Thursday Night Looks To Excite This Week!

Cabin Fever Invite

The girls sprints are absolutely loaded at Cabin Fever, let’s meet the field. Mariyah Robinson of Homewood Flossmoor will be running the 200, you should expect a huge season best from the Viking queen. Jordan Hamb of South Shore will look to take a huge win in the 60 and the 60mH. With Robinson absent from the entries in the 60, Hamb becomes the overwhelming favorite, she should dominate there. In the 400, Briyah Beatty of Plainfield East will face off against a plethora of sub minute 400 runners. Beatty’s PR of 56.41 should be more than good here, so expect her to take a big win. The Plainfield East 4x2 that ran 1:41 at the Worrill invite is set to run again, they should look to improve upon their mark in solo competition.

On the distance side, Emily Stecky of Depaul Prep is the big name to watch. The returning 2A state champ absolutely crushes the field with her PR of 2:09, she should be in a world of her own here. She has a season best of 2:16 from the Worrill invite, even if she ties that mark, she will likely get a big win here. 

The field events look to be dominated by Homewood Flossmoor’s elite squad. Jaloni Wiley and London Denton are expected to go 1-2 in the shot put. The main roadblock to a 1-2 finish from Wiley and Denton comes from Maeve Bonakdar of Fenwick, who could beat Denton if she has a strong day. London Jarrett and Kaiya Collier are expected to put up another 1-2 finish in the long jump. Both athletes are capable of jumping in the high 18s, which puts them far ahead of the field. The high jump field is absolutely loaded, with Phoenix Higginsbottom of Whitney Young and Alexis Henderson of Oak Park leading the way. Henderson has the better PR of the two with a 5’ 6” from last year, but Higginsbottom is well in range with her 5’ 5”. However, you also have to watch for London Hendry of Plainfield East, who jumped a colossal 5’ 7” in middle school. Hendry’s season best of 5” 3” certainly puts her in range of the leaders, it should make for a close competition. 

On the guys side, we should see some excellent matchups in the sprints. Evanston brings their depth-heavy squad to Chicago in hopes to capture some new state leads. Justin Johnson headlines both the 60 and the 200 fields. Johnson’s PRs of 6.96 and 21.47 both stand as premier marks in these events, he should get a win in at least one. Evanston’s 4x2 and 4x4 are both expected to take big wins. Their 4x2 will get their second shot at the banked track this season, they should get under the 1:30 border again. Their 4x4 had somewhat of a rough race the last time they were on a bank. Since then, they have beaten their season best of 3:26 on a flat 200, so they should be able to run something crazy this weekend. Naperville Central will be in contention for a sub 3:25 4x4, watch out for them to take second. 

Switching gears to distance, you’ll see Deerfield dominate with individuals all over. Jamie Chandler and Andrew Calderon will lead the mile, both will challenge the 4:20 border. Will Lambert won the 600 last year with a time of 1:26, he will look to repeat and win again. St. Ignatius’s Ethan Petrillo is the current favorite in the 800, but Tahari Curry of Thornton will look to step up in distance and maybe take a win. 

NCC Girls Invite

The NCC Cardinal Girls Classic is going to be pretty stacked on Thursday night. Starting off with sprints, #2 Alaina Steele of Lincoln-Way East is the best 400m sprinter in this meet. Although she cleared the competition at the ONU Classic last week, an underdog story could be brewing in the 400m race. This would be possible if Payton Smith of Plainfield South ends up contesting Steele. After two silver medals in a row, this could be the motivation Smith needs to achieve her first 400m gold of the season. However, if either wants to mix it up, they’d have some good competition against Allison Mytys. Downers Grove South’s top end speed demon has had a dominant season thus far, currently undefeated in the 55m with a best of 7.31.

Downers Grove South also brings some High Jump talent as Alanna Banks could very well set a new PR, breaking her 5’ 3” best from last week. Lincoln-Way East’s #4 April Madison could contest Banks, but she will most likely choose to really focus in on tightening up her amazing Triple Jump mark, currently sitting at 38’ 5.5”. The more likely Lincoln-Way East and Downers Grove South dual that will occur will be in triple jump, where #5 Karen Boakye could challenge Madison for the win, resulting in a heated matchup. 

On the distance side, #8 Alexa Novak of Glenbard West is going to be leading the mile race if she is entered, while Downers Grove South’s Nia Ortega and Hinsdale Central’s Ella Satre could battle for that second place spot. 

There are three very competitive athletes in this meet’s mid-distance section. St. Charles East’s #9 Nicole Mayer could matchup against Hinsdale Central’s #10 Lily Hodneland for a heated race in the 800m. Both of these athletes could very well break the 2:15 mark in this race. However, you cannot count out Minooka’s Natalie Nahs, as she could trail these ladies and out kick them towards the end for a huge 800m PR. However, if all three of these competitors decide to race the 400m, it could result in the fastest 400m race in March so far. Only time will tell as these talented athletes prepare for the sound of the gun when they are on the line for their races.