2006 AA State wrap up

The question of the morning prior to the state championship was could Cahokia win the state championship. The Comanches not only won but set a state record in scoring points with 94 and nearly doubled the output of defending champion and nemesis E. St. Louis Sr. It is amazing to fathom that Cahokia did not garner a single point from specialty areas triple jump and 300 hurdles. Also, consider the fact the talented Comanche squad has only two seniors in its arsenal- so they will be back in 2007. Defending champion E. St. Louis showed tremendous poise and heart by winning the final event of the day and holding back Elmhurst York and Springfield Lanphier for runner- up honors.

Individually and collectively the 2006 edition of the IHSA Boys state meet was extremely competitive and most fiercely contested in years. An enormous amount of national rankings was achieved, including the nationally leading 4x800 relay by Jacobs High School.

-Track-

4x800 relay-

1) Jacobs 7:40.02 [1:56.xx, 1:56.xx, 1:54.xx, Jager 1:51.9]

2) York 7:41.81 [1:54.3, 1:54.7, 1:58.8 ,1:53.9]

3) Glenbard South 7:42.97

4) E. St. Louis 7:43.77

Summary: this one went down as the second best 4x8 race in Illinois prep history- second to the legendary 1976 race that featured 8 teams among the nation’s best. On this day though the modern youth showed symptoms of yesteryear as four teams smashed the elusive 7:45 barrier and all 12 finalists broke 8:00!

York, ESL, and GBS were mired in a fierce battle for the first two legs before ESL got out to a very big lead midway through the third leg on the strength of Dontavious Robinson strong lead. Perhaps, the :53 split wore down Robinson as the chase pack closed mightily the last 50m and nearly even the final exchange. The crowd began to buzz very loudly as the Jacobs trio accomplished its goal of getting the baton to anchor Evan Jager with space to work with. Jager and York anchor Nick Kuczwara began running 1-2 and with less than 100m left Jager began to assert himself and pull way and win a historic race in USA #1 time.

4x100 relay-

1) Cahokia 41.42

2) Springfield Lanphier 42.05

3) Thornton 42.07

Summary: Cahokia was even through the first and second exchange with Lanphier and Thornton but third leg Clyde Young burned through the second curve and it was over when anchor Greg Williams got the stick. Williams, with a fierce look and teeth gritting, powered down the homestretch in state meet record time. Cahokia has been dominant in this event all season and has a top 10 ranking from a 41.02 clocking earlier in the season. The heavy head wind on the home-straight might have prevented even more damage to the state meet record.

3200m-

1) Jacob Nachel (Lyons Township) 9:09.36 [4:36.6, 8:08.0-2800m]

2) Eric Dettman (York) 9:15.86 [4:37.0]

3) Michael McDonnell (St. Charles North) 9:17.20

Summary: a quality race despite the omission of Jager and some wounded veterans. Nachel made the most of an opportunity after leading after a swift first half. Nachel indicated that he was confident that he would win at that stage in the race but was expecting something else: “I looked back going into the last lap- I was expecting Dettman to be on my shoulder but he never came.” Dettman appear to run out of gas 500m to go but had enough strength to maintain the runner up spot over McDonnell. Footlocker All-American Ryan Craven has suffered through an injury riddled year managed to finish 7^th. He led laps 2, 3, 4 [4) 4:36.6]. Pre-meet pick for all-state status Kevin Havel (Hersey) faded to 10^th. It appeared the heat got to Havel as he was in top 8 position most of the race.

110HH- wind -2.2

1) Artavious Kizer (E. St. Louis) 14.56

2) Ray Varner (Warren) 14.60

3) Clyde Young (Cahokia) 14.77

Summary: Kizer got the victory a sloppy and sluggish race. The strong head wind prevented the EIU faithful from witnessing a great performance. Young had the top seasonal mark but managed to pick up seven big points and avoid further upset.

100m- wind: -2.8

1) Demarcus Brooks (Springfield Southeast) 11.07

2) Jerdo Williams (Cahokia) 11.19

3) Jason Norem (Ottawa) 11.20

Summary: Brooks got a major upset- in fact most of the field was unexpected in a slow final. Once again the wind played a part in performances.

800m-

1) Stephen Williams (Marion) 1:51.58 [24.8, 53.1, 1:20.8]

2) Brian Beaird (Naperville Central) 1:52.12

3) Tom Robbins (Loyola Academy) 1:53.41

Summary: not as deep as last year’s final but good nonetheless. Only two finalists here double back from the 4x800 relay. Williams jogged out of the athlete’s holding tent but a wrap on his right hamstring. It was later revealed that he strained it after Friday’s prelim. Williams in his typical style went out very fast and alone through the first 200m check points. With just 150m to go Williams began to tighten up mightily and the hard charging Beaird sensed it but ran out of real estate. Afterwards, both competitors embraced and appreciated one another’s efforts.

4x200m-

1) Cahokia 1:27.11

2) Proviso West 1:27.76

3) Springfield Lanphier 1:28.08

Summary: this was the race that Cahokia had to prove their worth. Why? Usually at the halfway point in a championship a team is defined by one event. The Comanches got the stick around the track here and handily beat the all of the superpower teams.

400m-

1) Dan Palmer (York) 47.87 [23.0/24.8]

2) Darien Donald (Cahokia) 47.95 [21.9/26.0]

3) Mikal Rasheed (E. St. Louis) 48.98

Summary: Donald the freshman is a sensational talent and will undoubtedly learn from his first state experience. When Donald shot out and broke stagger on the field about 150m into the race it appeared as though he would make history. But as accustomed with young gun talent- reality struck. As Donald entered the homestretch and a strong head wind, a super self-confident Palmer began to use his experience and confidence to reel in Donald. As the meters began to shorten so did Donald’s already slim lead. Palmer edged just ahead at the finish line for the slimmest of victory and a big roar from the York faithful. Said Palmer after the award ceremony: “I didn’t think I was going to win until I got to the finish line.”

300IH-

1) Ray Varner (Warren) 37.29

2) Martavis Hines (Cahokia) 37.78

3) Mike O’Brien (Prospect) 38.15

Summary: a much improved race over the past several years despite seasonal leader Clyde Young being DQ’ed for a lane violation. The Comanches picked up nine big points to their already enormous total. Varner grabbed the lead on the third set of hurdles and powered his way down the homestretch for the upset victory.

1600m-

1) Evan Jager (Jacobs) 4:11.22 [2:07.5/2:03.7]

2) Nick Farina (Barrington) 4:14.43

3) Eric Anerino (Naperville North) 4:15.03

Summary: Jager went in :61 low for the first 400m and let the race come to him. It appeared that no-one wanted to go out (ala Steve Finley) and really push the pace like in the A version. As usual in state final races, it came down to who has the best finishing kick and as usual it was Jager. Jager was clearly spent in a race where he gave his all is now a two time state champion.

200m- wind: -2.6

1) Earnest Winters (Cahokia) 22.18

2) Darryl Jenkins (Tinley Park) 22.31

3) Darren Patterson (Waukegan) 22.32

Summary: the slowest winning time and winning effort in IHSA modern history didn’t mean much to Cahokia because they picked up 10 points. Winters slogged his way to victory over Jenkins and Patterson.

4x400 relay-

1) E. St. Louis 3:15.41 [48.1, 48.3, 48.4, 50.1]

2) Cahokia 3:15.80 [47.7, 50.2, 48.1, 49.2]

3) Evanston 3:16.63 [50.7, 48.2, 47.8, 49.6]

Summary: the second most exciting race had the faithful on its feet the entire time. Cahokia quickly shot out to the early lead behind Donald’s 47.7 efforts. However, ESL got even at the second exchange and Evanston a few meters back. Cahokia has the season best of 3:14, so they weren’t going away easily if at all. ESL held serve through three legs under the slimmest of leads. ESL anchor Dontavious Robinson got to the first curve first over Comanche speedster Exzabion Jackson. Jackson remained calm on the backstretch but got a little tense as the final curve approached. He appeared to want to pass at that point but waited. Robinson tried to pull away but couldn’t but neither could Jackson as both runners were “rigged.” Robinson managed to hold on to victory and a measure of moral victory. It was easy to say that the grand finale of track never fails to excite.

-Field events-

Long jump-

1) Kali Jackson (Cahokia) 23-11wind-aided

2) Trae Johnson (Marion) 23-8w (Friday effort)

3) Clyde Young (Cahokia) 23-1.75w

Summary: Cahokia went 1-2 and picked up 17 points in the meets first event. Just as important was how Jackson bounced back after a disastrous Friday in the triple jump prelim where he did not make the final despite having the top mark in the nation. Jackson made good on his final jump and won it in dramatic fashion. Said a happy Jackson, “I wanted to come out here and jump that 24’ [feet effort] and I did.”

Pole vault-

1) Phil Hanson (Pontiac) 16-6

2) Jake Winder (Plainfield South) 16-3

3) Sam Kranz (Kaneland) 15-6

Summary: Hanson and Winder part Deux. Although their battle this time wasn’t as dramatic as the one back in early April at the Illinois Prep Top Times meet, it was still a great battle. After securing the victory over Winder, Hanson asked the bar be raised to 17-3 for an attempted at the nation’s top mark. Hanson efforts were solid but he came up a tad short. Still, Hanson and Winder should be commended for their efforts and the excitement they brought to pole vault.

High jump-

1) Major Clay (Springfield Lanphier) 6-10

2) Mykhail Chambers (Urbana) 6-9

3) Jared Nuxoll (Effingham) 6-8

Summary: Clay won his first outdoor championship despite jumping on a bad knee. Clay wanted to equal his personal best mark of 7-0 from indoor season but wasn’t able to after missing on all three attempts of 6-10.

Shot put-

1) Colin Madison (Willowbrook) 58-9.5

2) Adam Gettis (Lincoln-Way East) 57-11.75

3) Nick Mitchell (Fremd) 57-8.75

Summary: the season leader Madison had his work cut out as he seated 4^th going into Saturday’s final. Madison produced Willowbrooks' first field event champion on his next to last throw.

Triple jump-

1) Troy Doris (Bolingbrook) 50-2 wind-aided

2) Donald Dismukes (Cahokia) 47-11.25w

3) Fred Jackson (Lockport) 46-7.75w

Summary: Doris took advantage of a break and made good. The nation’s best jumper got a little too confident and didn’t make the final. So, Doris capitalized on it, “I knew I could win if I stayed on task” said a smiley Doris. Doris had all the confidence in the world because he conquered his biggest enemy- his knee. Doris tore a meniscus ligament in his right knee at USATF nationals last summer and admitted he was worried about it during the early part of the season. However, he got his goal of breaking 50 and a state championship.

Discus-

1) Mike Schallmo (Homewood-Flossmoor) 178-4

2) Nick Bledsoe (Wheeling) 175-7

3) Markus McCown (Tinley Park) 172-0

Summary: Schallmo held off a hearty effort from Bledsoe. Schallmo enjoyed upsetting favorite Bledsoe, who has thrown over 180’ this year.