By Michael Newman, ILXCTF.com Editor

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The second year of the Distance Night in Palatine Meet had some dark clouds at the beginning of the week. Weather forecasts had predicted rain and temperatures in the low 40’s. A guardian angel must be looking over Chic Anderson Stadium on the campus of Palatine High School. Temperatures are supposed to be just as cool but without no precipitation. The hope now for meet director Chris Quick is that the winds die down from what they are predicted. The forecast calls for winds from 10 to 15 mph. Just like the rain, maybe the winds will disappear.

Quick has put together another good field of athletes that could challenge the fast times that were produced in the inaugural edition of this meet last year.  Both the Boys and Girls races have the potential to be fast. The Boys 1600, headed by Grayslake Central’s Jack Aho and Wisconsin’s Finn Gessner, have the potential to be faster than last year’s race in which Sean Torpy ran a winning 4:08.64. The Boys 3200 Meter Run, led by Whitney Young’s Clayton Mendez, has the potential to have a winning time under nine-minutes.

Here is a look at the six championship races that will take place on Saturday night. The meet starts at 7:00 PM with the Boys Freshman 1600 Meter Run. Championship races are scheduled to begin at 9:00 PM.

Heat Sheets

Boys

3200 Meter Run

I think we see a sub-nine in his meet and here’s why. Clayton Mendez of Whiney Young will be running the 800 and 1600 the night before at the Bob Cohoon Invitational at Downers Grove North and will be coming back at this distance in this meet. We saw Mendez run the US #2 9:01.89 indoors at the end of February. He has not had the competition to push him in his last two races. The 9:11 he ran in winning at Illinois Top Times was a solo effort. Last week at the #SmithStrong Invitational, he went through the first 1600-meters in 4:35 but it was into a 25-mph wind. Conditions will be better on Saturday for Mendez to dip under that time barrier. It will depend how Mendez recovers from the two races the night before.

Mendez will have the competition to push him in this race. Brayden Hamblen of Rock Falls won last fall’s 1A state title and is progressing close to a sub-nine effort. He ran 9:11.99 at the Arcadia (CA) Invitational two weeks ago but was not satisfied. We could see him push the pace the first 1600-meters possibly going past at 4:30 or faster. Hamblen has the talent to push Mendez where one or both gone under nine. Logan Hall of Arthur-Lovington pushed Hamblen to 9:18 as Hall ran 9:21.70 at the University of Illinois at the beginning of March. The junior is another runner we could see towards the front.

Tanner Chada of Hinckley-Big Rock ran 9:17.02 at Florida State in March and will also be a factor in this race. Matt Pereira of Lake Zurich has only raced once this track season. He does have the resume being all-state in cross country three times and qualifying for the Foot Locker Nationals twice. He ran 9:21.2 last year. If he is entered in this race, he is surely ready for a fast time. Expect him near the front Saturday night.

9:13 was the winning time last year and I could see that being surpassed by a bunch of runners in this race. Runners like Wyatt McIntyre of Athens, Brian Leonard of Palatine, Jack Worman of Hoffman Estates, and Jeremy Adams of Jones College Prep all have the talent to be under 9:20. This could be the race of the night. We will just have to wait and see.

800 Meter Run

Arthur Santoro of Jones College Prep ran 1:54.86 (IL #3) at the Arcadia (CA) Invitational wo weeks ago and has the fastest outdoor time heading into this meet. Josh Cable of Rochester ran 1:57.88 to win last weekend at the Capitol City Classic. He does have a 1:53.25 personal best and won the 2A Illinois Top Times Championships in March. He should challenge Santoro in this race.

This event is wide-open with several runners with the possibility of winning. Wes York of Waubonsie Valley only ran 2:05 last week to win at the #SmithStrong Invitational but has been running some great tactical races recently. He did run 1:58 indoors. If this race becomes a “kicker’s fest”, then York may be the runner to watch. Kyle Thompson of Wheaton-Warrenville South, John Gerardi of Rolling Meadows, JB Sandlund of St. Charles East, Ed Worthem of Fremd, and Jon Prus of Crystal Lake South are some of the other runners that I would keep an eye on all with the talent to take home the win.

1600 Meter Run

This field is loaded. I think we see a sub-4:10 happening in almost perfect distance running weather on Saturday night. Jack Aho of Grayslake Central ran 4:12 to finish third in this race last year. I think we could see a sub-4:10 from him in this race. He ran 4:13 and 4:15 indoors and ran a 4:20.8 relay split two weeks ago at the Conant Relays. He is ready for this meet. Finn Gessner of La Follette High School in Madison, Wisconsin should be Aho’s chief competition in this race. Gessner, who finished second last December at the Foot Locker Nationals, has showed that he is fit for this race running 8:47.57 for 3200-meters at the Arcadia (CA) Invitational on April 8. He only has a 4:16 personal best but has showed from that 3200 he is ready for a fast 1600.

I would not count out Brian Griffith of Lake Zurich in this race. Griffith had the fastest indoor time in the state this winter in the 800 (1:55.38). He also has a good confidence edge after his cross-country season where he finished fifth at the IHSA 3A State Cross Country Championships and qualified for the Foot Locker Nationals. He only has raced twice this season. I think he could be up towards the front in his race. Chris Conrad of O’Fallon makes the trip to the Chicagoland area with the state’s second fastest time in the 800 (1:53.85). He has a seed time of 4:20. I think he could go faster at Palatine.

Reese Jordan of Maine South ran 4:19 indoors with the talent to run faster in this race. Zach Albrecht of Jacobs was a surprise during the indoor season having run 4:20 at this distance. We could see a personal best from him in this meet. Kyle Griffith of Lake Zurich and Danny Peterson of Fremd are some of the other runners in this field that could go below 4:20. Michael Ronzone of Marmion Academy won the Batavia Distance Madness 1600 Meter Run and should play a factor in this race. Dylan Zangri of Oswego East could be the surprise in this race.

Girls Events

3200 Meter Run

Eight runners went under 11-minutes in last year’s race. It will be interesting to see if the record that Dakota Roman ran last year (10:42.38) is surpassed. Danielle Osmon of Grant High School has the top seed time in this race (11:02.14) after her win last week at the Barrington Girls Invitational. Her time is currently the third fastest time in the state. Sarah Barcelona of Lyons Township will run this distance for the first time this outdoor season. She did run 10:59.01 in March at the WSC-Silver Championships when she finished second behind Glenbard West’s Lindsey Payne. Her time of 5:03.42 to win the 1600 Meter Run at the Bruce Ritter Invitational last week indicates she is ready for a time under 10:50.

Allison McGrath of Wheaton-Warrenville South finished eighth in this race a year ago and has the third fastest seed in this race. She ran a personal best of 11:07.41 at Batavia Distance Madness in March. The University of Illinois signee could be the runner pushing the pace in this race. Freshman Brenna Cohoon of Downers Grove South ran 11:02.13 to finish fourth at Illinois Top Times last month. She could be the surprise in this race. There are five other runners behind Cohoon that are within five seconds of each other. Hailey Bowes of Hersey, who ran 11:02.65 indoors, could be the surprise in this race.

800 Meter Run

Two defending state champions highlight the third and concluding section of this event. Rachel Hickey of LaSalle-Peru was second in this even last year and could be the favorite in this wide-open race. The 2A state champion from a year ago has not run a serious 800 outdoors yet this season but did run 2:17.52 to win the 2A Illinois Top Times Championships. Arielle Summitt of Urbana University, who was the 1A state champion in this distance last year, ran 2:16 indoors and ran 2:19.65 last week at the Unity Invitational. She will be one of the runners pushing the pace. Emily Stegmeier of Elk Grove has the fastest outdoor time this season in this event (2:16.22) that she ran last week at Hinsdale Central. That time is currently ranked third in the state. I would not count her out.

Abby Fioresi of Aurora Central Catholic ran 2:18 to win last week at Yorkville. She also ran 2:17.68 to finish second behind Hickey at Illinois Top Times. I think Fioresi could be one of the surprises in this race. Avryl Johnson of Libertyville ran 2:19.74 outdoors, but has a 2:14.22 personal best to her credit. We should expect to see her towards the front in his race. Emma Milburn of Lake Forest has similar times as Johnson both indoors and personal bests. She finished second behind Johnson in the wind last week at Vernon Hills. The surprise could be Anna Miller of Hoffman Estates. The sophomore has dropped her personal best down 13-seconds from 2:29 to the 2:16.93 that she ran at the Mid-Suburban League Indoors last March.

The field is good to produce a winning time under 2:14. A time that fast will be dependent if the winds die down by the time race goes off.

1600 Meter Run

How many runners do we get under five minutes in the championship race of this distance? The potential is there to see five to seven runners close or under if the weather cooperates. Olivia Nizolek of Maine South has the sixth fastest time in the state outdoors (5:03.91) from her win last week at Wheaton North. Isabelle Christiansen of Oswego was four seconds behind in that race after running in her team’s 3200 Relay in that meet. She has a 5:03 personal best. She could be a runner to watch in this race.

Brooke Wilson of Prospect could be one of the runners to watch. She went under five-minutes in March at the MSL Indoor Invitational winning that race in 4:59.62. She is the only runner under five in this field. I expect her to go lower in this race. Isabelle Sparreo of Stevenson finished third in this race last year. She ran 5:06.89 to win at Buffalo Grove two weeks ago showing she can win this race. Sarah Harden of Hersey ran 10:57 for 3200-meters last week at Glenbard South and ran 5:03 indoors behind Wilson at the MSL Indoor Invitational in March. I would not count her out in this race. Class 1A runners Daly Galloway of Dwight and Claudia Magnussen of Pana are in this field with the possibility of finishing in the top five. Katherine Olsen of DeKalb was a surprise at Batavia Distance Madness and could be a surprise in this race. Sara Atkins of Wheaton-Warrenville South has run 5:09 this outdoor season off a double. We could see her close to five minutes in this race.

Sixteen runners are seeded within 12-seconds in the fastest section of this distance. I think the race is wide open with anyone having the possibility to win. I do believe we will see a sub-5 in this race.