It comes down to the 4x4 for Cahokia to hold off Kaneland for team title; JD Lafayette sets 2A record in 800; Illiana Christian sets 2A record in 4x8; Demoria Harris captures sprint double

By Michael Newman

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Charleston, Ill --- The 2A team battle at the IHSA Boys State Track & Field Championships on Saturday was two heavyweight boxers going blow to blow seeing who would fall first. It was like two tennis champions volleying at the net eyeball to eyeball waiting to see who would blink first. You could see that happening Saturday morning entering O’Brien Stadium. Cahokia had 13 final qualifiers. Kaneland had 12 final qualifiers.

Neither team blinked in the competition. A year ago, Cahokia scored 99 points setting a scoring record. This meet was not that easy. Heading into the 4 x 400 Meter Relay, the lead that Cahokia had on Kaneland was only four points. Kaneland needed to win that race desperately and Cahokia to finish fifth or lower to claim the championship outright. It was a strong third leg by two time 400 Meter Champion Marlin Brady and Tyran Lyons holding off Kaneland’s Nathaniel Kucera in the final 100 meters that gave Cahokia its fourth straight state championship. The Comanches scored an incredible 90 points. Kaneland was next with 84. In any other year, that point total would have given the Knights the 2A championship. Not in 2014 however.

“After we did not qualify in the 400 yesterday, we talked to the kids on what we had to do,” Coach Leroy Milsap said after the meet was over. “The kids rallied around each other to get it done.”

It was a rollercoaster for both teams early on. The first event pitting the two teams was the Long Jump where Ja’Mari Ward had a commanding lead. Kaneland’s Ben Barnes was in second. On Ward’s first jump, he rolled his ankle according to Milsap and fouled. The star sophomore was told to pass on the next round. Barnes did not improve on his second jump. On Barnes final jump, he unleashed a 23-5 foot jump to take the lead on the third to last jump.

Ward was realistic with the condition of his foot. “I did not think I was going to win,” he said afterwards. He tried to jump but only jumped 21-7. Barnes gave Kaneland an unexpected 10 points. At the same time, Nate Dyer gave Kaneland 10 more points winning the Shot Put (58-5 ¼). Teammate Alex Snyder moved from seventh to fifth to give Kaneland five points. Cahokia’s Daniall Akins fell back one spot to ninth. Kaneland had 25 points. Cahokia only 9.

The Triple Jump resulted in a 1-2 sweep for Cahokia as Ward and Jalon Monigan took the top two spots. All of a sudden, Cahokia was up 27 to 25. In the Discus, Dyer moved up to seventh to give his team three points. Kaneland took the lead 28 to 27. Kaneland finished up the scoring in the Pole Vault with a fourth place finish by Dylan Kuipers and ninth place finish by Dan Evers. Seven more points by Kaneland gave them a 35 to 27 lead. The action would move to the track. That is when the fun began.

Illiana Christian’s Kevin Vreogh gave his team a big lead at the end of the first leg in the 4 x 800 Meter Relay. One they did not relinquish. The Vikings crossed the finish line with a new 2A meet record (7:46.38). The action was happening behind them. Kaneland’s Nathaniel Kucera passed Cahokia’s Chris McGee with a little more than 100 meters to go. It gave Kaneland a one point more edge on the Comanches as Cahokia held off Springfield for third place. The lead was up to nine: Kaneland 43 to 34. “This is so indescribable,” Illiana Christian second runner Austin Gibson said afterwards. “Words can’t describe how it feels. We worked so hard especially after getting second in state last fall. This is what we have been waiting for all along.”

The momentum changed in Cahokia’s favor in the 4 x 100 Meter Relay. Ja’Mari Ward gutted it out with a bad foot running a strong second leg for Cahokia. That is all they needed. Cahokia crossed the line in 42.23 with the win. Kaneland finished fourth but there were flags up signaling that there was a relay zone violation. The Sycamore and Kaneland coaches were called to the dugout and informed that their teams were disqualified. It was a huge swing that Cahokia rode off of the rest of the meet even though they only had a one point lead 44-43.

The significant race that both teams were involved in was the 110 Meter High Hurdles. Gary Hickman had the fastest prelim time and was hoping to hold that seed up in this race. Kaneland needed to stay close in this event as Cahokia’s Korrion Session looked good winning his heat on Friday. Hickman got off to a great start but had to hold off Logan Schneider (Sycamore HS) and Lucas Ege (Central HS, Burlington). Only seven hundredths separated the first three athletes with Hickman getting the win. He just stood at the end of the straight looking up at the scoreboard trying to understand in his mind that he was finally a state champion.

“It felt to get 10 points for my team,” Hickman said. “Ever since I was in eighth grade, I’ve been coming here with Coach Milsap. I got to watch the legend Clyde Young run and win this race. Today it was a dream come true.”

In relation to the team score, this could have been the back breaker for Kaneland. Cahokia score 15 points in the event giving them 59 points. Brock Robertson and Dylan Nauert finished six-seven bumping their team total up to 50 points. They need to make up some ground quickly. Cahokia had only three events to score more points. Kaneland was down to four with two runners in the 400 that could get the Knights close again.

First the two teams would face each other in the 4 x 200 Meter Relay. Phillips Academy was a team on a mission. Their top ranked 4 x 100 Meter Relay did not make it to Charleston. Great handoffs and powerful anchor leg by Dewayne Collins gave the Chicago Public League School the championship running 1:28.03. Cahokia again finished second led by a banged up Ja’Mari Ward running the second leg putting his team into contention. Kaneland held off Rich Central for third place. They only lost one point but were now behind 67 to 56.

It looked like it would be a showdown after the sectional meets between two runners from each school. That match up did not materialize for Saturday’s final as Marlin Brady and Tyran Lyons failed to advance to the finals. The meet was starting to wear on Kaneland’s Nathaniel Kucera and Kyle Carter. This would be their fifth race of the weekend. Jeremiah Watson (Urban Prep Charter / Bronzeville, Chicago) opened up a lead coming down the home stretch. He had to hold off a charging Devante Clark (Jacksonville HS) to win the state championship by only seven hundredth of a second (48.36 – 48.43). Kaneland picked up only six points in that event with Kucera’s sixth place and Carter’s eight place. Kaneland was now within five (67-63). The chances of getting the lead now depended on the 300 Intermediate Hurdles.

Kaneland would need big races from Nauert and Robertson. Cahokia was counting on Hickman and Session to put them over the top. Lucas Ege made up the stagger by the middle of the far curve and was on his way to a win. He crossed with a new 2A meet record (37.34). It was something that was not possible. He is only a junior. He could lower that record next year possibly getting the overall IHSA record in next year’s meet. Behind Ege’s performances in the hurdle races, Burlington Central finished third with 38 points.

“My best was 37.99 coming into this meet,” Ege said. “I was just expecting to edge it out. I was not expecting to run 37.3. I just started running in Lane 5. The kid from Centralia (Kalvin Johnson) was booking the entire time. It got me set and ready to go. I just came across the line and did not know what to do.”

Gary Hickman was fifth coming off the curve. He passed both of Kaneland’s hurdlers Nauert and Robertson to finish second almost a second behind Ege. The margin between Hickman and Nauert was only two hundredth of a second. Robertson was fourth holding off Session finishing fifth. This was a wash for Kaneland as each team scored the same amount of points (13). The team championship was pretty much over considering both teams were close talent wise. Kaneland needed the win. Cahokia did not allow that to happen.

Other highlights from the 2A Meet:

One of the toughest distance doubles at the state meet is the 800 followed by the 1600. There is a little more than an hour between the two. Even with the heat and the humidity, it did not seem to bother J.D. Lafayette (University HS, Normal). His confidence has continued to grow after he won at the Capitol City Classic ahead of 3A champion Johnny Leverenz. He lowered his time to 1:51 at his conference meet. It was hard to see anyone getting. But this was the state meet where anything could happen. Lafayette stayed on the inside of Lane 2 as Kevin Vroegh and Kylain Lally (Dixon HS) had the lead. Just before the 400, Lafayette made a definitive move as he passed the start finish line in 56.2. His lead grew as Matt O’Connor (Central HS, Burlington) chased after Lafayette with no avail. Lafayette stormed down the straight with his focus on the finish line. He broke defending champ John Wold’s 2A meet record by three seconds (1:51.48). His margin of victory was four seconds ahead of O’Connor and Lally.

“I noticed that some of the other guys were starting to slow down,” Lafayette said. “Generally when that happens, I just like to start picking it up on them creating a gap. Crossing the line, it felt amazing. There is no feeling like it.”

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Lafayette would get a big challenge in the 1600. Waiting for him would be 2A 3200 Meter Champ Joe Singleton (Glenbard South, Glen Ellyn). The senior had control of the race in the warm conditions where no one wanted to push the pace. The pace was slower of that in the 1A race just before it as Singleton bided his time with Nick Brey (St. Viator HS, Arlington Heights) and Simon Thorpe (Dixon HS). They passed with 800 meters to go in 7:09 and Singleton decided it was time to go. He ran the next 400 in 65 seconds opening up a five second lead. The race was his. He ran his final lap in another 65 seconds crossing the line in 9:19.48. Thorpe finished next eight seconds back. Noah Affolder (Mascoutah HS) passed Brey in the final 200 meters to finish third.

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Another runner waiting for Lafayette was Ben Mohrdieck (Vernon Hills HS). The senior went through and up and down cross country season with injuries. Still, he was part of his school’s third place team. There was determination in his eyes as he stepped to the line. He took the lead with David Sias (Springfield HS) as the two went by the first 400 in 62 seconds. Lafayette was back in 65 seconds trying to use as little energy as possible while still remaining in touch with the leaders. Mohrdieck continued to force the issue of the race going through the 800 in 2:09. Sias started to drop back joining Murphy Affolder (Mascoutah HS) in second. Lafayette was back in sixth in 2:13. His kick was going to have to save him on this day.

Mohrdieck’s pace slowed down the next lap but so did the pace of the other nine runners. Mohrdieck went by in 3:16 as the bell lap sounded. Lafayette started to move up with 500 meters to go moving into second five seconds behind. The Vernon Hills senior was holding on for dear life in that final 200 as he hoped that the finish line came before Lafayette. One final push in the final 100 guaranteed that. Lafayette made a valiant try in that final lap falling a half second short. Mohrdieck gave his school their first track state championship running 4:20.71 to that of Lafayette’s 4:21.26 second place time. Affolder was a second back in third.

“What I have been trying to do the past few months is run a 64, run a 2:08, then I tell myself we are just running a 800,” Mohrdieck said. “I think it helps. It helped the last two days. I had a feeling that Lafayette would be coming. I know he has insane 800 speed. I just told myself this was my last high school race. Don’t save anything. Just go for it.”

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Demoria Harris (Dunbar HS, Chicago) was in the discussion for this weekend’s 2A sprint races. The talk was on junior Dion Hooker (Sycamore HS) and sophomore Josh Eiker (Galesburg HS) as the favorites in the 100 and the 200. Harris had his confidence with great races at the beginning of the month at the Chicago Public League Championships with his two wins in that meet.

Hooker got off to a great start in the 100 finals. Harris came back in the last 50 meters like he traditionally does catching Hooker as they crossed the line simultaneously. Both looked at the scoreboard waiting for the outcome. It did not take long to decide that Harris had won the race but by only one hundredth of a second (10.83 – 10.84). Sophomore Jarrell Jackson (Marengo HS) had a break through state meet finishing third (10.92). Eiker finished fourth. We should see some more fast times from this group in years to come. Seven of the nine finalists in this event are underclassmen.

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All eyes were on Eiker in the finals of the 200 Meter Dash. The sophomore electrified the crowd during Friday morning’s prelims setting a new 2A IHSA record (21.28). Harris got off to a better than normal start but he was still a couple meters behind Eiker. Harris took care of that storming down the homestretch winning comfortably. I guess you could call a fifteen hundredth of a second win in this state meet comfortable (21.60 – 21.75) considering how close the races were this weekend. Tayvonne Landry (Carbondale HS) finished third. Defending 2A champion Dion Hooker finished two hundredths back in fourth.

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In the other field events, AJ Marmion (Geneseo HS) held his prelim lead winning the state championship (171-2) ahead of a surprise second place finish by Jacob Wagner (Mattoon HS). The future of the 2A weight events is Sam Sikon (Carbondale HS). Only a freshman, he threw 156-0 to finish fourth in the Discus. Earlier in the Shot Put, Sikon moved up from fourth to finish second with a 56-8 ½ put behind Nate Dyer’s 58-5 ¼ winner.

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Logan Zeman (LaSalle-Peru HS) added to his Illinois Top Times Indoor title with the state meet win. Only four athletes remained as the bar was raised to 6-8 including defending 2A champion Alex King (Massac County HS, Metropolis). Zeman was the only athlete to clear 6-8 giving him the state championship ahead of Hunter Johnson (Frankfort HS, West Frankfort), Matthew Martinson (Marian Catholic HS, Chicago Heights), and King. The injury that King came down with at the indoor season hampered him the outdoor season. It was too bad that he was not at full strength.

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Tyler Jourdan (Salem HS) was the dominant athlete in the 2A Pole Vault all season. It showed at state as he ended his prep career with the 2A state title clearing 15-6. “I was a little nervous. It took my third attempt to get over 15-3 and 15-6,” Jourdan said. “There were a lot of nerves. But I pulled it out for the win.” Chase Black (Charleston HS) finished second with a 15-3 clearance.