Eiker king of sprints; Lewis / Sloan split wins in Girls Sprints; Robinson sets 2A meet record in Triple Jump

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Bloomington, Ill --- Cahokia made a statement at Saturday Illinois Top Times 2A Boys Meet. They did not need to make a statement but their performance at the Shirk Center was subtle reminder that the Coamches have all the Generals while the rest of the teams will be fighting with their troops for second place.

Ja’Mari Ward competed in four events on Saturday. For most any other athlete, that kind of participation in a meet would mean heavy duty. For Ward it was another day at the office. “He is going to take as few jumps as possible today,” said his coach Leroy Milsap. “He will be more concentrating on running.”

The double national champion in the horizontal jumps made a pit stop in that area in this meet. He only took two attempts in the Long Jump and one in the Triple Jump. It resulted in two wins and two meet records. Both of his attempts in the Long Jump were extremely safe. He was behind the board almost a foot in both of his jumps. He jumped 23-4 ½ in the first round, 23-5 ¾ in the second round setting the meet record. He went to shake the judge’s hand and passed on his final 4 jumps. Defending 2A champion Ben Barnes (Kaneland HS, Maple Park) finished second more than a foot behind Ward (22-2 ½).

It would have been interesting if Ward was going full tilt in the Triple Jump. He was just trying to get a safe jump in that would win the event. He did that and more. He hit the middle of the board and hit the pit sand spraying everywhere. For anyone to jump 49-2 ½ in this meet it would be a major accomplishment. For the Cahokia junior, that distance was only a safe jump. I think we have just begun to scratch the surface of what he can do. The next year and a half will be fun to see how far he can go. He won the event Saturday by more than four feet ahead of Hillcrest’s Luther Newburn.

The key to running the 800 Relay at the Shirk Center and their two turn stagger is getting the lead early and holding it. Cahokia did a great job of that especially with Ward leading off. He ran his opening leg in 22.1 giving Cahokia a sizeable lead. They would need that kind of lead ahead of Galesburg heading into the anchor leg in which Galesburg had 200 ace Josh Eiker as their closer. Eiker had a sizzling 21.2 anchor but the lead was too big for him to make up. Cahokia won the race by a second ahead of Galesburg (1:31.37 – 1:32.43).

Cahokia also controlled the 1600 Relay again with Ward leading off. A 51.0 opening split gave his team the cushion that they needed. They cruised to a three second win ahead of Highland (3:28.04 – 3:31.32). Cahokia swept the relay events with a win in the 3200 Relay. First Metamora and then Highland stayed close. A strong third leg by Chris Raymond broke the race wide open as Cahokia went on for close to an eight second winning margin ahead of Highland (8:05.84 – 8:13.08).

Korrion Session was Cahokia’s only other individual winner. He got off to a great start and held off Lucas Ege (Central HS, Burlington) for the win by only three hundredths of a second (8.18 – 8.21)

~~~

Josh Eiker (Galesburg HS) he will be the one to beat in the 2A sprints this season after his strong performances in this meet. He had to chase Dion Hooker (Sycamore HS) in the 60 Meter Dash finals. Hooker got off to a great start while Eiker did not have his best start basically standing up out of the blocks. Eiker’s long stride made up the deficit as he nipped the Sycamore senior at the line for a personal best 6.91 win. Hooker was three hundredth of a second back (6.97). Keveion Akins (Cahokia HS) had a great race in finishing third also with a personal best (6.97).

After Eiker’s leg in the 800 relay, he was back on the track for the 200 Meter Dash. He is the only athlete under 22 seconds in Illinois coming into this meet and showed how dominant he is in this race. It was not until the curve when you could see the Galesburg junior making up the stagger on Hooker and Akins. He crossed the line with a new 2A meet record (21.88) and shattering the old record by three tenths of a second. Akins continued to impress in this meet finishing second in this event (22.39).

~~~

Dominique Lewis (Centennial HS, Champaign) has emerged this indoor season as one of the top sprinters in the state regardless of classification. She showed that in her 60 Meter Dash race Saturday. It showed in the prelims that she would have competition. Lewis was first to the track and won Heat 1 in 7.69 just off of her seasonal best. Anna Sloan (Trinity HS, River Forest) showed that she was ready for this meet running a personal best 7.79 in winning Heat 2. The two were next to each other in the blocks for the final. Both got off to good starts and were side by side half way through. Lewis made a slight surge that was unnoticeable but enough to have a slight advantage at the line. Lewis ran a season’s best 7.64 for the win. Sloan, one of the most underrated sprinters in the state entering this meet, finished second improving her personal best down to 7.70. Tyjuana Eason (Kankakee HS) was close (7.74) to finish third.

The talent level in the 2A 200 Meter Dash is equal. That showed in the final section of the race. The stagger was held of the four athletes until the final curve when Sloan edged slightly ahead. Only a tenth of a second separated the first three finishers with Sloan (25.11) edging Eason (25.19) and Lewis (25.21). Sloan showed in that race that she deserves to be in the conversation of top sprinters in the state. Eason is in the same conversation. She does not say much off the track letting her running ability on the track do the talking. It was learned after the race that Lewis injured her quad during the 60 Meter Finals. It affected her during the 200 Meter Final but she refused to make it an excuse.

~~~

Jaimie Robinson (De La Salle Institute, Chicago) had a great meet in the Triple Jump establishing a new 2A Meet Record. The process actually started in the Long Jump which was her first competition of the day. She struggled through the first five rounds only being able to garner a 16-7 jump. Her 17-4 ¼ final attempt did not improve her fifth place standing. It did help her confidence as she went on to the Triple Jump an hour later. Charde Golliday (Mt. Vernon HS) won the event on her final attempt soaring 18- ½.

Robinson’s first jump in the competition shut the door on the rest of the athletes in the field when she jumped 39-7 to set a new meet record. Her second round jump was just as good leaping 38-11. Her third round was spectacular improving on her 2A meet record jumping 39-9. She was done for the day as she passed on her final three attempts. One thing to note is that Robinson’s best jump ever heading into this meet was 37-11 ¾ at a meet last year. The sophomore had all three jumps better than her personal best in this competition.

~~~

De La Salle ran in the second section of the 800 Meter Relay with Robinson running the third leg for their quartet. The Lady Meteors ran a season’s best 1:47.87 to capture their section of the event. Their leading time held up heading into the final section. Tyjuana Eason ran a great leadoff leg giving Kankakee a good lead ahead of Springfield Southeast and Kaneland. On the third leg, the three teams bunched up on the back curve heading into the final straight. Kankakee’s third runner’s right arm made contact with one of the team’s legs and down she went. Kankakee was out of contention leaving Southeast and Kaneland to fight it out for the win. The big question was would either of the two teams’ better De La Salle’s time? That did not happen. Southeast won the section in 1:48.25 to place second overall.

Springfield Southeast came back in the 1600 Meter Relay winning the event holding off Kaneland for a two tenths of a second win (4:09.40 – 4:09.62). Montini Catholic continued their tradition of the 3200 Meter Relay in this meet winning the race during their second leg pulling away from the pack. The Lady Broncos held off a late charge by an improving Rosary team to win the event by four seconds (9:42.66 – 9:46.74).

~~~

Some of the distance races had the feel of a close sprint race at the finish. Sal Flight (Fenwick HS, Oak Park) threw in surges during the Boys 3200 Meter Run opening up leads only to let the pack behind him come back. Flight took off with 400 meters to go looking to take the race from there. Shane Williamson (Vernon Hills HS), who finished third at last fall’s 3A state cross country championship, made a move on Flight in the final 200 Meters. They were side by side as they came down the final stretch with Flight edging Williamson by one hundredth of a second for the win (9:32.84 – 9:32.85).

The same held true in the Boys 800 Meter Run as Connor Stine established his lead as he lead the pack through a 57.8 first quarter. He extended that lead on the third lap but had to hold off a charging Nick Wondaal (Illiana Christian HS, Lansing) to win the race by one hundredth of a second (1:58.30 – 1:58.31). It looked like it would be a close finish in the Boys 1600 as the pack led by Ben Flowers (Jersey HS, Jerseyville) went through the first 800 in a sluggish 2:16.3. Brenner Webster (Salem HS) picked up the pace from there taking the lead. It was a 600 Meter “kick” for Webster as he continued to extend the lead on the pack led by Nick Fiene (Illiana Christian HS, Lansing). Webster’s 4:26.83 time was less than a second slower than his time from his race at Charleston, but it was good enough for a two second win as Fiene held off Flight for second.

All eyes were on Maryjeanne Gilbert (Notre Dame HS, Peoria) in the Girls 3200 Meter Run. She did have company early on as Caitlyn Allen (Marengo HS) pushed the pace for the first kilometer of the race before Gilbert took over from there. Gilbert was hoping a time to better her Big 12 Conference race time in this meet. She has only been doing road strength work so far focusing on the big picture at the end of the season. The junior ran 10:54.36 to win the championship. Her margin of victory was 22 seconds. Vivian Overbeck (Vernon Hills HS) ran a 12 second seasonal best 11:16.99 to hold off Allen to place second.

~~~

Karina Liz (Aurora Central Catholic HS) had a busy day planned for this meet running three events. Her coach Troy Kerber was hoping that she would eliminate the 400 from the three for this meet concentrating on the 1600. Liz in the first two years of competition on the high school level has continuously run that 800 / 400 double with great success. Last fall when she finished 12^th in the 2A State Cross Country Meet, she showed her strength in her running making it possible to run a great 1600. On this day, it was the three that she would attempt.

The 800 Meter Run went as planned as she had the fastest seed time by close to nine seconds. Liz had the lead in the first 100 Meters. She was unchallenged shattering the 2A meet record running 2:13.05. She won by 13 seconds ahead of Madeline Bruce (Marion HS). Liz was back on the track some 30 minutes later in the 400 Meter Dash running in Section 3. She easily won her section by two seconds (59.01) ahead of Maddie Jamorsek (Montini Catholic HS, Lombard). Liz had to wait for the final section to be run to see if she would end up with the event win. Gabrielle Desrosiers (North Lawndale College Prep, Chicago) took command of the fourth section to run 58.85 for the event championship.

Liz looked strong as she stayed behind Madison Ronzone (Rosary HS, Aurora) and Kara Martin (Herrin HS) through the first 800 of the 1600 Meter Run. The toll of the two races in a short period of time started to show as she struggled through the final portion of the race running 5:45. Ronzone led from the gun with Martin close to her the entire race. In the last 3 laps, Martin tried to make moves to pass with Ronzone refusing to let her past. The Rosary junior ran a season’s best 5:09.10 for the win by over a second ahead of Martin (5:10.85) who also ran a season’s best time.

~~~

Sam Blakenship (Johnsburg HS) had his hands full in the fourth section of the 400 Meter Dash. Surrounding him was three of the four athletes on Cahokia’s stud 1600 Meter Relay. Blankenship knew that the only way that he would win is if got the lead by the break. He did that. He entered the 2A 400 spotlight heading into the outdoor season by winning the fourth section in a season’s best 50.48 ahead of second place Tyran Lyons (Cahokia HS). The one runner to watch in this event outdoors, besides Blankenship, is Tyler Higgins (Highland HS) who won the second section of the race. The sophomore made a little noise in the past week when he ran a hand timed 50+ second 400 in a small dual meet. His time in this race shows that he is a runner to watch in the next few months.

~~~

Noah Agnew (Vernon Hills HS) was perfect as he cleared his first four heights without a miss including 6-6 that won him the event. Sabree Bakari (Southeast HS, Springfield) had the same perfect clearing as Agnew except for 6-5 when he cleared on that third attempt at that height. Bakari cleared 6-6 but the trouble at 6-5 was the difference as he placed second. Lunden Henry (Southeast HS, Springfield) cleared 5-6 on her second attempt to give her the win in the Girls High Jump ahead of teammate Jamari Drake who cleared 5-5.

Claire Buck (Triad HS, Troy) captured the Girls Pole Vault win by clearing 12-0 on her first attempt. Triston Ballinger (Olympia HS, Stanford) cleared a best of 14-6 to win the Boys Pole Vault. David Biondo (Carmel Catholic HS, Mundelein) cleared 14-0 to finish second.

Sam Sikon (Carbondale HS) won the Boys Shot Put on his first attempt when he threw 54-4. No other athlete in the event went past 52-0. Sikon upped his best in the meet with a fifth round 56-6 ¼ for his winning mark. Andrew Franklin (Mahomet-Seymour HS) finished second (52-0). Cassidy Osbourne-Butler (Mt. Zion HS) threw 42-7 in the third round of the Girls Shot Put. That is all she needed to win the event ahead of second place freshman Tayla Schwarz (Dixon HS).