https://results.shazamracing.com/meets/13033
The Spectacular return of Club Relays and one for the history books!
On Feb 26th, the golden gates opened once again and after a 1 year break due to covid, ITFC hosted Club Relays yet again. This meet was incredible and the team as a whole put their blood, sweat, and tears to make up for lost time and let me tell you all right now. There was indeed payoff. I remember the meet vividly so let me all tell you the tale of Club Relays 2022.
Field Events:
Starting with the field events, within the Women’s High Jump Annie Brunton jumped an amazing 1.40m high and Yuliya Ilnitzkaya jumped only .10 below that coming in at 1.30m.
For the Men’s our very own Nicholas Hartmann came in second place with a jump of 1.85m, up next was Derrick Stokes and Jad Karajeh who both jumped 1.65m. Returning alumni known as Illinois Elite also competed as well, Ben Junkroski and Andy Marszewski showed that their bones aren’t brittle yet as they jumped 1.49 and 1.54 respectively.
In the long jump Ellie McAuley jumped 4.75m far and Khalia Mullin jumped 4.03m far. Ellie came in 3rd overall for the Women’s long jump.
For the Men’s Tyler Klein jumped an extraordinary 6.13m far and Jad Karajeh jumped 5.81m. Andy Marszewski jumped 5.51m, Srinjoy Das jumped 5.19m, Ben Junkroski jumped 5.04m, Derrick Stokes finished it up jumping 4.84m. Tyler Klein came in first place overall for the Men’s long jump!
For the Women’s Triple Jump Khalia Mullin grabbed the 2nd place overall spot for jumping 9.96m far and Yuliya Ilnitzkaya jumped 8.69m. In the Men’s Jad Karajeh jumped 12.55m and Nicholas Hartmann jumped 11.61m. They grabbed 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Derrick Stokes jumped 10.79m.
For the Women’s Shot Put coming in 1st place for ITFC is Tayla Schwarz, who in the process of coming in 1st also broke a meet record of 10.34 with a throw of 11.29m. Tayla came extremely close to breaking the club record of 11.30 with this throw but she was only just a little bit off. Next up, Carley Polan threw an amazing throw of 9.24m coming in 3rd for this meet. Diana Whitfield and Jenna Homan threw 8.72m and 7.50m respectively. Kara Cannon threw 7.30m to finish us out for the day. For the Men’s Christoph Rydberd and Matt Bilek snagged 1st and 2nd place exclusively with throws of 12.83m and 12.06m respectively.
Track Events:
The Women’s and Men’s 60m hurdles were both insane at this Club Relays. When I said previously as a team we made up for the missing Club Relays, I mean it. For the Women’s not only did Ari Afolabi come in 2nd overall she broke the previous meet record of 9.64s with her time of 9.46! Not only that she broke her previous CLUB record of 9.59 that she set earlier this year! Georgia Reed came in with a 9.99 and Khalia Mullin came in with a 11.01. Illinois Elite athlete Desarae Echevarria ran 10.52 and Maria Becerra came in with a 11.01.
In the Men’s Josh James came in 2nd overall with a 8.84 and Illinois Elite Michael Jang ran 8.96. Matas Carmichael ran 10.33, Piotr Biel ran 11.35, and PJ Coleman ran 11.94.
Next in the amazing 60m dash we absolutely crushed it as a team. For the ladies, Ari Afolabi and Ninawa Odicho took 1st and 2nd place respectively with times of 8.28 and 8.29. Rachel Sakwa ran a 8.53 and Ibu Ajifolokun ran 8.61. Diana Whitfield and Chaitra Niddodi ran 9.04 and 10.06 respectively.
In the Men’s we had Christopher Raymond-Bertrand (who will be referred to as Chris for the rest of this write-up) run a 7.16 and Tyler Klein ran a 7.20. Michael Jang (Illinois Elite) ran a 7.24 and Adam Adil came in with a 7.31. Thomas Harris (Illinois Elite) showed up and ran a 7.35 along with Nic Soto who ran a 7.36. Jalen Frazier ran a 7.41 and Jad Karajeh ran a 7.55. Mason Rosenberg (Illinois Elite) and Jimmy Hoffman ran a 7.64 and 7.69 respectively. Andre Ells came in with a 7.72 and John Bradenburg (Ilinois Elite) ran 7.76. Ethan Mullen, Sanyu Kumaran, and Ben Junkroski ran 7.86, 7.89, and 7.91 respectively. Matas Carmichael and Eric Sylvester ran 7.99 and 8.04. Sandin Cuturic ran 8.21, Srinjoy Das ran 8.38, and Yifan Cao ran 8.45.
In the 4x800m the Women’s performance was quite literally unmatched in any shape or form. We took first place with a time of 9:42.77. This team consisted of Annie Brunton, Ella Chambers, Gina Kowalewicz, and Katherine Vande Pol. Ok, now get this. Not only did these four break the meet record for this event. They absolutely crushed the previous club record and meet record of 9:45.4! 2-3 whole seconds is a sizable difference. Which is why you will be shocked to hear that the closest team that came close to beating our A team came in with a time of 10:23.74! Our A team absolutely mopped the floor with everyone in this event! The B team consisting of Kyla Wolski, Alyson Ficca, Clare Oehler, and Kaleigh Evans came in with a good 10:54.92. The D team which included Mikeelie Jensen, Wilma Rishko, Adelina Garcia, and Laine Hackmann came in with a time of 12:07.90. All teams did great in this event and all of the events prior and after this one.
For the Men’s 4x800m we placed 3rd. Now just to clarify this was not due to a lack of speed. There was a misfortunate hand-off which caused a baton drop. If that didn’t happen I fully believe we would have blown the 1st and 2nd place out the water. The A team consisting of Jeffrey Hesselbein, Spencer Nelson, John Burns, and Eldon Warner came in at a time of 8:07.96. The C team which included Ben Baltz, Daniel Gutierrez, Henry Hornbrook, and Denver Soekawan clocked in at a time of 9:23.25. Lastly, the B team came in at a time of 9:38.36 which included Lane Weber, Spencer Robieson, Gabriel Inojosa, and Charley Hoppis.
Next up in the triumphant return of Club Relays was the Women’s 4x200m Relay. If you’ve been paying attention so far you already know what is coming next. Yup, you guessed it. We broke another Club and Meet record! The A team consisting of Georgia Reed, Ninawa Odicho, Ari Afolabi, and Ibu Ajifolokun beat out the previous record of 1:49.40 with a time of 1:48.30 and secured the first place spot! The B team who by the way came in 2nd place with a time of 1:53.78 included Ciara Ward, Ellie McAuley, Maria Becerra, and Des Echevarria! The C team which included Diana Whitfield, Erin Haslett, Kaleigh Evans, and Katie O’Hara came in with a time of 2:03.48.
For the Men’s 4x200m… we did it again! This race was widely anticipated by the sprinter’s because in order to not mince words, there was a lot of smack talk between the current team and the alumni (Illinois Elite). So it made for a very tension heavy race, but ultimately that tension is what propelled our A team consisting of Adam Adil, Nic Soto, Tyler Klein, and Chris Betrand to new heights to beat the Club and Meet Record (and Illinois Elite A team) with a brand new time of 1:30.92! The previous record being 1:31.91 for information’s sake. The Illinois Elite A team which included Michael Jang, Andy Marzewski, Alex Bienduga, and Thomas Harris flew in with a time of 1:35.65. Illinois Elite Racing B which had John Bradenburg, Mason Rosenberg, Ben Junkroski, and Steven Kataba came in with a time of 1:41.89. The C team for ITFC had Piotr Biel, PJ Coleman, Sanyu Kumaran, and Yuto Kibe on it coming in with a time of 1:43.15.
In the 3000m run for the Women’s we had Brisa McGrath coming in with a 10:52.16 making that her indoor season PR for 2021-2022, beating out her time at the start of the season which was 11:06.85. Annie Brunton, being a complete slugger, ran in the 3000m on top of her other races and came in with a 11:41.18. Natalie Maguire came on in and ran a 12:50.78 to finish this off for the ladies. In the Men’s we had Stephen Barretto run a 8:57.91, Justin Ostrem came in with a 9:17.73, Trevor Giampa came and ran a 9:35.23, Jacob Fleck flew in with a 9:39.08, Vignesh Ravibaskar ran a 9:44.32, Kyle Kenmotsu ran a 9:53.38, and Vijay Shah ran a 10:41.42.
Next up was the SMR, the sprint medley relay, which consists of runners doing a 200-200-400-800 in a relay fashion. For the Women’s in the A team, who came in first, it had Rachel Sakwa, Ninawa Odicho, Ibu Ajifolokun, and Katherine Vande Pol. They had a combined time of 4:26.25. Our B team had Ellie McAuley, Maria Becerra, Ciara Ward, and Wilma Rishko, they had a combined time of 4:49.31.
For the Men’s SMR for the A team it included Kevin Saju, Jalen Frazier, Hector Ramos, and Nolan Enright. They came in second place with a time of 3:43.62. The B team which included Josh James, Andre Ells, Drake Heisterkamp, and Patrick Willhalm. They came in with a time of 3:55.07. The E team consisting of Sandin Cuturic, Daniel Pogrebinsky, Patrick Sarad, and Beau Barber had a time of 4:09.34. The C team composed of Adam Adil, Eric Sylvester, Trevor Glancy, and Ben Baltz had a time of 4:21.63 due to athlete injury during the race. The D team had Matas Carmichael, Yifan Cao, Gerardo Porras, and Denver Soekawan had 4.37.84 together.
For today in the mile at this Club Relays Ella Chambers ran 5:35.01, Brisa McGrath did 5:36.46, Kyla Wolski ran 5:40.43, Bridget Brokaw slid on in with a 5:52.18, Maddy Feehan came on in with a 5:55.26, Mikeelie Jensen ran a posh 5:59.84. Marybeth Feeley came through with a 6:08.45, Brianna Legner ran a 6:16.14, Gabriela Aguilar-Ripley ran the mile with a 6:24.14, Claire Casiello had a 6:33.81 mile run, Natalie Maguire ran a 6:36.27, Lauren Bartels came and ran a 6:39.35, Grace Gudwein came with a 6:40.59. Finishing the Women up was Gabriela Arribas with a 7:20.60.
For the Men’s mile we had Eldon Warner with a 4:13.35 in doing so he broke a meet record and club record of 4:16.33. He also placed first. John Burns had a 4:24.38, Jeffrey Hesselbein scooted on in with a 4:28.70. Spencer Nelson had a 4:33.96, Stephen Barretto came with a 4:34.65. Cadyn Grafton had a 4:37.37, double 37s is nice. Alex Kogen ran a 4:42.49, Nolan Enright came in with a 4:55.50, Jeffrey Lu ran a 4:55.77, Norb Nieves ran 4:55.95, Henry Hornbrook came and ran a 4:57.53. Phillip Hu rode on through with a 5:00.27, Max Hartmann ran a 5:01.59, Ryan Fredericks was next with a 5:06.29, Daniel Grossenbacher and Isaac Schifferer ran nearly identical times with a 5:08.17 and 5:08.62 respectively. Alex Wang came and ran 5:11.59, Jason Palafox had a 5:16.21 under his belt, Griffin Rhode came through with a 5:20.77. Gabriel Inojosa had a 5:20.98, Bryan Himmel was running and finished with a 5:22.82, Nathaniel Lemming finished with a 5:23.69. Brennan Taylor had a 5:24.43. Evan Patel (Illinois Elite) finished with a 5:27.08.
Jacob Rubin finished his mile with a 5:38.38 and John Feeley finished with a 5:54.84, Gabe Benson finished our club off with a 5:54.89. Did you know the 1 mile run for Men’s had over 192 participants? Quite a crazy number!
Last but most certainly not least, the ultimate event at Club Relays. The 4x400m relay, one that tests every athlete’s competitive running and in Club Relay’s case, creativity to the max. In honor of it, I’m going to switch up the format a little
A Team:
1st place winners: 4:10.36
1) Gina Kowalewicz
2) Annie Brunton
3) Katherine Vande Pol
4) Ninawa Odicho
E Team:
2nd place winners: 4:31.29
1) Ciara Ward
2) Susan Whelton
3) Georgia Reed
4) Rachel Sakwa
G Team: 4:41.02
1) Ella Chambers
2) Khalia Mullin
3) Kyla Wolski
4) Maria Becerra
B Team: 4:45.83
1) MaryBeth Feeley
2) Brianna Legner
3) Maddy Feehan
4) Gabriela Aguilar-Ripley
F Team: 5:19.90
1) Lauren Bartels
2) Natalie Maguire
3) Alyson Ficca
4) Clare Oehler
D Team: 5:27.44
1) Brisa McGrath
2) Claire Casiello
3) Laine Hackmann
4) Anna Winnicki
C Team: 5:28.37
1) Mikeelie Jensen
2) Bridget Brokaw
3) Wilma Rishko
4) Grace Gudwien
For the Men’s-
A Team:
1st place winners: 3:28.23
1) Kevin Saju
2) Nic Soto
3) Eldon Warner
4) Tyler Klein
B Team:
3rd place winners: 3:36.08
1) Jalen Frazier
2) John Burns
3) Hector Ramos Jr.
4) Jean-Christoph Raymond-Bertrand
M Team: 3:46.77
1) Ben Baltz
2) Josh James
3) Stephen Barretto
4) Jimmy Hoffman
H Team: 3:53.30
1) Beau Barber
2) Lane Weber
3) Ryan Fredericks
4) Trevor Glancy
D Team: 3:54.60
1) Norb Nieves
2) Justin Ostrem
3) Spencer Nelson
4) Jeffrey Hesselbein
F Team: 3:54.84
1) Sandin Cuturic
2) Gerardo Porras
3) Eric Sylvester
4) Patrick Sarad
K Team: 3:57.65
1) Cadyn Grafton
2) Nolan Enright
3) Max Hartmann
4) Kyle Kenmotsu
B Team: 4:01.00
1) Spencer Robieson
2) Jonathan Wallk
3) Drake Heisterkamp
4) Patrick Willhalm
O Team: 4:07.57
1) Jeffrey Lu
2) Griffin Rhode
3) Sanyu Kumaran
4) Gabriel Inojosa
J Team: 4:13.33
1) PJ Coleman
2) Matas Carmichael
3) Andre Ells
4) Derrick Stokes
G Team: 4:14.48
1) Jason Palafox
2) Jacob Rubin
3) Henry Hornbrook
4) Ethan Light
E Team: 4:15.61
1) Tristan Taylor
2) Thomas Tran
3) Isaac Schifferer
4) Brennan Taylor
C Team: 4:16.02
1) Philip Hu
2) Nathaniel Lenning
3) Vijay Shah
4) Alex Wang
N Team: 4:19.07
1) Evan Patel
2) Vignesh Ravibaskar
3) John Feeley
4) Alex Kogen
L Team: 4:24.02
1) Yifan Cao
2) Gabe Benson
3) Daniel Pogrebinsky
4) Srinjoy Das
That officially concludes the meet write up for ITFC Club Relays, the most exciting collegiate indoor meet of the year. This meet was a long time coming and we passed expectations for it in every way possible. I’d even say we passed it’s expectation of us seeing as we brought our A game and smashed a lot of records. We strive to exceed these results next year and host an even more successful meet. You might ask what’s next after such an event? The answer is simple. Outdoor season.