2026 Boys Conference - Thursday Previews

SWSC

The Southwest Suburban Conference is the best it has been in years, there is a ton of exciting stuff going down here. In the sprints, we are going to be treated to a great matchup in the 300mH between Myles Ellis of Homewood Flossmoor and Anthony Lusciatti of Lincoln Way West. Ellis has been a fantastic 300mH all season long, his season best of 37.39 stands as the #4 mark in Illinois. Ellis will also be running the open 100, where he should be in for an easy win, as his PR of 10.69 is pretty far ahead of the field. Lusciatti has upgraded his range this season, but his old primary event should still serve him well here. His PR of 38.18 is likely going to get demolished here, as his speed has only increased since he ran it last. These two are going to have a great race, it’s going to take a 37.XX to scoop the win. In the 200, we’ll see the return of Joaquin Jordan of Homewood Flossmoor, who has been away nursing an injury. Jordan is a fantastic sprinter with a PR of 21.58 in the 200, so just because it’s his first race back doesn’t mean we should expect anything slow. He will be facing off against a strong 200 runner in LyZale Edmon of Bradley Bourbannais, who is seeded at 21.79. If Jordan can get a win against Edmon, it would make for a triumphant return from injury. In the sprint relays, Homewood Flossmoor is expected to take two big wins in the 4x1 and 4x2. With Jordan returning to the lineup, they are able to make substitutions and still run blazing times. They will have a tougher time in the 4x2, as both Bradley Bourbannais and Lincoln Way West are capable of running in the low 1:28s. 

On the distance side, we are going to see an incredible showing in the 4x8. Lincoln Way West, Tinley Park Andrew, and Lincoln Way Central have all listed their A-teams for Thursday, and all three teams have the capability of running something nasty. LWW has Anthony Lusciatti and Hunter Spee, who have run 1:53 and 1:54 respectively. Their next two are Nicholas Dul and Parker Ethridge, who have both run 2:00 either in a relay split or in the open. LWC has Bryce Counihan on anchor leg, he has split a 1:53 and has run 1:54 in the open. They also have Cian Scanlan and Mekhi Wright, who have run 1:55 and 1:56 respectively. Their final leg is Andrew Nilson, who has an open PR of 2:00. Then you have Andrew, who has returning all-stater Caden Wolfe, as well as emerging Evan Misura, both of whom could likely split 1:56 or faster. They ran 7:53 at IIC to take the win over LWC, but their composite time doesn’t quite rival that of LWW or LWC. On paper, LWC is the very narrow favorite, but all three teams have the capability to win here. Either way, it’s likely going to end with the winner breaking 7:50, because these three teams will not settle for anything else. In the open 800, Sandburg finally regains Mateo Ramiro Garcia, who is returning from injury this week. Ramiro Garcia was the centerpiece to Sandburg’s 4x8 last year, and he has an open PR of 1:53. If he can go out and grab himself a win here, it would be a great returning race.

In the field events, it’ll be Homewood Flossmoor domination. Anthony Edison and William Bundy are expected to go 1-2 in the triple jump, but Tibet Okwen of Lincoln Way East will do his best to break them up. In the high jump, it’ll be Derek Jamison of HF versus Nathan Botanga of Lincoln Way East. Botanga got the best of Jamison at SWSC indoors, but Jamison has the better PR of 6’ 8.75”. In the pole vault, Jacob Soderstrom of Lockport will likely take down an easy win. In the long jump, Anthony Edison will double back and likely take a huge win. 

WSC Silver

The WSC Silver traditionally is one of the most prestigious conferences with powerhouses such as Oak Park River Forest and Downers Grove North. This year, the WSC Silver is no different with a few standouts across all events. On the sprint side, Jordan Ademuyiwa of Glenbard West seems to be the clear favorite in the 100 and 200 with his SBs of 10.72 and 21.89. Last year we saw him get third at the WSC Silver with his 10.59; trailing Dominic Tresslar and current DePaul sprinter Caleb Schulz when he dropped a 10.38 to take home gold! The favorite for the 400 looks to be Brian Jackson of OPRF who is IL#12 with his 48.74 SB. This is the deepest the 400 has been in years with 8 guys under 51 and 2 under 50, some unbelievable times could be dropped this Thursday. The favorite in both hurdle events is Ben Schoettle of GBW, the junior holds the IL#5 spot in the 110s with his 13.80 and a 38.29 in the 300s for IL#10. It should be a clean sweep for him as he is a true competitor, which was shown earlier this year when he broke the IL state record for the 60mH at IIC. In the distance events, we have two of the best athletes in the country: Philip Cupial and William Surratt, the seniors from DGN. Cupial is IL #2 in the 800 (1:51.40) and 1600 (4:10.88) and IL#1 in the 3200 (8:55.77) and Surratt is IL #3 in the 1600 (4:11.03) and IL#13 in the 3200 (9:06.10). These two should have no problem going a 1-2 finish in either the 1600 or the 3200. Both of these guys are state finalist level and, if all goes right, it will show this Thursday. The field side of the WSC Silver is not as loaded as it was last year, however there are two throwers worth the mention. Dakota Edwards of Proviso West is one of the top throwers in the state as he holds the #6 spot in shot put with his 62’ 0.75” throw at the tail end of April. He took a short dip in marks after them but most recently threw a sixty-footer, and as a reigning IIC champion he should have no problem coming away with the win here. Last up is Jonathan Sibley-Diggs, the discus thrower out of OPRF. He has started his season hotter than ever with his IL#10 throw of 175’ 11” and once again, this should be another clear win. In the high jump, the duo from OPRF of Addis Wilson and Malik Griffee should look to take a 1-2 finish. Both athletes have cleared 6’ 6” multiple times, which will be more than good for first and second here. The WSC Silver has the chance to hold up its premier status if these athletes can continue their success.

Southwestern Conference

The Southwestern Conference features two of the best hurdlers in the state and they are set to have an epic matchup in the 110mH. Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East and Jalyn Cole of Belleville East have formed a cross-town rivalry that has ran the state in the 110mH, and they will face off here for the conference title. Donaldson has had a fantastic season, as he set his PR of 13.64 early on in April. Cole has also set his all-time PR of 13.76 this year, but he’s been second to Donaldson in every single matchup so far. Last year, these two went back and forth, but Cole came out on top when it mattered, taking home the 3A state title in the 110mH. This must’ve been a sting to Donaldson, as he has dominated the hurdles like no other. These two always put up incredible numbers when they race, and they should do the same here. Both runners will also run the 300mH, but Donaldson is in his own world in that event. His PR of 36.84 is well out of the way, he should grab a win pretty easily there. In the sprint relays, it’ll be Belleville East vs Belleville West in the 4x1 and the 4x2. They are the only two teams under 42 seconds in the 4x1 and 1:29 in the 4x2, so it’ll be a 1v1 in both events. In the field, Gavin Stukenberg of Edwardsville and Shane Box of Collinsville will duke it out for the two throwing events. Stukenberg is the favorite for the shot put, but Box is the favorite for the discus. Either way, these two will likely throw something out of this world in both events.

Dupage Valley Conference

The DuPage Valley Conference meet will likely be a showdown between two teams: Naperville Central and Neuqua Valley. This is especially true for the 1600, where the top four seeds are occupied by guys from both of these schools. Reyaansh Bhagat of Neuqua Valley holds the top seed at 4:23, but the next three guys behind him in Vaughn Scherer of Naperville Central, Jesse Gudauskas of Neuqua Valley, and Manny Najera of Naperville Central have all run sub-4:27, making this one of the closest races of the day. Though the other distance events won’t be quite as deep, the 800 could be just as exciting. Naperville Central’s Luke Probst and Neuqua Valley’s Grayson Meek are seeded almost 5 seconds ahead of the rest of the field at 1:54 and 1:55 respectively, so it will be interesting to see how they push each other during the race. The sprints should also see some quality performances. On the sprints side, Braylen Anderson of Dekalb will be searching for his first conference triple crown. At last year’s DVC meet, he set two PRs in the 100 and the 400, and then scratched out of the 200. This year, if he sticks it out through the end of the meet, he should be able to go 3/3 and grab that final win. He will surely face competition from Metea Valley’s Henry Faber and Naperville Central’s Kyle Clark. Faber brings in the fastest 400 seed at 47.79 and the second fastest 200 time at 21.95, while Clark comes in with the top 200 time at 21.72. Although Anderson has them both by PR, it should still be a close race with Anderson coming off of an early-outdoor slump. Neuqua Valley also possesses one of the top long jumpers in the state in 3A #2 Daniel Robinson. His mark of 7.27m absolutely clears the rest of the field, however, you can’t dismiss returning state champ Zoelan Terry of Metea Valley. Terry set his PR of 23’ 1” at the state meet last year, and could pop off for a win here.

Fox Valley Conference

The FVC is a strong conference with many strong 3A talents and has produced some very strong distance runners over the years. However, one of the top athletes in the 100, 200, and 400 is in this conference, and he is Oreoluwa Sobodu of Dundee Crown. He is the heavy favorite for all of the events he will be running on Thursday. Sobodu has a lot of experience competing with the top athletes in the state, with his several appearances at the 3A state meet over the years. In the 800, the favorite is Amana Omale of Crystal Lake Central, who was all-state for 2A cross country this year and has had some impressive performances in indoor and outdoor this season. In the 1600, the heavy favorite is another cross country all-stater, Jameson Tenopir of Cary Grove. Tenopir was the 800 champion at this meet last year and got 4th last year in the 1600 at the 3A state meet, so he will hopefully show out on Thursday. On the field side of things, the favorite for the shot put and discus is Logan Abrams of Cary Grove, who is ranked in the top ten in the state for both events. He was all-state in both events last year, so hopefully he will perform well on Thursday. Some notable relays are Huntley's 4x8 and Dundee Crown 4x1, with both relays being close to the state qualifying time so far this season. The FVC has many impressive athletes, with some of the top athletes being the top in the state, so hopefully they will create an enjoyable meet on Thursday.

NIC-10

The NIC-10 features some incredible talent, let’s meet the field. Janardie Turner of Rockford Jefferson is looking to colonize the sprints and the field, he’ll be taking on four events and he’ll be looking for four wins. In the 110mH and the 300mH, he’ll be virtually unchallenged, as he is the top 110mH hurdler in the state and a top 5 300mH hurdler in the state. The story is the same in the long jump, where he is seeded nearly an entire meter ahead of the field. In the 100, he’ll need to outlast EdQuinn Sanders of Rockford Auburn and Kayden Malone of Belvidere North, which will be his toughest race. He is seeded first, but only by a tenth of a second. He’ll need to reach his PR or break it in order to win. In the relays, expect Hononegah’s 4x4 to run something spectacular. Chase Cutler will not be running, but they have still run 3:24 without him, so don’t count them out. Kayden Malone of Belvidere North will be doubling back from the 100 to take advantage of an empty 400, where he should take a convincing win. In the distance events, Judah Binger of Belvidere North will look to take a double win in the 3200 and 1600. He is the clear favorite in both, and should be well ahead of the competition. In the field events, Tyson Hill of Machesney Park Harlem will be the standout athlete to watch. Hill has an incredible mark in the shot put with a 61’ 5”, he should be in for an easy win there. In the discus, it’ll be a little closer, but his mark of 175’ 10” should still get the job done.