With school a few days away, the Illinois Track Club had their top athletes in the Illinois Open in the friendly confines of the armory. With plenty of volunteers to spectate, Emily Foley, Becky Haight, and Keith Lee had plenty of people to cheer them on.
The Saturday started with Emily Foley running 5:28.46 in the mile with remarkably even splits. Look for something fast at Club Relays, this woman is on a mission. More than anything, it shows that she is fit and ready to tackle the indoor season. A month ago, she ran 5:37 and here we are, 9 seconds faster.
Becky Haight is probably one of the most consistently dominant sprinters our club has ever had. Indoor, outdoor, early or late season, she can keep churning out quality performances. In the 200, she took 2nd in her heat in 26.41 for 11th overall. This is her fastest time on a 200m track which is easily missed if one just looks at the raw numbers. In the 60m, she ran 8.19, good for 17th in a field of 27 women.
In 2015, Keith Lee, a senior at Urbana High School, ran 1:57.70 to take 7th place in the Illinois 2A State Meet. Being an All-State brings great pressure to keep performing. Since joining our club, he had not broken the 2:00 barrier. His best club time as of this morning was 2:00.10. A quarter step separated him from sub 2:00 in an Illinois singlet. Now the Mid-D coach for one of the deepest Mid-D squads in NIRCA, he has to lead by example. Today, he finally ran under 2:00 in a time of 1:59.61. This is his fastest indoor time by almost a second. If my math is correct, (and I got an A- in MATH241), he’s gonna blast the outdoor 800. A big congratulation goes to Keith Lee on his performance. It’s very, very well deserved.
Special thanks to all those who volunteered, your services are greatly appreciated! Enjoy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!”,2018-01-13 19:35:00+00,Indoor
154,Muneeb Ansari,ITFC Races Early at EIU,”After winter of training, several ITFC athletes attended the EIU John Craft Invitational in Charleston, Illinois.
Notable performances included Lauren Grant, a staple athlete in sprint practices and meets, who ran 1:03.45 in her indoor 400. By itself, that time is impressive. But considering that this is 2 seconds faster than her outdoor best of 1:05.38, I think we might see some exciting 4×4”s in her future.
The women”s 800m run featured several athletes including Freshmen Maggie Madden (3:08.99) and Angela Wu (3:26.69). The stage is set for them to get quality training under their belt and perform well at Club Relays and beyond. Be on the lookout for Maggie Madden this season, her consistency at practice and even when she cannot make it to practice gives a lot of hope to her teammates. Emily Foley ran a phenomenal race in 2:27.83, leading from wire to wire. She came through the 600m mark in about 1:49.46 which, by itself, would put her top 10 all time for our club. This. Girl. Is. On. Fire.
On the men”s side, Thomas Harris ran his 2nd fastest 60m dash in 7.37 and his 2nd fastest 200 m in 23.73. John Kellum lead the group of 800m runners winning his heat in 2:04.25. He said ‘”it wasn”t fast, really. But I executed my race plan. It was a great measure to see how much XC has helped me without any speed work'”. Give this man some fast intervals, @Richard, he”ll be on fire. Zack Fishman (2:09), Beau Barber (2:16) and Patrick Willhalm (2:13) found their baseline times. I”ve got my eye on Patrick Willhalm. A consistent XC runner, this man is made for the 400/800 races. He has been training over break and has a stride longer than most. More importantly, this guy competes and loves to push the pace. It”s guys with that sort of passion that make track and field so fun to watch.
In the long Jump, Doug Howard and Justin Nebel had quite a day jumping 6.20m and 6.12m, respectively. These two are on fire and those jumps would put them 2nd and 4th at 2017”s Club Relays and 7th and 8th at Nationals. I”m trying to contain myself, but I might just jump (he he) for joy.
Next week will see a big delegation going to IWU for the Titan Open. We”re about a month away from CLUB RELAYS!!!! Also, I finally figured out how to set up our Instagram so follow us @illinitrackclub. Like the pictures we post because I get notifications on my phone and people will think I”m popular.