Moore, Meyer, Bradford set new meet records; Neuqua Valley wins first state team title; Jacobs, Kilrea go out with wins

Photo: Marcellus Moore completes his day winning the 200 Meter Dash (Laura Duffy Photo)

By Michael Newman

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Charleston – There are performances at the IHSA State Meet that turn athletes into legends. Evanston’s Bob McGee willed his team to a state title in 1979 with a memorable anchor leg in the mile relay. Terry Collins brought Joliet West from behind to win the 1600-meter relay after winning the 110 high hurdles and taking third in the 300 intermediates. That gave Joliet West the team crown.

Add Plainfield North’s Marcellus Moore to that list.

The sophomore was on a roll at a hot O’Brien Stadium winning two individual events and anchoring Plainfield North to two wins in the sprint relays. He was part of 40 of the 43 points to push Plainfield North to third in the team standings. Neuqua Valley scored 52 points on all nine qualifiers that made it to Saturday to capture the school's first state title, ahead of Homewood-Flossmoor and its 48 points.

You knew it was going to be a good day for Moore in his first event -- the 4x100 relay. He took the baton even with Hoffman Estates’ Anjiel Jones and Homewood-Flossmoor’s Marcell Ellis. Four strides into his anchor leg the sophomore had the lead and the win. Plainfield North’s time of 41.29 set a new 3A meet record that had been set the day before in the prelims by Homewood-Flossmoor.

It was the 100 meters final that brought the crowd to its feet. Moore got out of the blocks well and was even with Rock Island’s Courtney Lindsey at 35 meters. Then that little burst that Moore has separated him from the rest of the field. He crossed the line and immediately looked to the right at the scoreboard looking for his time. Then the 10.31 popped up. He broke the meet record of 10.34 that Josh Eiker ran in 2016. Lindsey was next at 10.52 followed by Collinsville’s Jermarrion Stewart. In the process of the race, one of the braces in his mouth broke. That is how fast he was running.

The next feat by Moore was in the 4x200 relay. He came off the curve even with Hoffman Estates’ Declan Rustay. The two state champions were stride-for-stride down the stretch that again brought the crowd to its feet. Moore had that little burst right at the end to give the Tigers the win (1:26.17) just ahead of Hoffman Estates (1:26.47).

Moore wowed the crowd one more time in the 200 final. This time it was a battle off the curve with Courtney Lindsey. Down the stretch they came together. One final push within the final 10 meters gave Moore the win (21.30) with Lindsey close (21.35).

“My main goal this year was to come on down here and have fun and to be thankful for the opportunity to compete here,” Moore said after his day was completed. “The 400-meter relay really set the tone for today. It just made me really excited for the rest of the day.”

A full team effort gets Neuqua Valley the championship trophy

It was not just one athlete that stood out for Neuqua Valley in winning its first state track title. Some points here. Some points there made the difference for this team. There were no individual state champions. In the field events, Ife Oketona placed second in the long jump and McKenzie Mitchell placed sixth in the triple jump. Neuqua Valley got started on the track by placing second in the 4x800 relay. Zach Kinne followed with a courageous run to place second in the 3,200 meters. Danny Winek ended an injury-riddled career at Neuqua Valley as an all-state runner coming back from the 4x800 to finish ninth in the 1,600.

The workhouse for this team was Donovan Turner, who scored in three events. Turner finished second in the 110 hurdles and then got sixth in the 300 hurdles. His team needed a sixth-place finish or better to capture the state title in the 4x400 relay. Turner anchored the relay with Kel Foley, Kai Larson, and Patrick Hoffman to finish third.

“We came to compete at the best of our ability. We gave our heart and got the 'W,'” Turner said. “This is the first time as a team that we have won state. I couldn’t be any happier with my team.”

Illinois field event legends leave Charleston with three-peats

John Meyer Jr. of Lockport Township and Zachery Bradford of Bloomington set meet records in their final competitions at the IHSA state meet. Meyer set a new meet record in the shot put in the prelims throwing 68-8. He did not improve in the finals on Saturday, but the state meet record was his. It was his third straight state championship. It might be a while before Illinois sees another thrower like Meyer.

“I really wanted to get the 70-foot throw, but I really wanted to get the state record,” Meyer said. “My overall goal this year was to go over 70 feet and break the state record, I accomplished both. And I got my title.”

Bradford has usually waited to enter his competitions this season until the rest of the field has exhausted all of its attempts. In Saturday’s finals, he entered the competition at 16-0 with Lake Park’s Tommy Paprocki still going. Both athletes cleared that height with Paprocki wanting the bar raised to 17-0. Bradford won the state title clearing that height with Paprocki securing second. The Bloomington senior had the state title. Now he needed to break his meet record. With the bar raised to 17-6, Bradford cleared it on his second attempt to break his 17-4 record from last year. He had three good attempts at 18-1 with no clearance. Bradford is the first athlete in state history to win three consecutive pole vault titles.

“When I didn’t make state my freshman year, I thought it was all over from there. I thought I was done,” Bradford said reflecting about his high school career. “I used that as motivation my sophomore year to win the state championship. I couldn’t have asked for any more.”

The heat plays a part in fantastic distance races

If the 4x800 relay was any indication early in the meet, it was evident that the three individual races would be sensational.

The 4x800 was one of the craziest relay races in the history of this meet with one drama after the next. With 150 meters left in the first leg of the race, Hinsdale Central’s Colin Yandel went hard down to the track. He got back up but Hinsdale Central was pretty much out of the race. Eight teams came in together at the first exchange. With 150 meters left in the second leg, it was Danville’s Delrey Crowder that fell to the track. Danville’s Phillip Hall looked to the stands asking what to do. He got the baton in last and jogged his third leg conserving energy for the 800 meters final yet to come. Danville, considered one of the pre-race favorites, was out. Metea Valley, another team in contention, saw its anchor Rokas Gudinavicius slow up on the opening lap of his anchor leg with what it looked like a cramp. The Mustangs did not finish the race.

There was no drama at the end for Sandburg’s Dylan Jacobs. In last year’s final 800 meters of the relay, Jacobs tried to run down Neuqua Valley’s Isaiah Robinson but just ran out of track finishing second. This year was different. He took the baton with the lead with Neuqua Valley closed behind. He took care of business opening a four-second lead. Jacobs was in the moment coming down the stretch first pointing at his teammates on the infield with a huge smile as he crossed the line. Sandburg’s time of 7:45.12 was four seconds ahead of Neuqua Valley (7:49.22) with Dundee-Crown (7:51.05) and Glenbard West (7:51.05) third and fourth.

“I just wanted to finish this race off,” Jacobs said about his final lap. “I am so proud of these guys. My teammates are the reason why we are here. We got the state championship for my teammates and our coaches.”

Heat did play a factor at the end of the 3,200 meters. Danny Kilrea of Lyons Township took the lead as the pack went through a fast 2:11 for the first 800. Like he has for most of this season, Kilrea started to grind the pace, throwing 67-68 second laps in the third and fourth laps and opening a lead going through the first 1,600 meters in 4:26.

Neuqua Valley’s Zach Kinne stayed close, hoping that Kilrea’s pace would start to falter. It started to happen as a strain went across Kilrea’s face as he ran a 70-second fifth lap. Kinne noticed that and started to close the gap.

“I saw that he (Kilrea) was slowing down,” Kinne said. “I had to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Kinne started pushing the pace by throwing in a 68-second sixth lap in trying to break the three-time All-American. Kilrea was starting to fade but was still engaged. When the bell rang, Kinne had opened a five-second lead heading down the backstretch.

“With 200-meters left going into the curve, I was starting to feel light headed,” Kinne said afterwards. “All I wanted to do was to get across the line.”

Suddenly, Kilrea started to close the gap. The Lyons Township senior said afterwards that he thought he could win with 50 meters left. Kinne was beginning to lose his legs as he got closer to the finish. The strain on Kilrea’s face turned to a smile as he passed Kinne with five meters left. Kilrea crossed the line with a state championship (9:02.77). Kinne crossed in 9:03.55 and immediately collapsed. He had left everything on the track.

“I can’t believe I won the state championship with my kick,” Kilrea said with a smile. “I just tried to stay up in that race and made the move when I needed to. This was my last state meet and I kicked as hard as I could.”

Tommy Brady of Maine South edged Hersey’s Josh Methner for third (9:06.13 to 9:06.88). Three of the top four finishers were underclassmen. Next year could even be more fun.

In the 800, Joshua English of Eisenhower made his statement in the prelims running 1:53 to lead all qualifiers. The final came down to a battle between English and York’s Charlie Kern. The York senior had battled illness over the past year after finishing third in this event in last year’s finals. English came off the curve on the first lap of the race with Kern countering that move. They passed 400 meters in 55.2 seconds and were starting to move away from the rest of the pack. English started to go with 200 meters left with Kern trying to stay close. English had the lead with 100 meters to go. Kern tried to make a move down the stretch but ran out of room. English became the first Eisenhower individual champion in 37 years in running 1:51.94 for the win, ahead of Kern’s 1:52.64. Wes York of Waubonsie Valley found himself boxed in early in the race, and came from the back to finish third with a personal best (1:53.97). For Kern, this meet was his redemption, not knowing a few months earlier whether he could make it to this race. His second-place finish felt like a state championship.

Dylan Jacobs was on the track to race for the final time in the 1,600 meters. He pushed the pace early going past 800 meters in 2:07. At that point, Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe took the lead, separating himself from Jacobs and Whitney Young’s Clayton Mendez. It looked like O’Keefe had the race under control in the final lap, but his form started to waver in the final 150 meters. Meanwhile, Jacobs moved into second looking ahead to the Granite City runner. Jacobs continued to close the gap, hoping he had a chance to take the lead. It looked like O’Keefe had this win. He slowed towards the finish raising his arms in apparent victory. Jacobs had one more surge, leaning at the line past the arm-raised O’Keefe, who thought he had it won. The scoreboard said: Jacobs 4:11.60; O’Keefe 4:11.68. Thomas Shilgalis of Naperville Central led the pack finishing third (4:14.69).

“This was my senior year and I wanted to finish it strong,” Jacobs said. “I saw him slow down a little bit and I knew this was my shot. This feels amazing.”

Other 3A Highlights

Sam Conger of Batavia had run a personal best 13.96 in the prelims of the 110 high hurdles. He took the lead late in the final to win the state title (14.02) ahead of Neuqua Valley’s Donovan Turner (14.20) and Crete-Monee’s Victor Cameron (14.26). Jaden Jackson of Fremd set a new school record when he ran 37.73 to win the 300 intermediate hurdles just ahead of Homewood-Flossmoor’s Matthew Lewis-Banks (38.08).

Brandon Adams of Minooka had the lead coming off the final curve in the 400-meter dash. Grant Community’s Jason Thormo had one more move making it with 50 meters to go in winning the state title (48.18) ahead of Adams. The 4x400 relay came down to the final strides, but it was Proviso West’s Kartell Askins that had the final word winning the relay (3:19.54) just ahead of Bloom Township’s Amitai Wheat (3:19.84).

West Aurora’s Camron Donatlan was looking for his third straight win in the high jump but finished fourth. Brandon Ellis of Warren Township joined his sister Brittny as a state champion as he cleared 6-10 along with McHenry’s Maki Mohr. Ellis won the state title on fewer misses. Donatlan did win a state championship moving from fifth in the prelims to jump 24-1.75 in the finals to win the long jump. Jonathan Wilburn of Evanston moved past Josh Boulanger of Brother Rice in the finals to jump 47-2.75 to win the triple jump. Jordan Johnson of Quincy threw 196-9 to win the discus. Brian Keyes of McHenry threw 187-1 in the finals to move into second ahead of John Meyer Jr. (180-2).