Happy start to the second semester!
The Illinois Track and Field Club kicked off the second semester with a trip to Jacksonville Illinois to compete at the Illinois College Snow Bird Invite. This was the first chance for many athletes to compete this season, and proved a great way to start the season. After this first meet, it is clear that the club is here to compete! Let’s get into the event breakdown!
There’s no better place to start than the women’s 60m dash. Leading the women was Melissa Aninagyei-Bonsu, who ran an impressive 8.14 in the prelims, earning her a spot in the finals, where she ran a 8.15 to claim 7th place overall! Right behind her was her teammate Ari Afolabi, who’s 8.16 earned her a spot in the finals, in which she ran a 8.20 to claim 8th place! Close behind Ari was Head Coach Extraordinaire Ninawa Odicho, who came in at 8.29, just barely edged out of the finals by Ari. Rounding out the women, Christina Li came out and ran a great 9.47!
Moving on to the men’s 60m dash, where Tyler Klein smoked the competition, running a 7.10 in the prelims to come 2nd overall, and then running an awesome 7.06 to claim the 1st place overall, congrats! Next up for the Illini was President Nic Soto, using his presidential powers to run a 7.44. Michael VanHootegem was right on Nic’s tail, coming in at a 7.53, a great race for his club debut! Racing in the same prelim heat as TK, Jacky Lin made himself known on the track, running a great 7.95. James Lu, all recovered from an unfortunate injury, showed us he was back and meant business, going out and running an 8.24!
If running a 60m wasn’t hard enough, try it with hurdles! If that isn’t hard enough, try running a 60m Hurdles immediately after racing a 60m! The athletes had mere minutes between races, yet that didn’t stop them from running awesome times!
Leading the women, and the race, Ari Afolabi showed off her hurdles expertise, running a 9.36 to claim a 1st place overall finish, congrats! Christina Jordan, in her first ever hurdles race, showed off her natural talent, running a 12.94 to claim the 8th place finish!
For the men’s hurdles, it was all up to Michael VanHootegem, and he delivered, running a speedy 8.82, securing a 1st place overall finish, nice job!
Next up, it’s the women’s 200m run. Ninawa Odicho started out strong for the Illini, running a 27.62, coming in 7th place! Right on Ninawa’s tail was Ari Afolabi, coming in at 27.66, just 0.04 seconds behind her teammate for 8th place. Not to be left behind, Brooke Bouwens went out and ran a similarly great race, coming in at 27.93, a 10th place finish!
On the men’s side, it is yet again the tale of Tyler Klein, whose 22.38 took the 1st overall place in the meet, his second first place finish of the day! Flexing his own sprinting expertise, Nic Soto came in at a speedy 23.70, snagging an 8th place finish. Michael VanHootegem came in close behind, running a 24.89. The big hand man himself, Henry Hornbrook, took a break from his usual mid-distance to run a 200m, coming in at a palindromic 26.62. Rounding it out for the men was James Lu, coming in with a gorgeous 28.24!
As the springs got longer and into the 400m, our women just got faster and faster. Case and point, Ninawa Odicho, in her third event of the day, coming in at a beautiful 1:02.70, grabbing a 1st place finish! Continuing the Illinois dominance was Brooke Bouwens, running a 1:03.43 to take the 2nd place finish! Rachel Sakwa finished it off perfectly, running a 1:06.09, an 8th place finish!
For the men, it was the sprints coach Nic Soto who came in at 52.82, claiming a 4th place finish overall! The other two runners ran great times and finished just milliseconds apart, with Carter Bailitz running a 56.46 and Henry Hornbrook close behind with a 56.76!
Enough sprints, let’s get into the distance, starting with the women’s 800m. Anna Jablonski had a great race, running a 2:29.85 to claim a 2nd place podium finish. Right on her tail, Bridget Brokaw came in at 2:31.48, snagging a 3rd place overall finish. Close behind was Christina Li, running an awesome 3:12.63!
Only 1 man was brave enough to run the 800m today, but Jose Ocegueda Zuniga didn’t let that stop him, he went out and ran a nice 2:19.95!
In the women’s mile, both competitors went out and ran awesome races and both came in the top 10! Claire Casiello had a great race to start her season, coming in at 5:41.26, for a 5th place finish and a pr! Our incredible fundraising coordinator, Suhani Peramanu, went out and ran a 6:06.81, claiming 8th place.
Resident Club Relays Wizard Nathaniel Lenning had a great race, tying his pr in the mile with a speedy 5:23.32! In his 2024 season debut, Issa Fouani went out and ran a beautiful 6:28.28!
It’s time for some relay’s action! Our women’s 4x400m team of Ninawa Odicho, Anna Jablonski, Bridget Brokaw and Rachel Sakwa ran an impressive 4:32.16, securing a 3rd place finish!
The men’s side had 2 4x400m, with the A team, made up of Ryan Fredericks, Trevor Glancy, Antony Rizk and Dakota Amar came in at 3:48.06, a great way to start the season, grabbing a 6th place finish. The B team brought the heat, the squad of Nathaniel Lenning, Carter Bailitz, Jose Ocegueda Zuniga and Henry Hornbrook, running a 4:05.52, securing 10th place!
Having some more relay fun, the men’s DMR, composed of Dakota Amar, Trevor Glancy, Ryan Fredericks and Antony Rizk ran a beautiful 11:36.25, snagging a 2nd place finish!
Time to take a leap into the jumps, starting out with the women’s high jump. Christina Jordan had a great day, jumping to a mark of 1.55m (5’ 1”) to claim the 2nd place finish! Taking a break from reserving nats hotels, Bella Brunke came out and jumped a great pr of 1.45m (4’ 9”), taking the 5th place finish. Close behind was Gwen Bottom, jumping a 1.40m (4’ 7”), finishing out the list with a great 8th place finish!
No men were brave enough to high jump today, so let’s move on to the women’s long jump. Melissa Aninagyei-Bonsu showed off her jumping abilities with a jump of 5.21m (17’ 1.25”) to get the 2nd place finish. Bella Brunke came in next with an awesome jump of 4.64m (15’ 2.75”) to get a 10th place finish!
For the men, it was just Jacky Lin, but he didn’t let being alone stop him, jumping a beautiful 4.78m (15’ 8.25”), grabbing a nice 10th place finish!
On throws, Ivy Del Real represented the Illini for the women’s shot put, throwing an impressive 7.50m (24’ 7.25”)! Quinn Rivara led the Illini men, throwing the shot put 9.24m (30’ 3.75”), wow! Not to be outdone by his teammate, Frank Chavez threw a great 8.32m (27’ 3.75”), rounding off an overall great day to be a thrower!
Well, that’s all folks! We’re off next week, taking the time to volunteer and work at the Illinois Varsity Track and Field Meet, but we’ll be back competing in 2 weeks at the Blue White Classic at Indiana State University on February 3rd, see you then!
Until next time,
I-L-L
Meet Results: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/82557/Illinois_College_Snow_Bird_Invite