2022 IHSA Boys State Track & Field Championships - Class 2A Storylines to Watch

 

Photo: Drew Rogers looks to repeat in 2A 3200 and 1600 (Kevin Dorsey Photo)

 

By Michael Newman [email protected]

 

There will be a new state team championship this year as defending champion Mascoutah only advanced three from their sectional meet. You can read all about who could be the top teams in Class 2A in this article.

 

There will be a lot of new faces on the victory stand for Class 2A Saturday afternoon. 10 of the 12 individual events last year had seniors as champions. There could be some exciting races on the Big Blue Oval beginning Friday morning with the 2A preliminary session. There will be plenty of stories to tell when all is said and done.

 

Returning State Champion

 

Drew Rogers - Herscher

 

There is a Drew Rogers who attends Paris High School and is a freshman. He qualified for the state meet in winning the High Jump at the Tolono Unity Sectional last Thursday.

 

That’s not the Rogers we want to talk about. Let’s talk about the runner that likes to run in distance events.

 

Drew Rogers of Herscher is a three time state champion including two times on the track. Before leaving to attend the University of Missouri this fall, Rogers does have business to deal with. He is the only athlete back to defend state titles in Class 2A. His wins in last year’s state meets were memorable. The meet was delayed close to two hours due to temperatures that climbed into the mid-90’s. It cooled down a little when the track events started that Friday. He settled in on a quick pace set by Alex Partlow for most of the race. With close to a lap to go, Rogers made his move pulling away for the win.

 

Rogers was in third-place with a lap to go in the 1600 Meter Run about two seconds behind a blistering pace set by Cadyn Grafton of Dixon and Gavin Genisio of Benton. Rogers has great finishing speed which he displayed in the final 200-meters of the race. He went on to run a new Class 2A state record of 4:13.26 winning by four seconds. While other runners had collapsed to the track, Rogers was still standing helping fellow runners to their feet.

 

Rogers is still standing especially after the fall cross-country season that he had. He was on his way to his second xc title until an ankle injury sidelined after the Naperville Twilight Invitational in October. He put in minimal miles but still made it to state meet finishing second.

 

He is more driven after taking the indoor season off getting healthy and getting ready for state both physically and mentally. He showed that at Distance Night at Palatine in April pulling away from a state-class field to run 9:07.26 for the win. Rogers has blown away fields like the 9:06.31 he ran in his sectional meet winning by over a minute. He has won tactical races like at Shelbyville on May 13 where he ran a seasonal best of 4:14.55 to win the 1600 Meter Run.

 

His only setback outdoors was early in April in his second race back where he finished second behind Wilson Georges of Limestone in the 3200 Meter Run. He will not see Georges at that distance as he has chosen to run 1600-meters. I am sure Rogers will use that race as incentive.

 

Alex Partlow will not be in this field. An injury sidelined him in mid-April for the rest of the season. Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central is his closest competition having a time within 10 seconds of the Herscher senior. Joe Schwartz of Waterloo is the next closest another seven seconds back. To say that Rogers is the big favorite in that race could be a huge understatement. He will also come back in the 1600 Meter Run to face Georges one more time. Actually, it will be two times since they will be in the same preliminary heat on Friday morning. The Saturday final between the two would be one race I would pay to watch.

 

One on Friday, One on Saturday

 

Frustration has set in on the face of Wilson Georges in his last two experiences in IHSA State Meet. The heat seemed to get to him last June in the 2A State Finals like it did to most of the other athletes in the meet. Georges ran 1:56.60 to finish third in the 800 Meter Run. He had a short time to recover for the 1600 Meter Run where he ran 4:23.48 to finish fifth in that race.

 

Disappointment set in last November in the state final where Alex Partlow was just running so well that no one would be close to him, not even Georges. The senior still ran a personal best of 14:36 on the Detweiller Park course. He was still 25 seconds behind. What to do after that?

 

Georges simply went back to work. He heads into this weekend with fastest time in the state in the 1600 Meter Run (4:09.47), the third fastest 2A time in the 800 Meter Run (1:54.73), and second fastest in the 3200 Meter Run (9:11.24).

 

He could have run two individual races in this meet. He decided on just one: the 1600.

 

Georges, who will head to the University of Colorado this fall, has gained confidence in his pacing for the 1600 running a breakneck pace to start. He started doing that after the state meet at Magis Miles and the Nike Outdoor Nationals where he went out in 2:04-2:05 and tried to hold on. At Magis Miles a week after the state meet, Georges led until the final 150-meters when Spencer Werner and Luke Wiley passed him. He still ran 4:13.88 to finish third in the 1 Mile Run. He passed 1600-meters in 4:12.10.

 

Through this process over the last year, Georges became stronger having run 9:00 for 3200-meters last February at Gately Park and then in a solo time trial a week before his conference meet with a spectacular 8:56.75 time. He learned the pace. More importantly, he learned what that felt like and how to push through the pain.

 

Georges ran a solo 4:09.07 last Wednesday to win his sectional by almost 30 seconds. He did come back and help his team qualify in the 4x400m Relay.

 

He should have company with him. Gavin Genisio of Benton finished third in last year’s state final and won the 1600 at Distance Night in Palatine. Then there is Drew Rogers who will be defending his state title and know how fast a sub-4:10 pace feels like.

 

Doubles and Triples

 

There will be a number of athletes that will be trying doubles and triples in this 2A State Meet. Jayon Morrow of Kankakee is one of those athletes. The sophomore won his sectional races in the 200 Meter Dash and 400 Meter Dash and finished second in the 100 Meter Dash behind Brandon Waller of Marian Catholic. He could pull off the double in this meet. It is hard to tell in the 100 Meter Dash with so many runners in the event influenced by wind aided times. Morrow has a season’s best of 10.76 (2A #5) in the event. He could be challenged by Kenneth Buchanon of East St. Louis-Senior, Christian Keyhea of Mt. Zion, and Chris Nelson of Herrin.

 

The probability is bigger for Morrow in the two long sprint events. His 400 time of 48.85 (2A #2) is only surpassed by Jackson Gilbert of Urbana who has run a state leading 48.15. Bryson Wilson of Marion will be the closest to the two athletes with his 49.38 time (2A #3). Nine runners have run under 22-seconds in the 200 Meter Dash. Morrow has the fastest time in Class 2A having run 21.47 at the beginning of the month. His chief competition could be Keyhea who has run 21.66 this season. Keyhea, a senior, could complete a double of his own in the 100 and 200. Gilbert and Buchanon will be main forces in this event as well.

 

The Aluminum hollow tube going from person to person

 

Relays play a part of deciding the team championship in any Illinois State Meet. Where there are some teams that do not have a relay qualified and will still contend for a top three finish, relays again will decide who is a state champion. That is the exciting thing about track and field.

 

Lincoln made a huge statement in sectionals with their win at Tolono Unity in the 4x800m Relay. Their time of 7:59.90 is the top time in Class 2A and the fastest sectional time by eight seconds ahead of Marion. Sterling (8:09.11) and Payton Prep (8:10.16) are next in line. The Grizzlies ran 8:05.10 at the Chicago City Championships the week before. Bethalto Civic Memorial has run 8:0944 this season. Sycamore has the tradition in this event. They ran 8:01.32 last week at Rochelle (2A #7). Lincoln has a strong 3-4 with Brenden Heitzig and 800 list leader Garrett Slack that could ice the state championship in the relay at the end of the meet.

 

St. Rita ran a season’s best of 42.40 on their own track to have the fastest sectional time in the 4x100m Relay. Kankakee has the season lead at 42.12. Urbana ran the same time as St. Rita (42.40) in an honor roll meet a week ago. East St. Louis-Senior at 42.58 and Troy Triad at 42.74 could be chasing for the win. Good exchanges in this event could see a sub-42 second winning time. The talent is there to do that.in the finals.

 

2A list leader Sycamore did what they needed to do in qualifying for state running 1:31.68 to finish second behind Kaneland at the Rochelle Sectional. Sycamore’s time is seeded 12th going into state. Their 2A state leading time is 1:29.74. Kankakee had the fastest sectional time (1:29.83). The Kays ran 2A #2 1:29.73 at Manteno in April. Herrin appears to be the hot team and will contend for the crown in this relay with their 1:29.92 (2A #3) time. East St. Louis-Senior and St. Laurence have run under 1:30 this season and remain threats in what could be a closer than normal finish on Saturday.

 

East St. Louis-Senior is the 2A list leader in the 4x400m Relay but will not have a team on the line for the event. The Flyers missed qualifying for state by less than a second and finishing third at the Troy Triad Sectional. The leaderboard repopulated in the event with sectional leader Richmond-Burton running 3:24.36 (2A #2) and tone of the favorites now in the event. Bartonville Limestone at 3:25.03 is next in line followed by Sycamore, Kaneland, Marion, Metamora, and Mt. Vernon all under 3:27.

 

Class 2A Meet Tidbits

 

Garrett Slack of Lincoln ran 1:53.98 in April at Distance Night in Palatine is the 2A list leader in the 800 Meter Run. He also had the fastest sectional time (1:54.20). Gavin Genisio of Benton, who is also entered in the 1600 Meter Run, ran 1:54.60 to win last week at Mascoutah will be Slack’s chief threat in this event. Sam Atkinson of Mt. Zion and Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic both will run in the 800 Meter Run and 400 Meter Dash in this meet. Atkinson ran 1:55.34 (2A #4) last week while Hilby has a seasonal best of 1:56.51. The next closest competition comes from Ryan Rice of Normal University who has run 1:57.83.

 

Both hurdle races should be fantastic in this classification. Eight athletes have run faster than 15-seconds this spring. DeWayne Johnson of Pontiac came on during the indoor season and remains a threat to win this weekend. He ran the fastest time in Class 2A in the 110 Meter Hurdles at 14.18 with the help of a +6.6 m/s tailwind which measures out to be close to a consistent 15 mph. Alec Sledge of Mt. Vernon ran 14.51 last week at Mascoutah but has run under that time twice including his best or 14.40 at the end of April. Keshawn Lyons of Cahokia had a great sectional meet that included a 14.64 at Mascoutah. Jason Huang of Benet Academy, Demarlynn Taylor of East St. Louis-Senior, and Jaden Bossie of Chicago Mt. Carmel all will be in the mix for a state title.

 

Taylor at 39.19 and Lyons are the only 2A runners under 40-secondss in the 300 Meter Hurdles. Lyons has the fastest sectional time with a 39.99 time. Matthew Marcum of Rock Falls ran 40.01 at his sectional. Ryan Ondracek of Providence Catholic (40.07) and Johnson (40.26) ran their time last week at Plano. Townsend Barton of Carterville ran 40.33 and could be a dark horse in this event.

 

Cahokia could get the bulk of their points in the field events. Jo’viano Howard has cleared 6-6 this year in the High Jump along with Drew Rogers of Paris. Teegan Davis of Princeton and Jamarion Suggs of Springfield Lanphier have the top height this season in Class 2A clearing 6-8.

 

Six Class 2A athletes have gone past 22-5 in the Long Jump. Jacob Morrison of Mt. Vernon jumped 23-2.25 to have the top sectional and list mark. Nahzir Hill of Kankakee came close to 23-feet jumping 22-10.75 last week. Sam Morse of Limestone, Nicholas Deloach of Cahokia, Bryson Wilson, and Teegan Davis all could have a say in who wins this event. DeLoach leads the field in the Triple Jump with a list leading 46-1 from his conference meet. Koen Derry of Galesburg and DeShawn Parker of St. Laurence are the only other athletes this spring to have jumped past 45-feet.

 

Paul Migas of Lakes was not considered a favorite at the beginning of the season in the Pole Vault. The sophomore has showed immense improvement during the season with his latest clearance of 15-9 at Belvidere last week his personal best. Four other athletes have cleared 15-0 this year including Cooper Schaad of Geneseo, Tanner Koontz of Mt. Vernon, Kyle Hensley of Mt. Zion, and Colin Beers of Marion.

 

Three athletes stand out in the Shot Put and are almost three feet ahead of the rest of the field. JehChys Brown of Centralia leads the 2A list with a 58-5.5 best with Samuel McClain Jr. of East St. Louis-Senior (56-8) and Caleb Smith of Salem (56-6.25) following. Brown could win the double in weight events. He has a list lead of 167-3.5. There are six other athletes that have thrown over 160-feet including Robert Byron of Mahomet-Seymour and Ashton Noble of Roxana.