Frederick Gillespie(sr-left) of Ford Powerhouse and Paris Hilliard(jr-right) of Clark
The CPS is so big that few realize they have 14 class A schools in boys track. All 14 are scheduled to compete next Friday, May 17th at the competitive Lisle sectional. I say competitive because it is by far the biggest class 1A sectional in the state with 36 schools assigned to it - by contrast some sectionals are only half the size. Also the Lisle sectional has defending state champion Leo in it, which is expected to dominate in sprints. Lisle also has Westmont, Seaton Academy, Hales, Timothy Christian, Latin, and other good class 1A schools.
So how does the CPS fit into the mix? For most schools it will be about development, evaluation, and closing the year out right. For example, Uplift from the north side has a small team. But they do have a bunch of mostly sophomore sprinters that look promising. They could stack em up and try to run a season best time in the 4x200- which for Uplift is about 1:38.
The CPS's best hopes of advancing entries to state will come from Ford Powerhouse and Clark. Ford has sprinter Frederick Gillespie. Gillespie finished 6th in the 100 at last Saturday's CPS meet with a time of 11.36. He also has a season best time of 22.95 in the 200 meter. Both are school records. I feel his best chances will come in the 200 as his season best time is only .01 seconds off the state qualifying standard of 22.94.
Clark has sprinter Paris Hilliard(jr). Hilliard finished 8th in the 100 at the CPS meet. He has a season best time of 11.47 in the 100. Clark will also try their luck in a relay or two. Their 4x100 had a pleasant result by qualifying for the CPS meet finals in 4x100- which is pretty good considering the CPS is sprint heavy. The 4x100 state qualifying standard is only a 44.64. Clark has run a 44.71 in the 4x100 this year.
City Long Jump champion Victor Taylor(sr) of King College Prep. It took a personal record of over 1 feet, but that was just enough for Taylor to win the 2013 CPS long jump title. His leap of 21-6 was just one inch more than runner up Joseph Toye(so) of Whitney Young, the pre-meet favorite.
The top 4 finishers finished over 21 feet.
Malachi Goodman(jr) missed out on scoring valuable points for Whitney Young as he finished 9th.
Clark has a budding long jump star as freshman Malachi Squall(fr) finished 10th overall with a great leap for a freshman of 19-1.25. That mark is the furthest long jump for a CPS freshman this year.
long jump picture results:
(click for bigger pic)
Clark head coach Kevin Simmons with star sprinter Paris Hilliard(jr). Hilliard came on top in the high profile and tight 100 meter dash that featured 4 runners finish within 0.05 of a second. 3 up and coming sophomores finished in the top 7 - all broke 12 seconds.
Results
Results garner respect. Clark is starting to build both. It started with the hire of coach Kevin Simmons.
"I started out at Orr, now I'm here at Clark. I'll tell you what, when I first went to Clark, the difference between Orr and Clark was night and day. I am trying to turn the program around and the kids are starting to believe in it," said Simmons.
Signs of that turn around started last spring for Clark (see article), when I called them a "developing Group C program". Then, in March they came up with a Group C runner up indoor title to champion Dusable. Furthermore, over the weekend Clark came up with a big outdoor track meet win at the CPS invite. They beat Brooks, Dusable, King, Curie, and Robeson among others. I know it's not a championship meet and some people will say it's only a mid-season win. But for a developing program like Clark it builds confidence and I'm sure they'll take it.
The Group C CPS Indoor track championship consisted of 22 schools. Group A and B have 12 schools each. So, Group C schools account for about 50% of the school in the CPS. With Group C schools consisting almost half of all CPS schools with track teams, there is bound to be some talent in Group C.
Lazyrick Middlebrooks(jr) of Chicago Bulls College Prep finished 2nd at last year's city frosh-soph meet and made it to this year's Outdoor Leaderboard with a time of 52.6 in the 400.
Lazyrick Middlebrooks(jr) of Chicago Bulls College Prep- Outside chance to score at the city meet in the 400.
Martin Brackett(sr) of Clark- 11.1 hand time in the 100 meter this year. I want to see an FAT time on him before making a judgement of his speed.
Paris Hilliard(so) of Clark- Has fastest 100 meter hand time for a freshman of sophomore in the CPS with a time of 11.1
Sharvon Johnson(so) of Phillips. Tied with Hilliard for the fastest 100 meter hand time for a freshman of sophomore in the CPS with a time of 11.1. Won the frosh-soph 100 at the North Lawndale Relays.
Miguel Tapia(sr) of Amundsen. Has the fastest Group C runner on the 1600 leaderboard. Too bad he is a senior. Amundsen has not scored at the city meet in a very long time. If he can somehow shave at least 10-15 seconds on his mile time, he has an outside chance of making the 1600 meter finals in the city meet.
Vidal Thomas(sr) of Kelly. This talented jumper is the only CPS jumper to high jump 6 feet, long jump over 20 feet, and triple jump over 40 feet outdoors so far this year. He could be a one man wrecking crew for Kelly at the city meet.
Others
Brandon Lane(so)- Phillips- sprints
John Romero III(fr)- Kennedy- sprints
Kendall Morris(so)- Phillips- sprints
Ben Satterfield(jr)-Phillips- sprints
Jonathon Doresey(fr)- Bulls- 400
Charles Billinsley(fr)-Bulls- 400
Saul Salinas(sr)-Hubbard- distance
Brian Quinonez(so)- Kennedy- middle distance
Alex Bermudez(so)- Little Village- distance
Victor Taylor(jr)- King-sprints
Manjaro Jackson(sr)- Gage Park-sprints
Thichin Spencer(jr)- Englewood-sprints
Christopher Thompson(jr)- Austin- throws
Johnny Daniels(jr)- Foreman- throws
Ladell Fleming(sr)- Julian- throws
Marshaun Bouie(sr)- Clark- jumps
The first goal of any track team is to first have some bodies. Then at some point, you gotta start thinking about scoring points (top 8 finish) at the city meet. The Clark boys track team is somewhere near that stage.
Here are some of Clark's results this indoor and outdoor season:
(I am the first to admit they are not spectacular times, but hey this is a developing Group C team)
Group C Indoor Team Result:
4th out of 21 teams
55 meter:
6.87 - Paris Hilliard(so) (makes varsity indoor leaderboard)
100 meter:
11.1 (hand time)- Martin Brackett(sr)
(I want to see an FAT time on Brackett)
800 meter:
2:16.3 - Darius Daniels(so)
(decent time for a sophomore)
long jump:
19-3 Martin Brackett(sr)
(this distance is usually good enough to make the finals at the city meet)
4x200:
1:34.4
(this is the fastest 4x200 relay time that I can remember Clark ever having. It also makes the outdoor leaderboard)
High jump:
6-0 Marshawn Bouie(sr)
(Group C runner up. One of only 4 CPS high jumpers to clear 6 feet indoors)
King has one of the top running backs in the city in Devon Robinson (sr- above). But after a tough loss to Harlan last week, will have a rough stretch the next two games having to play 3-1 Clark and 4-0 Robeson. The next two games will make or break their season.
Spotlight games
Mather vs Amundsen - in this battle between neighborhood rivals, Mather has the slight edge because they have the best athlete on the field in RB Rashaan Fox . This is an important game for both teams because a loss puts the losing team in the dreaded last place spot in conference. Last place is a sport no Illini-team wants to be in because that means you get sent down to a Chicago conference next year.
Clark vs King - Clark is riding high with a 3-1 record. King, who started the pre-season ranked in the top 10 in the city dropped out of the top 10 after a dispiriting loss to Harlan last week. A Clark win will put log jam at the top of the Illini-Land of Lincoln Conference with Harlan and Robeson undefeated in conference play. Clark is led by junior QB Terrance Hale.
Homecoming game. Lane vs Lincoln Park. Expect at least a 40-0 win for Lane by halftime, as this is a very dilapidated Lincoln Park team this year. Game has been moved to a night game instead of the traditional afternoon game because of day off of school.
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