2025 Indoor Conference Previews: Saturday and Sunday Edition

CPS City Championships

The Chicago Public League is the largest conference in the state and one of the largest in the country. Unlike typical conference meets, you need to qualify in order to compete at this conference meet. On the girls side, the team race is simple as Whitney Young will dominate the meet. They are led by Angelena Bullocks who will be in the 60m, 200m, 4x200m, and Long Jump at this meet. She will likely win all the sprint events and maybe can win Long Jump if she pops off a great mark. It will be hard to win the Long Jump though with Jordan Hamb of South Shore, Taya Rice of Ag Science, and Layla Bonilla of Whitney Young also being in the field. Hamb is entered in the 60H, 200m, Long Jump, and Triple Jump. She will have a great battle with Simone Bernard of Whitney Young in the 60H. She will also have a great battle with Layla Bonilla and Courtney Burt of Whitney Young in the Triple Jump. Bonilla could potentially do something real special and win the High Jump, Long Jump, and Triple Jump. Its a lot on the legs but her PRs show she is capable. Kee’Lani Whitlock of Kenwood will try and lead the Broncos to a 2nd place finish here. She is entered in the 60m, 4x200m, 200m, and Triple Jump. The SHot Put looks to be electric with Helena Williams of Simeon and Jade Hamilton-Gill of Kenwood set to lock horns in an intense battle between the two. 

On the boys side, the team race looks to be a one sided contest as well with Kenwood being the clear favorite to bring home the city title. The Broncos are led by Parrish Hartley who is entered in the 60m, 200m, and Long Jump; Armond Boulware who is entered in the 60m, 4x200m, and 200m; and Logic West who is entered in the 400m and High Jump. With those three alone they could score enough points to win this meet potentially with their wide spread of events that they are set to compete in. Add in guys like Taylor Shurtliff and David Campbell, the Broncos are set to dominate. They are running an “A/B” Team in the 4x200m that should still be under the 1:30 barrier. Payton is coming off a great week at New Balance Indoor Nationals that saw them run 7:43 in the 4x800m relay. On the heat sheets, that same quartet is scheduled to run in the 4x800m again, so expect a win there. Tra’Monti Williams and Preston Ellis of Payton are scheduled to also compete in the open 800m here. Could either one of them dip under 1:55? They will have Owen Lilley of Lane who will not make this an easy race to win. Payton will also have Declan Slavin and Vaughn Collier in the 1600m which will be exciting to watch especially after Slavin ran 1:53 on their all-American 4x800m. Lucas Rusma of Taft has been having a slow start to his season so far, and will look to pop off a big race here in the 400m. Maxwell Warner of Whitney Young will try and challenge Hartley for the win in the LJ. That battle will be worth watching the jumps pit for. Capping off the meet will be Kenwood and Payton locking horns in the 4x400m, it will take a 3:20s low time in order to win this race. 

DuKane Girls Conference

If Batavia plays their cards right, they should walk away with a conference title. Emma Wende and Kate Solano of Batavia will be running the three sprints, they will score big time points in the 55, 200 and 400. Both have run under a minute in the 400, they will probably go 1-2 in that event. Batavia will take both the 4x2 and 4x4 without these two stars, they’re deep enough to run a B-squad and still win. Avery Hacker of Batavia and Nicole Poglitisch will be doubling in the 3200 and the 1600, they will challenge each other for the win. Hacker has the fastest seed time in the 1600 with a season best of 5:15.0, she is 3 seconds ahead of Poglitsch and Ruth Dellaria of Lake Park. Maddie Romaine of Wheaton North has the fastest time in the 3200 in 11:05, but Hacker and Poglitsch will stick with her and make it a good race. We might see a couple girls sub 11 here. Gwen Hobson of St. Charles North and Nicole Mayer of St. Charles East will battle it out in the 800. Hobson has run 2:18.0 this year, which is just ahead of Mayer in 2:19.9. Hobson will have to come back for the mile later in the night, so Mayer will use that to her advantage and try to waste her energy as much as possible. Eva Bach of Lake Park will continue her streak of dominance and take another win in the pole vault. She has catapulted from where she was last year with consistent 12 foot vaults. She has yet to lose in the vault, I don’t think that will happen here. She does have to compete though, because Emerson Smith of Wheaton North is not far behind her. She has vaulted 11’ 7.25” this year and will push Bach in an attempt at winning. In the shot put, St. Charles North’s star will be in a class of her own. Tosin Oshin has thrown a PR of 40’ 3.25” this season and leads the field by over 3 feet. She will run over any competition as she takes her conference title. 

MSL (Nagel-Saylor) Conference

The girls side of this meet is loaded this year with top end talent in the state which will make this a highly competitive contest. Prospect looks to dominate this meet with a lethal dose of distance and sprints with some respectable field events. Kicking off the meet will be a matchup between Prospect and Barrington in the 4x800m. The Knights will have Meg Peterson and Ireland Wildhart on their team with Barrington having Mia Sirois and Abby Lewis on theirs. We should see something under 9:30 win. In the 3200m it will be Madeline Bialko of Hersey taking on Scout Storms of Barrington. Storms is only seeded at 11:20, but the 2023 3A XC State Champion will be faster than that seed time for sure. The 55H race is highly compelling with Daisha Brunson of Conant, Amy Carhee of Schaumburg, Aisha Kazeem of Palatine, and Amina Hadziahmetovic of Prospect going at it. This will be one of the best hurdle races we see all year. Brunson will be coming back right after the 55H to run the 55m vs Anna Niebrugge of Prospect. Niebrugge enters as the favorite, but don’t be shocked if Brunson does end up winning here. The 800m race should be excellent with Margaretha Grabske of Hersey, Mia Sirois of Barrington, and Mary Laba of Prospect all in the field. Sirois is the biggest name in the field of course, but is known for her long distance performances. She will have a major test of her speed here. Hazel Nadal of Rolling Meadows, Mary Laba of Prospect, and Dajana Skolimowska of Prospect are set to do battle in the 400m with Scout Storms and Abby Lewis of Barrington appearances. That will surely be an exciting event. Meg Peterson and Ireland Wildhart of Prospect project to go 1-2 in the 1600m which will be big points for the Knights. The 200m looks to be another exciting contest between Anna Niebrugge of Prospect, Daisha Brunson of Conant, and Nikki Niebrugge of Prospect. In the field we have National Champion Kaylee Meyer of Schaumburg contest in the High Jump which she should win with ease. 

In the Pole Vault it will be a great battle between Yane Jansen Van Rensburg of Barrington and Nora De Maria of Rolling Meadows.

On the boys side there are some great matchups with races such as the 3200m where teammates Carter Hayes and James O’Sullivan of Palatine will look to go 1-2 in the race. Nate Cichy of Prospect has been on a roll in hurdles and will look to continue his winning streak here. Lamar Osterhues of Barrington is only a freshman, but has shown he is one of the top sprinters in the state and will look to really show out here. The 1600m will be the race of the day with Rory Gaan of Fremd, Alex Krieg of Palatine, Jack Jennings of Fremd, and Joe Bregenzer of Barrington. All runners will be fresh and we could see 4:10s low be the winning mark. In the field it will be Logan Farrell of Hersey as the athlete to watch. His monster throw of 58 feet this year will put him on watch to be potentially over 60 feet in his 2nd meet. Will Viken of Rolling Meadows and Hayden Dahlin of Barrington will create intrigue in the Pole Vault with Viken being the favorite. 

NIC-10 Girls Conference

This meet is going to be up for grabs between a few teams. Honenegah, Guilford and Boylan Catholic and Freeport are all in contention for a win, it will depend on who can come away with the sprint points. Guilford has Zariah Burnett who is running phenomenal this season. She has the fastest 60 with a 7.79 and she also has the best high jump and the best long jump in the field. She has the opportunity to score 30 points by herself. The long jump will be largely uncontested, no one else is within her range. She will have company in the High Jump from Jaeda Benford of Auburn. Benford has jumped 5’ 3” this season and will trail behind Burnett closely. The 60 will be a very close race, with Freeport’s duet of Ta’Leiah and Taniah McElroy. Both have run 7.83 and will be right on Burnett’s tail in that event. Moving to distance, Kylie Simspon of Honenegah and Reese Kohnle of Boylan Catholic will be names to watch. Simson has mind-boggling range, she’s able to run 11:14 in the 2 mile and run 1:00 in the 400. Her 800 PR is 2:16 from outdoor last year, but she should be able to win almost any event they put her in. The exception to that will be the mile, where Reese Kohnle will be there to stop her. Kohnle ran amazing at Batavia Distance Madness last week where she ran a lifetime PR of 5:06.8. She falls under the category of mile merchant, I believe she has Simpson in her favorite event. Anything else will be somewhat of a challenge for Kohnle, but I believe she can hold her own in a 3200 as well. Natassja Bowman of Guilford is nearing 38 feet in the shot put, she will likely take the win in that event. This is the only meet where it feels like it’s truly anyone's game, it will be a very close team race all around.

NIC-10 Boys Conference

Messiah Tilson will do his absolute best to lead Guilford to a team title at NIC-10s. He is IL #1 in the 60 and leads this field by an arm and a leg. He will almost certainly win the 60 and the 200, but he might have company from Chase Cutler of Hononegah in the 200. Cutler is the only other runner under 23 seconds, he ran 22.73 at the Hononegah 3A invite last week. Where Cutler really shines is the 400, his season best and PR of 49.94 will be more than enough to win that event. The sprint relays will be highly contested between these two teams. Guilford is posed to win the 4x2, they have a second and a half on Hononegah. If they don’t run with Tilson then that opens an opportunity for Hononegah to step in and take a win. The 4x4 will see a Hononegah vs Belvidere North showdown. Belvidere ran 3:31 last week at Hononegah’s 3A invite, but Hononegah has 2 guys in the low 50s and should be able to compete with Belvidere. Especially if Belvidere doesn’t run Jesse Kramer, they could very easily steal the win from the Blue Thunder. Kramer is the top distance runner in this conference, he has run 4:20 in the mile this season and is largely uncontested in that event. If he moves up to the 3200, he will be met by Landon Samuelson of Hononegah. Samuelson has run 9:30 in that event, which beats Kramer’s 9:34 season best. Kramer will have to be smart if he wants to beat Samuelson in the 2 mile, but it’s entirely possible for him to win this race. The Harlem throwers, Tyson Hill and Connor Penney, have been identical this season. Both have thrown season bests of 54 feet and will wrap things up easily in the shot put.

SPC Girls Conference

Minooka and Plainfield North are going to divvy up the points between themselves in an epic showdown for the SPC title. Plainfield North will take most of the sprints, with Taylor McClain and Lauren Dellangelo in both the 55 and the 200. They are slated to sweep both events, they have seed times that are well above the rest of the field. The Tigers will encounter some challenges in the 400 in the form of Briyah Beatty of Plainfield East. Beatty has the fastest seed time, she ran 58.16 at Cabin Fever and she will lead out on the rest of the girls. Plainfield North will throw Lindsey Wenz and Aniya Pointdexter at her in hopes to take her down, but Beatty should still be able to win. Minooka starts to pull back in the distance, with multiple girls being able to score in different events. That’s not to say Plainfield North can’t score anything though, they have distance stud, Marlie Czarniewski, running both the 800 and the 1600. She is narrowly seeded first in the open 800, Natalie Nahs of Minooka closely follows her seed time. Nahs had a great heat win at Batavia Distance Madness last week, she will go back and forth with Czarniewski for the win. They will also be joined by Madison King of Joliet Central. King was 2:19 at last year’s 3A state meet, she will attack Czarniewski and Nahs and compete for the win. Czarniewski will also have company in Minooka’s Maya Ledesma in the 1600. Ledesma will be running the 4x8 as well as the 1600, she has a season best of 5:04.6. I wouldn’t be surprised if she walks away with the win, simply because Czarniewski is coming off of a hard 800 with less rest time than Ledesma. It will be a battle of wills to decide the winner, it’s anyone’s game. Minooka will likely go 1-3 or 2-3 in the mile for good team points, they will also score well in a mostly empty 3200. The 4x8 looks to be the matchup of the meet, with both Plainfield North and Minooka running stacked relay teams. Plainfield’s squad will feature Tessa Russo, who has been out due to injury for quite some time. She will bring serious speed to this relay team, she could be the difference between a win and a loss for the Tigers. Courtney Clabough of Yorkville will stampede the field in the shot put. The senior has thrown a menacing 39’ 11” this season and she is seeded an entire meter ahead of the rest of the field. She will attempt to be the 6th person to throw over 40 feet this year. 

SWSC Girls Conference

Homewood Flossmoor is set up for an absolute annihilation of this conference, this will be a showcase of their best. Mariyah Robinson of Homewood Flossmoor is going to showcase her speed, she will absolutely flatten the competition in the 60. In the 400, she will find competition from Alaine Steele of Lincoln Way East and Sydney Fontaine of Lockport. Robinson should grab the win here, but it will still be a close race between these three. London Willingham of HF will follow Robinson in the 60 and will look to win the 200. HF is set up to go 1-2 in both events, Aniya Williams running the 200 with Willingham. They won’t run a full varsity 4x2, but they will still win with second stringers. However, they did load their 4x4 and there is a high possibility that they break the 4 minute barrier. Returning state runner up Mia Forystek of Lincoln Way Central will lead the 800. She has run 2:19.2 this season and will be running this race solo. Everywhere else is a Homewood Flossmoor show. London Jarrett and Jaloni Wiley are both in a position to flatten their competition. Jarrett is doubling in the long jump, and her teammate Kaiya Collier will look to join her and go 1-2 in that event. McKena Miglorini of Lockport is not competing, which leaves the pole vault wide open this week. Homewood Flossmoor would have to make some serious mistakes to lose this meet, it will be total domination by the Vikings.

Upstate 8 Girls Conference

If Glenbard East can get its hands on the points in the short sprints, they should take the win. West Aurora will challenge them for the win, it could swing either way. Sophia Baumert is in a class of her own in the distance events. She has the fastest 3200 PR in the field by a country mile. She ran 11:22 at Batavia Distance Madness last week and will look to take an easy win here. Her competition will come from Alyssa Gregory of Bartlett and Elena Kosorog of Glenbard East. Both of these girls have PR’d this indoor season, with Gregory sitting at 11:31 and Kosorog at 11:35. All three girls will double back for the 1600 and duke it out a second time. Once again, Baumert should take the win, but this race will be closer as she only leads Gregory by 4 seconds. A tactical race could leave her stuck behind Gregory and might result in an upset. Avery Littlejohn of West Aurora should take the win in the 400. She has a lifetime PR of 59.16 and she has the fastest season best in the field with a 1:02.43. West Aurora will need her win if they want to stay in the team race with Glenbard East. Mackenzie Fodrey of Glenbard East will be competing in the pole vault, triple jump, and long jump, she should grab the win in all 3. She set a PR in the vault this season with a 10’ 10” during early indoor at the RISE Pole Vault Championships. Her long and triple have been very solid this season, she sits at 17’ 2” and 37’ 5.75” respectively. She will be a big contributor to the Rams team performance, she will likely be the reason that the end up winning. 

WSC Gold Girls Conference

The WSC Gold Girls Conference actually kicked off on Tuesday with their Pole Vault where it was an excellent battle with Kailee Rodeck of Downers Grove South, Rebecca Snouffer of Downers Grove South, and Anya Patel of Hinsdale South all jumping 11-6.25. The star of the show looks to be Kennedy Ruff of Hinsdale South who is entered in the 300m, 55H, 400m, and 4x400m. SHe is the favorite to win those three open events. Amelie Ojeda of Willowbrook is the favorite to win the 3200m and 1600m after her great cross country season. She has yet to put up an eye opening time yet, but that could come here. Karen Boakye of Downers Grove South will be the champion in the Long Jump and Triple Jump barring anything catastrophic. Downers Grove South should dominate this meet in the team score.

ESCC Boys Conference

The Catholic Conference has a couple big names to watch out for this year. Finn Richards of Benet Academy is the strongest name in the field. The state champ ran a 9:27 2 mile at Batavia Distance Madness last week and will look to take home a win or two at ESCC. It’s likely that he will double in the 3200 and the 1600, if so he will find competition in the 1600. Henry Thuet of Niles Notre Dame ran 4:26.6 at the Meet of Champions, he is narrowly ahead of Richards by season best. Peter Kipp of Northridge Prep ran his season best in the mile while sick, he could be a challenger to Thuet and Richards as well. Matt Mckee of Marist is the next best runner under 4:30, expect him to stay with the group and push for a spot in the top 3. Braiden Merrell is one of the top athletes in the field, he could win both the 400 and the long jump. His 400 PR sits at 51.46 and is the top seed by about a second. He is pretty much solo in the high jump with his mark of 6’ 3.5”. 

Sunday

CCL Conference

A huge sprinting conference meet will have the best athletes in the state duke it out. The 60 is fully loaded, Luke Leverett of Providence Catholic is the big favorite. Leverett has been setting the track ablaze, he ran 6.84 for an IL #2 at the ICOPS invite, where he beat the dynamic duo of Harley Rizzs and Monroe Thompson of St. Laurence. These three will see a rematch here at CCL, it will be a very exciting matchup. Thompson and Rizzs have run 6.90 apiece and will be on the hunt for revenge from the last time they raced Leverett. Rizzs is a returning state champ in the 100, he is not to be slept on in this event. Rizzs will double back in the 200, with his teammate John Hannah III. Hannah has chronically struggled with injuries, so we haven’t seen what he’s fully capable of in a while. However, when he’s locked in, he is a monster. The kid runs 51.04 and 22.28 on an indoor 200 track, but he hasn’t done that since last year at this time. He is extremely talented, and if he is at full strength he will challenge Rizzs for the win. Evan Smith of IC Catholic will be a name to watch in this race as well. He has a season best of 23.02, but he has yet to experience the banked track at Gately. I think he will drop below the 23 second barrier and push Rizzs and Hannah for the win. Thomas Christian of Depaul Prep has been having a productive season, showcased by the fastest season best in the field. He ran 22.57 at the Meet of Champions, he will be in this race as well. Matthew Simon of Fenwick will clash against Miles Lyons of Loyola for the 400 title. Simon has set his PR this indoor season at 50.09, he is currently IL #5. Him and Lyons will be gunning for the 50 second border, Lyon’s lifetime best sits at 50.02 and both of them are just grazing that prestigious 49. Brother Rice will dominate the distance events, Andrew Straley and Gavin O’Connor will lead the way in the 3200 and 1600. Luis Flores of St. Laurence has a PR that can compete with these two in the mile, but he has not yet been able to run under 4:30 this season. If he can return to his previous speed, he will push up on these two and chase the win. Ethan Petrillo of St. Ignatius is the top seed in the 800, he has been running very consistently at 2:00 and will seek out a conference title in that event.