillicothe IVC on the lean for fourth in his heat, good for 15th place overall in 15.63.

Class AA: Competing in the first heat, Moline’s Shawn Ledbetter was able to string together another solid start (re: non-DQing start) and burst out to the lead, where he really wasn’t pushed hard by anyone in his heat race. He did stumble a few feet from the finish, but kept going to finish in 14.42, good for fourth-fastest in the finals.

“It took the pressure off (the 300),” Ledbetter said of winning the 110 heat, which guaranteed him at least one medal. “Since last year, I’m a little stronger, a little quicker, a lot more mentally mature.”

UT’s Josh Pope finished third in a very good heat, and that allowed him to nab the No. 8 spot in the finals. “It’s not about who won today, but who recovers the best tomorrow,” Pope said. “Usually, my starts are better, but I was carrying around a lot of emotion before the race (because of the dropped baton in the 400 relay). Now I can just focus and get ready (for the 110).”

100

Class A: Aledo’s John Berthel stumbled out of the blocks, and it made getting back toward the front of heat difficult. He and former conference rival Brock Stuart of Monmouth-Roseville battled it out nose-to-nose for fifth, with Stuart just catching him toward the end of the race. Berthel finished in .

Class AA: UT’s Airreo Greer got a great jump, but was reeled in after the 60-meter mark by York’s John Fox and Rich Central’s Isaac Provitt. Greer had a top-20 time of 11.09 seconds, but that kept him out of the final.

800

Class A: In the first heat, Annawan/Wethersfield’s Ben Bushno – who’d already run an 800 for the Titans’ 3,200 relay earlier today – started out in last place in the 10-man heat. He moved into ninth, though, at the 200-meter mark and was starting to push on the seventh and eighth-place runners with 400 to go. He was able to move into eighth place, but couldn’t move up any further.

Fulton’s Randy Whitmore had an interesting heat race in the second heat. He got a good start, in second early, but got caught up in the crowd after the cut inside to lane 1 and fell back to sixth briefly before holding fourth. He was passed by Lena-Winslow’s John Keeffer around the homestretch of the first lap, and his stride looked as thought it was struggling as he began the second. He was as far back as seventh and looked like he’d be passed by the last two runners, but put on a late surge with 200 to go, passing into sixth, then Keeffer for fifth. He even picked off Murphysboro’s David Grandt with 10 meters to go, finishing fourth in the heat.

Class AA: Moline’s Joe Zahn was determined not to run at the back in this 800, and he was as close as third place with 400 meters to go, but he couldn’t hold the strong pace in a deep heat, finishing 10th in the heat at 2:00.64.

800 relay

Class A: .In heat 2, the second leg of Sterling Newman’s Kevin Ybarra helped the Comets contend in the heat, but a bad exchange between Tony Bahrs and Dugan Repass on the final leg pushed Newman back to fourth in the heat and a time of 1:33.67, good for 19th place overall.

In the fourth heat, Aledo/Westmer was hampered by a slow second leg from Brandon Bolton, but third leg Ted Taylor rallied the Dragons’ effort, which was good for third in the heat. However, Aledo/Westmer was the first team not to make finals, finishing 10th overall in 1:32.79, just .03 seconds slower than the ninth-place qualifying team.

Class AA: This one kept United Township waiting with baited breath for quite a while, as results didn’t come down until very late in this event. The Panthers had good handoffs, even if DeMykhal Teague’s start wasn’t the strongest, as Musgrow’s second leg (just coming off his 45-7 triple jump) was particularly strong. Greer brought the baton home third in the heat, and UT wound up eighth-fastest overall in 1:29.18. This event has not been UT’s stronger of the two sprint relays, but it’s the one where they’re getting a medal Saturday.

400

Class A: Annawan/Wethersfield’s Tanner Carlson looked good right from the start in this heat, jumping out to the early lead and making up the stagger inside of 125 meters. As fast as he was early, he was probably even quicker compared to the rest of the field in the final 100 meters, taking the heat in 50.68 seconds, good for an automatic finals berth with the race’s fifth-fastest time.

“I had a great feeling about the 400. He (Byron’s Michael Kittleson, who had a slightly faster sectional time than Carlson, but didn’t make finals) said he’d had a race at sectionals and I wasn’t pushed,” Carlson said. “My goal was to try to take top-3 (in the finals). There’s something about it. It’s always been my best race, ever since 6th grade.”

In the third heat, ROWVA’s Zack Wetzel started out in last, but briefly forged ahead of Mt. Pulaski’s Sam Hageman before Hageman got him back in the last moments of the heat.

Class AA: Geneseo’s Jacob Kuban was scratched from this event to save him for the 1,600 relay later in the evening.

300 hurdles

Class A: In the first heat, Stark County’s Tanner Ewing was passed very early by Pana’s Eric Miller, who made up the stagger on him almost immediately. However, Ewing showed a lot of patience, coming back and passing Miller in the final 50 meters for the heat win in 39.42 seconds. Ewing had the second-fastest preliminary time, finishing only behind Hampshire’s Quinn Walker, who won the fifth heat in 38.91. In that heat, ROWVA’s Anthony Mahnesmith was ninth with a time of 42.53.

Class AA: Pope ran well out of his spot, holding a strong third place for virtually the entire race. He finished in 40.15 seconds, good for a top-15 finish, but not for a finals shot.

A few heats later, Moline’s Ledbetter was back again. With lane 5 open, the race was there for anyone to take, and it was 110 state champion Tyler Sipes of Bloomington who did, with Ledbetter right on his heels. Ledbetter finished in 38.83 seconds, good for fourth-fastest in the event. He’s the only metro Quad-Citian guaranteed two medals Saturday (UT’s Musgrow could join him if he stays in the top nine in the triple jump).

“Sipes is a great runner and I was right behind him,” Ledbetter said. “All I can hope for is to make finals (in the 300).”

1600

Class A: Sterling Newman’s Jon Welty faded to the back of the pack around the first curve of the first lap, but moved himself to ninth place in a race that had a lot of jostling in the back. He briefly held the lead on the backstretch of lap 2, but was passed by three runners around the curve, and held fourth place with 800 to go. He dropped back to seventh midway through the third lap, and couldn’t move up above sixth after that, finishing the heat in 4:39.36.

Class AA: Alleman’s Tim Hird found himself in the deepest of the three heats in this race, as six runners qualified for finals out of it. Trouble was, Hird was seventh. He was third through the first curve at 200 meters and fourth through 400, but fell back to ninth by the 800 mark. He moved up a spot during the third lap, and caught Conant’s Tyler Hinckley to move into seventh on the final backstretch. Overall, Hird was 14th in 4:22.68.

200

Class A: Newman’s Ybarra wasn’t happy to finish behind Tommie Taylor of Herrin in the fourth of five heats, laying on the O’Brien track for several seconds, arms over his head in frustration. However, he ran a good time. He finished in 22.72 seconds, good for the seventh-fastest Friday heat, and with two relays not taking energy out of his legs in Saturday’s final, might ramp up a much better finish.

In the fifth heat, Stark County’s Zach Turner had a solid fourth-place showing working, but was passed at the last by Macomb’s Patrick Thomas. Turner finished in 23.67 seconds.

Class AA: UT’s Greer was just on the outside looking in, finishing second despite a less-than-great start in his heat. He finished in 22.13 seconds, which tied him for 10th place overall. He was just .04 seconds behind the ninth-place qualifier out of Aurora West.

1600 relay

Class A: Annawan/Wethersfield had had an eventful day, opening the Class A meet nearly 10 hours after starting it with the 3,200 relay. Still, the Titans were a solid third in the fourth heat through the first two legs, dropping briefly to fourth during Chris Parks’ third leg, but Carlson was able to get that spot back, as Ann-Weth finished at 3:27.92, nabbing the last finals qualifying spot.

Class AA: Geneseo wasn’t supposed to do damage in this event, but it — in turn — did some damage to the Maple Leafs. A quirk in the way the IHSA determines finalist qualifiers did in Geneseo, which on time – 3:22.82 – was the eighth-fastest team Friday night. This was due to a huge second leg, particularly a great close, by Shane Reschke, and an anchor by Andrew Walter that saw him pass Wheaton-Warrenville South, Lake Forest and Cahokia (Cahokia!) in turn to get the Maple Leafs fourth. However, five qualifying slots are reserved for the five heat winners, and so Palatine — which won its heat, but was 1.22 seconds slower than the Leafs — will take home Geneseo’s medals today.