Boys City Indoors Analysis

BOYS

CPS

INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP ANALYSIS

 

On March 15^th a capacity crowd filled the Henry Crown Fieldhouse stands at the

University

of

Chicago

to watch the

CPS

Boys Indoor Championships. The meet was a good predictor of how the teams will stack up against each other during the outdoor season and was the biggest meet that most of the 33 schools present had been to all season. The absence of city track powerhouses Lane Tech and Morgan Park was obvious but it was nice to see the other athletes step up when they got their shot at a city championship. A lot of hype surrounded the rejuvenated Harlan program coming into the meet and they responded well by winning the Indoor City Championship.

 

1. Harlan – 71

2. Mather – 51

3. Payton – 39

4. Northside – 37

5. Whitney Young – 31

6. Kenwood – 25

7. Harper – 22

8. Robeson – 16

8. Fenger – 16

10.

Dunbar

– 12

11. Bogan – 10

11. Simeon – 10

13.

Lake

View

– 9

14.

Calumet

– 8

14.

CVC

– 8

14. Steinmetz – 8

17.

South

Shore

– 6

17. Jones – 6

17. King – 6

20. Urban Prep - 4

 

 

Harlan's Darien Williams after finishing 1st in the 55 meter dash.

 

55 Meter Dash

1.

Darien

Williams (Harlan) – 6.67

2. Jamel Donald (Bogan) – 6.79

3. Jelone Carroll (Harper) – 6.84

4. Gary Bennett (

CVC

) – 6.87

5. Brandon Calhoun (Steinmetz) – 6.90

In the 55 meter dash Darien Williams of Harlan was the clear favorite going in based on time, however his 6.30 at De LaSalle earlier in the season was hand-timed so it was up to him to prove that he is fast enough to compete with the elite sprinters in the city.

Darien

left no doubt as he bolted past the competition in the pre-lims and in the finals with a time of 6.67 to become a city champion in his first season of running track.

 

200 Meter Dash

1. Karmaine Jarmon (Simeon) – 24.15

2. Terence Thomas (Fenger) – 24.42

3. Christopher Pledger (King) – 24.47

4. Garry Bennett (

CVC

) – 24.61

5. Quarmine McGee (Bogan) – 24.64

6. Kristian Palmer (

Lincoln Park

) – 24.65

Harlan’s Darien Williams was a favorite coming into this race and his dominating win in the 55 Meter Dash hinted that he was on the verge of becoming a two-time city champion. However, a timing error during his preliminary heat caused him to have to re-run the race where his second time of 24.74 was not good enough to place in the top 6. Karmaine Jarmon, a new face from Simeon looked impressive in winning his first City Championship and cemented himself as one of the city’s best up and coming sprinters.

 

 

Lakeview's Romeo Jurardo edges Mather's Sergio Martinez in a 400 meter heat. Jurardo finished 5th (56.17)

400 Meter Dash

1. Julian Deville (Whitney Young) – 53.53

2. Spencer Williams (

Calumet

) – 54.21

3. Welton Crayton (Harlan) – 54.25

4. Romeo Jurado (

Lake

View

) – 55.67

5. Sergio Martinez (Mather) – 56.15

6. Jamil Boldian (Urban Prep) – 56.17

The 400 Meter Dash was split into two very competitive, exciting heats. In the first heat Romeo Jurado of Lake View, one of the city’s top 400 meter returnees, came through 200 meters in last place at a pedestrian 28.6 but out-kicked the entire field the last 200 meters in 27.07 for the win over eventual 5^th place finisher Sergio Martinez of Mather and 6^th place finisher Jamil Boldian of Urban Prep. In the second heat, Julian Deville, one of the state’s best sophomore 800 meter runners led from start to finish to win. The real intrigue was the battle for 2^nd place between Spencer Williams of

Calumet

(a freshman) and Welton Crayton of Harlan (a sophomore) two of the city’s best young sprinters, with Williams edging Crayton by four hundredths of a second. These were two very tactically different races but both featured some of the top 400 meter talent in the city and most of these runners will be in the hunt for the Outdoor Championship in May.

 

 

Vincent Perkins (jr) of Harlan at the start of the 800. Perkins 2nd place finish time of 2:05.79 puts him near the top of the Indoor Leaderboard.

800 Meter Run

1. Cuit Pineda Youniss (Northside) – 2:04.65

2. Vincent Perkins (Harlan) – 2:05.79

3. Mikey

Medina

(Mather) – 2:09.68

4. Joseph Laseter (Kenwood) – 2:15.90

5. Lamar Gary (Whitney Young) – 2:18.82

6. Jimmy Brown (Payton) – 2:18.90

Many of the top 800 meter runners in the city were not entered into this event due to the one entry per school per event rule. However, Cuit Pineda Youniss put together a solid solo effort to win the city championship in 2:04.65. Surprisingly Vincent Perkins of Harlan was right on his tail the whole race as well as Mikey Medina of Mather who was also in the mix until the last 300 meters. The 800 Meter Run is a wide open event in the city this year so I would not be surprised to hear some of these runners mentioned in that conversation in a couple of months.

 

 

Mather's Ivan Coronel (sr) leads in the 1600 meter run. Behind him is Jones College Prep senior Griffin Kelly who ran a PR of 4:48. Eventual winner Jose Mora (jr) of Payton runs behind Kelly.

1600 Meter Run

1. Jose More (Payton) – 4:39.84

2. Ivan Coronel (Mather) – 4:44.81

3.

Griffin

Kelly (Jones) – 4:48.62

4. Charlie Messimore (Northside) – 4:50.73

5. Omar Tall (Kenwood) – 5:01.05

6. Oscar Medina (

Lake

View

) – 5:01.14

This was the premier distance event at the Indoor Championships, displaying most of the city’s top talent, including four cross country state championship qualifiers. Everyone in the building knew that the city championship would go to either Jose Mora of Payton or Ivan Coronel of Mather and the race played out just like that. Mora and Coronel were together for the first 6 laps (1200) at 3:35 but then Mora started his all-too-familiar kick and was able to close his last 400 in 65, for an IPTT-qualifying mark of 4:39.84. Coronel faded down the stretch and Griffin Kelly of Jones was able to significantly close the gap between them to finish third. After Messimore of Northside finished the attention focused on the battle for 5^th place between the two best Class AA sophomore runners in the city and Omar Tall was able to hold off a hard-charging Oscar Medina of

Lake

View

for 5^th.

 

 

Jacob Cetera (sr) of Lincoln Park leads the 3200 meter run.

3200 Meter Run

1. Jacob Cetera (

Lincoln Park

) – 10:51.03

2. Abe Haji (Mather) – 11:12.70

3. Liam Burns (Whitney Young) – 11:18.29

4. Erik Zuehlke (Northside) – 11:29.36

5. Daniel Gonzalez (Kelly) – 11:32.69

6. Terrel James (Kenwood) – 12:03.62

This was an exhibition event so most coaches put in their frosh-soph/jv runners. This resulted in easily the weakest field of any event at City Championships. Jacob Cetera of

Lincoln Park

ran the entire race solo and is the only runner from the list that has a chance at qualifying for the Outdoor Championships.

 

55 Meter Hurdles

1. Donovan Harris (Payton) – 8.05

2. George DeBerry (Harlan) – 8.42

3. Michael Jones (

South

Shore

) – 8.48

4. Rahim Foster (Mather) – 8.68

5.

Lawrence

Moore (Fenger) – 8.72

5. LaDarius Madlock (

North Lawndale

) – 8.72

Donovan Harris of Payton has long been one of the city’s best jumpers and hurdlers and is moving up the state ranks. This was a fairly easy win for him and there were very few surprises as most runners finished in the same order in the finals as they did in the pre-lims. Look for Donovan to be one of the favorites in the hurdle and jump events for the Outdoor Championships.

 

4x200 Meter Relay

1.

Dunbar

– 1:39.47

2. Fenger – 1:39.58

3. Harlan – 1:39.87

4. Whitney Young – 1:40.25

5. Harper – 1:40.30

6. Corliss – 1:40.40

The 4x200 Meter Relay of the Indoor Championships has always been an event dominated by the sprint-rich South Side schools of the

CPS

. This year was no different, a competitive field, in which just four tenths of a second separated first and third place. The highlight of this event was the ability of Harlan, the pre-race favorite, to get through several miscues and still place respectably. Harlan’s third leg Joseph Wright dropped the baton during the exchange, yet found a way to get the baton to their anchor leg in contention. This was a great preview of what the 4x200 relay might look like outdoors and the additions of Lane Tech and Morgan Park should make this event that much more interesting.

 

4x400 Meter Relay

1. Robeson – 3:39.45

2. Harlan – 3:39.64

3. Whitney Young – 3:41.00

4. Mather – 3:41.70

5. Northside – 3:49.96

6. Kenwood – 3:51.59

The 4x400 Meter Relay event provided the best finish of the day, as the race was completely up for grabs going into the anchor legs for all of the top four teams. Robeson had a slight lead, Harlan in 2^nd, Whitney Young was in 3^rd and Mather handed off in 4^th. Mather’s Justen Garth didn’t hesitate to get right into the thick of the race and challenged Vincent Perkins of Harlan, hoping that his cross country endurance would pay off for 400 meters. With 200 meters to go Garth faded to 4^th allowing Julian Deville to secure a 3^rd place finish for the Dolphins. Robeson’s Wayne Davis outkicked Perkins from Harlan for the win in 3:39.45.

 

4x800 Meter Relay

1. Mather – 8:38.79

2. Northside - 8:46.73

3. Robeson – 9:00.20

4. Kenwood – 9:02.57

5.

Lake

View

– 9:03.33

6. Harlan – 9:14.14

The 4x800 relay featured a good number of the city’s top distance runners as most schools ran their A teams. Romeo Jurado of Lake View, a favorite in the 800 meter run at Outdoor Championships, led off in

2:03

and gave his team a 15 meter lead on the handoff. On the second leg Mather’s Sheedy Victor closed the gap on a fading Oscar Medina of

Lake

View

and the two teams handed off tied for first with Northside less than a second behind. On the third leg Mather’s Alex Soraporu and Northside’s Cooper Eben separated from

Lake

View

’s Michael Tran. On the anchor leg

Lake

View

faded from 3^rd to 5^th and Mather’s Ivan Coronel cruised to the win.

 

Shot Put

1. Ameen Solebo (Mather) – 47’10

2. George DeBerry (Harlan) – 46’06.5

3. Brandon Calhoun (Steinmetz) – 43’09.5

4. Cordarryl Banks (Harper) – 40’04

5. Eric Nelson (Northside) – 40’03

6. Ryan Rosiak (Whitney Young) – 40’01.5

Like several other events the Shot Put was missing several of the top contenders for the Outdoor City Championship, but Ameen Solebo of Mather showed why he has to be considered a front-runner for that title with a throw of 47’10 to win Indoor city.

 

High Jump

1. Eric Nelson (Northside) – 6’02

2. Trevor Gills (Harlan) – 6’00

3. Tarik Simpkins (Kenwood) – 5’08

4. Mark Gaines (Gwendolyn Brooks) – 5’06

5. Stephan Devroe (Whitney Young) – 5’06

6. Eddie Seda (Mather) – 5’04

In the High Jump, last year’s city champion and state qualifier Eric Nelson of Northside defended his title with a jump of 6’02 in what was a tune up for the IPTT Classic. The surprise in this event was Trevor Gills of Harlan who looks to be one of the few athletes in the city this year that can challenge Eric Nelson.

 

 

Harper's Jelone Carrol had one of the best performances of the day by winning the Long Jump (20'6") and finishing in 3rd in the 55 meter dash.

Long Jump

1. Jelone Carroll (Harper) – 20’06

2. Donovan Harris (Payton) – 20’01.75

3. Cameron Allen (Whitney Young) – 20’01

4. Tashaun Johnson (Harlan) – 18’10.5

5. Donald Cheeks (

Lake

View

) – 18’06

6. Martin Melto (Northside) – 18’04.75

The Long Jump featured several of the top contenders for the Outdoor Championship and some of these athletes have a strong chance to qualify for state. Jelone Carroll, Donovan Harris (*Meet Record 28 points scored), and Cameron Allen are among the best jumpers the city has to offer, while Taushaun Johnson and Donald Cheeks of Lake View should be jumping in the low 20’s by outdoor.

 

Overall this was a well-run event with some spirited competition, however, the presence of some of the city’s elite teams was clearly missed. Unfortunately in recent years the Indoor Champions have not placed nearly as high during the Outdoor Championship. A big reason for this is the ‘one entry per school per event’ rule at the Indoor Championships, a rule that allows for teams with frontrunner talent to dominate Indoors while teams that are deeper have a higher chance of winning Outdoors. Talking to the coaches at the meet, many did not run their best runners in their best events, but the meet did show us where some of the top teams in the city are at right now. Outdoors should be an interesting season, with many of the bigger city meets coming up next week. Congratulations to Harlan for winning their first Indoor Championship since 1974.