The meet is loaded with some of the top athletes in the nation. Here is a look at the Illinois athletes that will travel to California to compete.

By Michael Newman

All the Illinois meets will be over by Saturday evening. Athletes that had been competing will get to their computers to see what is happening at the Arcadia Invitational in California. 10 athletes made the journey to the meet held in the suburbs of Los Angeles looking for a great performance that will include a fast time. Meet Director Rich Gonzalez has once again done a great job putting together great fields that will have the stands packed at Arcadia High School.

The action will start earlier for one Illinois athlete. Maya Neal (Neuqua Valley, Naperville) will begin the two day heptathlon on Thursday. The sophomore competed in the New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York City finishing fifth in the Indoor Pentathlon earning All-American honors. Neal should be one of the top athletes in the multis at Arcadia.

When the action picks up on Saturday evening with the invitational events, three Illinois boys athletes will toe the line in the one mile run. In the seeded race (7:56 CDT), Marc Maton (Glenwood HS, Chatham) has run 4:20 for 1600 Meters twice this indoor season. The second time was at the Illinois Top Times Championships where Riley McInerney (Charleston HS, Charleston) slid by him with 75 meters to go. With athletes there to push the pace, Maton can sit in the pack and hopefully run a time between 4:15-16 which he is in shape to do.

The boys invitational mile (8:04 CDT) will feature two of the most promising milers in Illinois. Garrett Lee (Belvidere North HS, Belvidere) has showed that he is in shape this year running 9:22 two weeks ago at Bloomington. The mystery is Billy Bund (Lake Forest HS, Lake Forest). Since his school does not compete during the indoor part of the schedule, this will be his first race of the year. What a way to start!  Bund ran 4:15 last year outdoors. With the confidence that he got during cross country, it is conceivable that we will see them towards the front. The field will be tough with Ryan Silva (Rincon HS, Tucson AZ), Amos Bartelsmeyer (MICDS, St. Louis MO), and Keith Williams (North Central HS, Spokane WA) looking to be the favorites. Bartelsmeyer ran 4:13 early in the year at Arkansas. Silva’s claim to fame was the 4:12 that he ran at the Brooks Invitational in Spokane at the end of February. Watch for Lee and Bund to run near 4:15 Saturday night.

Andrew Helmin (Providence Catholic HS, New Lenox) has the race experience from a full indoor season. In the seeded race of the 110 Meter High Hurdles (8:12 CDT), Helmin draws Lane 1 in this race. It is his first outdoor race. It will be interesting to see how he runs the ten hurdles. We could see 14.6-14.7 by him in this race. He comes back at 9:30 (CDT) starting in Lane 6 of the seeded 300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles race.

Shamier Little (Lindblom HS, Chicago) steps to the track for the first time Saturday night in the 100 Hurdles Invitational Finals (8:24 CDT). The defending 2A champion in this race will face some stiff competition from the Indoor National Champ Sasha Wallace (Holy Names HS, Oakland CA) and outdoor list leader Sherelle Jordan (Chandler AZ) who ran 13.76 to win the Chandler Rotary Invitational.

Little will come back (10:27 CDT) and start in Lane 1 of the 200 Meter Invitational Race. Kali Davis-White (Boyd Anderson HS, Lauderdale Lakes FL) has already run 11.56 / 23.81 this outdoor season having some of the nation’s top performances. Ky Westbrook (Chandler AZ) should be the favorite in this race. She ran the fastest time in the nation two weeks ago in her home meet (23.64) winning the 200.

The Girls 800 Meter Invitational Race (8:50 CDT) will have Illinois defending 3A champion Courtney Clayton (Hononegah HS, Rockton) in this field. Clayton ran a controlled 2:11 at Brooks in Seattle at the end of February finish sixth. She tuned up for this race with a strong 57.1 in the 400 and 26.03 in the 200. Her fitness level shows that she can run in the mid two’s Saturday night. After Brooks, she said that her goal was to run 2:05 at this meet. This is a strong field led by Shea Martinez (Davis HS, Kaysville UT) and Amy –Eloise Neal (Glacier Peak HS, Snohomish WA). Both runners are also entered in the Invitational Mile one hour before this race. Neale has run 4:43 already outdoors and won the Brooks mile indoors. Martinez ran three 800’s indoors under 2:10 with her best performance a fourth place finish at Indoor Nationals.

The last of the athletes that we will see from Illinois is in the Boys 3200 Meter Run. In the seeded race (10:08 CDT), Marc Maton is scheduled to come back from the mile that he will run two hours before this race. The other Illinois athlete in this race is Jonah Hanig (Highland Park HS, Highland Park). Hanig ran 9:25.8 to finish fifth in the ITT 3A Championships two weeks ago. We could see both of these runners going sub 9:20 in this race.

The big race that everyone will be watching is the Boys Invitational 3200 Meter Run where three Illinois athletes will be racing in. DyeStat IL 3A Indoor Distance Runner of the Year Jack Keelan (St. Ignatius Prep, Chicago) leads the Illinois contingent. Keelan ran 9:11 early in the indoor season unpushed. His fitness level shows that he could run in the low 8:50’s or lower in this race. Grant Nykaza (Beecher HS, Beecher) showed that he is ready to go under 9 minutes after his run two weeks ago at the Florida State Relays. He just got out leaned at the line by Mac Macoy (Vestavia Hills, AL) but still ran 9:07.38. Tyler Yunk (Belvidere North, Belvidere) had plenty left in his tank in winning the ITT 3A Championship 3200 in 9:11 two weeks ago. I seriously can see all three of these runners going sub 9 in this race.

The word “show-stopper” is a phrase that is thrown around haphazardly in describing the last race of the night. This race is not at the end of the meet but it will definitely be a show stopper and have everyone’s attention both at the stadium and nationwide.

Dynamite field! With the exception of Edward Cheserek (St. Benedict HS, Jersey City NJ) not in this race, it is a who’s who of the top prep long distance runners in the country. Nike XC National Champion Sam Wharton (Tippecanoe HS, Tipp City OH) is one of the top runners in this field. What am I saying? There are anywhere from 8-10 runners AT LEAST that could win this race. Bernie Montoya (Cibola HS, Yuma AZ), Jake Leipgang (Bismarck HS ND), Trevor Gilley (Carroll HS, Southlake TX), Jacob Thomson (Holy Cross HS, Louisville KY), Ben Saarel (Park City UT), Jacob Burcham (Cabell Midland HS, Ona WV), Connor Sorrells (Barr Reeve HS, Montgomery IN), and Elijah Armstrong (Pocatello ID) will be some of the runners in the front that could win. One thing to watch for this year is the pace of this race. Last year, the leaders went through the mile in an extremely slow 4:34. However, the last mile was covered in a quick 4:12 with Futsum Gebersalassie winning over Montoya. We could see more of the same Saturday night. If someone gets brave and pushes early, we could see a low 8:40’s type of race!

Good luck to all Illinois athletes competing on this big stage this weekend. I know you will do Illinois proud in your performances!