Lifted by the energy of a sun-splashed, capacity crowd at O'Brien Stadium, three Class AA high jumpers exceeded 7-1 for the first time in the 100-year history of the state meet. Defending champion Shannon King of Waukegan led the way at 7-3, tying the fourth best jump in state history. Second went to Evanston's Walter Hicks at 7-2 while 7-1 was only worth third to East St. Louis Lincoln's Eugene Anthony.
"When everybody started jumping well I got in the flow," said King, who went out at 7-4 and then returned for his final attempt in the triple jump, bounding 49-8 1/4 for second. It took a AA meet triple jump record of 50-7 by Decatur MacArthur's Byron Topps to best King, who also placed second in the long jump at 23-1 3/4.
Topps added a quarter inch to the meet triple jump record set by Alvin Campbell of Oak Park-River Forest in 1987.
"It feels great to have the record and I hope the next person who holds this does it with class," said Topps, who in his second week of 300 intermediate hurdling, also won that event in 37.56.
Aaron Taylor won the 200 (22.02) and anchored a
pair of winning relays (42.11 and 1:26.90) to key
Rock Island to its second crown in five years and
third overall.
The 400 relay included Jerry Harris, Adrian Dunbar
and Tito Veasey while the 800 relay included John
Woods, Harris and Veasey. "This is a special
group," said Rock Island coach Ed Lillis.
Bolingbrook's Corey Day won the 100 (10.42) and 400 (47.28) to become the second person to notch such a double, joining Joliet West's Steve Kelly who accomplished the feat in 1988.
The IHSA and AA meet record in the 110 high hurdles was tied by East St. Louis Senior's Kenneth Moore, who ran 13.9.
State cross country champion Tim Broe of East Peoria won his first 3200 title in 9:14.83 to become the 17th cross country champion to also win a track title.
In Class A, Allen Bradd of Downs Tri-Valley tossed the shot put 62-7 3/4 to break the 15-year-old record of 61-4 set by Fulton's Steve Brondyke. Bradd's preliminary round throw won by more than seven feet and also topped the best mark in AA.
"It was kind of hard to come back from a day that was so good yesterday," said Bradd after failing to improve in the finals. Like King in the high jump, Bradd was ranked second nationally by Track and Field News in 1994.
Victories by Jonte Edwards in the 100 (10.71)
and Marlon Russey in the 200 (22.32) powered
Rockford Christian Life to the Class A team title
with 45 points.
"The meet is so fragile because if one thing
goes wrong, it hurts your chances," said
Rockford Christian Life coach Greg Hayton.
Sophomore Chris Jones of Lisle kept alive his bid to become the state's first four-time champion in a single event by defending his 400 title in 48.38. He also won the 800 (1:56.79) to become the fifth in state history to win that double.
Jason McKinney of Georgetown-Ridge Farm rallied to victories in the 1600 (4:23.17) and 3200 (9:20.63).
Chris Trenn of Wheaton St.Francis set a Class A meet record of 37.57 in the 300 intermediate hurdles and Farmington's Dennis Staggs ran a Class A meet record 14.37 in the 110 high hurdles. The former record in the 300s was 38.19 by Roxana's Erik Scott (1993) and the old mark in the highs was a manual 14.42 by Matt McLean of Aurora Illinois Math and Science (1990).
Cairo's Tyrone Nesby, who would later play in the NBA, defended his triple jump crown at 47-2.
Chris Watson won the 100 (10.91) and 200 (21.82) to key Chicago Leo to the Class AA title in the 101st state meet. Watson also anchored the winning 400 relay (42.45) and the second-place 800 relay (1:27.64), which was just .05 out of first.
The one-lap relay included Curtis Clark, Fletcher Boyd and Ryan Davis-Payne. Leo, the 1981 Class A champion, scored 47 points to become the first school to win titles in each class since the two-class format returned in 1975.
"Not having any track facilities didn't affect us as much as you would think," said Chicago Leo coach Ed Adams. "If anything, it made us work harder."
Two-time Class AA cross country champion Tim Broe of East Peoria defended his 3200 title in 9:19.37, winning by more than three seconds.
"It gets old after a while when everybody expects you to run fast," said Broe, whose season best was 9:08.7. "I don't like to run by myself."
Waukegan's Michael Richardson won the triple jump at 50-4 1/4, to rank seventh in the nation.
Two firsts and two seconds by junior Babatunde Ridley couldn't help Carlinville overtake Harrisburg, which won the Class A title, 50-44. High jump champion Damon Lampley (6-9) had a hand in Harrisburg's 800 relay victory (1:30.43). Also on that relay were Boone Cohlmeyer, Paul Marler and Josh Gidcumb.
"When we didn't win our first event (the 100), it didn't look good," said Harrisburg coach Tony Holler. "Then we had a kid (Marler) who was rated 33rd in the long jump place fourth. That was the pickup that we needed."
Ridley won the long jump (22-9 1/4) and triple jump (45-11) and was second in the 100 (11.17) and 200 (22.50) behind Burlington Central's Joe Hosey (11.17 and 22.39). Hosey also sparked Burlington Central to victory in the 400 relay (44.06) with help from Mike Feilin, Jamie Brettschneider and Mike Davidson.
Westville's Gabe Spezia swept the hurdles (14.46 and 38.11). His 14.34 in Friday's preliminaries was a Class A meet record, breaking the 1994 mark of 14.37 set by Farmington's Dennis Staggs.
"It feels good now and it will probably feel better later when I realize what I did," Spezia said.
Lisle junior Chris Jones won his third 400 title in 48.71. Jim Donovan rallied Normal University High to victory in the 3200 relay (7:56.97) with a 1:52.5 split and came back to win the open 800 in 1:55.79.
U-High's 7:56.97 was the fastest winning time in nine years and included leg work from J.J. Simpson, Nick Barrows and Kent Anderson, all members of the Pioneer's 1994 state champion cross country team. Two-time cross country champion Chris Bailey of Westmont won the 3200 with the top time in either class at 9:18.00.
History-making, team-title deciding performances by Babatunde Ridley, Chris Jones and Marius Bakken made the 102nd state meet among the most exciting.
Ridley led Carlinville to the Class A title by becoming the second to win four events in a single year. He accounted for 40 of Carlinville's 46 points. Ridley's best event was the long jump in which he defended his title with a Class A meet record 24-2, breaking the mark of 23-10 3/4 set by Wheaton Christian's Carl Meyers in 1990.
Ridley's jump was the best in either class by 19 inches.
The closest Ridley came to losing was in the 200 where his 21.79 topped the 21.95 of Lisle's Jones. Ridley also won the 100 in 10.72 and defended his triple jump title at 46-11 1/4. In 1981 Chicago Luther South's Mike Conley won the same four events. Ridley's 10 career state medals broke the record of nine shared by Conley and Maple Park Kaneland's Mark Claypool.
"This just makes me feel great," Ridley said. "When I went across the finish line in the 200, I wanted to do cartwheels I was so happy."
Jones won the 400 in 48.80 to become the first four-time state champion in a single event. "It feels good to leave a mark and say I've been here," Jones said.
Elmhurst York's Bakken, a Norwegian exchange student, became the first to place in the Class AA 800, 1600 and 3200 in a single year. He opened with a 9:07.34 victory in the 3200, besting state cross country champion Matt Macievic of Chicago DeLaSalle by 8.54 seconds. Bakken's 3200 season best of 8:57.5 led the nation in 1997. Bakken returned 35 minutes later to take second in the 800 (1:52.78) behind New Lenox Lincoln-Way's Kyle Leonard (1:52.63). Bakken came back to win the 1600 in 4:12.40 as the Dukes placed third in the team race with 43 points.
Wheaton Warrenville South edged East St. Louis Senior for first, 56-52. Wheaton Warrenville South's Jermar Collins, who set an all-time state best of 46.2 in the 400 in his sectional, won in 47.73. The Tigers also won the 800 relay (1:27.02) behind Matt Rodgers, Cory Johnson, Daniel Newson and Jeremy Beier.
East St. Louis Senior's Rodney Session caught Collins on the final leg of the 1600 relay to give the Flyers a 3:18.10 victory with help from Detar Anderson, Marcus Lee and James Seay. Session defended his title in the 110 high hurdles (14.34) and rallied to win the 300 intermediates (37.67). He also ran on the winning 400 relay (41.82) with Anderson, Isaac Reid and Cortez Perry.
Roselle Lake Park sophomore Anthony Moorman swept the 100 (10.72) and 200 (21.31). T. J. Jumper of Lanphier won the high jump at 6-11 to give Springfield its first state track champion since Bob Trumpy of Springfield High won the long jump in 1963.
Among the title defenders were Rushville state cross country champion Matt McClelland in the Class A 1600 (4:22.01) and Waukegan's Michael Richardson in the AA triple jump (48-10 3/4).
Girard junior Matt Maddox swept the Class A throws at 58-5 1/2 and 175-5. Chicago University High's Peter Muller, who captured the 3200 in 9:25.37.
Moorman blasted to a state record 20.89 in the 200, breaking the IHSA mark of 21.1 set 26 years before by Evanston's Howard Jones. The previous AA record of 21.18 was set by Proviso West's Kerwin Badie in 1992. Moorman's record came in his 10th race of the meet (including heats), all of which he won. He captured the 100 (10.56) and anchored winning relays to times of 41.95 and 1:27.20. His relay comrades were Demetrius Moore, John Reeves and Kevin Parker.
"I said I wanted to come home with five gold's and it has happened," Moorman said. "We stepped it up this weekend and that is what state championship teams do."
Lake Park also won the pole vault courtesy of
Burt Holloway's 14-9 clearance.
Palatine's Chris Hercules bounded a AA meet
record 51-0 1/2 on his first attempt in the triple
jump. He was ranked the nation's No. 2 triple
jumper by Track and Field News.
"At other meets I had been jumping that (51-0 1/2), but I had been behind the board or fouling," Hercules said.
Naperville North junior Mark Pilja won the 1600 (4:14.92) and 3200 (9:00.03). Zion-Benton junior Quiande Moore won the high jump (6-10), finished second in the triple jump (50-9 3/4) and third in the long jump (23-0 1/2).
Hoffman Estates' Pierre Leinbach swept the hurdles in 13.90 and 37.18. His 13.90 was the fastest fully automatic time in AA history. The AA record of 13.9 (a manual time) was first set by Derek Cole of Chicago Heights Bloom in 1981 and tied by Kenneth Moore of East St. Louis Senior in 1994.
"I didn't know if I would be able to get my legs over the hurdles in the 300," Leinbach said. "My legs were tight. I even tripped when I was getting up on the awards stand after the high hurdles."
Chicago Luther South scored 44 points to win its fifth Class A title since 1979 thanks to versatile Sherman Armstrong, who was second in the hurdle races (14.37 and 38.16) and the 200 (22.34). The star of Class A was Girard's Matt Maddox, who threw the shot put 63-6 to break the Class A record of 62-7 3/4 set by Downs Tri-Valley's Allen Bradd in 1994. Maddox also won the discus at 172-11.
His 63-6 ranks seventh in state history.
"The record was on my mind all year," Maddox said. "I didn't know if I would get it since I scratched on my first two tries today."
Elmhurst Timothy Christian's Phil Sikkenga lowered the Class A high hurdle record to 13.93 and also won the 300s in 37.94. The previous high hurdle mark of 14.34 was set by Westville's Gabe Spezia in 1995. It was the third lowering of the high hurdle record in four years.
"It was the best race I have ever run in my
life," Sikkenga said of his 13.93.
Another double winner in Class A was Macomb's
Brandon Murphy in the 100 (10.90) and 200 (22.22).
Zion-Benton's Quiande Moore became the first in state history to sweep the jumps, going 7-0, 24-4 3/4 and 50-9 1/2 in Class AA. He became the 15th in state history to win as many as three events in a single year. His 1998 triple jump best of 51-7 ranked second in the nation.
"I am not disappointed about not breaking any records," Moore said. "I am very proud with three gold medals. People really don't understand how hard it is to participate in more than one event."
Detar Anderson won the 100 (10.49) and 400 (47.27) to spark East St. Louis Senior to its eighth Class AA title since 1975. The Flyers' 49 points were two more than Elmhurst York.
"The fact that this is our last year as a school before consolidation (with East St. Louis Lincoln) adds to how great this feels," said East St. Louis Senior coach John Davis.
New Lenox Lincoln-Way's Jason Van Swol defended his AA crown in 1:49.71. His season best of 1:48.91 ranked second in the nation.
Salem junior Mike Minton spun the discus 192-1 to break the 17-year-old AA meet record of 187-2 set by Chicago Marist's Gary Kostrubala. Minton also won the shot put with a personal best of 60-8 1/2.
Injuries nixed Anthony Moorman's hopes of sweeping the 100 and 200 for the third time, but he did land a title as a member of Roselle Lake Park's IHSA record-setting 400 relay, which ran 41.47. The old mark of 41.7 was shared by five schools and first set by the 1975 East St. Louis Senior foursome of Stanley Braggs, Richard Townsend, Lamar Pickett and Marvin Edmonds. Moorman's relay partners were Nathan Ryndak, Pat Condon and John Reeves.
"A lot of people counted us out and we showed that we came to compete," Moorman said.
Naperville North's Mark Pilja defended his 3200 title in 9:07.87. His season best of 8:59.0 ranked second in the nation.
In Class A, Nashville won the 1600 relay (3:20.58) to tie Chicago Leo for the team title with 42 points. It was Leo's third state crown and second in Class A. Nashville and Leo became the first co-champions since 1980 when Proviso East and Waukegan East shared a AA crown.
"It's a tremendous feeling to be state champion," said Leo coach Ed Adams. "Even if we are co-state champions, you still can't take away from the kids that they are champions."
"We thought Chicago (Leo) was too powerful for us," said Nashville coach Bruce Reeder. "They have some great athletes, but our athletes stepped up to the challenge."
Nashville's relay champions were Justin Morris, Jared Morris, Brian Piasecki and Jarod Tybacki. Charlie Baltimore of Carlyle swept the Class A sprints in 10.77 and 22.58.
Repeat champions were Robinson junior Tad Hughlett in the long jump (23-8 1/4) and Kewanee's Michael Walker in the triple jump (45-9 3/4).
D. J. Glynn of Spring Valley Hall helped end the millennium with a flourish, becoming the third Class A athlete to win four individual events.
Glynn won the high jump (6-7) and then swept the dashes (10.93, 21.92 and 48.44) to join Chicago Luther South's Mike Conley (1980) and Carlinville's Babatunde Riley (1996) as 40-point scorers. Glynn's times in the 100 and 200 topped those in Class AA.
"Today was just one of those days when
everything was clicking," said Glynn, who became
the first since Evanston's Bob McGee in 1979 to
win three running events.
Glynn's workload was reduced by a rule change
eliminating semifinals in the 100 and 200 (and 110
high hurdles). The top nine preliminary times
advanced to the finals.
Glynn helped Hall place second with 45 points while Harrisburg won with 59.
Harrisburg, which also won in 1995, benefited from Patton Segraves winning the 800 (1:56.19 and also running in the winning 400 relay (43.01) and runner-up 1600 relay (3:23.10). Joining him in the 400 relay were Shane Gidcumb, Brad Brachear and Jesse Sais.
"Last year we walked out of here humbled," said Harrisburg coach Tony Holler. "We were the best team in the state of Illinois and had the third-place trophy. We grew up a little."
Nashville's Garett Middleton grew up dreaming about setting a state record and he got one, throwing the discus 184-3 to erase the 14-year-old Class A record of 181-10 set by Watseka's Jeff Wood.
"It has been my goal to win the state title and set the record since I was in eighth grade," Middleton said. "It is a great feeling to have accomplished both."
While Arthur junior Matt McCarthy failed to defend his Class A discus title (placing seventh at 158-5), he did prevail in the shot put at 56-5. Robinson's Tad Hughlett became the first three-time Class A long jump champion, sailing 22-10 1/2.
Prairie Central's 7:55.61 was the fastest winning time in the Class A 3200 relay in 13 years. The effort was anchored by two-time state cross country champion Ryan Young and included Russell Gadberry, Bryan Bittner and Mike Edgar.
In Class AA, record-setting Jon Schweighardt led Wheaton Warrenville South to the team title by winning stirring hurdle duels against Elmhurst York's Kyle Erickson. Schweighardt's 14.32 in the 110 high hurdles allowed him to replace Erickson (14.74) as champion while his 36.77 in the 300 intermediate hurdles caught Erickson (36.78) at the line. Both slipped under the previous AA record of 37.01 set by Glenview Glenbrook South's John Strickland in 1990.
Schweighardt's day wasn't done until his anchor leg rallied the Tigers to victory in the 1600 relay (3:16-.85). Joining him were Adam Kadivar, Eric McGoey and Brett Bell. They needed to finish fourth or higher to top Thornwood in the team standings.
"The state title beats all of my individual achievements," Schweighardt said. "In the end, we all won."
Wheaton Warrenville South finished with 51 points followed by Thornwood (45 1/2) and Elmhurst York (38).
Junior Don Sage led the Dukes of legendary Elmhurst York coach Joe Newton, who was seeking his first state track title to go with his 19 state cross country crowns. Sage won the 1600 (4:13.02) and 3200 (9:02.78) to become the sixth AA or single-class athlete to accomplish the feat.
Absent from the 3200 was the Wheeling's Jorge Torres, the only three-time AA cross country champion in state history. Torres was suspended by the IHSA early in the season for violating a rule limiting the number of athletes from one school who can train with a club coach. The length of the suspension was later reduced, but Torres chose not to return. His twin brother, Ed, returned from the same suspension to place second in the 3200 in 9:08.32 and fourth in the 1600 in 4:18.17.
Salem's Mike Minton couldn't improve on his AA discus record of 192-1 set in 1998, but he did defend his title at 187-7 and also won the shot put at 60-5 1/2.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Illinois High School Association.