Track News The 2012 is now posted. The first meet for the Raiders is on February 24th.

McGraw, Harrell among high notes at CCHS meet

By Randy Sharer | rsharer@pantagraph.com pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON — The low-key Central Catholic Open track meet produced several marks Tuesday more befitting of the state finals.

The low-key label no longer fit after Central freshman Molly McGraw high jumped a school record 5 feet, 6 inches.

Bloomington’s Torre Harrell upped the excitement ante by long jumping 23-1.

There was no let up in the girls pole vault where 2009 Class 2A state champion Emily Clay of University High and 2010 1A state champion Sarah Bell of Central both cleared 12-6, tying the No. 2 mark in Pantagraph area history.

Clay won on misses, while Bell broke her own school record. Clay and Erika Simple were triple winners, but that wasn’t enough to prevent BHS from edging U High, 90-88.

Central took third (48) followed by Heyworth (46) and Cornerstone (9). For the boys, BHS (120) topped U High (90), Central (39.5), Heyworth (31) and Cornerstone (1.5).

McGraw only needed one try to make 4-10, 5-2 and 5-6 before missing three times at 5-8.

“The second one (at 5-8), I thought I had it,” McGraw said. “Right when I landed on the mat, I saw it drop. I think I just clipped it with the bottom of my feet.”

McGraw also won the long jump with a personal best of 16-6.5 and ran on the winning 400 relay (52.7) with Bell, Mackenzie Jenkins and Kayla Shanks.

Bell had never vaulted 12-6 before except in practice.

“This was the first time I’ve jumped well in a long time,” said Bell of her vaulting. “It was a good day for my form.”

Bell and Clay both went out at 12-10. Clay’s day included victories in the 800 (2:31.4) and 1,600 (5:18.9), the latter scaring Kate Tannura’s 2005 school record of 5:17.7.

Clay covered each of the two middle laps in 82 seconds.

“If I fix those two laps, I should be good,” said the Cincinnati recruit.

Harrell, who sailed 23-7.5 in 2010, got his 23-1 long jump on his fourth attempt.

“My first three, I was just getting warmed up,” he said. “The last one I felt good on. I got good height on it.”

Harrell also ran on the winning 400 relay (44.1) and 800 relay (1:35.9) with Luther Thompson, Jonathon Wimp and Justin Brooks.

Brooks also won the 100 (11.3), but his 43-0 triple jump couldn’t catch teammate Dean Jordan (43-5.5).

“I didn’t get high on my third phase,” said Brooks, who led the area in 2010 at 45-8.

Jordan strained his right hamstring on his second attempt. Earlier, he won the 110 high hurdles in 15.7.

“I had a really good first three hurdles, probably the fastest I ever came out, and then I don’t know what happened,” Jordan said. “Somewhere in the middle I started floating over them.”

U High’s Simple swept the girls 100 (13.0), 200 (26.9) and 400 (1:02.7).

“Saturday, I ran bad times,” said the sophomore after bouncing back with a flourish.

Kyle O’Daniel of BHS won a tactical 1,600 in 4:39.9 thanks to a 62.9 last lap.

“The time was slow, but that was one of the funnest races I’ve run all season,” said O’Daniel, who ran 53.4 on the winning 1,600 relay (3:36.2).

Prep Top Times
By Randy Sharer | rsharer@pantagraph.comClass 2A

Grove, a South Dakota recruit, and the Cincinnati-bound Clay, both cleared a 2A meet record 12 feet, 6.75 inches. Grove won because Clay missed twice at her opening height of 11-6. Both went out at 13-0. The old meet record was Clay’s 12-0 from last year.

“I didn’t make any misses until 13,” Grove said. “I was just kind of playing around with poles at 13 feet. I was over on the last one (but came down on the bar). I’ve made it before. I was happy.”

Clay wasn’t unhappy with second, but would have liked more vaults at 13.

“My first two (attempts), I felt I was vaulting at the bar,” she said. “If I’m going to give myself a chance to make it, I have to not vault at the bar.”

Composto tied her personal best of 11-6.

Bloomington had a pair of runners-up in Torre Harrell and Jonathon Wimp. Harrell, who had five long jumps over 22 feet, topped out at 22-8.25 for second behind Cahokia’s Laderrick Ward (23-0.5).

“For only a week and a half of practice, to get second in indoor state, that’s good,” Harrell said.

The 5-11 Wimp high jumped 6-2 to trail only Joseph Torres of Rochelle (6-7.25).

“Because of the weather and being indoors, he hasn’t practiced at all,” said BHS coach John Szabo of Wimp. “When he gets his steps down, there is no telling what he can do.”

Mahomet-Seymour had two second-placers in Derek Bunch and Marshall Graham. Bunch tossed the shot put 53-11 to trail Springfield Lanphier’s Kevin Farley, who threw a meet record 59-6.

“I thought I could have done better,” said the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Bunch, whose season-best is 55-4.

Graham motored 23.18 in the 200 to lose by one hundredth of a second to Grayslake Central’s Jahard Nelson.

Mahomet-Seymour took second in the girls 1,600 relay (4:09.87) and 3,200 relay (9:51.58). The former included Jessica Melchi (60.6), Shelby Stucker (63.6), Brittany Bohn (61.3) and Audrey Lowry (64.5). The latter featured Stucker (2:29.5), Allie Melchi (2:31.6), Bohn (2:19.1) and Tessa Hanlon (2:31.4). Winning those relays were Chicago Kenwood (4:09.56) and Yorkville (9:42.52).

West boys edge BHS in Big 12 indoor meet

By Randy Sharer | rsharer@pantagraph.com pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON — There is no pouting in track and field, at least not among Normal Community West High School’s boys, who shrugged off adversity to edge Bloomington, 94-92, in a thrilling Big 12 Conference Indoor Meet on Tuesday at Shirk Center.

The Wildcats saw two top seeds come up empty, but redeem themselves later.

“It was a fun meet,” said West coach Steve Destri, who got a meet record from Drew Kerschieter. “It was everything you want it to be.”

Wildcat fans probably didn’t want to see top-seeded pole vaulter Eric Gordon no-height for the first time in his career. Neither was it entertaining when Braxton Moore dropped the baton for his top-seeded 800 relay.

Moore came back to win the 200-meter dash over Luther Thompson of BHS, 23.61 seconds to 23.62, to create an 86-86 tie entering the final event, the 1,600 relay. Gordon helped that relay nip BHS for second, 3:32.05 to 3:32.40.

BHS led the Wildcats until West anchorman Christian Magee passed with 120 meters to go. His split was a team-best 51.9. Preceding him were Bryce Basting (53.4), Jeremy Kemp (52.8) and Gordon (54.0).

Basting repeated as 800 champ in a school-record 1:58.24 and came back 31 minutes later to capture the 400 in 52.62. With 180 left in the 400, he was fourth, 12 meters back.

“With 75 left, they started breaking down and I felt good enough to go after it,” Basting said.

Kerschieter and Class 2A state cross country champion Michael Clevenger of Decatur MacArthur waged an epic battle in the 3,200 as both dipped under the 23-year-old meet record of 9:40.0 set by Mike Straza of BHS. Kerschieter won, 9:23.36 to 9:24.00, while breaking Cory Nanni’s 2007 school record of 9:24.69.

“The last 400 I would not have gotten Cory’s record if it were not for Clevenger,” Kerschieter said. “He helped me a whole, whole lot.”

West’s other wins came in the 55 and shot put thanks to Mikey Beasley-Hart and Kyrin Tucker, respectively. Beasley-Hart zipped a school-record 6.69 to win by two hundredths of a second over Justin Brooks of BHS.

“I practiced on the blocks all week and came out firing,” said Beasley-Hart, a junior transfer from Normal Community.

Tucker, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound freshman with size 18 feet, won the shot put at 48 feet, 1 inch.

“I want to hit at least a 54 before the year is over with,” said Tucker, who was held under his school record of 50-9 by a wrist injury.

BHS long jumper Torre Harrell moved up a place from a year ago to win at 22-2.25, a mark that came on the last of his four attempts.

“On the last one I had to focus more on holding it in the air so I could get more distance,” said Harrell, whose other marks of 21-9.25, 21-2 and 22-1 also would have won.

Brent Weigelman helped NCHS place fourth in the team standings with 48 points by winning the high jump at 6-2, a height also cleared by Jonathon Wimp of BHS, who had more misses. Both missed 6-4.

“I was getting my hips over, but the angle I was coming at it, I was hitting it with the back of my legs,” said the 5-11 Weigelman, who hopes to break the school record of 6-8.

No. 6-seeded Dean Jordan of BHS broke through in the 55 high hurdles to edge Mattoon’s Jake Gates, 8.18 to 8.19.

“I looked over at him as we were crossing the line,” Jordan said. “I couldn’t really tell (I won). I was just hoping.”

2010 News

Waiting game over for state-bound area boys track stars

By Randy Sharer | rsharer@pantagraph.com | Posted: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 9:13 pm

Logan Pflibsen must wait and Ben Asmus never waits. That’s why they are among the stars to watch in the 116th state high school track meet, which begins its three-day run at Charleston on Thursday. For Streator High School’s Pflibsen, he waits, hours sometimes, as the entire pole vault field is eliminated before attempting his opening height.

In the sectional, he cleared an all-time state record 17 feet, 2 inches, the nation’s second-best outdoor vault this year. He went for a nation-leading 17-7, but missed.

For Heyworth’s Asmus, he runs the 400-meter dash with no thought of saving energy for the end. His hard-charging style could make him the fourth in state history to win the 400 at least three times.

“He wants guys in the other lanes to know he’s going hard,” said Coach Tom Wells. “He’s going right now. He’s not going to wait.”

Standing in line with Pflibsen and Asmus as a top seed is Bloomington long jumper Torre Harrell, who leapt 23-4 in the sectional. His best of 23-7.5 shares the No. 2 spot in Pantagraph area history.

The area’s 91 qualifiers also include four No. 2 seeds led by Normal Community’s area-record holding 800 relay, which ran 1 minute, 27.71 seconds on the winged feet of Marcus Harris, Travis Mullen, Jared Mungo and Conner Necessary.

Victories are never guaranteed in the state meet, but few are betting against Pflibsen and Asmus, who will be continuing their careers at New Mexico and Southern Illinois, respectively.

Pflibsen, who won last year at 15-6, vaulted 29 inches higher than anyone else in the 2A sectionals. He will be sneaking a peak at Class 1A, which boasts Sparta’s 17-0 vaulter, Cody Klein.

“Logan says this all the time, he wants to go against the best and he wouldn’t mind if all three classes were combined for the state meet,” said Streator coach Ken Carlson.

Pflibsen, a member of the Bloomington-based Flying Dragons Pole Vault Club, is a threat to the all-time state meet record of 17-0.5 set in 1992 by Daren McDonaugh of Edwardsville.

The 5-foot-10 Pflibsen also cleared 17-0 at Sycamore on April 30 when bad weather forced the vault indoors before the entire meet was canceled.

“I think he’s peaking at the right time, obviously,” said Carlson, who once timed Pflibsen in a 40-yard dash at 4.5 while carrying a pole.

Asmus was timed at 49.11 for his first state title in 2008. He improved to 48.56 last year, the No. 4 time in area history. His season best of 48.94 in the sectional is .40 ahead of the No. 2 seed.

“That’s his event,” Wells said. “It would take a really good kid and a good day to beat him.”

Wells believes Asmus can dip under 48 if challenged.

“He can be in the 47s if he’s got a sense of urgency,” said Wells, whose star is also seeded fourth in the 200 (22.04) and tied for 10th in the 100 (11.04). Asmus may pull out of the 100. “It seems like it takes him 60 meters to get going in that 100.”

When Asmus is gone, he’ll be missed. “He’s been a pleasure to work with,” Wells said. “He’s got a ready grin and a story for everybody.”

State meet glance

Where: O’Brien Stadium, Charleston

Prelims: Class 1A - 11 a.m. Thursday; Class 2A - 9 a.m. Friday; Class 3A - 10 a.m. Friday

Finals: All classes - 10 a.m. Saturday

Area qualifiers: 91

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps

Notes

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Meets this week:

2011 Results:

Big 12

Big 12 F/S

Intercity-BHS Results

2010 Results:
Sectional
NCHS JV
Big 12
F/S Big 12
Raider Relays
Intercity- full results
Downers Grove South
Central Catholic
Lanphier
NCHS Triangular
Big 12 Indoor
Mahomet Indoor

2009 Results:

Big 12

Lanphier

2008 Results:

State - Photos

Normal Community/Pontiac

Big 12 Indoor

Mahomet Invitational

Thornwood Invitational

Normal West Indoor

IVC Team Results

New photos from the Lanphier Meet on Saturday April 17th. More photos.

BHS finishes 9th in the state meet.

Congratulations to the Boys Track & Field Team that finished 9^th in the state over the weekend and had several athletes earn All-State recognition. The 4X100 relay placed second by 2 tenths of a second with Justin Brooks, Torre Harrell, Greg Patton, and Jeshiah Campbell. The 4X800 relay team placed 7^th with Patton, Kyle O’Daniel, Brian Meyer, and Andy Szabo. Greg also placed 4^th in the 400 while Jeshiah placed 3^rd in the long jump and 9^th in the 400. Greg Patton & Jeshiah Campbell became the first BHS Boys Track Athletes to earn 3 state medals in the same state meet.

Field events lift BHS boys track to Intercity title

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON -- Bloomington High School’s track team gave new meaning to the phrase “field of dreams” Tuesday to win its fourth consecutive Intercity Meet. | Photo gallery

Bloomington's Sodiq Alliu competes in the high jump competition at Bloomington High School's Intercity Track Meet Tuesday afternoon, April 28, 2009. (THE PANTAGRAPH/B MOSHER) Buy reprint

The Purple Raiders trailed Normal West most of the drizzly day before rallying for a 121-104 triumph. BHS topped West in the field events, 55-23.

“They definitely helped us today,” said BHS coach John Szabo, who got 1-2 finishes in the shot put and triple jump.

University High was third (75) ahead of Normal Community (60) and Central Catholic (12).

The damp, 50-degree conditions made personal bests hard to come by, but pole vaulter Eric O’Shea still became the fourth in BHS history to clear 14 feet, 0 inches.

“At 14-6, I started thinking too much,” said the winner. “That’s why I didn’t make it.”

U High’s Tim Glover didn’t know what to make of his discus win at 153-5 to crush his previous best of 145-2.

“I didn’t put too much effort behind it because of the conditions,” he said. “I didn’t want to overpower myself.”

Jeshiah Campbell of BHS wanted to strangle himself after false-starting in the 100-meter dash and placing third in the 400 (50.1 seconds).

“I had to redeem myself,” said Campbell, who did so by becoming the only double winner thanks to a 21-10½ long jump and a 22.3 200.

Even if things went wrong for BHS, like when defending triple jump champ Sodiq Alliu only reached 41-9, it came out with a 1-2 finish as Dean Jordan bounded 42-9.

“I’ve been jumping with him since I was in sixth grade,” said Jordan after beating Alliu for the first time.

Teammate Greg Patton outleaned U High’s Jake Todino in the 300 intermediate hurdles, 40.0 to 40.1.

“My hurdle technique was terrible today,” said Patton, whose 50.8 anchor was a thing of beauty as BHS’ 1,600 relay (3:31.7) nipped NCHS (3:31.9).

Patton also anchored the winning 400 relay (44.3).

U High’s James Clay notched a pair of personal bests as he led off the winning 3,200 relay (8:18.4) in 1:59.9 and held off fellow sophomore Drew Kerschieter of Normal West in the 1,600, 4:29.2 to 4:30.0.

“I was real scared I wasn’t going to be able to hold the lead,” said Clay after a brave 63.6 last lap in the 1,600.

Kerschieter was forced to use more energy than he wished to win the 3,200 where it took 9:40.5 to hold off U High’s Kirk Saunders (9:42.1).

“It’s a very good double for me,” said Kerschieter, nevertheless disappointed with only one victory.

Likewise, one win wasn’t enough for U High’s Will Brucker, who followed his 11.2 triumph in the 100 with a 22.7 for third in the 200.

“I’m more embarrassed about that race than anything,” he said.

West 400 fans took pride in the 1-2 finish of Jerry Lewis (49.7) and Darius Bell (50.0).

“Races like this prepare me for state,” Lewis said.

Rice-recruit Ikechi Nnamani of U High defended his high jump title at 6-4, narrowly missing 6-7.

Normal West’s Bryce Basting gave sophomores a sweep of the distance events by winning a tactical 800 in 2:01.8.

Other winners were West’s Troy Walls in the high hurdles (15.3), BHS’ Quay Hall in the shot put (47-9) and NCHS’ 800 relay (1:34.1).

BHS ties for first

By Pantagraph staff

Bloomington scored 90 points to tie Belleville East for first in the 10-team Springfield Lanphier Invitational. Normal West was third (70), University High fourth (62) and Mahomet-Seymour sixth (46). The Purple Raiders’ Eric O’Shea won the pole vault (13-0) while Justin Brooks, Jeshiah Campbell, Torre Harrell and Sodiq Alliu won the 800 relay (1:31.47) and Ben Hanson, Kyle O’Daniel, Jake Mullenix and Andy Szabo combined to win the 3,200 relay (8:12.97).

Normal West winners were Troy Walls in the 110 high hurdles (14.82), Jerry Lewis in the 400 (a meet record 49.62), Bryce Basting in the 800 (2:01.35) and Drew Kerschieter in the 3,200 (9:46.16). Other area winners were U High’s James Clay in the 1,600 (4:35.18) and Mahomet-Seymour’s Ethan King in the shot put (51-10).

BHS's Campbell soars in NCHS boys track triangular

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

NORMAL -- Early April non-scored track meets can be glorified practice sessions, but Wednesday’s triangular at Normal Community High School featured some marks more often seen at midseason. | Photo gallery

Among those ignoring the 50-degree chill was Bloomington senior Jeshiah Campbell, who rode a tailwind 22 feet, 4¾ inches to win the long jump.

“I just need to get my steps down,” he said. “I can do better. I know I can.”

Bloomington's Jeshiah Campbell Wednesday, April 8, 2009, at the Normal Community Track Meet in Normal. (The Pantagraph, Carlos T. Miranda) Buy reprint

Campbell is certain his 400-meter relay can do better. Leadoff man Justin Brooks fell on the exchange with Torre Harrell, but the Purple Raiders got up to finish second in 47.8 seconds.

Brooks and Harrell both bounced back impressively as Brooks won the 100 (11.2) and Harrell the 200 (23.8).

“(Brooks) is going to be really good,” said Campbell of the sophomore. “He’s got some wheels on him. I’m going to come back and watch him run when he’s a senior.”

A BHS senior worth keeping an eye on right now is pole vaulter Eric O’Shea, who also got a tailwind boost on the way over 13-0.

“I had (13-6), but I hit it on the way down with my chest,” O’Shea said. “I should have had it.”

O’Shea should be in for a battle the next time he faces fellow 13-foot vaulter Paul Panno of Pontiac. Their dual fizzled Wednesday when Panno failed to clear a height.

“We all have our good days; we all have our bad days,” said O’Shea, recalling his own no-height outing at last year’s Pantagraph Honor Roll Meet.

Augustana-bound BHS senior Greg Patton used the meet as a winning workout, capturing the 400 (52.7) in between a 2:07 leg on the winning 3,200 relay (8:36.9) and a 53.4 leg on the winning 1,600 relay (3:37.2).

“I’m going to stay with the 800 to keep my endurance up for the 400,” said Patton, a Class 2A state title contender in the 400 or perhaps the 300 intermediate hurdles.

The 1,600 relay included Campbell (52.8), Sodiq Alliu (57.0) and Andy Szabo (54.4). The 5-7 Alliu also won the high jump (6-0) while Szabo took the 800 (2:09.7).

No one did more winning than Tony Lockwood of BHS, who captured the triple jump (36-3½), 110 high hurdles (17.2) and 300 intermediate hurdles (44.6).

Zach Liming of NCHS won the shot put (42-2½) and discus (123-0) in the absence of BHS standout Quay Hall, who is ineligible, but could return as soon as next week.

Patton gets record as BHS gets Big 12 indoor title

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON — Greg Patton’s coaches, teammates and parents had been “getting on” him about his lackluster 400-meter dash times this indoor track season.

Now they need to get on his bandwagon based on what the Bloomington High School senior did in the Big 12 Conference Indoor Meet Thursday at Shirk Center.

Patton scorched two laps of the 200-meter oval in an indoor career best of 50.40 seconds to account for the lone meet record.

“It feels good to have something to look forward to now going into the outdoor season,” said Patton, who slashed “four or five” seconds off his previous season best. “I didn’t think I could run 50-point indoors.”

Patton came back later to anchor the winning and Class 2A state-leading 1,600 relay (3:32.64) with a 52.0 split. The old 400 record was 50.42 by Champaign Central’s Joshua Stanner in 2007.

Patton helped the Purple Raiders score 104 points to regain the title Normal West earned last year. Danville was second (90), Normal West third (82) and Normal Community fifth (36).

“We had a great meet,” said BHS coach John Szabo, whose team won for the fifth time in eight years. “Our kids really competed hard.”

Patton helped Intercity teams win 10 of the 15 events. His relay partners were Jeshiah Campbell (52.2), Andy Szabo (53.8) and Sodiq Alliu (54.6).

Campbell began with a long jump win at 22 feet, 8¾ inches on his second attempt. He fouled his three other tries. He won last year at 22-3.

“I feel more motivated than last year because I got kind of disappointed at state,” Campbell said. “I’m more motivated and focused than I was.”

The team outcome was still in doubt when Alliu and sophomore teammate Dean Jordan went 1-2 in the triple jump with marks of 43-½ and 42-7, respectively.

“I wasn’t expecting too much because I hurt my hamstring last week,” said Alliu, who used a short approach to save some wear and tear.

Other BHS winners were Quay Hall in the shot put (50-4) and Eric O’Shea in the pole vault (12-6).

Normal West’s Troy Walls failed to defend his 55 high hurdle title, placing second in 8.04, and took out his frustrations in the high jump, winning at 6-6.

“I was just jumping from way too far (out),” said Walls of his three failed tries at 6-8. “Six-six felt pretty good.”

Walls later ran a 24.0 split on the winning 800 relay (1:34.58), which included Trey Hartema (23.9), Darius Bell (23.9) and Jerry Lewis (22.6).

West sophomore Drew Kerschieter didn’t let a cold stop him from edging Andy Szabo in the 800, 2:01.45 to 2:01.87, as both clocked career bests.

“He gave me quite a scare,” Kerschieter said. “I probably wouldn’t have run as fast if it wasn’t for Szabo. I should thank him for that.”

West won the 3,200 relay (8:39.69) thanks to Jeff Bush (2:08.7), Caleb Wiebenga (2:10.6), Logan Abeling (2:12.6) and Adam Wiebenga (2:07.9).

A notable runner-up was defending 3,200 champion Austin Baer of Normal West, who clocked a career-best 9:47.09 behind Centennial’s Ryan Root (9:46.14).

Intercity boys track preview: BHS ahead of the field

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

Bloomington's Jeshiah Campbell makes an explosive landing while competing in the long jump during the Intercity Boys Track and Field Meet on April 22, 2008, at Central Catholic High School in Bloomington. (Pantagraph/Joel Fellers) Buy reprint

Field events, with their many attempts strung out over hours of competition, tend to get overlooked by track fans and even some coaches. Coach John Szabo of three-time defending Intercity champion Bloomington High School doesn’t neglect the field events. | Team schedules, rosters | Intercity girls track preview

In Thursday’s Big 12 Conference Boys Indoor Meet, BHS scored 54 of its 104 winning points in field events at the 15-event meet.

“We do put time into field events,” Szabo said. “We don’t blow those off by any means.”

BHS won four Big 12 indoor field event titles thanks to Jeshiah Campbell (long jump), Sodiq Alliu (triple jump), Quay Hall (shot put) and Eric O’Shea (pole vault).

Campbell tied for 15th in last year’s Class AA state long jump, but he would have won had he been able to repeat his season best of 23 feet, 1 inch, the No. 9 mark in area history.

Campbell and Alliu, a 46-6 triple jumper, are state title threats this spring, especially with the advent of the three-class system which makes BHS one of the biggest 2A teams.

“With the three-class system in place this year, it’s definitely a benefit to our squad,” Szabo said. “The team would like to bring home a state trophy if possible this year, but it’s going to take more than one or two kids to do that.”

Elsewhere in the Intercity, coaches are working hard to catch the Purple Raiders.

“We hope to be able to compete for an Intercity and Big 12 championship,” said Normal West coach Steve Destri, whose Class 3A team is led by hurdler/high jumper Troy Walls and sophomore distance ace Drew Kerschieter.

“We clearly have a very strong distance crew. We are much better (than last year) in the sprints and jumps.”

University High also has a fine mix of distance, jump, sprint and hurdle power with James Clay, Ikechi Nnamani, Will Brucker and Jake Todino.

Clay placed fifth in last fall’s 2A state cross country meet. Nnamani has high jumped 6-4 and long jumped 22-7. Brucker is among the state leaders this indoor season in the 55 (6.55) and 200 (23.54).

“Up and down the lineup, we’ve got strength and quality in about every event,” said Coach Lester Hampton. “I think we should have a better chance to not only get more kids down to state, but hopefully see them running on Saturday (in the 2A finals).”

Class 3A Normal Community has the biggest Intercity squad with 89 athletes, including returning state 800 relay members Marcus Harris, Jared Cross and Stephen Pierce.

“We’d like to shoot for the top three at conference,” said Coach Tom Patten, whose co-coach is Bryan Thomas. “We’ve got a lot of places we can score.”

Central Catholic, second in last year’s sectional, hopes to contend for another sectional crown and place in the state’s top 12. Among the Saints’ six returning state qualifiers is Corn Belt Conference 800 and 1,600 champion John Curran.

“This team has a lot of unknowns this early in the season,” said Coach DeWayne Griffin. “We will have to see where we are at come May.”

Cornerstone hopes to produce its first state qualifiers from a 13-member squad.

“We have some strong returning runners and some very talented freshmen coming in,” said Coach Michele Larsen.

2008 News

AA boys state track: BHS' Sipes wins big in 110-meter hurdles

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

Bloomington High School's Tyler Sipes, center, puts his arms up as he wins the 110-meter high hurdles at the Class AA State Track finals at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston, Ill. on Saturday, May 24, 2008.(AP Photo/The News-Gazette, Robin Scholz)

CHARLESTON — They don’t keep records for the largest margin of victory in the Class AA 110-meter high hurdles, but perhaps they should after what Tyler Sipes did in the 114th boys state track meet Saturday. | Photo gallery

The Bloomington High School senior not only successfully defended his title by tying his Pantagraph area record of 13.90 seconds, he finished a massive .69 ahead of Rockford Jefferson runner-up Keith Dismuke.

“This feels 10 times better than last year,” said Sipes after finishing more than eight meters ahead of the field. “I feel relieved being the No. 1 seed coming in. It feels good to be able to do it twice and not get taken down my senior year.”

Sipes returned later to duplicate last year’s runner-up finish in the 300 intermediate hurdles as defending champion Kraig Appleton of East St. Louis handed him a 37.99 to 38.16 defeat.

Sipes and eighth-place pole vaulter Joe Roberts helped BHS finish 10th with 20 points. The Pantagraph area’s other medalists were ninth-placers Logan Pflibsen of Streator and Caleb Sutton of Lincoln.

Sipes ended the season unbeaten in the high hurdles with a different feeling than last year when he won in 14.01 as the underdog.

“It felt like the upset and then everyone started in the off season asking if it was a fluke, if I was going to be able to do it again,” Sipes said. “I knew I could. I wanted to come out and prove myself.”

Sipes, a Rend Lake College recruit who plans to one day run for Iowa, saw his uncanny ability to always be the first over the first hurdle continue.

“I always like to work on starts in practice,” he said. “My start is always my strong point. I felt like today I got out really good at the start. I didn’t see or hear anyone. I just had to keep it going.”

Going along for the ride was a tattoo on his left shoulder reading: “The sky is the limit.”

“This year my coach and my principal said the sky is the limit for me,” Sipes said. “It’s a pretty big point in my life and it’s true.”

Sipes’ time in the 300s was a season best, but it missed his area record of 37.73 set here last year.

“I knew Appleton was going to start fast from the beginning and I was right,” said Sipes, who started slower than usual. “I wanted to save it because he usually dies at the end. I wanted to sneak right past him at the end, but I just hit it a little too late.

“It was probably the best last half of my race ever. I usually take it out at the beginning and die, but I tried to switch it up a little bit and see if I could do a little bit better and I almost got him.”

Sipes relished battling stars from East St. Louis, which won its 10th title with 57 points.

“You just can’t be intimidated by them,” he said. “Yes they are a powerhouse like forever, the same with Cahokia. I view it as a great opportunity to run against those guys.”

The pole vault officials should have taken the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the standards. After Roberts of BHS thought he had cleared a school-record 14 feet, 9 inches, it was discovered the bar was actually three inches lower.

Roberts was still thrilled with a personal best of 14-6 for eighth.

“Somebody messed up the standards so everybody’s heights were three inches lower,” said Roberts, whose old best was 14-3. “When they were measuring for the state record (17-0.5), they were like, uh-oh.”

As excited as Roberts was to medal, he wished teammate Sam Sleeper, who finished 14th at 13-6, could have done the same.

“He’s one of my best friends,” Roberts said. “He’s been jumping better than me all year. I’ve been on a bigger pole and I’m a little bit faster. He’s got a lot better form than I do.”

Streator’s Pflibsen, the first sophomore behind four seniors and four juniors in the pole vault, placed ninth at 14-3, a foot below his season best. He thought he had made 14-6 and was going to pass to 15-0, but officials had him jump at 14-9 by mistake.

“I was getting deeper than I usually do, but I was hitting it on the way up,” he said. “My last attempt, I moved it back an inch and I hit it on the way down. My standards were messed up.”

Lincoln senior Caleb Sutton, who will play basketball at Judson University, did not improve on Friday’s triple jump personal record of 45-4.5, but did hang on to ninth place.

“I’m going home really happy,” said the 6-foot-6 Sutton, who was seeded 23rd coming out of the sectionals.

AA boys track: BHS' Sipes wants record in 110-meter hurdles

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

CHARLESTON — Tyler Sipes wants to do more than just become a two-time champion in the Class AA 110-meter high hurdles in the finals of today’s 114th boys state track meet at O’Brien Stadium. | Photo gallery

“I’m not going to think about anybody else, just myself, and try to get the state record,” said the Bloomington High School senior after dominating Friday’s preliminaries in 14.08 seconds, a whopping .24 ahead of the second-fastest qualifier.

Pursuit of the record of 13.79 set by Wheaton North’s A.J. Harris in 2002 will require much better weather than Friday’s rainy, 50-degree hardship that saw more than three hours added to the schedule by five lightning delays.

Sipes, who also qualified second in the 300 intermediate hurdles in a season best of 38.27, will be joined in today’s 11 a.m. finals by teammates Joe Roberts and Sam Sleeper, Streator’s Logan Pflibsen and Lincoln’s Caleb Sutton.

Sipes’ time in the 300s missed his area record of 37.73 set last year and trailed the top qualifying time of 38.21 by defending champion Kraig Appleton of East St. Louis.

“I started off and tried to take it out pretty quick and then cruise it around the curve,” Sipes said. “Once I heard (Moline’s Shawn) Ledbetter on the inside of me coming, that’s when I picked it up a little bit.”

Appleton had the second best high hurdle time of 14.32.

“It’s all going to be close,” said Sipes, who won last year in 14.02 and has a career best of 13.90.

Sipes sped through a flawless set of high hurdles.

“My start was good,” he said. “The start is usually my strong point.”

Sipes won’t treat the 300s, in which he placed second a year ago, like a hobby today.

“I’m going for (the title),” said Sipes, who took the rain delays in stride. “We had Coach (John) Szabo here and he’d call us every time there was another delay. Every time he did, we would push the time we would come over from the dorms back.”

Fellow Purple Raiders Roberts and Sleeper both cleared 14 feet, 3 inches in the pole vault along with Streator’s Pflibsen to make the 14-man final. The event was moved indoors because of the weather.

“Joe looked really good,” Szabo said. “I know Sam had a couple misses. They are both excited. They’ve been consistent there (at 14-3) the last couple weeks. That’s the name of the game.”

Pflibsen, the only sophomore finalist, missed on his first attempts at 14-0 and 14-3.

“I started out kind of sluggish, not penetrating (the pit) enough,” said Pflibsen, whose best is 15-3. “Everybody was saying 14-3 was going to be the cutoff. There are five guys who can go 16-0 tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll be one of them.”

Lincoln’s No. 23-seeded triple jumper, Sutton, fouled his first two attempts Friday before spanning a lifetime best of 45-4.5 to qualify ninth.

“I think it was the adrenalin from everybody in the stands,” said Sutton, whose previous best was 45-1.75. “I was thinking this might be the last jump of my senior year.”

Asked about Sutton’s goal for today, Lincoln coach Gregg Alexander said: “He’s been talking about 46 and 47 all year. I told him to start with 46.”

Among the area’s top non-qualifiers Friday was Greg Patton of BHS, whose 50.36 in the 400 ranked 15th as did the 21-7 long jump by teammate Jeshiah Campbell.

Campbell (51.2) led off BHS’ 17th-place 1,600 relay (3:24.71) and was followed by Andy Szabo (53.1), Patton (50.8) and Sipes (49.5).

University High discus thrower Scott Blair was 16th (145-2). Normal West high jumper Troy Walls, who shared the No. 2 seeding at 6-8, did not qualify after missing 6-5. He made 6-4.

Trio's flight plans fulfilled at boys Honor Roll Track Meet

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON -- After checking the rulebook, what Sodiq Alliu, Alex Freshour and Logan Pflibsen did at the 25th annual Pantagraph Honor Roll Track Meet at Fred Carlton Field Tuesday night was in fact legal. | Photo Gallery

Bloomington's Sodiq Alliu leaps into the sand during the Pantagraph Honor Roll triple jump competition at Bloomington High School Tuesday afternoon (May 20, 2008). (Pantagraph/B Mosher) Buy reprint

“I felt like I was flying,” gushed Bloomington High School’s Alliu after bounding 46 feet, 6 inches in the triple jump for the seventh-best mark in Pantagraph area history.

Olympia’s Freshour, a junior like Alliu, and Streator sophomore Pflibsen did some flying of their own for school-record pole vault clearances of 15-3, tying the No. 4 mark in area history. Freshour won by needing only two attempts at 15-3.

Each star had hoped to make the meet a springboard for Friday and Saturday’s state meet while those not heading to state sought to end on a high note.

“I had real good extension on my jumps,” Alliu said. “My runway speed was good, too. That’s what helped me out. I put it all together.”

Freshour has been put through a four-event workload every meet, but that hasn’t been all bad.

“My speed has increased a lot,” he said after narrowly missing at 15-7, a height which would have moved him into second in area history.

“I’m kind of disappointed, but I’ll do better at state, hopefully,” said Pflibsen, whose previous best was 15-1 while Freshour’s old best was 15-2.

“I haven’t had competition all year. I’ve been all by myself.”

On Olympia’s winning 1,600 relay (3:31.8), Freshour (51.6) was by himself after Jason Beach (52.7), Aaron Springer (53.4) and Kameron Carpenter (53.9) put him in front.

Another BHS junior, Jeshiah Campbell, will head to Charleston buoyed by wins in the long jump (22-4½) and 200 (22.1). He also contributed explosive legs to the winning 400 relay (43.6) and 800 relay (1:31.8).

“I scratched my best jump,” lamented Campbell, whose best is 23-1. “I almost jumped out of the pit. This is just practice. I wanted to get a couple more jumps in before I head down to state.”

Campbell’s 200 was a season best, which he needed to hold off the 22.3 by Brent Ross of Normal Community.

“He was beating me at the 100, but I had a little bit of kick left,” Campbell said.

Campbell was joined on the 400 relay by Alliu, Justin Brooks and Greg Patton. Alliu and Brooks almost didn’t connect on the first exchange.

“It was terrible,” Alliu said. “I couldn’t get the baton to him.”

The senior-less 800 relay included Torre Harrell, Brooks and Patton.

“That’s our relay for next year,” said BHS coach John Szabo with a smile.

Normal West senior Jonny Kaufmann finally got to smile after an Honor Roll Meet 1,600 as the two-time runner-up breezed to victory in 4:30.0.

“I wanted to get an individual honor roll title,” he said. “I’m happy with that for the last race of my high school career.”

Jesse Holliger made it a middle distance sweep for West by taking the 800 in 2:01.1.

“Tonight I was just looking for the victory to finish out my senior year,” said Holliger, who has run faster in relays, but not in an open 800.

NCHS sprinter Melvin Hicks opened up his throttle to edge Heyworth’s Kyle Hunn-Andreae in the 100, 10.8 to 10.9, despite a leg injury. That injury makes him wonder how much faster he could be.

“It makes me think about it a lot, but I don’t try to use it as an excuse,” he said.

Youth was no excuse for one of the meet’s two sophomore champions, Heyworth’s Ben Asmus, who motored 49.7 in the 400.

“The last 50 meters was a little tough,” said Asmus, the No. 2 seed for the state meet.

It was tough for Prairie Central’s Brennen Krenz to cope with not making state in the 110 high hurdles, an event he won in a school record tying 15.1.

“I choked at sectionals,” he said. “It was a real disappointment. The high hurdles were what I really wanted to go state in. I made it in the high jump so I guess that’s something.”

Krenz was among four high jumpers to clear 6-0 Tuesday, but finished third as sophomore Marcus Harris of NCHS won based on fewer misses.

Olympia shot putter Chris Dubree rarely misses out on beating bigger opponents. The 5-foot-10, 220-pound junior won Tuesday at 51-8.

“I was quick across the ring, which kind of helps me,” he said. “I’m a little bit smaller.”

Illini Central’s Luke Boros missed his goal by a little in the 300 intermediate hurdles, but still won in 40.4.

“I wanted to break into the 39s,” he said.

U High junior Kirk Saunders didn’t want to break into the lead in the 3,200 until late in the race, which worked for a winning 10:10.4 ahead of the school record 10:14.9 by Ridgeview’s Ian Fryers.

“It’s how we U High people run,” Saunders said.

U High’s Kevin Forde is looking for a different way to run after falling for the second straight meet. He tumbled after the start of the 3,200 relay, but got up to run a 2:06.9 split. Teammates James Clay (2:04.1), Andy Noe (2:07.0) and Josiah Husk (2:07.2) finished in a winning 8:25.0.

“I went down in the sectional in the 3,200, too,” Forde said. “I guess I just don’t have any luck this week. When you hit, your head just clicks ‘I’ve got to get back up.’”

U High discus thrower Scott Blair had hoped to get back over 150-0, but had to settle for a winning 146-1.

“I’m extremely frustrated,” said Blair, whose still has time to sort things out in Friday’s state meet preliminaries.

Four champs leading way to 25th annual Pantagraph Track Meet

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON -- The 25th annual Pantagraph Honor Roll Track Meet won’t lack for powerhouse story lines based on Sunday’s confirmation of entries.

Four state champions top the list for Tuesday’s 5 p.m. showcase at Bloomington High School’s Fred Carlton Field where running events begin at 6 p.m.

Bloomington's Jeshiah Campbell plows into the sand while competing in the long jump Friday (May 16, 2008) during the Normal Community Class AA Boys Track Sectional at Bloomington High School. (Pantagraph/Joel Fellers) Buy reprint

Newly crowned Class AA girls shot put champion Daniella Bunch of Mahomet-Seymour will return to the ring where she hit a photographer unaware of her range earlier this season.

As the all-time state record holder at 51 feet, ¾ inch and the Class AA state meet record holder at 49-4¾, Bunch figures to destroy the Honor Roll Meet record of 44-1½ set by Gardner’s Jennifer Bozue in 1989.

The question in the girls 3,200-meter run will be whether Class A state 1,600 champion Olivia Klaus of Eureka can break Heidi Knapp’s 1996 school record of 11 minutes, 3.1 seconds? If she does, she would also eclipse the meet record 11:06.3 set by Bloomington’s Ashley Verplank last year.

Verplank, the two-time Class AA state 1,600 champion and new state 800 winner, has entered the 1,600 in which the meet record is 4:55.0. Her lifetime best is 4:54.95.

Klaus plans to return to the track in the 400 to face Tri-Valley’s Stephanie Brown, the three-time Class A state 800 champion. Brown won last year in a school record 57.9. Neither star may be able to hold off top-seeded Erika Hanson of Normal Community, who has run 57.52.

Even though many of the area’s top boys are resting for Friday and Saturday’s state meet, the meet record book won’t be safe.

BHS junior long jumper Jeshiah Campbell comes in with a best of 23-1 compared to the meet record of 23-2½ set by Maroa-Forsyth’s Jeff Query 24 years ago. Campbell is also the top seed in the 200 at 22.30.

Olympia junior Alex Freshour, second in last year’s Class A state pole vault, will look to improve upon last year’s runner-up Honor Roll Meet effort. He has the state’s top Class A clearance of 15-2, but will that be enough to hold off Streator’s super sophomore Logan Pflibsen, who has made 15-1?

Heyworth brings in a star of the future and present in sophomore Ben Asmus, who is the top seed in the 400 with his school record of 49.4. The Honor Roll Meet record of 49.0 was set by Lowpoint-Washburn’s Waddy Wadas in 1989.

Prairie Central has a potential double winner in Brennan Krenz, who is the top seed in the 110 high hurdles (15.1) and co-leader in high jump at 6-5.

High jumper Ikechi Nnamani of University High is the only returning boys champion. His best is 6-4, the height he won at a year ago.

Iesha Alexander of BHS will try to defend her 200 title. She is the No. 2 seed at 25.9 behind U High freshman Rebekah Johnson (25.41), who placed fourth in Saturday’s Class AA state 100.

Johnson is the 100 favorite at 12.14, the best fully automatic time in Pantagraph area history. Teammate Jordan Bond will try to defend her triple jump title. Her best of 37-5, which was set on the BHS runway, gives her a shot at the meet record of 37-6½ set by Streator’s Ashley Yancy in 2003.

Rounding out the returning champions is BHS 300 hurdler Paige Steffen (44.6) and NCHS pole vaulter Courtney Fisher (10-2). The top-seeded pole vaulter is U High freshman Emily Clay at 11-6.

Sipes, BHS win 3rd straight sectional boys track title

By Jim Benson
jbenson@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON — Through no fault of his own, Tyler Sipes’ exploits sometimes can cast a shadow on the rest of Bloomington High School’s track and field team. Sipes was as good as usual on the track Friday night in the Class AA Normal Community Sectional at BHS’ Fred Carlton Field. | Photo gallery

The senior recorded impressive victories in the 110-meter high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles as well as taking part in two victorious relays to spark BHS to its third straight sectional title with 104 points.

The Purple Raiders’ field performers weren’t too shabby, either, in case anyone didn’t notice.

“The field events were great and got us started,” said BHS coach John Szabo. “I was proud of our efforts in the field events.”

Taking advantage of a rare good weather day this spring, the Raiders built an early advantage and coasted to a 42-point victory over runner-up Normal Community in the 15-team field. The top two finishers in each event advanced to next weekend’s state meet at Charleston.

BHS had plenty of field heroes.

Quay Hall threw 3 feet better than his personal best in winning the shot put with a toss of 52 feet, 5½ inches.

Pole vaulters Joe Roberts and Sam Sleeper each cleared a season-best 14-3, with Roberts winning on fewer misses. Both nearly toppled the school record of 14-8.

Sodiq Alliu went almost eight inches better than his season best in the triple jump with a winning leap of 45-9¼.

Jeshiah Campbell didn’t hit his season best, but his 22-4 was good enough to capture the long jump.

On the track, BHS racked up five more victories. Greg Patton was the winner in the 400 (49.5), while Sipes looked ready to defend his state title in the 110 highs (13.8) and go one spot better in the 300 intermediates (39.3). The Raiders also prevailed in the 400 (42.97) and 1,600 (3:24.3) relays.

“I’m really looking forward to jumping at state and as a team placing pretty good,” said Roberts. “Our eighth-grade year we won state.”

Roberts and Sleeper engaged in an entertaining, but friendly, battle Friday along with Metamora’s Pete Shadid, who also cleared 14-3. Roberts made his first attempt at 14-3 and Sleeper did it on his second chance to place second. Shadid also advanced by bettering the qualifying standard.

“It all came together. This is the best weather we’ve had in a while,” said Sleeper.

“We’re peaking at the right time, but we haven’t peaked yet,” said Roberts. “All year we’ve had crappy weather and today we finally got decent weather. We got kind of a tailwind. Hopefully it will be this nice at state and on Tuesday at (The Pantagraph) Honor Roll Meet.”

Hall’s previous best was 49-0 until Friday. “I was surprised. It came out of nowhere,” he said. “I’ve been in the weight room this week.”

The fully automatic timer wasn’t working, so Sipes’ time in the 110 highs wasn’t considered a season best. He’ll have to add .24 for seeding purposes at state.

“Last week I kind of strained my hamstring. It (the high hurdles) felt slow, but my form was all right so I think that helped me out,” he said. “In the intermediates, I hit every hurdle good in stride and didn’t have to switch lead legs or anything. I didn’t push the speed much in between because I wanted to rest it up a little bit.”

Patton and Normal West’s Reid Basting engaged in a tight race down the stretch, which isn’t unusual. Patton won the 400 in the Intercity Meet, while Basting took the Big 12 Conference title. Basting was second Friday in 50.2.

“The first 200 I wanted to go a lot slower than I have been because he’s always kicking me the last 100,” said Patton. “I wanted to stay with him until the second half and if I had a lot of energy left, even if he was ahead of me, I wanted to plan my kick. Strength is one thing I have over him.”

West’s Troy Walls took over the area’s No. 1 spot in the high jump by clearing 6-8 on his second chance. His previous best this season was 6-4. He cleared 6-5 last year.

“It was the first good day we’ve had all year, and I had to take advantage of it,” said Walls, who also advanced by placing second in the 110 high hurdles. “I tried 6-10, but I just didn’t have enough lift.”

NCHS, which edged West by three points to finish second, was led by Melvin Hicks. The senior sprinter took the 100 (10.7) and rallied the Ironmen’s 800 relay to victory (1:29.4). Hicks pulled out of the 200.

“When we started out the season I wasn’t wearing compression shorts and pulled something in my groin area,” he said. “It hit me in the four-by-two, but I couldn’t let my team down because I was the person who could bring it in so I had to leave my heart on the track.”

The most exciting race of the night was the 200. U High’s Will Brucker and NCHS’ Brent Ross went stride for stride in the final yards with Brucker prevailing by three-tenths of a second in 22.1.

“I pushed as hard as I could. I had the goal of going to state,” said Brucker. “I cut five pounds this week and Coach (Lester) Hampton has worked on my running form all week. I loosened up. It felt good.”

BHS leads 1-2-3 Intercity sweep at boys Big 12 meet

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

MATTOON -- Tyler Sipes’ electrifying performance in the Big 12 Conference Track Meet Thursday was observed by a kindred spirit -- 1976 Olympic 400-meter hurdle bronze medalist Mike Shine.

"He said ‘it’s a fun race isn’t it?’" said the Bloomington High School star after defending his 300 intermediate hurdle title in a season best of 38.85 seconds.

"No one really knows the 300 hurdles unless you run the 300 hurdles. It’s tough."

Shine was impressed.

"Technically, he is really sound," said Champaign Centennial’s assistant coach after watching Sipes blitz the 110 high hurdles in 13.90, the fastest fully automatic time in Pantagraph area history.

"He’s got good speed so I would think he would go a long way. He will be a good college hurdler. He’s definitely the real deal."

Sipes dealt BHS 20 of its 142 points as it won for the third consecutive year. The 83rd annual meet saw a 1-2-3 Intercity sweep with Normal West second (106) and Normal Community third (79).

"All the guys stepped up on a night that did not have ideal conditions," said BHS coach John Szabo, referring to the misty, windy, 50-degree weather. "We placed in 16 of the 18 events which demonstrates the team effort."

It was unclear if Sipes’ high hurdle time was a meet record. Pantagraph files show Decatur MacArthur’s Vick Reed ran a manually timed 13.8 in 1981. The meet program listed Danville’s Derrick Gentry (1980) and Rocco Reed (1997) as having run 13.90. Reed, a Normal West assistant, said his time was also fully automatic.

Sipes’ previous area record was a manual 13.9 and his old automatic best was 14.02 to win last year’s Class AA state title.

"I kind of came out of the blocks slow," said Sipes, who was shown a hand time of 13.78 by officials backing up the automatic timing system. "I’m just being picky now. I’m really happy with my time."

Matching Sipes’ win total was Normal West’s Jonny Kaufmann, who swept the 800 (2:01.98) and 1,600 (4:37.34). Neither time was his best.

"It was bad weather for good times," he said. "In both races I had to lead the pack and I was taking all that (wind) by myself."

The weather didn’t help BHS junior Jeshiah Campbell, who won the long jump at 20-9.25, well under his best of 23-1, which ranks sixth in the state.

"You’ve got to adjust to it because you can’t change the weather," said Campbell, who ran on the winning 400 relay (43.35) with Sipes, Jake McCain and Greg Patton.

Patton tried to duplicate his Intercity win over Normal West’s Reid Basting in the 400, but Basting had a new plan he used to win, 50.45 to 50.69.

"I knew I had to take it out faster than I did at Intercity just because I didn’t want the same results," Basting said.

Patton bounced back with a 52.8 split for his winning 1,600 relay (3:34.05), which included McCain (53.8), Andy Szabo (54.5) and Marcus McGee (52.9).

After two runner-up finishes in the 3,200, BHS senior Doug Rever won in 10:06.60 thanks to a dominating final two laps.

"We just needed the points and that’s what I was going for," he said.

BHS got 18 points from the pole vault where Joe Roberts and Sam Sleeper tied for first at 12-0, but didn’t try to go higher.

"With that wind blowing our poles all around, trying to plant was kind of difficult," Roberts said.

While three others were blowing early attempts at 6-4 in the high jump, Normal West’s Troy Walls cleared on his first try, thus sewing up the win.

"You just have to not think about (the weather)," said Walls, who also sped a career best 14.74 for second in the highs.

Normal West defended its 3,200 relay title in dramatic fashion as Jesse Holliger (1:58.8) passed NCHS’ Logan Campbell (2:02.0) in the final 100 to win, 8:22.41 to 8:22.86.

Holliger’s setup men were Bryce Basting (2:08.5), Jeff Bush (2:08.3) and Steve Ross (2:06.4).

"We were hoping Jesse wouldn’t have to work so hard," said Wildcat coach Steve Destri, who wound up scratching the No. 2-seeded Holliger from the open 800.

NCHS defended its 800 relay title (1:31.93) thanks to Brent Ross, Stephen Pierce, Jared Cross and Melvin Hicks.

Rounding out BHS’ eight winners was Quay Hall in the shot put (47-9.75).

BHS boys track vaults to third Raider Relays title

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON — In 26 years as Bloomington High School track coach, John Szabo had never had three pole vaulters clear 13 feet, 6 inches in the same season.

That changed in Thursday’s 25th annual Raider Relays when Joe Roberts and Sam Sleeper soared over 14-0 and Eric O’Shea made 13-6.

Their combined distance of 41-6 accounted for the lone meet record and helped BHS score 116 points to win for the third consecutive year.

Normal Community placed second (90) in the eight-team meet while Normal West was sixth (46) and Lincoln eighth (10).

“We needed to make some drops in some events and we did that today,” said Szabo, who got Pantagraph-area season best times from his 800- and 1,600-meter relays.

The longer relay sped 3:24.1 thanks to Greg Patton (51.1), Marcus McGee (52.5), Jeshiah Campbell (51.3) and Tyler Sipes (49.4). The same foursome won the 800 relay in 1:30.3.

BHS won the long jump (61-10) thanks to Campbell (21-11), Sodiq Alliu (20-8) and Torre Harrell (19-3). Alliu bounded a career best 45-1½ to help BHS win the triple jump at 126-8. Another mark of note was the season best of 44-4½by Lincoln’s Caleb Sutton.

Alliu was also part of the winning 400 relay (43.6) with Campbell, Jake McCain and Horrell. McCain joined Sipes, Patton and Antonio Lockwood to win the 240 high hurdle shuttle (32.9) and 440 intermediate hurdle shuttle (58.8).

Normal West got notable splits from Jonny Kaufmann (4:32.3) in its winning four-by-1,600 relay and Reid Basting (50.4) in its third-place 1,600 relay (3:31.4).

Anuraq Palekar tossed the shot put a career best 48-9½ to help the NCHS win (135-½). The Ironmen also won the discus (362-5).

Sipes, Campbell lead BHS boys track to 3rd straight Intercity win

BLOOMINGTON -- Tyler Sipes and Jeshiah Campbell warmed up for meet-record performances by joining forces in a meet record-setting 400-meter relay in the Intercity Boys Track Meet Tuesday. | Photo gallery

Bloomington's Tyler Sipes, center, leads the 110 meter hurdle race while Normal West's Troy Walls, left, follows close behind and Normal Community's Mark Gordon, back right, trails the both of them Tuesday afternoon (April 22, 2008) during the Intercity Boys Track Meet at Central Catholic in Bloomington. (Pantagraph/B Mosher) Buy reprint

Their exploits helped Bloomington High School score 117 points to win for the third consecutive year as Central Catholic served as host for the first time.

Joining them in a 42.9-second relay effort were Jake McCain and Greg Patton. Their time ranks in a tie for eighth in Pantagraph area history and removed the meet mark of 43.0 set by U High in 2006.“We knew we could do it,” said Sipes, the reigning Class AA state champion in the 110 high hurdles. “We went down a whole second from last week and we still don’t have our handoffs exactly where we want them to be at.”

Sipes had hoped to be under 14-flat in his specialty, but had to settle for a lowering of his 2007 meet record from 14.6 to 14.1 to win for the third straight year.

“It felt really good, my start especially,” said Sipes, whose season best is 13.9. “At the third hurdle, I came off balance a little bit.”

Sipes tried to save some energy while defending his title in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 39.0, missing his 2007 meet record of 38.5.

“If someone had been there to push me, I’m sure I would have run faster,” said Sipes, who used his stockpiled energy to anchor the winning 1,600 relay (3:28.8) with a 49.2 split. “I’m still not in as good of shape as I want to be.”

Getting Sipes the baton were McCain (52.5), Joe Roberts (53.4) and Andy Szabo (53.9).

Campbell long jumped a meet record 23 feet, 0 inches to break the mark of 22-6 set by Oheni Morris of BHS in 2004. Campbell couldn’t complain about his technique.

“Coach told me to focus on knee lift,” he said. “I focused on it and hit the jump perfect.”

The Purple Raiders’ overall performance wasn’t bad either as they finished 36 points ahead of runner-up Normal Community (81). Normal West took third (79) followed by University High (73) and Central Catholic (24).

“We’re making a lot of progress right now,” said BHS coach John Szabo, whose team won eight of the 18 events.

U High’s Kevin Forde completed the distance double, winning the 3,200 in 9:58.8 and the 1,600 in a career best 4:26.2. He broke open the 3,200 with a 72.8 sixth lap and he grabbed control of the 1,600 with a 2:09.9 final 800.

“I’m still trying to tweak and find where my sweet spot of running is,” Forde said. “I’m going to try something different every race. It worked this time. We’ll see how it works in another race.”

Normal West’s Jonny Kaufmann worked his way to second in the 1,600 in 4:30.9 ahead of John Curran’s Central Catholic record 4:31.3 in third.

Kaufmann had earlier won the 800 in an area-leading 1:59.9 as he came from behind in the final 100.

“I’ve been in a funk the past couple meets so I just wanted to go out and see what the pace felt like,” Kaufmann said. “I trusted my kick. It was there today.”

Unprecedented depth was in the high jump where only one Intercity boy had cleared 6-4 in the previous 20 years, but three made that height Tuesday.

U High’s Ikechi Nnamani won on a first attempt clearance at 6-4, which was also made by runner-up Troy Walls of Normal West and Marcus Harris of NCHS, who both needed more attempts.

“It was nailbiting,” said Nnamani, who went out at 6-6.

The career triple jump best of BHS junior Sodiq Alliu bit the dust when he bounded 44-9½ on his final attempt. His area-leading mark surpassed his 2007 best of 44-3.

“I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “I really didn’t think it was going to be that big of a jump because my knee has been bothering me the past couple weeks.”

Greg Patton of BHS was bothered by the fact he grabbed the lead so early in the 400.

“I thought I was doing something wrong,” said Patton, who expected Normal West star Reid Basting to take it out harder.

Patton, a junior, held on to edge Basting as both notched career bests of 49.7. Next year Patton hopes to get the meet record of 49.2 set by Bruce Jones of NCHS in 1972.

Melvin Hicks of NCHS won the 100 in 11.0 despite a groin injury.

“It felt all right to be running on an injury, but I felt it,” said Hicks, who later anchored the winning 800 relay to victory in 1:31.2.

That relay was led off by 200 winner Brent Ross (22.3) and included Stephen Pierce and Jared Cross. The curve was critical to Ross’ 200 win.

“Instead of just striding it out, I was at a full sprint,” he said. “I’ve been working on it for two years now. I’ve finally got it down.”

Roberts of BHS had to get down to business in the pole vault (which he won at 13-6) because of relay duty.

“I had to run the four-by-200 so I was rushed through my last jumps,” Roberts said. “I didn’t really care about the height today, just the points.”

U High discus thrower Scott Blair saw points going down the drain until uncorking a season best 151-10 on his final attempt.

“I was freaking out,” said Blair, whose winning throw preceded the career best 150-9 by top-seeded Joey Anderson of NCHS. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to pull one out today.”

Max Wiese of Normal West pulled out an outdoor season best of 49-7 to win the shot put. His indoor best was 50-4.

“He was really pumped from the get go,” said Wildcat coach Steve Destri, whose strongman hadn’t been over 47-10½ yet outdoors. “He made the throw on his first toss and it held up.”

U High’s late lead in the 3,200 relay held up thanks to the 2:02.9 split by freshman James Clay. The Pioneers’ 8:25.9 effort included Josiah Husk (2:03.8), Rob Hanson (2:09.4) and Jace Motimer (2:09.8).

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Saints hosting boys Intercity Meet again after 58 years

By Pantagraph staff

The Intercity boys track event will take place at 4:30 p.m. today at Central Catholic High School in Bloomington. For the first time since 1982, Bloomington will not serve as host.

Pantagraph files dating back to 1950 show Central Catholic has not hosted the meet until now.

The Purple Raiders are seeking their third consecutive title. The only returning champion is Bloomington’s Tyler Sipes, who holds meet records of 14.6 in the 110 high hurdles and 38.5 in the 300 intermediate hurdles. He has the area’s top times this season of 13.9 and 39.1.

Normal Community’s Joey Anderson is the top seed in the discus, the event his father, Don, won in 1978. Another meet record most in danger is the long jump mark of 22-6 as Jeshiah Campbell of BHS went 23-1 Friday, the ninth best jump in area history. … The lone athlete seeded first in two events is Normal West’s Reid Basting in the 200 (23.1) and 400 (50.4).

Bad break can't keep West from winning Big 12 indoor meet

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON -- No one exemplified how badly the Normal West track team wanted to win the Big 12 Conference Indoor Meet more than Jerry Lewis on Tuesday night at Shirk Center.

Bloomington's Jeshiah Campbell leaps in the air during the Boys Big 12 Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship at Illinois Wesleyan Shirk Center in Bloomington on Tuesday (March 18, 2008). (Pantagraph/B Mosher)

The Wildcat junior sacrificed his body for the team, throwing himself across the finish line to win the 200-meter dash before falling and breaking his collarbone.

“It’s pretty bittersweet,” said Wildcat coach Steve Destri after his team won its first league indoor title with 134 points, 47 more than runner-up Bloomington, the defending champion.

The Wildcats’ only outdoor Big 12 title came in 1995. Normal Community tied for fifth Tuesday with Mattoon at 28.

Lewis, who won in an indoor school record 23.11 seconds, will be evaluated today, but could be out two to eight weeks.

“He’s pretty indispensable because he’s our one quality sprinter,” said Destri, who later visited Lewis in the hospital. “We left the team trophy with him to sleep with.”

Prior to that bad break, almost everything went the Wildcats’ way as they won eight of the 15 events.

Jonny Kaufmann set the pace, sweeping the 800 (1:59.62) and 1,600 (4:42.40) before anchoring the third-place 1,600 relay (3:38.07) with a 52.2 split.

Kaufmann said the team title meant “a ton” given the fact BHS has won the past two outdoor league titles.

“It’s nice to take one away to let them know we’re there,” he said.

Reid Basting, Troy Walls and Max Wiese put their names right there in the Normal West record book with winning efforts in the 400 (50.91), 55 high hurdles (7.75) and shot put (50 feet, 4 inches), respectively.

Basting was by Lewis’ side in the 200 in second with a personal best of 23.14. Earlier, Basting won the 400 by grabbing the pole position after a lap on the 200-meter track before holding off Greg Patton of BHS (52.05).

“With my type of race strategy, I needed to get out in front and pretty much hang on to the lead,” said Basting, who did not get to face the reigning outdoor 400 champion Marcus McGee of BHS because of injury.

Walls was disappointed he didn’t get to face reigning Class AA state 110 high hurdle champion Tyler Sipes of BHS, who will miss the next few meets for disciplinary reasons.

“I look forward to facing him outdoors,” Walls said.

Wiese’s previous school shot put record was 46-6.

“Now he’s starting to show that emotion you need to have (to throw far),” Destri said.

Rounding out the Wildcat winners were their 3,200 relay (8:30.21) and sophomore Austin Baer in the 3,200 (10:10.66).

The relay included Jeff Bush (2:08.7), Tyler DeGroot (2:10.3), Wade Rupard (2:08.0) and Steve Ross (2:03.1). Ross’ career best split helped his team erase a 5.1-second deficit.

The 6-foot-4 Baer chopped 15 seconds from his old best to hold off teammate Drew Kerschieter (10:14.63) in second.

Baer’s off-season training included three workouts per week at the Sports Enhancement Center.

“It was intense,” he said. “That was probably the most off-season training I’ve ever done.”

BHS junior Jeshiah Campbell won the long jump at 22-3 despite a sore left ankle on his take-off leg. He blamed stutter stepping at the board for keeping him from reaching his season best of 22-8½.

“I’ve just got to get my mark down,” he said. “I’m going for 23. That’s my goal.”

BHS went 1-2 in the pole vault as both Joe Roberts and Sam Sleeper cleared 13-3. Roberts, who won based on misses, went out at 13-9, but he knows what to fix.

“It’s basically just getting the standards right,” he said.

Coach: John Szabo, 26th year
2007: Won sectional, Big 12 Conference and Intercity titles

Returning stars (2007 bests in parentheses): Tyler Sipes (110H — 14.01, 300IH — 37.73); Marcus McGee (400 - 50.11); Greg Patton (400 – 50.6, 110HH – 15.6, 300 IH - 39.77); Joe Roberts (PV – 14-0); Sam Sleeper (PV – 13-7 this year); Doug Rever (3,200 – 9:59.8); Sodiq Alliu (TJ – 44-3, LJ - 20-10 3/4).

Other key contributors: Jeshiah Campbell (LJ – 22-8 1/2 this year); Josh Roig (800 – 2:01.33 this year), Quay Hall (SP – 47-1 1/2 this year), Jake McCain (sprints).

FYI: Tyler Sipes, the Class AA state 110 high hurdle champion, holds Intercity meet records in the highs (14.6) and 300 intermediate hurdles (38.5). … Marcus McGee, a senior, won last year’s Big 12 400 and split 49.7 in a relay. … Greg Patton won last year’s Pantagraph Honor Roll Meet (HRM) 400. … Doug Rever is the reigning Big 12 indoor 3,200 champion. … Jeshiah Campbell, who lettered as a freshman but did not compete last year, is a threat to the school long jump record of 23-1/2. … Darian Davis, a three-time Intercity champion in the 200 and the reigning Intercity and sectional 100 champion, is no longer in school.

Quoting: “He won the race last year out of the blocks if you look at the replay,” said Coach John Szabo recalling Sipes’ state title effort. “At the second hurdle, he was way ahead. Coach (Keith) Enyart has done a great job with his technique.”

2008 Intercity boys track teams' schedules, and rosters.
BLOOMINGTON

REMAINING SCHEDULE

March 18 – Big 12 Conference Indoor Meet at IWU, 4 p.m.

March 29 – Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Classic at IWU, 10 a.m.

April 2 – Pontiac, Olympia and LaSalle-Peru at Normal Community, 4:30 p.m.

April 10 – At Lincoln, 4:15 p.m.

April 12 – At Springfield Lanphier Invitational, 11 a.m.

April 18 – At Downers Grove South Invitational, 5:30 p.m.

April 18 – At Normal Community Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

April 22 – Intercity Meet at Central Catholic, 5 p.m.

April 25 – At Darien Hinsdale South Invitational, 5 p.m.

May 1 – BHS Raider Relays, 5:15 p.m.

May 8 – Big 12 Conference Meet at Mattoon, 4:30 p.m.

May 16 – Sectional at NCHS, 4 p.m.

May 20 – The Pantagraph Honor Roll Meet at BHS, 5 p.m.

May 23-24 – State meet at Charleston, TBA

ROSTER

Seniors- Terry Bausley, Sergey Chubich, Cass Cleinmark^, Jon Cook^, Jon Helgeson, Silvan Lenzlinger, Chris Love^, Jake McCain^, Shane McGann^, Marcus McGee^, Moritz Milberg, Deonte Person, Doug Rever^, Joe Roberts^, Tyler Sipes^, Sam Sleeper^, Kevin Williams.

Juniors- Sodiq Alliu^, Reggie Brewer, Jeshiah Campbell, Jacob Collins, Lance Gaines, Quay Hall, Antonio Lockwood, Rakholiya Manthankumar, Eric O’Shea^, Greg Patton^, Neil Pickering^, Kyle Reilly, Josh Roig^, Brandon Ross, Andy Szabo^.

Sophomores- Reid Golowski, Michael Guy, Verl Jamison, Anthony Kruse, Brian Meyer, Jake Mullenix^, Alex Niemann, Kyle Nolan, Derrick Simmons, Chris Swanson, Brooks Tryon.

Freshmen- Joseph Banks, Justin Brooks, Luc Dinkins, Torre Harrell, Cody Hubbs, Jamahl Johnson, Dean Jordan, Connor Keegan, Luke McAvoy, Ryan Nguyen, Kyle O’Daniel, Darrell Payne-Winston, David Pelo, Joe Roig, Aaron Schneider, Luther Thompson, Brandon Watson.

^ - returning lettermen.

BHS senior Sipes looks to rewrite hurdle speed limits

By Randy Sharer
rsharer@pantagraph.com

It’s a fact Tyler Sipes is a good hurdler. The fun part is no one knows exactly how good he’ll be this high school track season. | Boys track team by team previews

“The sky’s the limit,” said Bloomington coach John Szabo of the reigning Class AA state champion in the 110-meter high hurdles, who is being recruited by Iowa and Northern Iowa.

Sipes enters his final prep campaign owning The Pantagraph area all-time bests of 14.01 seconds in the high hurdles and 37.73 in the 300 intermediate hurdles.

Sipes placed second in the 300s to help BHS finish a school-record sixth in the state meet. His training will again be overseen by assistant coach Keith Enyart.

“Indoors, watching him at practice, he might be a little ahead of where he was this time last year,” said Szabo, who hopes Sipes can help the Purple Raiders successfully defend their Intercity, Big 12 Conference and sectional titles.

“We’re fortunate that we have numbers (60 athletes). We also have some quality individuals in a lot of events. We’ve got the makings for another pretty decent team.”

Second behind BHS in last year’s sectional was Normal Community, which returns 14 lettermen to an 87-man squad.

“The two places we’re the strongest are the throws and the short sprints,” said Coach Tom Patten, who has six sprinters battling to join state qualifiers Melvin Hicks and Brett Ross on sprint relays.

Fast-improving Normal West, third in the 2007 sectional, figures to continue its upward trend under third-year Coach Steve Destri.

“We’ve got some high goals for ourselves,” said Destri, who rates BHS the Big 12 favorite. “The guys on our team are ready to give it everything they have to see if we might compete with them.”

Central Catholic, which won its first sectional in school history last year, hopes to land another with help from a 38-man roster, the largest in Saint history.

“We have a lot of expectations,” said Coach DeWayne Griffin, who will look to sprinters Ryan Waldron and Aaron Bivins to help offset the loss of hurdler Adam Harrison to a knee injury.

The return of school record holders Kevin Forde (9:32.03 in the 3,200) and Scott Blair (159-7 in the discus) has University High coach Lester Hampton feeling optimistic.

“What we’re trying to do is put people in places where hopefully we can challenge for a conference championship,” Hampton said.

Bloomington High School, Bloomington Illinois

Created by Joel Misukonis, 2004