Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Prelim Preview - 100 meter

Cameron Allen(sr- center) of Whitney Young and Rahim Foster (jr-left) are one of the fastest runners on their teams but will face stiff competition against the rest of the city in a very deep 100 meter dash. 

Event 12  Boys 100 Meter Dash
===============================================================================
16 Advance:  Top 1 Each Heat plus Next 10 Best Times
   Name     Year School Seed   
===============================================================================
Heat 1  Prelims
  1   3092 Taylor, Donnell    10 Perspectives Cal   11.92
  2   3241 Amison, Anton 10 Schurz     11.54
  3   3389 Janowski, Kevin    10 Steinmetz Ac   11.34
  4   2477 Brown, Daron   12 Morgan Park    10.94
  5   2402 Foster, Rahiem     11 Mather     11.34
  6   2008 Eichie, Kevin 11 Lane Technic   11.54
  7   3748 Robinson, Jarvis   10 Wendell Phil   11.88
Heat 2  Prelims
  1   3313 McBride, Calvin    11 South Shore    11.94
  2   2599 Dickson, Eric 11 Neal F Simeo   11.63
  3   1738 Frazier, Terrel    12 Kenwood Acad   11.43
  4   1680 Carter, Brian 10 Kelvyn Park    11.11
  5    510 Castine, Denzell   11 Corliss    11.24
  6    867 Lucas, Shavell     10 Fenger Of Ch   11.54
  7   3702 Chandler, Michael 12 Von Steuben    11.84
Heat 3  Prelims
  1   2901 Petty, Tyren   11 Orr Academy    11.94
  2   2805 Melto, Mac     10 Northside Co   11.55
  3    183 Donald, Jamel 12 Bogan 11.34
  4    542 Woolfolk, Rasheed 11 Corliss    11.04
  5    388 Smith, Darius 11 Chicago Voc    11.34
  6   2675 Uzoho, Keenan 12 Nicholas Sen   11.54
  7   3021 Kalanik, Jack 10 Payton     11.88
Heat 4  Prelims
  1    913 Young, CJ 12 Foreman    11.94
  2   3675 Williams, Rashid   10 Urban Prep     11.64
  3    382 Mcclendon, William     12 Chicago Voc    11.44
  4   1432 Stubbs, Jamal 11 Hyde Park Ca   11.14
  5    845 Beane, Tyshaun     11 Fenger Of Ch   11.22
  6   2070 Rowe, Matthew 10 Lane Technic   11.44
  7   3126 Payton, Brandon    12 Prosser Care   11.84
  8   2136 Merriweather, Torean   12 Lincoln Park   12.04
Heat 5  Prelims
  1   2603 Evans, Cory    11 Neal F Simeo   12.02
  2   2760 Agharese, Nathaniel     9 Northside Co   11.64
  3   3666 Minor, Jamal   12 Urban Prep     11.44
  4   1413 Crayton, Rashaud   11 Hyde Park Ca   11.14
  5   2516 Jones, Brian   12 Morgan Park    11.14
  6   2924 Young, Carl     9 Orr Academy    11.44
  7    911 Thomas, Chris 12 Foreman    11.64
  8   1688 McNeeley, Jamal     9 Kelvyn Park    12.04
Heat 6  Prelims
  1   1821 Pledger, Christopher   12 King   11.94
  2    182 Cole, Kevin    11 Bogan 11.54
  3   3096 Washington, Lonnie 9 Perspectives Cal   11.34
  4    770 Rutledge, Deshaun 12 Dunbar Vocat   11.04
  5   3877 Allen, Cameron     12 Whitney-Youn   11.24
  6   3382 Cooper, Deon   12 Steinmetz Ac   11.54

Neilski's Picks
Heat 1 Daron Brown, Morgan Park
Heat 2 Brian Carter, Kelvyn Park
Heat 3 Rasheed Woolfolk, Corliss
Heat 4 Matt Rowe, Lane Tech
Heat 5 Brian Jones, Morgan Park
Heat 6 Lonnie Washington, Calumet

bubble advancers
Rahim Foster, Mather
Jamal Stubbs, Hyde Park
Rashuad Crayton, Hyde Park
Carl Young, Orr
Deshaun Rutledge, Dunbar
Cameron Allen, Whitney Young

Final 2009 CPS Football Rankings

Gregory McDowell (sr), all-conference quarterback from Orr.

1. Simeon - Prep Bowl and CPS Champs. Gave close games to Mt. Carmel in the state playoffs and St. Rita in the Prep Bowl. Return their top offensive weapons stud QB Robert Gregory and running back Horatio Banks. Will be ranked #1 in the CPS to start the season next year. Simeon has the best line play in the CPS.

2. Hubbard - City runner-ups. Only one of two CPS schools to advance to second round of state playoffs, losing a close game to Belvidere North. Starting quarterback Quincy Skanes is only a sophomore. Combine Skanes with really good sophomore team and Hubbard should be fine the next few years.

3. Morgan Park - Beat Brother Rice to open season. Also beat Hubbard and Simeon during the regular season, largely behind senior QB Daron Brown. Only one of two CPS teams to advance to 2nd round of state playoffs. Sophomore DeShaun Hurley appears to be the heir apparent to Brown. Some say he could be just as good if not better than Brown. Morgan Park will need to reload after losing lot's of players to graduation.

4. Robeson - Another solid season for CPS state semi-finalist- giving city champion Simeon all it can handle. Won conference....again! Robeson will return junior quarterback Juwane Pipkins- one of the top QB's in the city after Robert Gregory of Simeon.

5. King - 2nd to Robeson in conference. This is a one of the top rising football programs in the CPS. You will hear more about King football in the next few years. Word on the street is that the top CPS elementary football players want to head to King. To move up to the next level, King will need to work on a few things like their passing game and getting more of their kids academically eligible.

6. Curie - 2nd to Simeon in the Illini-Red Bird Conference- including victories over Dunbar and Lane. Curie's hopes next year will be on teh development of quarterback Maurice Fleming. He is only a sophomore. Curie returns almost it's entire line.

7. Lane Tech - After winning city last year, a disappointing year for the Indians. Finishing an uncharacteristic 3rd in conference, missed state playoffs, and getting knocked out in the first round of the city playoffs to Hubbard 33-0. Lane will have to replace it's starting running back, starting quarterback, and two of it's top lineman all-stater Laken Tomlinson (Duke) and Louis Pasat-Trinca (Iowa).

8. Al Raby - This could be the best of the Chicago Conference teams -winning with an undefeated 7-0 record. Al Raby surpised the heck out of everyone -including myself losing only by a score of 16-9 to traditional power Morris in the first round of the state playoffs. I'm looking forward to see how Raby does in the Illini conference next year.

9. Bogan - Undefeated regular season in the Chicago Windy City Conference - including victories over Julian and suburban Tinley Park. Bogan moves up to the Illini-conference next year.

10. Mather - Mather wins the Chicago Big Shoulders conference - including a 34-13 victory over 8-2 Taft. Mather may have the top athlete in the city in all-everything Ameen Solebo. Solebo is an all-city football player, city runner up in wrestling, and city shot-put champion in track.

Others - Taft, Julian, Dunbar, Foreman, Brooks, Orr, Harlan

www.CPSfan CPSFootball Fan Page

CPS 2009 Pre-season Football Rankings

Defending city champion Lane Tech is ranked number #1 in the CPS all classes rankings. Pictured above is Michael Rivera (#61, 5-6, 190lb jr) and  Jarquez Robinson( #65, 6-3, 250lbs, OL).

Here are my CPS 2009 Pre-season rankings. This ranking only includes state playoff eligible schools.

CPS 2009 Pre-season class 5A and 6A rankings

1. Morgan Park (6A)
2. Hubbard (6A)
3. Robeson
4. Clark (5A)
5. Harlan (6A)
6. Fenger (5A)
7. King (6A)
8. Hope (5A)
9. Marshall (5A)
10. Crane (5A)
12. Orr (5A)
13. Brooks (5A)
14. Manley (5A)

CPS 2009 7A-8A pre-season rankings

1. Lane Tech (8A)
2. Simeon (8A)
3. Curie (8A)
4. CVS (8A)
5. Dunbar (8A)
6. Steinmetz  (7A)
7. Lincoln Park  (7A)
8. Whitney Young  (8A)
9. Hyde Park  (8A)

CPS 2009 all classes rankings

1. Lane Tech
2. Morgan Park
3. Hubbard
4. Simeon
5. Robeson
6. Curie
7. CVS
8. Dunbar
9. Steinmetz
10. Lincoln Park
11. Clark
12. Harlan
13. Whitney Young
14. Fenger
15. King
16. Hope
17. Hyde Park
18. Marshall
19. Crane
20. Brooks

CPS Illini Prairie State Conference Schedule (Amundsen, CVS, Hubbard, LP, MP, Steinmetz)

CVS is new to the Prairie State Conference.

I added the Prairie State Conference Schedule to the Schedules Page.

2009 CPS Prairie State Conference Teams
Amundsen
CVS
Hubbard
Lincoln Park
Morgan Park
Steinmetz

Top Non-conference games

Morgan Park vs Brother Rice @ Soldier Field, Week 1
CVS vs Marist, Week 1
Hubbard vs. Evanston Week 2
Morgan Park vs Geneva Week 2
Hubbard vs Kankakee @ Kankakee Week 3
Steinmetz vs Ottawa Week 2

Circle Your calendar for these top conference matchups
Morgan Park vs Hubbard, Week 8 (probably for the conference title)
Hubbard @ CVS, Week 4
Amundsen vs Steinmetz, Week 5 (probably for last and who get's kicked down to a lower conference)

Neilski's Prairie State Conference Predictions
1. Morgan Park
2. Hubbard
3. CVS
4. Lincoln Park
5. Steinmetz
6. Amundsen

2009 Illini Heartland Schedule Released

2009 Illini Heartland Schedules Page has been released and can permanently be found on the football schedules page.

2009 CPS Illini-Prairie State Football Conference Overview

 

Lincoln Park (right) and Jason Stigler (#1- right) will be new to the Illini-Prairie State conference - the most known CPS football conference because of Morgan Park and Hubbard.

2009 Illini Prairie State Teams:

Amundsen
CVS
Hubbard
Lincoln Park
Morgan Park
Steinmetz

As long as Morgan Park and Hubbard are in the conference the Illini Prairie State conference will ALWAYS be the strongest and most talked about conference in the CPS. And all rightfully so. Morgan Park and Hubbard are the two CPS teams that consistently go deeper in the state playoffs year in and year out than any other CPS teams and that includes Robeson, Simeon, and Lane Tech. It was no different last year as both teams won state playoff games versus suburban opponents. Hubbard romped Oak Lawn 27-9 in the first round of the state playoffs before falling to state quarter finalist Glenbard South by a tight score of 14-7. Morgan Park beat a 7-2 Crystal Lake Central team in the first round before falling to class 6A state runner up Lemont in the 2nd round. In fact, Hubbard and Morgan Park were the ONLY two CPS teams to win a state playoff game in any class. Because of Morgan Park's and Hubbard's presence in this conference I'm going to expand my preview of this conference. I'll start out with an overview and then go more in detail on individual teams and players.

Last year

Last year the Illini Prairie State consisted of Hubbard, Morgan Park, Simeon, CVS, Dunbar, and Julian. Hubbard, Morgan Park, and Simeon all finished with 4-1 conference records with Simeon beating Morgan Park, Hubbard beating Simeon, and Morgan Park beating Hubbard. Hubbard was considered the conference champion - probably due to better non-conference record. Here was last year's conference standings:

                W L W L Own Opp.
R-Chicago (Hubbard)      4 1 10 3 403 183
C-Chicago (Morgan Park)    4 1 8 5 402 227
C-Chicago (Simeon)       4 1 8 5 357 259
 Chicago (C. Vocational)    2 3 5 6 209 258
 Chicago (Dunbar)       1 4 4 5 202 198
 Chicago (Julian)       0 5 2 7 90 234

Jason Stigler (sr- 5'7"- 185lbs- RB) from  Lincoln Park brings to the conference over 1500 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns last year.(berecruited photo)

Realignment

For the 2009 season, the CPS decided to do a realignment of conferences. Hubbard, Morgan Park, and CVS stays in the conference. CVS, Dunbar, and Julian goto different conferences. Replacing them will be Lincoln Park and Steinmetz from the Illini-Red Bird conference and Chicago Conference Big Shoulders conference champion Amundsen. Don't expect any of the  new guys to challenge for the conference. Hubbard and Morgan Park will be the prohibitive favorites.

Coming soon Prairie State conference team previews, top players, and predictions....

Illini-Heartland Conference Preview

CPSFan football page

CPS Top Class of 2010 players

Hubbard Greyhounds Store Added to School Store Page

I added a Hubbard Greyhounds Store to the School Store Page.

2009 CPS Illini - Land of Lincoln Football Conference Preview...Part 2

Robeson looks to be flying high again as the favorites to win the Land of Lincoln Conference. (Chicago Defender photo).

2009 Illini Land of Lincoln Teams:

Harlan
Harper
King
Manley
Marshall
Robeson

Team Outlooks (Part 1)

Harper
2008 record = 5-5
Most impressive 2008 Win = win versus Dunbar 36-30
Worst 2008 Loss = 36-0 loss versus Robeson
Neilski's take on Harper
Harper was a bit of an enigma in 2008. They beat tradition power Dunbar 36-30 and played football powerhouse Morgan Park competitively in a 30-14 CPS playoff loss. But at the same time they got crushed 36-0 versus Dunbar and was never in it a 56-6 loss to Kankakee in the state playoffs. Harper will be a rebuilding team as they graduated Jelone Carrol and star running back Cordarrly Banks.

King
2008 record = 5-4
Most impressive 2008 Win = 18-14 victory over Robeson
Worst 2008 Loss = 26-0 loss to Harper
Neilski's take on King
King high school is primarily a rushing team that likes to use many different athletes to carry the ball. That formula worked in last year's 18-14 victory over traditional football power Robeson. Some of the ball carriers that coach Lonnie Williams expects to run with the ball this year include Adam Freeman (5-8; 165lb RB/DB, sr) and Devon Robinson (5-8, 170lb; RB/DB, jr). On the defensive side look out for 2008 leading tackler Vincent Bobbit (DB, 5-10, 165; sr), and sophomore sensation Willie Allen (6-2, 175lb, so). Last year as a freshman Allen led the Jaguars in sacks with 7 and was second in tackles. At 6-2 and 175lbs (and still growing), Allen has the frame combined with athleticism to develop into an impact player.

Manley
2008 record = 6-4
Most impressive 2008 Win = 6-0 win versus Clark
Worst 2008 Loss = 20-14 loss versus Lincoln Park in the CPS playoffs
Neilski's take on Manley
Manley's first game at downstate Geneseo will not be pretty. After that, Manley will be a middle of the road CPS team in 2009. Their big conference games will be against Robeson and Harlan.

Marshall
2008 record = 5-5
Most impressive 2008 Win = 26-6 win over Harper
Worst 2008 Loss = 38-6 loss versus Robeson
Neilski's take on Marshall
Marshall added Raby in Week 1 replacing downstate Rock Island who demolished Marshall 41-0 last year. Marshall returns starting QB Eric Givens (6-2; 180lbs) and middle linebacker Jerald Jones (6-1, 205lbs)

Robeson
2008 record = 9-2
Most impressive 2008 Win = 18-14 victory over Riverside Brookfield
Worst 2008 Loss = 54-13 loss versus Morgan Park
Neilski's take on Robeson
Many expected Robeson to take a bit of a drop off after graduating a lot of it's name brand stars from its stellar 2007 season. But, Robeson would hear not of that as they rolled to an undefeated 9-0 regular season inclduding impressive non-conference victories over Gary West (Indiana) and an even more eye opening win versus state playoff qualifier Riverside Brookfield. Robeson then rolled over their conference opponents. The 2009 Robeson team will be absent any Division I caliber type players as they have had in the past years like Charles Brown (now at Northwestern) and Brandon Green (now at Minnesota). But coach Fabray Collins always has his team ready. Collins is also to track and wrestling coach. He keeps his athletes conditioned year round and makes practically every football player run track in the spring. Look out for senior wide receiver Martinez Young.

Neilski's Land of Lincoln 2009 Predictions

1. Robeson
2. Harlan
3. King
4. Marshall
5. Harper
6. Manley

2009 CPS Illini - Land of Lincoln Football Conference Preview...Part 1 (Harlan)

2009 CPS Illini - Land of Lincoln Football Conference Preview...Part 1 (Harlan)

2009 Illini Land of Lincoln Teams:

Harlan
Harper
King
Manley
Marshall
Robeson

Team Outlooks (Part 1)

 
Harlan's Tashaun Johnson (5-11; 160lbs; jr) passed for over 1000 yards last year and seems to be developing into one of the city's top junior Quarterbacks.

Harlan
2008 record = 6-4
Most impressive 2008 Win = 33-14 over Manley
Worst 2008 Loss = 36-26 loss to a 5-5 Clark team; or a 68-6 annihilation to a very good Antioch team in the first round of the playoffs.
Neilski's take on Harlan: Harlan had an 18 point halftime lead versus Clark last year after quarterback Tashaun Johnson passed for 4 first half touchdowns. All they needed to do was hold on and they would take conference outright. But Clark stormed back in the second half for a 36-26 win.The win was apparently demoralizing as Harlan lost their next game 40-6 versus CVS in the first round of the Public League playoffs and then got crushed 68-6 versus a very good Antioch team in the first round of the playoffs. The good news for Harlan is that star Quarterback Tashuan Johnson returns. Johnson (5-11 160lbs) will only be a junior this year. Johnson passed for over 1000 yards last year as a sophomore. He seems to be developing as one of the top QB's in the city. Johnson will also be helped by the return of Joseph Wright, Harlan's leading rusher last year. Wright at 5-11, 195lbs ran over his opponents last years while averaging 6.8 yards every time he touched the rock. Defensively, the Falcons return Carva Tucker, their leading tackler and at 6-0, 215lb a solid built linebacker. To top it off Harlan made some off season news when they hired Keith Brookshire as their new football coach. Brookshire was a long time assistant coach for Morgan Park under legendary coach Lexie Spurlock.

My outlook on Harlan is that based on their returning skill players from last year in Wright at tailback and Johnson a multi-dimension quarterback, Harlan would have already been good this year. Combine the returning players with an expert football coaching from Brookshire, Harlan has the makings of a very good football team in 2009. I expect Harlan to challenge if not be the favorite for the conference title and they should perform much better in the city and state playoffs.

2009 CPS Illini-Heartland Conference Preview

Darnell Pearson (6-1, 171lbs, sr, WR) of Clark is one of the top players in the Illini-Heartland Conference (scout.com photo)

The Illini-Heartland Conference Preview is the first of a series of football conference previews that I will do for the CPS. I will probably only review Illini-conferences because those are the only ones CPS schools are eligible for the state playoffs. New for 2009 is a realignment of the Illini conferences. Last year, teams in the Heartland Conference were: Manley, Harlan, Brooks, Phillips, Crane, and Clark. This year the conference will include Brooks, Clark, Crane, Hope, Fenger, and Orr.

Team Outlooks

Brooks
Brooks will have a difficult time finding a conference win this year. Last year they were 2-6 with losses to Hubbard 58-0 and Clark 42-0. Their only two wins came against Crane 7-6 and a win less Phillips team 2-0.

Clark
Clark,has to be one of the favorites this year based on their returning offensive firepower from last year. Quarterback Dexter Beverly returns with his wide receiver duo of Erlzo Singleton and Darnell Pearson. Pearson (6-0; 170) and Singleton form one of the city's top wide receiver duo. Also look out for 6-2, 288lb lineman Brandon Robinson.

Crane
Crane is coming off of  back to back 1-8 seasons and maybe headed towards another comparable season record. Their non-conference schedule includes a non-conference week 3 match up against suburban Rich East in week 3. Crane returns senior Willie Tayler.

Tyshaun Beane (jr- RB) will give speed to Fenger at the Running Back position.

Fenger
Fenger holds the distinction of one of the few CPS schools to have beaten a suburban school last year when it beat Seton Academy from South Holland in week 2 last year. But don't expect a repeat this year when they play non-conference games versus Argo of Summit in week 1 and Leo from the Chicago Catholic League in week 2. But after those two games, Fenger should be competitive based on numbers alone. Fenger has one fo the largest rosters in the conference. The key for Fenger will be to find a replacement for star QB Kirkland Brinker. Brinker passed for 1136 yards last year for the Titans - while also qualifying for state sectionals in wrestling. Brinker was also one of the city's top 400 meter runners last year.  Brinker will play football this fall for Joliet Junior College. Fenger returns speedy running back Tyshaun Beane, one of the fastest running backs in the city.

Hope
The Eagles are new to the Illini conference after winning the Chicago Great Lakes Conference last year. But don't expect Hope to be a cake walk. Last year's 7-3 record was not a fluke. They shut out Whitney Young from the Illini Conference by a score of 14-0 record and played CPS runner up Hubbard very competitively in a 17-0 loss.

Orr
Orr is also new to the Illini conference after winning the Chicago Second City Conference. You gotta give Orr some credit for playing a tough non-conference record. This year they play Oak Forest and Wauconda.

Neilski's 2009 Illini Heartland Conference Predictions
1. Clark
2. Fenger
3. Hope
4. Crane
5. Orr
6. Brooks

Some Top Conference Players
Darnell Pearson, Clark (WR, sr)
Earlzo Singleton, Clark (WR, sr)
Tyshaun Beane, Fenger (RB, jr)
Dexter Beverly, Clark (QB, sr)
Willie Tayler, Crane (lineman)
Brandon Robinson, Clark (6-2, 288lbs, sr)
Rodney Loyd , Fenger (WR, sr)