Thornton's Lindsey clears tough hurdles

Thornton's William Lindsey has bounced back from a left hip injury to post the fastest qualifying time in the 110-meter hurdles for this weekend's Class 3A track state finals.
(Art Vassy/SouthtownStar)

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William Lindsey spent most of the spring wondering if his left hip flexor injury would heal in time for him to run in the state finals at Charleston this weekend.

Even after a brilliant performance at last Friday's Class 3A Homewood-Flossmoor Sectional, the Thornton hurdler can't shake the doubts.

‘‘I’m not 100 percent,’’ said Lindsey, who has the state's top qualifying time in the 110-meter hurdles (13.86 seconds) and the fourth fastest in the 300 hurdles (38.74).

‘‘I would say, honestly, about 60 percent. I actually have felt better, but after that [800 relay] at sectional, it felt like my hip kind of popped again. I’m like back where I started.’’

That’s still far ahead of most hurdlers.

‘‘He’s a horse,’’ Thornton coach Vince McAuliffe said of the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville recruit. ‘‘No ifs, ands or buts about it. He was pretty fit from his training for the indoor season. He had a tremendous base. He's one of those once-in-a-lifetime athletes.’’

For a while, it must have seemed to Lindsey that he might not to compete more often than that. He didn't make his outdoor debut till the Thornton Classic on May 9 after an agonizing wait.

‘‘I wanted to quit so many times because I was frustrated I couldn't run,’’ Lindsey said. ‘‘It was hard just to focus.’’

But Lindsey made it back and put up a time in the 110 hurdles last week that surprised even him.

‘‘It was my first [fully automated time] meet in a long time,’’ he said. I’ve run 13.7 hand-timed, 13.8 hand-timed. For me to run [13.86] FAT, I was amazed.’’

That won't mean anything, of course, if Lindsey doesn't follow it up with a similar performance in the 3A finals.

‘‘I don’t want to go down there with these top times and get beat,’’ he said.

Another senior heading downstate with some eye-popping numbers is Lake Park thrower Dan Block. The senior set the state record in the discus (208 feet, 11 inches) in the sectional and qualified first in the shot put (65-7 1/2, less than a foot off his own state record of 66-3).

Other individuals to watch include Morgan Park jumper Nigel Jolly and Bloom's multi-dimensional Japheth Cato, who qualified in the pole vault, 200 and long jump.

York ranks as the Class 3A team favorite on the strength of its relays, sprinter Khara Williams and distance stars Steve Sulkin and Jordan Herbert.

Hawks soaring

At the beginning of the season, Hillcrest was aiming for its first trophy in the new Class 2A. But after a dominant sectional effort, the Hawks have an inside track the first team state championship in any sport in school history.

Hillcrest has the top two qualifying times in each of four events: the 100 (Pierre Williams, Ryan Keen), 400 (Williams, Sam Russell), 110 hurdles (Maurice Lyke, Jamison Wilson) and 300 hurdles (Danny Harris, Lyke). The Hawks also are top-seeded in the discus (Aaron Carr) and 400 relay.

Callahan sets pace

North Shore's Peter Callahan, last year's Class A champ in the 1,600, led Thursday's Class 1A qualifying in that event (4:21.37) and in the 800 (1:56.56).