Storylines to watch at the Illinois Top Times Championships

By Michael Newman for DyeStat

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Some of the top athletes in the state will converge on the Shirk Center in Bloomington this Friday and Saturday as the Illinois Top Times Championships will be held for the 30th year.

Zachery Bradford of Bloomington and Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West won national championships two weeks ago in New York. John Meyer of Lockport Township has been one of the premiere athletes this winter nationally in the shot put and will look to surpass his 70-4.25 (21.44m) throw that he achieved last week.

The list goes on with talent in all three classes of this meet.

Here are some of the storylines to keep an eye on in this two-day meet. You can watch the meet live on Runnerspace.com +PLUS.

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How far can Meyer go in the ring?

There will be plenty of action in the shot put ring on the east end of the Shirk Center. All eyes will be on that area late Saturday afternoon when Lockport Township’s John Meyer steps into the circle.

Meyer had an epic meet Friday at the Southwest Suburban Conference Indoor Championships when he had a 70-4.25 put in the second round. He became the first Illinois high school athlete to ever go past that 70-foot barrier.

Can he go past the meet record of 63-6.5 that Jeremy Kline set in 2006? That should happen. In last week’s meet, he had five out of six throws sail past that with his “worst” throw only 67-11. His foot work has improved in the ring allowing this to happen.

Meyer has the best indoor throw in the nation. Tyson Jones of Desert Edge AZ established the outdoor lead last week at the Willie Williams Classic with a 70-4.50 put. Meyer could go past that Saturday afternoon.

Wait for Bradford on the pole vault runway Saturday

In any other year, this would be a good pole vault field with Oswego’s Jared Middleton and Declan Ritzenthaler of Loyola Academy both clearing 15-0 or better this indoor season. Then again, this is not any ordinary season. You may have to wait for the field to exhaust all their attempts before you see Zachery Bradford of Bloomington take his first try. Bradford this indoor season has been coming into the competition at 16-6.

Bradford two weeks ago became the third high school vaulter to make 18 feet indoors as he won the New Balance Nationals Indoor title. He made 18-0.50 on his third and final attempt.

He has the highest clearance indoors or out, ever, for an Illinois prep. He should break the meet record that Phil Hanson set in 2011 (17-1.25). Bradford cleared 17-6 in the Shirk Center three days after his national record. This meet should also be a good tune-up for the future Kansas University student/athlete as he will compete next week at the Texas Relays.

Hart tries a different double

Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West was challenged two weeks ago in the mile at New Balance Nationals Indoor when she came from four seconds back in the final 200 meters to win the national championship. This Saturday at Illinois Top Times, she will have a different challenge.

Hart decided Monday to run the 800 and then come back one hour later to compete in the 1,600. In last year’s championships, Hart went out and set a new meet record, running 10:11.51 to win the 3,200. She came back to run 4:53.68 for a victory in the 1,600.

It could be tough for Hart to complete this double considering how good the fields are in both events. She will be up for it. At the Sue Pariseau Invitational last April, Hart won all three distance events, running 10:25.95 for 3,200 meters, 2:14.20 to win the 800 40 minutes later, and then 4:50.72 in the 1,600 just 90 minutes after that.

The biggest challenge for Hart will be in the 800, where she will go against Madison Marasco of Schaumburg. Marasco ran the state’s fastest time at the distance (2:11.74) after running a 2:13.9 split on her team’s 4x800 relay 90 minutes prior. Hart is seeded second with a 2:13.64 seasonal best run last week at the WSC-Silver Championships. Enyaeva Michelin of Evanston Township will also challenge in this race having run 2:14.39 at the Gene Armer Invitational last Saturday.

Both Hart and Michelin will come back to compete in the 1,600. Michelin ran the same double last week, turning in a time of 4:59.54. She has run under five minutes twice this winter indoors. Hart’s only double this season was when she ran 4:46.92 in the mile and then came back to run 10:14.56 in the 2-mile at the University of Kentucky HS Invitational on Feb. 17.

Hart has not lost a race in her career on the track to an Illinois high school athlete in distances 800 or longer. If she wins both, it will be another story that will be put in her already loaded resume.

The 2A girls long jump will be worth getting to the Shirk Center early Saturday

Day 2 running events of this meet will start Saturday morning at 10:15. It would be worth getting to the Shirk Center 90 minutes earlier to watch the 2A girls long jump. Three of the top 10 athletes in the event nationally will be competing in what could be one of the highlight events of this meet.

This could be a repeat of last spring’s IHSA 2A final with three of the top four finishers at this meet. Erika Furbeck of Geneseo is the defending state champion as well as having the longest mark this winter in the state (20-1.50, US #3 tie). Imani Carothers of Brooks College Prep finished second behind Furbeck last spring at state. Carothers jumped 19-11.75 (US #5) at the Homewood-Flossmoor Girls Invitational at the end of February. Serena Bolden of Springfield Southeast finished second behind Carothers in that meet (19-6, US #9 tie) and finished fourth in the state meet.

Any of these athletes could go past the 19-11 meet record that Jaimie Robinson set in last year’s meet. It could come down to the sixth and final round of jumps to decide a winner.

Boys 60-meter dash could surpass the meet record in all three classes

Jonathan Boey’s meet record in the 60 meters of 6.79 could be threatened in all three classes of this event this weekend. The talent in each of the races indicates that this could happen.

Easton Bianchi of Sterling Newman Catholic is the defending champion in the Class 1A race. He should be the big favorite Friday evening. He stepped up at the University of Kentucky HS Invitational in February, running 6.84. It is now a month later. Bianchi could run under 6.8 in the finals. This was the meet last year where he stepped into the state spotlight with his surprising win in this race. He could step into the spotlight again for a different reason.

Decatur MacArthur’s Ronald Reed has run under 6.9 three time this indoor season at this distance with his 6.87 winner at the Vanderbilt HS Invitational in February his best. Dawson Kaiser of Tolono Unity has seen his time in this race drop all season with the 6.99 that he finished second behind Reed last week at Eastern Illinois University his best. The two runners could push each other close to 6.8 in this race.

The 3A race Saturday evening could be a repeat of the 3A finals last May. Marcellus Moore of Plainfield North has been on fire all winter. He finished seventh at New Balance Nationals Indoor and then came back to earn All-American honors in the 200. His 6.81 time at nationals is the state’s fastest this winter. Moore will be pushed by Hoffman Estates’ Declan Rustay. Rustay bested Moore outdoors last May at the IHSA State Meet, winning both the 100 and 200. Rustay appears to be rounding into shape having run 6.49 for 55 meters at last week’s Mid Suburban League Championships. Moore ran 6.43 at the same distance at the Southwest Prairie Conference last Saturday. The wildcard in this event could be Jamal Safo of Crete-Monee, who has run 6.48 for 55 meters. The three could push each other under the meet record.

3A Girls 60 dash could come down to inches

The boys short sprints will be great. The girls 60 in Class 3A could be one of the best races in this meet.

It could come down to Ameia Wilson of Danville and Ozzy Erewele of Springfield. Wilson has run 7.64 or better in the five finals that she has competed in this season. She ran the state best time of 7.56 to win the Gene Armer Invitational last Saturday. Erewele has run under 7.6 twice this winter. She ran 7.58 in the Shirk Center two weeks ago.

If it is not one of these two, look to Dajour Miles of West Aurora, who will run in all three sprint races on Saturday. She has run 7.65 at this distance. Nya Carr of Buffalo Grove ran the state’s fastest time (7.07) in winning the 55-meter dash at the Mid Suburban League Invitational.

The meet record is 7.45. With all four athletes pushing one another, the record is in jeopardy. Officials may need to go to the photo to decide a winner.

Illini West will make their presence known Friday

It was a commanding performance from Illini West that left Charleston last May with the 1A Boys State Championship. Illini West is one of the teams to watch in Illinois’ smallest classification again this spring. The Chargers could make a statement in this meet, led by their two stars Connor Artman and Jacob Bryan.

Artman jumped into the national spotlight early this season by winning the Arkansas HS Invitational in the long jump in January. He has a seasonal best of 23-11.50 (US #8). Artman also has the fastest seed time in the 60-meter hurdles (8.14) and will challenge for the 60 dash title with Easton Bianchi.

Bryan has the possibility of running four races on Friday, with chances of running on his team’s 4x800 and 4x400 relays. He will also run in two individual events. Bryan has the state’s fastest time at 800 meters (1:55.73) and will challenge 1A defending champion Riley Wells of Rockford Christian in this race. The 1,600 meters later in the day will be dynamite with Bryan, Eli Ten Eyck of Pittsfield, and Wyatt McIntyre of Athens all capable of running under 4:20.

Another Ward on the runway

Andra Ward of Cahokia will enter the 2A boys triple jump on Saturday morning as the favorite in the event.

The junior has shown improvement all indoor season in the hop, skip and jump getting a state-leading and personal-best 47-5 last week at the Lemont Invitational.  He is undefeated in meets this season. His growth curve in the future looks good. We could see a 48-foot jump Saturday. A 50-foot jump is not out of the question this spring by the time of the IHSA State Meet.