There is unrest in the running world. As the devastating month of January comes to an end, a new hope is on the horizon. This past Saturday, February 1st, the Illinois Track Club traveled across the great plains to Bloomington, IL where they faced great competition, and reaped great rewards. President Alex Bienduga claimed close to 70 ITC athletes competed. We’ll see if his reputation of lies and trickery upholds. Regardless, it was a great day to watch the Illini compete. Close photo-finishes, life-time PR’s, and all wrapped up with an exquisite family dinner at the local Champaign Culvers. So sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and enjoy.
The day started at 10:15am when the women’s 5k began. Unfortunately for the Illini, no single woman decided to run this event. Big sad! However, just 20 minutes later, a lone wolf stepped up for the men’s 5k. Wassim Elhouar ran a smooth 17:58. By no means is this the fastest this man can run, but it’s an excellent place to be at for the beginning of the season. Especially on an indoor track.
While the 5k races were happening, our field friends were out showing how strong ITC is. Sadly no women were representing the Illini in the women’s shot, however we did have athletes in the men’s section. Leading for the Illini was our very own throws coach! Chris Rydberg threw a whopping 12.60m! Incredible! Sam Stabosz followed suit at a 10.10m throw, and Kelvin Cross right on his heels at 10.09m. Our very own social coordinator Shantanu Amin finished the Illini strong at 5.97m. Excellent job gentlemen!
In the long jump sections, we had Melissa Suarez representing the Illini women at a 3.24m! For the men, Jad Karajeh led the charge at an incredible 5.85m! Grant Brown followed suit at an impressive 5.39m. Well done athletes!
Next set of field events were the triple jump sections. Representing ITC in the women’s section was Yuliya Ilnitzkaya, jumping an incredible 9.52m! For the men, we had Jad Karajeh place in the top 5, jumping 12.88m! This places him at the #2 spot for All-Time performances for indoor track! Great job Jad! Following up was Nicolas Perez at 11.07m. Great performances all around by the Illini!
Unfortunately, ITC doesn’t have any pole vaulters (rip). So the next, and final field event would be the high jump! For the women, we had one lone athlete compete for the Illini. Yuliya Ilnitzkaya jumped an incredible 1.40m! Continuing the trend of lone competitors, Jacob Birg jumped 1.75m for the high! Well done athletes!
Swinging our attention back to the track, the 60 meter hurdles prelims are underway. Starting with the women, Desarae Echevarria ran a speedy 10.59! Teammate Tatiana Montanez followed up nicely at 11.89! Nice job ladies! For our men, we saw Josh James lead the pack and run 8.91 which earned him a qualifying spot! Amazing performance by Josh! Elias Decker was next for the Illini at 9.50 and Joseph Bleyer wrapped it up for the team at 10.03. Great races by everyone!
For the 60 meter dashes, no women were representing the Illini, however we did have our men athletes run strong races. Leading the charge was Jalen Frazier with a blistering 7.30. Next race would have been a photo-finish had they been in the same heat. Travel coordinator Andy Marszewski edged out President Alex Bienduga by just 2 hundredths of a second. Andy ran a 7.35 and Alex finished in 7.37. Alex’s comments post race were “The 60 isn’t my race”. Clearly. Next up for the Illini was Andre Ells at 7.49. Following close behind was Grant Brown at 7.56. Excellent job gentlemen, but we aren’t done yet! Turner Hastings crossed the line at 7.74. Nicolas Perez was able to run a speedy 8.17. PJ Coleman sprinted across at 8.99 and Shantanu Amin finished in 9.75 seconds. What a showing by the Illini in the men’s 60 meter dash!
Next event on the track was the mile! This race was stacked full of Illini throughout all heats. Leading the women was Mia Bertaud at 5:53.26! Incredible time! Next up was a close race between Audrey Calkins and Lauren Brunk, finishing in 6:11.61 and 6:13.19 respectively. Next for the Illini was Ally Tippett at a speedy finish of 6:20.88. Nice job! Riley Maloney wasn’t too far behind at 6:22.52 and Brianna Legner was right on her heels at 6:22.98! Such a close race! Lauren Bartels finished in 6:25.61 and Sarah High finished it off for the Illini at 7:16.50. Excellent job ladies!
Onto the men! Starting off strong was our very own distance coach Josh Mollway at a whopping 4:26.09! Following up not far behind was legendary John Kellum at a blistering 4:28.44! These two showed excellent team work during the race and should be proud of their finishes. Andrew Rhode had, what may seem, the race of his college career. About halfway through the race, this man, this animal, had one of the biggest surges ever witnessed in club running. Going from mid-pack all the way up to 2nd place and gaining on the leader, Rhode managed to pull off a 4:36.57. An incredible effort all around.
Coming up next in the mile was steeplechase coach icon, Justin Ostrem. Ostrem busted out a 4:47.44 after a flaky off season riddled with illness. Great job out there! Gaining fast and coming for Coach O’s rear was haus legend Jarod Meyer. A late race surged secured a 4:48.74 for this unit. Well done lad! Alex Kogen was not too far behind at 4:50.87. The next set of Illini in the mile were all relatively close in finish, two of which were in the same heat which lead to a great race to watch. Jacob Fleck came across at 4:57.57. Cade Baker finished in 5:01.48, so close to that sub 5 milestone! Norb Nieves came across shortly after at 5:02.76. Surely sub 5 is inevitable for these two runners!
Think we’re done with the mile? Nope! Nathan Zachar finished at 5:09.21. Nice job! A close race between Thomas Tran at 5:22.90 and Justin Baysore at 5:24.27. And finally, Isaac Schifferer closed out the mile for the Illini at 5:48.65. Well done to all the men that ran in the mile! Excellent performances all around and still plenty of opportunities for improvement!
Next event was the 60 meter hurdles finals! Josh James was back on the track and secured 6th overall at 8.79, 4th All-Time club fastest for men! Excellent finish Josh!
After the 60 finals were the 400s. In the women’s sections, we had three athletes represent the orange and blue. Leading was Katherine Vande Pol at 1:03.04! Once again a 4th All-Time fastest for women! Tatiana Montanez was next at 1:09.25 and Ciara Ward closed it out at 1:09.41. Great performances ladies!
For the men, we had two athletes competing. Mid-distance coach himself, Patrick Willhalm finished in an astounding 53.96! Teammate Turner Hastings finished not too far behind at 58.11! Great job gentlemen!
Onto the 800s! On the women’s side, we had Mikeelie Jensen lead the way at a solid 2:33.68! Next up was Audrey Calkins crossing the line at 2:49.84. Excellent job! Close behind was Angela Wu at 2:50.83. Ally Tippett wasn’t too far behind at a 2:55.17! And topping it off was MaryBeth Feeley finishing at a 3:04.67. So close to that sub 3 minute milestone! Excellent job all around ladies!
Just like the mile, we have a ton of men who raced in the men’s sections of the 800. 13 athletes to be exact. To start, we once again saw Josh Mollway and John Kellum running well together! The finish was quite close this time with Mollway at 2:00.85 and Kellum at 2:00.91! Well done men! Next up was Nikita Smyrnov at a solid 2:04.73! Following him was Jeffrey Hesselbein at 2:06.15! Excellent races!
This next race ended in excellent fashion. Andrew Rhode once again had an outbreak of a race accompanied by his teammate Spencer Nelson. In the final stretch, both of them performed what secretary Patel describes as a “Saints Pass”. Essentially overtaking a runner from either side simultaneously. Nelson was able to edge out Rhode slightly in the finish at 2:06.53 while Rhode finished in 2:06.68, both of them earning a #1 and #2 finish in their heat! Awesome race gentleman and a very exciting one to witness!
Drake Heisterkamp came in at a solid 2:07.66. Well done! Henry Hornbrook lead the next batch of Illini at a strong 2:12.86. Following him was Beau Barber at 2:16.05. On the old man’s heels was a slightly less old man, Jacob Fleck finished at 2:16.31. Excellent performances by the boomers! Nathan Zachar was next at 2:17.95. Close behind but unfortunately in a different heat was Alex Hanskat at 2:17.99. Finishing it off for ITC was Norb Nieves at 2:24.26. Well done men! Many more opportunities to race lie ahead if you weren’t pleased with your performances. Great job nonetheless!
Closing in on our final events. Next up is the 200 meter dash. On the women’s side, Katherine Vande Pol lead the Illini with a 28.16! 6th All-Time for women! That’s fast! Following behind was Zoe Tsokolas at 29.10 and Natasha Ferrero at 29.80! All ladies ran sub 30 seconds! That”s amazing! Well done!
In the men’s sections of the 200, President Alex Bienduga opened up with a 23.36 and snuck his way into the top 10! Great job supreme leader! Next up was Jalen Frazier and Andre Ells. Separated by heats but still neck-and-neck. Frazier finished at 24.31 while Ells came across at 24.34. Elias Decker wasn’t too far behind at a 25.78! Closing out for the men’s 200 was PJ Coleman and Shantanu Amin running 30.06 and 34.57 respectively. Well done men and great job on your races!
The second to last event of the day was the 3k. In the women’s races, the Illini had two athletes represent them. Grace Gudwien came across at 10:48.15! This was an incredible race given her limited running, and only 7 seconds off her PR! Excellent job! Brisa McGrath followed suit at 11:19.19! Well done ladies!
For the men’s races, Connor Farrell lead the charge at a solid 9:23.59! Beating his time at this race last year! Fresh off the mile, Justin Ostrem was able to pull off a 9:40.80 on dead legs, not bad for the mile/3k double! Matthew Beckerman ran a smooth race at 9:45.00 and should be able to drop that time in races to come. Ian Dempsey finished it off at 11:01.26! Just a few more weeks of training and that sub 11-minute time is there! Great performances everyone!
Now for the main event, the most hype event of any track meet. The 4×400 relay. Representing the women’s ‘A’ team was Desarae Echevarria, Katherine Vande Pol, MaryBeth Feeley, and Tatiana Montanez. Excellent racing by these ladies landed them with a 4:30.78! Nice job! The women’s ‘B’ team consisted of Ciara Ward, Zoe Tsokolas, Mikeelie Jensen, and Natasha Ferrero. Combined they pulled off a 4:33.96. Well done!
Final race of the day, the men’s 4×400. ITC brought 4 men’s relay teams to compete. Starting off with the ‘A’ team, Alex Bienduga, Jalen Frazier, Andy Marszewski, and Justin Davis managed a 5th place spot and a combined time of 3:32.76! This places them at the #9 spot for All-Time indoor track records, however they’ll be going much faster in the coming weeks. Well done men! Next up was the ‘B’ team consisting of Patrick Willhalm, Elias Decker, Andre Ells, and Josh James. These four men were able to run 3:42.15. An excellent time for them! ITC’s ‘C’ team consisted of Drake Heisterkamp, Jeffrey Hesselbein, John Kellum, and Andrew Rhode. These men combined finished in 3:44.48! Well done! And finally, the ‘D’ team consisted of Nikita Smyrnov, Henry Hornbrook, Beau Barber, and Matthew Beckerman. Combined, they were able to put down a solid 3:49.27! Great job by everyone!
What seemed like a long day through this post actually flew by as fast as our athletes. We had a huge showing of Illini and we couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of them. For those that are proud of their performances, good. You’ve earned it. Keep putting in the solid training you have been and come back stronger each race. For those that aren’t happy. That’s ok. It’s only the beginning of February and track is a long season. Keep coming to practice and putting in consistent effort and you’ll get the results you want. A final congratulations to all of our athletes and thank you to our coaches for pushing them to their bests. We’ll see you next time at the U Indy Invitational on February 15th 2020!
Official Results:
https://www.iwusports.com/documents/2020/2/1/titanopenresults_2_.pdf