2026 Norm Armstrong Invite Preview

The Norm Armstrong Invite features some of the best sprint competition that we will see all year. The outdoor season is full of stacked meets, but right off the bat, we get to see teams from across the state face off in St. Louis. There will be plenty of fast times coming out of this meet, get excited for some fun racing. We break down ALL the action here!

Sprints

In the short sprints, Joe Owusu of Plainfield East will be a huge name to watch. Owusu is a returning all-stater in both the 100 and the 200 and sports the fastest 100 PR in the field. After a great finish to his indoor season at IIC, it will be hard to topple him in either the 100 or the 200. That being said, Zion Morrison of Homewood Flossmoor has returned to the track with a flame lit underneath him. He had a fantastic season opener as he ran a scorching 10.33 at the Texas Relays. He is slated to run the 200 for the first time this year. Last year his PR in the 200 of 21.23 was one of the best marks in the state, so he is entering this meet as the heavy favorite in that event. After a few weeks off, Morquez Bulliner of Belleville West will finally return to the track. Bulliner went off during early indoor, posting PRs of 6.85, 21.56 and 49.44. He is set to run the open 400, where he will look to take a convincing win. Nasir Robinson of Plainfield East will be another big name to watch. Robinson made the superstar jump during the indoor season, his PR of 21.82 now stands in contention with some of the top sprinters in the state. He is set to run both the 200 and the 400, he should be a staunch competitor in both events. Myles Ellis of Homewood Flossmoor saw huge improvement in the 60 during indoors, we could see an electric performance from him in the 100 here. He will also be competing in his main event, the 300mH, which we will talk about shortly. Damir Harris of Normal West will be in the short sprint double, we could see him compete with some of the top dogs. Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East is slated to run the 200 and the 300mH, he should be up with the front group as well. Edmond Ankomah of Bolingbrook put up some stellar marks indoors in the 400, he will be running that event in the hopes of taking home a win. 

Hurdles

A big matchup is brewing in the hurdles, we should see some incredible marks from both the 110mH and the 300mH. In the 110mH, you’ll see a three way showdown between Jalyn Cole of Belleville West, Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East, and Zion Morrison of Homewood Flossmoor. Cole is the returning state champ in the 110mH, and has the fastest PR in the field of 13.76. His indoor season went well, as he put up an astounding PR of 7.80 in the 60mH. He will look to translate that 60mH mark into a blistering 110mH, he should be able to convert with ease. Donaldson has gone back and forth with Cole for a while now, this will be another chance for him to go up against his rival. Donaldson was also productive during the winter, putting up a mark of 7.87 in the 60mH. His PR in the 110mH is right behind Cole’s with a 13.84, it should be a very even matchup coming into this race. Of course, you can’t forget about Morrison, as he’s going to be a big factor in this race as well. Morrison’s PR of 13.92 came from just last week at the Texas Relays, his raw speed is what makes him so lethal in this race. He might not be as smooth over hurdles as Donaldson and Cole, but his explosive power puts him right up there anyways. It’ll be a great showdown between these three for the win, expect fireworks at the finish line from the 110mH. In the 300mH, you’ll see Daylin Donaldson return to go up against Myles Ellis of Homewood Flossmoor. Donaldson made use of Ellis’s absence last season, as he took second in the 300mH at the 3A state meet with a huge PR of 37.42. Donaldson will be doubling back from the 110mH, he should be able to run great times in both. Ellis was the top hurdler in the state his sophomore year, and then unfortunately suffered an injury that sidelined him for the entire 2025 season. Now that he’s back on his feet, he will be a huge threat to Donaldson in this 300mH. 

Sprint Relays

Relays are always difficult to preview since the relay cards are never usually accurate, but we’re going to do our best to break down the top teams. Belleville West is entered in the 4x1 with the IL #1 time of 42.10, which they ran last week at O’Fallon Relays. They certainly have the firepower to make this relay run faster than 42 seconds, with guys like Morquez Bulliner and Jalyn Cole. Minooka is a strong 4x1 program, and with explosive sprinters like Max Smith, they will be up with the leaders in the 4x1 as well. Plainfield East returns almost everyone from their all-state 4x1 last year, they will look to take home a win there as well. In the 4x2, it’ll be Belleville West again, as they ran a season best of 1:28.26 at O’Fallon Relays. They will be met by their crosstown rivals, Belleville East, who also ran in the 1:28s at O’Fallon. Both teams are running without their ace sprinters, but it should be a good race either way. However, the 4x1 and 4x2 are child's play compared to the 4x4, where you’ll see top rated teams face off. Naperville Central is perhaps the narrow favorite, as they ran 3:25.9 on a flat 200 during the indoor season. Their 400 squad is extremely deep, which means that they could sub out a number of guys and still probably run in the low 3:20s. Belleville West has listed their A squad on their relay card as well, which will put them in contention for a win. Having Morquez Bulliner on anchor is a relief for the Maroons, as he will be able to make up valuable ground on the lead group. Normal West has a star on anchor as well, but their front runners might beat Belleville West’s. With both Isaiah Willis and Damir Harris, it’ll be hard to run down the Wildcats if they break away early. A team like Springfield could surprise you, with Mekhi Newman and Deandre Brown both returning with 400 PRs in the 48s. With two legs under 49 seconds, you could see an extremely powerful relay from Springfield. Other teams like Kenwood and Bolingbrook have the potential to breakout here, keep your eyes on them as well. 

Distance

Just because this meet is known for its sprinting events, doesn’t mean that the distance competition is sparse. We will see an elite matchup in the 3200, with Thomas Czerwinski of Plainfield North vs Max Weber of Civic Memorial. Czerwinski is traditionally a miler, but he did run 9:06 at this invite last year to take the win in the 3200. A year later, he has done nothing but improve upon every PR that he has, so we should see him drop significant time here. Another reason he should drop significant time is due to the level of competition he will receive from Weber, because Weber is not one to be taken lightly. The 2A cross country state champ had an incredible season on the grass, capping it off with a 14:08 3 mile at Detweiller. His 2 mile PR of 9:08 stands from early indoors, if all goes to plan, he will be gunning for the low 9 minutes here at Norm Armstrong.

In the 1600, we’ll see Weber double back to go against the dynamic duo out of Marion, Raphael and Gabriel Greer. The Greer twins have ran 4:21 apiece so far this year, they will be looking to lead this race from the gun. Weber has a season best of 4:15 in the full mile, so he will be looking to take a convincing win from these two. However, if the race is left up to a kick, you could see Aiden Connors of Plainfield North swoop in and take the race. Connors won the IIC 3200 in a devastating final lap of 28.5 to run 9:01. His kick is virtually unrivaled in this field, so Weber and the Greers will need to walk away early in order to take the win here. 

In the 800, we’ll see a clash between 3A and 2A as Caden Wolfe of Andrew will face off against Luke Smith of Waterloo. Wolfe is a returning all-stater with a PR of 1:54.89 from the state meet last year. Smith is the returning 2A runner up in the 800 with a PR of 1:54.57, also from the state meet. Out of these two, Wolfe had the better indoor season, with a SB of 1:56.96 from IIC. It’ll be pretty tight between these two, it should lead to a great finish. 

Throws

Most of the competition will be competing in both the shot put and the disc, with Ben Blank of Naperville Central and Shane Box of Collinsville being favorites in both. Blank has some of the top marks in both events, with a 59 foot shot put and a 178 foot discus toss. If he is on his A-game, he could take home a sweep. Box has similar PRs with a 58’ 11” in the shot and a 171’ in the discus. Either one could take a win here, but both will have to watch out for Gavin Stukenberg of Edwardsville in the shot. Stukenberg hit a colossal 60’ 3” during the indoor season, and could very easily take the win here. Stukenberg isn’t quite as consistent as either Blank or Box, but the big throw capability keeps him in the conversation all the same. Dakota Edwards of Proviso West is perhaps the most consistent thrower, as he has hit over 57 feet at almost every single meet so far this year. Edwards just recently took the IIC title in the shot put with a 58 foot toss, so he could definitely mix it up with Blank, Box and Stukenberg here. 

Vertical Jumps

The high jump competition is out of this world, with several guys coming in over 6’ 6”. The pair from Chatham Glenwood, McKenzie Doe III and Larry Wills lead the field by PR, with marks of 6’ 8” for the both of them. Doe and Wills went second and third at the 3A top times championships with those marks, and they are the reason that Chatham Glenwood is ranked so high right now. They have the capability to go for a 1-2 finish here, which would be an ideal result for the Titans of Chatham Glenwood. They will be met by Devyon Hill-Lomax of Edwardsville, who is a returning 3A all-stater in this event. Hill-Lomax has a PR of 6’ 7” from his sophomore year, and he’s extremely consistent over 6’ 4”. If he’s able to get over the 6’ 5” hurdle, he could place really high here. In the pole vault, Parker Owens of Edwardsville will lead the crowd. The sophomore was third last year at the 3A state meet with a season best of 16’ 4”, making him one of the top freshmen in the country for the 2025 season. His indoor best of 15’ 10” would be enough to take a win here, but he’ll be pushing to get back into the 16s. Cooper Bowman of Minooka is another returning all-stater, who had a very similar indoor best to Owens, with a mark of 15’ 9”. These two will battle it out for first in the vault, it will likely take a PR from either to decide the champion.

Horizontal Jumps

The long jump competition is extremely top-heavy, with some new faces versus some veterans. TJ Cason of Belleville West dropped an insane 23’ 9” last week in his long jump debut, something that propelled BW into the #2 spot in the team rankings. Cason will be tested against true competition here, and will need to replicate his jump from last week in order to take the win. Larry Wills of Chatham Glenwood will be hot on his heels with his SB of 23’ 5”. Wills’ PR of 23’ 9” comes from this indoor season, and he’s extremely consistent above 22’ 6”. However, the true test will come from Zoelan Terry of Metea Valley, who is the returning 3A state champ in the long jump. Terry struggled to get up to speed during the indoor season, but eventually came out with a mark of 23’ 3” as well. He took 4th at IIC in the long jump, but if he’s able to get into the 23s here, he will be in a position to compete for the win. In the triple jump, we should see quality performances from Anthony Edison and Nazeer Muhammed of Homewood Flossmoor. Edison was one of the top triple jumpers in the state this winter, and should put up a big mark here.