Galesburg star breaks two meet records including wind legal 200

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Downers Grove, Ill --- It was not the right night for the sprinters at the Bob Cohoon Invitational if you let the weather forecast play with your mind. Temperatures started near 50 degrees but dipped to 44 degrees by the end of the meet. Throw in winds up to 25 mph hour from the north and you had a wicked combination of frigidness. For many sprinters in any meet in the United States, you would not see them on the track. Try telling Josh Eiker (Galesburg HS), Derrius Rodgers (Lockport Township HS), Cary Lockhart (Bloomington HS) or Ayo Abiona (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) to not get into the blocks because it was too cold. When you get some of the top sprinters in the state at the same meet, you welcome the challenge of your competitors and the elements. Regardless of the conditions, Eiker put on a sprint exhibition in which fans at Downers Grove South High School on Friday night will be talking about for years to come.

There were not too many races in this meet that were wind legal. You could probably count them on one hand. With a full moon slowly rising in the eastern sky, Eiker entered his blocks in Lane 3 for the start of the 200 Meter Dash. At 45 degrees, those conditions are not the best for a sprinter. The lucky break for the six competitors was that the chilly wind seemed to die down. That suited Eiker just fine.

The Lane 3 position gave him a tighter curve to work off of but it also gave him targets to catch on the curve. That he did. By the time that he hit the straight away, he had made up the stagger and had the clear lead. It was just a matter of getting to the finish line. I what looked to be an all-out effort off the curve was not as he found more speed heading across the finish line. His time of 20.83 is a personal best and the best time of the state. The wind gauge showed the reading of +2.0. Any reading higher than that would not make the race wind legal.

“I was on the inside and I had all of those guys to chase down,” Eiker said. “That was perfect for me. My goal was to beat them out of the curve and stride out into the finish. We waited a few minutes for the time. I knew I had finally gone under 21 seconds. It felt good. 

Derrius Rogers finished a “distant” second even though he ran 21.67. That is how far ahead it seemed that Eiker was. Ayo Abiona, who ran 21.71 in his prelim heat, had to settle for third running 22.13.

The 100 Meter Dash was just as explosive for Eiker. Abiona and Rodgers got off to fantastic starts seemingly leaving Eiker in the blocks. The Galesburg sprinter made up that deficit and was even at 50 meters. From that point, it was all over. Eiker found another gear that none of his competitors had. His 10>48 winning time is the best so far in the state. It was not wind legal as there was a +3.5 wind at his back. Rodgers was next with a personal best (10.63) followed by Abiona (10.71). Both sprint races were meet records for Eiker.

“The 100’s I did not get out like I did in the prelims. I had to chase Rogers down,” Eiker added. “Tonight was just a great night for performances with the temperatures and what we had. You can only do the best with what you have. I’ll see these guys again at state. With the weather better in Charleston, hopefully some of us can go under 21 seconds again.”

John Meyer (Lockport Township HS) also set two meet records as he dominated the weight events in this meet. The sophomore followed up on the 63-0 put that he had last week with a 62-5 effort for the win. Darin Gipson (Morton HS, Berwyn-Cicero) achieved a personal best 59-2 (IL #5) to finish second. Meyer would have to deal with a wind in his face in the Discus. It did not matter to him as he achieve a new meet record and personal best (179-2, IL #5) to win the event. Thomas Cwiok (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) had a great night with a seasonal best 167-6 to finish second.

“The first time that I actually used the spin technique was a week ago Wednesday. I threw 58 feet in practice. My coach told me that we would be using the spin from that point forward,” Meyer said. “I never let the weather be my excuse. I come prepared and just try to stay warm. It is always good to stay consistent.  My goal was to throw over 60. I was at 59 feet going into my final throw. I just let it all out.”

The distance races in this meet always seem to be great. The 2016 edition of the meet was no exception. Irwin Loud (Oak Park-River Forest HS) had showed during the indoor season that he was back after an illness during the cross country season halted him from running at the state meet. His double win in Friday night’s meet showed that he was truly back.

Loud settled into the pack during the first 1600 of the 3200 Meter Run letting Dylan Jacobs (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) and Dustin Macuiba (Warren Township HS, Gurnee) set the pace. They passed the first 1600 in 4:41 with twelve runners within three seconds of the lead. Just before the end of the fifth lap, Connor Horn (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) pushed forward into the lead. Loud, who was boxed in, noticed that Horn was moving up and found a way out of the box almost losing his balance as his heels were clipped. He settled himself down as he tucked in behind Horn. The pack started to stretch out as Horn, Loud, and Charlie Nodus (Hinsdale South HS, Darien) started to distance themselves from the rest of the race. It would be a race between Horn and Loud for the win as they passed the gun lap in 8:08. Out of nowhere came Soren Knudsen (Minooka HS). The junior was in twelfth place with 800 to go but moved into third in the next laps with his eyes of passing more.

Loud passed Horn with 250 meters to go. Horn tried to make a pass coming off of the final curve. Loud would not allow it. The Oak Park junior crossed the line in a seasonal best 9:13.55 (IL #5). Horn was next (9:15.56) followed by Knudsen (9:18.29) and Jacobs (9:19.67). Altogether, there were nine runners that finished faster than 9:25.

The start of the 1600 Meter Run was delayed 15 minutes as there was problems with the timing system. Runners that were warmed up ready to race had to scramble to find their sweats. The delay did not seem to bother Loud. He settled off the pace letting Jacobs do the work again going through the 400 in 64.3 then slowing down to 2:12.6 at the half way point.  Loud was content to stay off of Jacobs shoulder for the next lap. It was getting crowded close to loud as Robby Prescott (Downers Grove North HS) and Dustin Macuiba were close to the lead as well. Soren Knudsen used the same tactics that he did in the 3200 and worked his way up from the back. As the gun sounded for the final lap, the action was about to begin.

As the clock ticked past 3:18, Loud was the first runner to make a move passing Jacobs. Prescott stayed with Loud on the curve. On the back straight, Prescott passed Loud on the inside as Knudsen made his pass outside. Knudsen had the lead with 200 meters to go but Loud still had one more move to make.  As they came off the curve, Loud passed back Knudsen charging for the finish. Knudsen tried to stay close but did not have the burst that his Oak Park rival had. Loud ran the final 200 in 30 seconds crossing the line in 4:20.91. Jacobs caught Knudsen just before the finish giving him second (4:21.73). Knudsen finished third (4:22.07).

The other two distance races were just as exciting. A 1:58 final leg by Kimanthi Johnson was enough to give Oak Park-River Forest the win in the 3200 Meter Relay (8:00.70) just ahead of New Trier (8:01.27, IL #4) and Downers Grove North (8:04.83, IL #8). The 800 Meter Run was a two man race after the first 300 meters. Evan Radomski (Whitney Young HS, Chicago) took the lead. Isaiah Robinson (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) made several moves on the final lap but Radomski refused to relinquish the lead. Only four tenths of a second separated Radomski (1:56.62) from Robinson (1:57.03).

Minooka used their depth along with wins in the 400 Meter Relay and two individual events to capture the team title with 83 1/3 points. The Indians were only six points ahead of second place Oak Park-River Forest (77 1/3). Neuqua Valley scored 67 points to place third. Quinton Durov helped his team’s cause by clearing a personal best 6-7 to win the High Jump and give Minooka 10 needed points. Justin Wolz was the other individual winner for Minooka as he won the 300 Hurdles (39.07) more than a second ahead of Jace James (Glenbard North HS, Carol Stream). James earlier ran a wind aided 14.71 to win the 110 High Hurdles. Minooka dominated the 400 Meter Relay with pinpoint handoffs giving them a 42.28 time and more than a second win ahead of Downers Grove North (43.32).

Lockport used a strong second leg by sprint ace Derrius Rogers giving them a lead that they would never give up in the 800 Meter Relay. The Porters ran 1:29.92 to finish ahead of Downers Grove North (1:30.73) and Minooka 1:31.56. The last race of the evening belonged to Neuqua Valley. The Wildcats took the lead early in the 1600 Meter Relay and never looked back running 3:22.64. Oak Park-River Forest finished second (3:25.61). In the other individual race of the evening, Hugo Flores (Warren Township HS, Gurnee) took the lead in the final 50 meters to win the 400 Meter Dash (49.67). Brandon Gage (Oak Park-River Forest HS) finished second running from Lane 1 (50.37).

Luke Nelson (Oak Park-River Forest HS) cleared 15-0 to win the Pole Vault. Ben Jung (Downers Grove South HS) easily won the Triple Jump (44- ¾) by more than a foot. Torvalis Parker (Morton HS, Berwyn-Cicero) was a surprise winner in the Long Jump. Seeded with a 19-0 mark, he exceeded that by four feet jumping 23 – ½ to win ahead of Jung (22-9).