Above Photo: Tyran Lyons surges for the win for Cahokia in the 3200 Meter Relay (Doug McDannald Photo)

Sullivan and Sikon set new 2A records

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Charleston, Ill --- Cahokia Coach Leroy Milsap knew that this state meet would not be like the previous championships that Cahokia had won. They would be without multi-event star Ja’Mari Ward who had injured his knee at the Collinsville Invitational on May 7. Milsap confirmed before the meet started that an MRI showed that Ward had a bone bruise on his left knee. He was on the relay card for the 400, 800, and 1600 relays for this meet but would not run. “It’s time for this young team to grow up and show what they have,” Milsap said.

The Comanche did what they needed to do during the prelims qualifying all of their relays plus five individuals to the Saturday finals. There were some that were doubting that they could win. No one on the Cahokia squad thought they were in “BIG” trouble. “All we wanted to do on Friday is get a spot at the table for the Saturday finals,” Milsap added. They responded to those who doubted their inner strength by winning three of four relays including a championship clinching win in the 1600 Meter Relay to win their sixth straight 2A championship with 61 points. Geneseo finished second with 55 points followed by Morgan Park (44 points).

Ward played a big part in the finals on Saturday giving his teammates a stirring speech before they left the dorms to go to the track. “I just told them to do what they have been doing this entire year,” Ward said. “Just run the same, throw the same, and jump the same. We did not have to do anything differently. This was just like a regular meet.”

Cahokia responded early before the actual events started on the track. McKinley Bell moved up a spot with a season’s best 55-1 ½ mark to finish fifth in the Shot Put. Anthony McRoberts moved from fifth in the prelims to fourth with a 22-1 ¾ jump to place fourth. McRoberts held his position in the Triple Jump finishing second. It all came down to the five track events for the Comanche after McRoberts no heighted in the High Jump.

The never surrender attitude of Cahokia showed in the first two finals of the track. Geneseo’s Cayson Frerichs and Cahokia’s Tyran Lyons came off the final curve even in the 3200 Meter Relay as the two fought for the lead in front of the cheering fans in the grandstand. A surge by Lyons in the final twenty meters gave Cahokia the win (8:00.03) just ahead of Geneseo (8:00.71). In the event after that (the 400 Meter Relay), great exchanges by Chrishawn Crosby, Brandon Roberson, Keondre Wells, and Marquis Murray held off a challenge by Morgan Pak to win the event (42.29) just ahead of Morgan Park (42.62) and Phillips (42.66).

Cahokia found themselves on the outside in Lane 8 for the finals of the 800 Meter Relay. Even though they had the fifth fastest time in the prelims, the Comanche ignored that fact as they had the lead as Chris McGee handed off the baton to Marquis Murray for the final exchange. Strong anchors by Morgan Park’s Greg Howell and Plano’s Israel Adeoti passed Murray on the final straight. Morgan Park won the event tittle (1:27.62) with Plano second (1:28.60). Cahokia picked up an important seven points as they finished third (1:28.88).

One of the leaders of this team is Tyran Lyons. You saw his perseverance not to lose in the 3200 Meter Relay. He started in Lane 2 with the seventh fastest prelim time in the 400. He overcame that by finishing fifth (49.99) just missing fourth by two hundredths of a second.

They entered the final event with a slight 51 – 49 lead over Geneseo. All they needed to do was finish ahead of the Maple Leafs to capture another state championship. Considering that Cahokia has won the last two state titles in the 1600 Relay and four of the last five, confidence was high. They did what they were told by their leader before they came to the track: just run what you have done all year. They did just that. Cahokia had the control from the start. Lyons pulled away from Rochelle’s Colfay Pointer in the final lap to give the win to Cahokia (3:20.54) just ahead of Rochelle (3:21.82) and Tolono Unity (3:21.90).

“With everything that Ja’Mari has done all season, he has put Cahokia on the national map. When he went down with an injury, the entire state doubted that we could win,” Milsap added. “This group of guys believed in themselves and kept pushing. They wanted to win it for Ja’Mari.”

~~~

Four athletes in the 2A meet came up with double state championships. Darryl Sullivan (Marion HS) was in second place as he went into the final round of the Long Jump. Sullivan responded as he jumped 23-1 to capture the state title ahead of Geneseo’s Will Daniels (22-6). Sullivan then went to the High Jump pit where he looked to do something magical. It came down to Noah Agnew and himself as the bar was raised to 6-9. Agnew and Sullivan went to the next height where Sullivan was successful and Agnew missed on his three attempts. Sullivan had the state championship won by he still had work to do.

The senior had the bar raised to 7-1 ½ which would be a new 2A record. His first approach was not the best as he slowed down before he got to the bar. He settled himself as he had to wait for a track event to start. He readying himself and approached the pit. His approach was good, his turn to the bar was good, his take off was good, and his clearance of the height was excellent. The crowd erupted as he cleared the bar establishing a new IHSA 2A state record. He had the bar raised to 7 3 ¾ which would have been a new state record. He was not successful but he had the state championship. No one will ever be able to take that away from him.

Daniels, who finished second in the Long Jump, was busy. He cleared 6-6 to finish third in the High Jump. He missed scoring in the Triple Jump but finished tenth overall. Luther Newburn (Hillcrest HS, Country Club Hills) jumped 48-3 ½ with a +4.2 m/s wind to win the state championship in that event.

Sam Sikon (Carbondale HS) was looking to repeat the championships in the Shot Put and the Discus that he achieved a year ago. It did not look like it in the first round of the Shot indoors on Friday when he had only a 50 foot put. By the time, he got to Saturday, he had a big lead in the event (61-5 ¾) with a four foot lead ahead of Richwoods’ Bryce Vollrath. It was evident on his first two final attempts he might not get to the 65 foot area that he wanted. He finished on his final attempt going 62-11 ¼ to establish a new 2A State Meet Record.  Sikon was in third heading into the finals of the Discus. His throw of 172-11 in the second round of the finals was good enough to capture the state championship in that event.

Deion McShane (Freeport HS) was the favorite in the 300 Hurdles into Saturday’s finals and had also qualified for the 110 Highs. Pre-race favorite Gamar Hayles (Rich Central HS) clipped the hurdles early in the finals giving McShane the advantage. The sophomore won his first state championship (14.45) edging Dylan Binion (Erie-Prophetstown HS) by twelve hundredths of a seconds. McShane was in control of the 300 Intermediates as he missed Lucas Ege’s 2A record by eight hundredths of a second (37.18) but won his second title ahead of Geneseo’s Reed Vanderheyden (37.86).

Lisle finished fifth overall in the team standings. All of those points came from Aaron Harris as he won two state championships and finished second in another event. Harris got off to a good start in the final of the 100 Meter Dash. It was Adam Nelson (Triad HS, Troy) that ran him down running 10.72 for the state championship. Harris was next (10.80) with Mitch West (Montini Catholic HS) third just two thousandths of a second ahead of Tolono Unity’s Jayden Kaiser.

The strength of Harris is in the middle sprints. He showed that in the 400 Meter Dash running 48.97 for the win ahead of Colfay Pointer (49.51) and Lanphier’s Dearis Herron (49.77). Harris completed his high school career by running 22.17 to win the 200 Meter Dash ahead of Hillcrest’s Tayjione Nathan (22.31).

Highlights

The distance events surprised some exciting finishes. Luke Beattie (Woodstock HS) and Colin DeYoung (Illiana Christian HS, Lansing) went past with two laps to go at 7:02.3 pulling away from Normal U-High’s Jack Franklin by four seconds. Beattie started to pull away in the final lap but DeYoung would not let the gap get past two steps. It looked like Beattie may have it as they entered the final 100 meters. DeYoung made one final surge catching Beattie before the line. The Illiana senior lunged for the finish capturing back to back crowns (9:16.13). Beattie collapsed to the track as he crossed the finish line in second (9:16.50).

DeYoung’s teammate Nick Wondaal had the same success factor in the 1600 Meter Run. He took lead just before the bell lap and looked like he would have an easy win. Matt Stelmasek (Johnsburg HS) made a surge coming into the final curve which Wondaal sensed. He ran a personal best (4:18.24) to capture a state championship while Stelmasek finished second (4:20.14) and Matt Carr (Limestone HS, Bartonville) placed third (4:20.14).

Sean Zerrusen (Effingham HS) had the lead in the 800 Meter Run with 100 meters left. He had to hold off challenges from Nick Harvey (Burlington Central HS) on that final straight but ended up winning (1:55.3*0 just fourteen hundredths of a second ahead of Harvey (1:55.52).

Arthur Atwell (Geneseo HS) was an easy winner in the Pole Vault as only two athletes cleared 14 feet or higher. Atwell cleared 15-0 for the win ahead of Erie-Prophetstown’s Tyler Naftzger who cleared 14-3 for second place.