Track: Hillcrest has high hopes in 2A

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This is the weekend Ron Towner has been pointing toward the entire boys track season.

To be honest, the Hillcrest Hawks coach has been pointing toward it for years, and especially since the IHSA announced the split of track and field into three classes.

A threat in the old Class AA, his Hawks are the dominant team in the state in Class 2A, the odds-on choice to win the title. It would be Hillcrest’s first team state championship since the school opened in 1967.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” Towner said at Wednesday’s practice. “We’re ready. We’re happy with how we’re looking right now.”

Based on sectional times, the Hawks have the top two Class 2A qualifiers in the 100- and 400-meter dashes, and in both hurdle races. If they finish 1-2 in those four races, that’s 72 points in Hillcrest’s pocket, probably enough for an easy victory long before any relay races are factored in. (At the girls championships last week, the three class winners totaled from 36 to 53 points.)

“We’re set up well, but anything can happen downstate,” Towner said, noting strong contingents that Springfield Lanphier and Cahokia will be bringing to O’Brien Field in Charleston. “We’ve never been in this position before, and these kids haven’t been in this position before. But almost every kid we’re counting on has been there before, which is huge.”

The speed starts with 100-meter man Pierre Williams, who has run a Southland-best 10.30 twice this season, including in last week’s sectional. He also qualified first in 2A statewide in the 400 (48.70). And he has company: Ryan Keen ran a 10.50 100 to advance, while Sam Russell’s 400 was a snappy 48.80. Wilson and Russell are also qualified in the triple jump.

In the hurdles, senior Maurice Lyke (13.80) is just ahead of junior Jamison Wilson (14.10) in the 110 high hurdles race, while senior Danny Harris (38.20) edges Lyke by a tenth of a second.

Hillcrest, with the aforementioned cast of characters, is also in the 400, 800 and 1,600 relays, with their 400 relay sectional time of 41.30 the best in Class 2A by more than a second. (The best three Class 2A times in the 800 relay belong to Bremen, Crete-Monee and Hillcrest.)

For variety, the Hawks also qualified the best Class 2A discus thrower, Aaron Carr (157 feet, 2 inches), plus high jumpers Ken Burke and Robert Harris (both at 5-11) and pole vaulter Jordan Estrada (11-3).

The last Southland boys team to win the state track and field title was Thornwood. The Thunderbirds annexed four straight Class AA championships from 2001-04. Hillcrest, which a previous best finish of sixth in Class AA in 2002, has an excellent opportunity to start a string of titles, and do so in the new Class 2A, which the IHSA is considering a completely new division. (The old Class A records are transferred to 1A, while Class AA marks are now part of 3A.)

The Southland’s 3A contingent is led by a quartet of schools. Morgan Park, Homewood-Flossmoor and Thornton are strong in the sprints, while Sandburg is a pace-setter in distance races and throws.

Morgan Park’s best performer, however, is jumper Nigel Jolly, the defending long jump champion. He’s in both the long jump (23-31⁄2, better than his winning length of 22-10 last year) and triple jump (47-5). The Mustangs also have threats in the 100 (Timothy Lewis, 10.60), 200 (Christopher Dolton, 21.90), and the 110 hurdles (Da’Ron Brown, 14.30).

Homewood-Flossmoor boasts the fastest 400-meter man in the area in Eric Oliver, whose 48.05 clocking of April 18 hasn’t been surpassed. He qualified in 48.63, which led all area sectional runners. Oliver (22.00) and teammate Kolby Robertson (21.83) are also in the 200, and Oliver also qualified for the 100 (10.76). With H-F also in the 400 and 800-meter relays, Oliver figures to run in the maximum four races.

Thornton draws its strength from hurdler William Lindsey, whose times of 13.70 in the 110 high hurdles and 38.10 in the 300 low hurdles lead the Southland. The Wildcats also have a pair of threatening sprinters in Romel Marzette (10.63 in the 100, 22.00 in the 200) and Timothy Faust (21.60 in the 200).

The area’s best all-around athlete may be Bloom’s Japheth Cato. He wants to specialize in the decathlon at Wisconsin, and has a miniature version of it lined up in Charleston. He’s qualified in the 200, the long jump and the pole vault, and may end up on one of Bloom’s three relay teams (400, 800 or 1,600).

In Class 1A, Seton’s Sean Martin qualified in three events, and ranks as one of the favorites in the long jump. His leap of 22-11in the sectional ranks second to London Oliver of Sparta. “He’s peaking at the right time,” Seton coach Damani Shakoor said of Martin. “He has confidence going into state, and a really good chance of doing really well.”

Martin’s also in the 100 and 200 dashes.

The other Southland qualifier in 1A, Beecher’s Griffin Nykaza, is coming off a calf injury suffered before the sectional. He still ran 2:02.27 in the 800 to advance.

“He hasn’t run since then,” Henry Nykaza, his father and the Bobcats coach, said, adding that Griffin was going to test the leg with some 200-meter sprints before traveling to Charleston. “We’ll see.”