By Michael Newman

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Charleston, Ill --- Edwardsville is on the verge of winning its first state track and field championship as they advanced 12 to the finals on Saturday. Evanston, Oak Park-River-Forest, and Neuqua Valley are next all advancing six to the finals.

 

The story of the 3A prelims might have been the decision by the IHSA to speed up the meet to elude possible storms that were supposedly in the area. It only drizzled starting during the 400 prelims and ending just before the 1600. The speeding up of the time schedule did have some casualties. After Scotty Miller brought Barrington form a come from behind victory in the 400 Meter Relay, Miller had to enter the blocks just eleven minutes later to compete in his heat of the 100 Meter Dash. Towards the end of his race, he favored his leg as he finished. He was forced to scratch from the 200 Meter Dash and his team’s 800 Meter Relay due to an injury. Another casualty was Corey Hertz as he failed to qualify in the 100 and 200 but did run the second fastest time in the 400.

 

The sped up schedule did not bother some athletes. Kahamari Montgomery (Plainfield Central HS) qualified in all three sprint races having the fastest prelim times in each of the events. Ty Moss (Neuqua Valley HS) also had a great day leading the 3200 Relay and the 1600 to the fastest prelim time in 3A. Moss easily qualified as well in the 800 Meter Run.

 

Here is a look at each of the preliminary events that took place on Friday afternoon.

 

 

4 x 800 Meter Relay

 

Neuqua Valley ran the event’s fastest time (7:45.38) behind the 1:52.1 anchor by Ty Moss. The Wildcats took the lead midway through the second leg when Connor Horn took the lead for good. Neuqua won by six seconds ahead of Glenbard West (7:51.72) and Sandburg (7:52.22) who kept out their top two 800 runners Chris and Sean Torpy so that they could concentrate on individual events. It is a good bet we could see both in this quartet on Saturday making them a contender for the championship.

 

Max Denning gave York the lead during the second leg of the second heat. By the time they got to the anchor, York was battling O’Fallon and Oak-Park River Forest for the lead. York’s Matt Plowman passed Oak Park’s Kimathi Johnson and O’Fallon’s Dorrian Gordon in the final twenty meters to win the heat just six hundredths of a second. O’Fallon finished third (7:49.88). Lane Tech finished fourth just missing qualifying for the finals despite a strong 1:53.1 third leg by Pavlo Hutsalyuk.

 

Barrington’s Konrad Eiring and Lyons Township’s Alex Lima traded the lead several times the final 500 meters before Lima passed Eiring to edge him by seven hundredths of a second for the win (7:46.22 – 7:46.29). Prospect was four seconds back in third.

 

 

4 x 100 Meter Relay

 

Evanston Township ran the fastest prelim winning Heat 1 (41.63). with a strong anchor leg by Carl Klamm. Belleville West won Heat 2 (41.78) winning by close to half a second ahead of Bartlett (42.22) who was the ninth and final qualifier. Barrington, behind Scotty Miller coming from fifth in the final 100 meters, won Heat 4 (41.87) just nine hundredths of a second ahead of Edwardsville. Plainfield North was the other qualifier winning heat 3 (42.28) just thirteen hundredths ahead of East St. Louis-Senior. Dunbar finished 10^th overall in this prelim missing qualifying by two hundredths of a second.

 

 

110 Meter High Hurdles

 

State leader William Session (Belleville East HS) looked sharp having the fastest prelim time heading to the finals. Session won Heat 2 (14.01) winning by 24 hundredths of a second ahead of Jaylan McConico (Bolingbrook HS). In the heat, defending champion Antonio Shenault (Lake Park HS, Roselle) knocked into a hurdle, fell, and could not finish. Travis Anderson (Edwardsville HS) won Heat 3 (14.19) ahead of St. Rita’s Eric Walker (14.40) and Waubonsie Valley’s Tyler Kirkwood (14.47). In a close finish, Steven Connor (Wheaton North HS) edged Chris Douglas (Deerfield HS) by one thousandths of a second to win Heat 1. Both were timed at 14.38.

 

 

100 Meter Dash

 

The times were fast and helped by a healthy headwind. It is still too close to call a favorite for this final. Kahmari Montgomery and Alex Teague (York HS, Elmhurst) were both timed at 10.52 with Montgomery winning by two thousandths of a second. Shandall Thomas (Schaumburg HS) won Heat 1 (10.54) only four hundredths ahead of Demoria Harris (Dunbar Academy, Chicago) and another three hundredths ahead of Barrington’s Scotty Miller (10.61). Cary Lockhart (Bloomington HS) won Heat 3 (10.65) fourteen hundredths of a second ahead of Christian Glass (Plainfield East HS). Corey Hertz (Lakes HS, Lake Villa) and Ayo Abiona (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) were the odd men out missing qualifying for the finals by one hundredth of a second.

 

 

800 Meter Run

 

Ty Moss led a strong field to the finals on Saturday running 1:54.02 to win his heat. He made the win look easy as he won by a second ahead of John Partee (Plainfield South HS). Wes Schoenthal (Edwardsville HS) won Heat 2 (1:54.13) edging Torrian Haughton (Maine East HS, Park Ridge) by less than half a second (1:54.56). Heath Warren (Springfield HS) was in control from the start holding on to win Heat 3 (1:54.64) ahead of Rockford Jefferson’s Luis Davilla (1:54.81) and Mundelein’s Bryce Richards (1:54.83).

 

 

4 x 200 Meter Relay

 

Plainfield East will be the slight favorite in this tight final Saturday afternoon. The Bengals ran their second time of the year under 1:27 (1:26.81) to win Heat 4 ahead of qualifier Warren Township (1:27.36).  Evanston Township looked strong winning Heat 1 (1:27.06) ahead of qualifiers Edwardsville (1:27.42) and Collinsville (1:27.66).  Plainfield North won Heat 3 (1:27.05) edging Dunbar by only five hundredths of a second. Bolingbrook also qualified (1:27.60) finishing third. Rock Island won Heat 2 (1:28.10).

 

 

400 Meter Dash

 

Kahmari Montgomery may need to break the IHSA State Record just to win this event on Saturday. He could have company up front with him. The Plainfield Central senior had the fastest prelim time (47.19) to win Heat 4. He was pushed by Octavian Wells (Grant HS, Fox Lake) who ran a personal best 47.73 to place second. Cory Hertz will also challenge Montgomery. Hertz won Heat 2 (47.59) by half a second ahead of O’Fallon’s Demontez McCray (48.02). Carl Klamm (Evanston Township HS) won Heat 1 edging Chris Thompson (Lemont HS) by two tenths of a second (48.04 – 48.24). Roosevelt Davis (East St. Louis-Senior HS) was the other auto qualifier winning Heat 3 (48.07) by six tenths of a second ahead of Neuqua Valley’s Zac Espinosa (48.67). Emmanuel Spearman (Homewood-Flossmoor HS) missed qualifying for the finals by four hundredths of a second.

 

 

300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles

 

This will be a wide open final as six runners went under 39 seconds. Roland Amarteifio (Evanston Township HS) had the fastest prelim time (38.62) to win Heat 4 just twelve hundredths ahead of Kyle Decker (St. Charles East HS). William Session won Heat 1 (38.71) half a second ahead of Paul Ifianayi (Elk Grove HS) who also qualified. Chris Douglas (Deerfield HS) qualified for his second hurdle final winning Heat 2 (38.81) ahead of final qualifier Justin Wolz (Minooka HS). Michael Saxon won Heat 3 (39.49) edging East St. Louis-Senior’s Delano Anderson by three hundredths of a second (39.49 – 39.52).

 

 

1600 Meter Run

 

This event was the tale of three heats as each took their different paths to the finals. Heat 1 had several scratches by failed to disappoint. Sean Torpy (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) made a move on the third lap throwing in a 61 second 400 breaking what was a tight pack. He struggled coming in to the finish but still won (4:13.73) ahead of qualifiers Lane Tech’s Pavlo Hutsalyuk (4:14.89) and Hinsdale South’s Roman Drabchuk (4:16.45).

 

After the pack went out in a 63 second first 400 in Heat 2, Brady Bobbit (Marmion Academy, Aurora) decided pushing the pace opening up a ten meter lead going past the 800 in 2:07. The pack led by Keagan Smith (Huntley HS) was two seconds back. They reeled Bobbit in the third quarter. The bell ran with one lap to go and Smith and company crossed in 3:10. Dan Santino (St. Ignatius Prep, Chicago) took the lead on the back stretch to be passed back by Smith. The Huntley junior crossed the line in 4:12.70 more than a second ahead of York’s Matt Plowman (4:13.90), Santino (4:14.07), and Palatine’s Graham Brown (4:14.38). Bobbit held on for fifth (4:15.43) also qualifying.

 

Heat 3 was the exact opposite of the first two as it turned into a kicker’s paradise. No one wanted to take the lead in this most anticipated of the heats that had Jesse Reiser (McHenry HS), Zach Dale (Conant HS), and Ryan Clevenger (Downers Grove North HS) part of this field. It fell into the hands of Reiser who has the best kick of the group. Fans were scratching their heads when the pack passed with one lap to go in a sluggish 3:17.2. With that kind of pace, it could have meant that only one athlete would make it out. Reiser made the definitive move making it look easy. Reiser crossed in 4:16.40. Ryan Clevenger and Zach Dale just made it in to the finals running 4:16.62. Sam Oh (Stevenson HS, Lincolnshire) was the last qualifier in finishing fourth (4:17.26). Connor McCue (West Aurora HS) finished fifth but just missed qualifying for the finals by four hundredths of a second.

 

 

200 Meter Dash

 

Kahmari Montgomery qualified for his third final with the top prelim time in this event. He won Heat 4 (21.25) pushed by Demoria Harris (21.62) and Huntley’s Connor Boos (21.90) who both qualified for the finals. Cary Lockhart won Heat 3 (21.65) defeating Josh Walker (Jacobs HS, Algonquin) by fourteen hundredths of a second. Alex Teague won Heat 1 (21.79) almost a half second ahead of Evanston’s Malachi Adams. Shandall Thomas won Heat 2 (21.81) three tenths of a second ahead of Deshon Buchanan (Belleville West HS).

 

 

4 x 400 Meter Relay

 

Ty Moss led Neuqua Valley to the leading time in this final event of the afternoon. In all actuality, it was Zac Espinosa’s 47.6 third leg that gave Neuqua the lead when Moss got the baton. He ran a 48.3 anchor to give his team the win in Heat 3 (3:17.19) three seconds ahead of Oak Park-River Forest. Octavian Wells came from behind on the final 400 meters to give Grant the win in Heat 4 (3:18.85) ahead of Evanston (3:19.10) and Bloomington (3:19.61). Edwardsville won Heat 2 (3:19.30) winning by a second ahead of conference rival East St. Louis-Senior (3:20.31). Cary-Grove finished third (3:20.40) also qualifying. Homewood-Flossmoor was the lone qualifier in Heat 1 as Matt Simpson sprinted away from the pack the final meters to win (3:20.10) ahead of Lakes by a second.

 

 

Field Event Highlights

 

Fontez Davis (Edwardsville HS) has the prelim lead in the Long Jump. His 23-6 leap is six inches ahead of second place Matt Fleming (Simeon Academy, Chicago). West Aurora is currently 1-2 in the Triple Jump. Chris Walker jumped 48-9 ¼ to lead the prelims ahead of teammate Davion Cross (48-0). They lead the rest of the competition by close to two feet.

 

Eleven athletes cleared 6-4 to advance to Saturday’s finals in the High Jump. Twelve athletes cleared 14-3 to make the finals of  the Pole Vault.

 

 

There is three feet separation between the first two athletes and the rest of the pack in the Shot Put. Ricky Hurley (Cary-Grove HS) currently leads with a 59-4 ¾ put. Adam Schaufelberger (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) is currently second (59-0). Mike Prestigiacoma (Lake Park HS, Roselle) was a notable non-qualifier as he fouled on all three attempts. Edwardsville’s AJ Espenesa leads after the prelims of the Discus with a 180-10 throw. Ricky Hurley is second (179-1).