Chicago Public League Sports Blog

A few boys state championship pics...

pictures: Brenda Gamboa

4x8 hand off


crowd


State runner-up Ryan Newtoff of Lincoln Way-Central and state champ Jonathon Jackson of Lane Tech.

Reporters crowd Jackson after winning the 300 IH.

   

medal stand

Videos Now - Brian Carter of Kelvyn Park after the city championship

CPS Track Programs on the Rise

 

Robeson the relay school returns all of it's 4x400 team that finished 3rd in the state and two state qualifiers in the 400 meter run.

Programs on the rise

Jones - young coach, young distance athletes led by freshman Jamison Dale's 18th place finish in the 3200 meter.

Roosevelt - young coach, young distance athlete's led by sophomore Jeffrey Rector's 6th place finish in the 3200 meter. Look for more vast improvements from their other runners next year.

Kelvyn Park - sophomore Brian Carter returns as the state runner up in the 100 and 200. He'll have backup next year as rising studs state qualifiers Victor Medina and Jamal McNeeley. Medina quietly ran one of the fastest 400's in the CPS this year. Even faster than the Pipkin brothers of Robeson.

Lane Tech - I think Lane is the only CPS school to score state points 3 years in a row. Lane has a bunch of sprinters returning next year ready to make some noise. They'll have to do it minus Haji and Jackson.

Calumet - Lonnie Washigton (fr) - NUFF SAID!

Mather - state qualifier Rahim Foster will try to become the "Jonathan Jackson" of Mather. Haji and Mendez both return having broken 10 minutes in the 3200 meter run.

Payton - I'm predicting Justin Smith (so) will be a future star.

Orr - improved coaching, best weight room in the city, best track in the west side, and runners like freshman Carl Young.

Simeon - return practically everyone. New coach has brought life to the program. Simeon could be an early top 3 city team next year.

Historical CPS State Track Meet

Jonathon Jackson (sr) of Lane ends his Lane career with a state championship in the 300 hurdles.

2 state champions, 2 state runner up's, and 10 total all-state finishes. The CPS definitely shined at the boys state track meet.

Balance
There was also balance. The CPS scored in hurdles, jumps, relays, and even distance.

History
Jeffrey Rector's all-state finish in the 3200 meter marked the first time a CPS runner finished all-state in that event since Scott Anderson of Whitney Young finished 7th in 1991.

Lane Tech's Jonathan Jackson became Lane's first state champ in boys track since the legendary 1974 1 mile relay team.

Jonathan Gardner became Whitney Young's first ever 2 time state champion in boys track. Is it too early to call him a legend?

Dunbar's Deon Sanders became Dunbar's first ever runner to score in the 400 meter run at state, and Dunbar's first all-state finisher since Darryl Brown finished 8th in the 200 meter dash in 1985.

Brian Carter became the first Kelvyn Park athlete to score at the state meet in boys track.

Lonnie Washington became Calumet's first all-state athlete since 1979.

Funches becomes Kenwood's first all-state athlete in boys track since since 2002 when Monternez Buckley finished 7th in the long jump.

Robeson the relay school became Robeson's first all-state relay team and first state scorer since 1994.

MONSTER State Track Meet for the CPS!

Darius Smith (jr) of CVS and Brian Carter (so) of Kelvyn Park both return next year. Next year they will be labeld as the state runner up's in the 100 meter. Carter is also placed 2nd in the 200 meter.

State Champions

Jonathan Gardner (sr), Whitney Young - Triple Jump
Jonathan Jackson (sr), Lane Tech - 300 Intermediate Hurdles

State Runner Up's

Darius Smith (jr), CVS - 100 meter
Brian Carter (so), Kelvyn Park - 100 meter, 200 meter

All-state
Lonnie Washington (fr)- Calumet - 100 meter
Jeffrey Rector (so) - Roosevelt - 3200 meter
Deon Sanders (sr) - Dunbar
Matthew Funches (sr) - Kenwood - Triple Jump
Jonathon Jackson (sr) - 110 high hurdles
Robeson - 4x400 relay

Top 20 team finishes
Kelvyn Park - 18th

Top 30 team finishes
Lane Tech - 27th
Whitney Young - 28th

Class AAA Boys Track State Meet Live Updates

last updated 4:26 pm

Jonathan Gardner (sr) of Whitney Young repeats as state champ in the triple jump!

110 high hurdles
Jonathan Jackson (sr) of Lane Tech finishes 9th in the state with a time of 14.93. This is not his specialty race and still finishes all-state.

100 meter dash
Darius Smith (jr) of CVS finishes 2nd in the state with a time of 10.81. He finishes only behind defending state champion Colin Hepburn (sr) of Glenbrook South. Smith, an unknown at the beginning of the year, will get plenty of press from here on out as he is now labeled as the top returning 100 meter run athlete.

triple jump
Jonthan Gardner(sr) leaps 48-4 to repeat as state champion. Gardner, who will most likely goto Georgia Tech, graduates Whitney Young's only two time state champion in boys track.

300 meter intermediate hurdles
Jonathan Jackson(sr) wins state. In a photo finish he nips Ryan Newtoff (jr) of Lincoln Way-Central by less than .01 of a second. Jackson becomes Lane's first state track champion since the legendary 1974 one mile relay team.  Jackson finishes his Lane Tech career with a personal record, a Public League Record at the state meet, and one of the top 25 all-time IHSA state meet times for that event.

400 meter
Dunbar's Deon Sanders goes out in style with an all-state 6th place finish. He becomes Dunbar's first ever runner to score in the 400 meter run at state, and Dunbar's first all-state finisher since Darryl Brown finished 8th in the 200 meter dash in 1985.

Class AA Boys Track Finals! Live Updates!

last updated 05/29/10 at 5:05pm.

 

Jeffrey Rector runs a 9:39 in the 3200 meter! 6th in the state and Roosevelt's first all-state track athlete since 1932.

3200 meter run
Jeffrey Rector (so) of Roosevelt runs a personal record unofficial 9:39 to finish 2nd in the slow heat. He started out fast as expected. Jamison Dale (fr) of Jones was with there with the leaders for awhile, then faded far back. Depending on how the fast heat does, Rector still has a chance at an all-state (top 9) finish. Rector's time of 9:39 is extremely fast for a CPS sophomore. Just to give you an idea how fast it is, cross country state qualifier Oscar Medina (jr) of Lake View ran a 10:10 at state last year and everybody was jumping for joy on how fast that time was. Rector is partly the product of a good coach at Roosevelt. I hear the head track coach (Nick Diedrich?) has a good sports background having come from Hinsdale Central High School.

Official time for Jamison Dale was 9:55.54. Official time for Rector was 9:39.78. Dale finishes 18th in the state - not bad for a freshman. Rector finishes 6th in the state and becomes first all-state track athlete since Charles Pollensky finished 2nd in the state in 1932.

100 meter dash
Brian Carter (so) finishes 2nd in the state with a time of 10.86- only .04 seconds behind state champion Devantre Whitelow (jr) of Centralia. Lonnie Washington (fr) of Calumet finishes 4th with a time of 11.00. 2 CPS finishers in the top 4. Both become their schools first state medalist in boys track.

200 meter dash
Brian Carter (so) finishes 2nd in the state with a time of 21.95- only .04 seconds behind state champion Devantre Whitelow (jr) of Centralia. Carter makes school history by becoming his school's only all-state track runner.

triple jump
Matthew Funches finishes 9th in the state with a triple jump of 44.75. He get's the final all-state spot, thus scoring a point for Kenwood. Funches becomes Kenwood's first all-state athlete in boys track since since 2002 when Monternez Buckley finished 7th in the long jump.

4x400
I've been telling every all year that Robeson is the relay school. Robeson shocks by finishing 3rd in the state with a blazing time of 3:21.94.

Class AA State Track Meet Finals Preview

All eyes will be on Brian Carter as he tries to make the CPS proud in the 100 and 200.

CPS Qualifiers for today's finals

100 - Lonnie Washington (fr) - Calumet
100 - Brian Cater (so) - Kelvyn Park
200 - Brian Carter (so) -Kelvyn Park
Triple Jump - Matthew Funches (sr) - Kenwood
4x400 - Robeson

Lonnie and Brian

The main focus will be in the 100 and the 200. Not only are the individual state titles are at stake, but the team state title. The CPS has freshman Lonnie Washington trying to become an almost unheard of freshman state champion. He ran a PR with a time of 10.96 in the prelims. Brian Carter, of Kelvyn Park, only a sophomore himself, put himself in position for a top 3 finish. Carter ran a 10.91 in prelims and beating Washington for the first time. Carter and Washington will be stiffly challenges by Centralia's DeVontre Whitelow(jr) who ran the fastest prelim time of 10.68. Hillcrest and Crete-Monee, are still alive for a state trophy and each have a runner in the 100. Every point will count for those teams as the class AA team race is very tight.

Brian Carter's best race is the 200 meter dash. He will be a title contender in that event. Crete-Monee has two qualifiers and will be looking to pick up valuable points for their state hopes.

Funches

Matthew Funches (sr) of Kenwood finished with the prelim's 7th best mark. Marks from Prelims carry to the next day, so if his mark stays, he will be an all-state finisher for Kenwood. Kenwood has not had someone finish all state since 2002 when Monternez Buckley finished 7th in the long jump.

Don't forget about Rector in the 3200

Jeffrey Rector (so) of Roosevelt is a very aggressive runner who always likes to start out hard. This time, he will be doing it at the state meet. He will be running in the slow section of the 3200. A top 12 finish is a possibility for this very talented sophomore. Rector's best time in the 3200 meter run is a 9:48.09. The good thing for Rector, is that he can only concentrate on running one race. He is accustomed to running 3 or more races per meet.

Robeson the Relay School

Robeson has not had a state scorer since 1994 when Nathaniel Omar placed 6th believe it or not in the 800 meter. Robeson qualified for the finals with a time of 3:24.55. I'll be happy, if Robeson improves on that time, no matter what place they finish in.

Videos Now - Prelim video of Brian Carter winning his heat

Live! State Track Meet Class AAA Prelim Updates

last updated 6:31 pm

Ameen Solebo (sr) of Mather finished his distinguished high school career with a state appearance in the shot put.

shot put -
Ameen Solebo of Mather had an off day by throwing a non-qualifying  50-1.75.

4x800
8:03.91 non-qualifying team from Lane Tech. This was a team minus Jonathon Jackson and Dylan Allingham.

Triple Jump
Jonathan Gardner (sr)J of Whitney Young is on his way to defending his triple jump title as he pops a 48-4 to lead all qualifiers.

4x100
Finalist hopefuls Whitney Young (42.62) and Dunbar (42.77) run solid times but not good enough to make the finals. York got in with a time of 42.47.

110 meter hurdles
Jonathan Jackson (sr) of Lane Tech got a scare when he finished 3rd in his heat. His time of 14.51 was his season best and fortunately enough to make it to the finals. The top prelim time was a 13.96 by Lockport senior Matt Benes.

100 meter
Any doubts of Darius Smith (jr) from CVS have been completely obliterated as he won his heat in a time of 10.70. If at the beginning of the year you told me that Smith would win this heat which included "name brand" sprinters Santiago Ochoa (jr) of Niles West, Danny Tucker (jr) of Waubonsee Valley, and Devin Banks (sr) of Oak Park-River Forest, I would have told you you were crazy. In an earlier post, I said that he could finish as high as "a top 5 finish". Now, the goals are higher. A state championship is within site. He will have to get by defending champion Colin Hepburn (sr) of Glenbrook South, who ran the fastest prelim time of 10.69 - Only .01 seconds faster than Smith's 10.70.

800 meter
Wesley Laytham (jr) incredible run ends as he ran a 2:01.58 and missed qualifying.

4x200 meter
I'm not really sure what happened but Dunbar finished last in their heat with a disappointing 1:33.67 after running a 1:29.72 to make it out of sectionals. The big time difference was probably because Dunbar's top runner Deon Sanders did not run in this relay.

400
The decision not to run Sanders in the 4x200 paid off, as Sanders qualified for the finals in the 400 with a time of 49.72. Cameron Allen (sr) of Whitney Young ran a 52.41 and finished last in his heat.

300 meter intermediate hurdles
Rahim Foster (sr) of Mather missed out on qualifying with a time of 40.79. I'm sure he was disappointed with his performance today, especially since he ran a 39.52 at sectionals. Jonathan Jackson (jr) of Lane Tech was not disappointed as he ran a 38.50 to finish with the second fastest prelim time. Jackson is looking to improve on his 3rd place state finish from last year. His 38.50, is his personal record in that event. He'll probably need to PR again tomorrow if he wants to win state as the fastest qualifying time was 38.15 set by Gary Ford (jr) of Thornridge.

1600 meter
Kulayfi Haji's (sr) illustrious career for Lane Tech came to end as he ran a non-finals qualifying time of 4:23.04.

4x400 relay
Dunbar ran a good non-qualifying time of 3:28.49.