What better way to start off March 2025 than with a meet? This Saturday, March 1st, some of the top-ranked athletes of the season will be competing at the Proviso West Invite at Proviso West High School! As the weather gets warmer and we approach spring, our runners only seem to be getting faster.
1. Kwabena Osei-Yeboah (Sr., Oak Park-River Forest)
Events: 60m, Long Jump, Triple Jump
Starting off strong, we have Kwabena Osei-Yeboah, last year’s 3A Long Jump champion with a jump of 23’ 7.25”. He was an All-American jumper at the AAU Junior Olympics in the LJ and TJ and set the IL #3 in December with 22’ 9.75”. In 2025, he won 3rd at Misfits in the LJ and most recently earned the IL #3 in TJ with 46’ 8”.
2. Tayshaun Austin (So., Downers Grove South)
Events: 60m, 200, 4x200m
Tayshaun Austin is the youngest athlete to make this ranking, and for good reason. He ran a 6.96 60m dash at Misfits to earn 3rd and IL #7 and more recently ran 6.53 in the 55m for IL #3. Additionally, he holds the IL #8 in the 200m with 22.46. Austin is more than qualified for this meet and is certainly a sprinter to watch this Saturday.
3. Parrish Hartley Jr. (Sr., Chicago [Kenwood])
Events: 60m, 4x200m, Long Jump
Parrish Hartley Jr. is one of the strongest runners we have this weekend. Last year, he scored over half of Kenwood’s points at 3A state by earning bronze in the LJ and 200 as well as 4th in the 100. He recently ran at the CPS Select Challenger Meet where he ran a 22.29 200m for 2nd as well as IL #4 and became the 100m City Champ for the second time in a row! He also holds IL #4 in the LJ with 22’ 9.25” and IL #10 in the 300m with 36.63.
4. Lukas Brauc (Sr., Oak Park-River Forest)
Events: Pole Vault
Keep an eye out for Lukas Brauc this weekend! The University of Tennessee commit holds the IL #6 in the pole vault with 15’ 6”, but before that, he earned 8th in 3A’s pole vault and got 4th at New Balance Nationals. Now, he holds the IL #6 with a vault of 15’ 6”, so be sure to make your way down to the pole vault pit to watch Brauc make magic.
5. Armond Boulware (Sr., Chicago [Kenwood])
Events: 60m, 4x200m, 4x400m
Armond Boulware has been quickly accelerating since the 2024 season. Over the summer, he earned silver in the IL USATF Junior Olympics and then became the USATF Region 7 champion with a 10.78 100m. Boulware started this season at Misfits, where he got 4th in the 60m with 7.07 and 8th in the 300m for IL #3, running 35.74. More recently, he won the 200m at the CPS Select Challenger Meet to become a two-time city champ and conquer IL #2.
6. Evan Smith (Sr., Elmhurst [IC Catholic])
Events: 60m, 200m
In the first few months of the season, Evan Smith has already taken off. He earned the IL #6 when he ran 22.37 at the AAU Northern Indoor Nationals for 2nd and also got 3rd in the 60m at the same meet. The IC Catholic senior is also the USATF Illinois Junior Olympics winner in not just the 100m, running 11.1, but also the 200m champion with 22.00! From now until the end of the season, things only seem to be looking up for Smith.
7. Dallas Amos (Sr., Evanston)
Events: 200m, 600m, 4x400m, Long Jump
Amos has had an excellent start to his season compared to last year as he achieved a mark of 51.03 in the 400m last week at the Greg Foster Invite which is the 7th fastest 400m in the state this year. He returns to Proviso West for the second week in a row and this time will be running some different events compared to last week. Expect to see his name a lot this weekend with the event load he currently has.
8. Deshawn Preister (Jr., Evanston)
Events: 200m, 400m, 4x400m
Preister has been a pleasant surprise this indoor season and that is evident from his IL#4 performance in the 600m last week at the Greg Foster Invite when he ran 1:24.04. He followed that up with a 23.37 performance in the 200m as well. Preister can run any distance from 200m to 800m well. This week looked to be more focused on speed for him.
9. Logic West (Sr., Chicago [Kenwood])
Events: 600m, 4x400m, High Jump
West is another great athlete from Kenwood who will look to finally be in his main events after some early indoor meets of running 200s and 60s. He ran 49.23 in the 400m during the 2024 season, he will move up a distance to run the 600m this weekend. He will also be a part of the Broncos 4x400m which will finally run their “A” Team for the first time this season.Where he will really excel on Saturday though, is in the High Jump. He jumped 6-7 last year and will be looking to down a top mark in the state this weekend.
10. Danny Karnatz (Sr., Elmhurst [York])
Events: 4x200m, 4x400m
Danny Karnatz is one of Elmhurst [York]’s best athletes; he holds school records in multiple events, and a few weeks ago, he finished first at the York Boys Quad #1 in the 300m, running 36.45 for IL #9. This weekend, we will see the senior run the 4x200m and the 4x400m which are very familiar events for him and will likely be run with confidence and top-notch speed.
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