Welcome Back!
Just 2 weeks ago, we had an awesome time over in Jacksonville IL at Illinois College. In fact, we loved it so much that we went back again this weekend, competing in the 2024 Jim Green Invite. We went back and were better than ever, so without further ado, let’s get into the write-up!
Let’s start things off with our recently #1 ranked women, in the 60m dash. It was a great day for Ari Afolabi whose time of 8.12 earned her second place in the preliminaries and a spot in the finals, where she ran an 8.057, coming in 2nd place, just 0.04 seconds off the first place finisher! Right behind her was Ninawa Odicho, who easily qualified for finals with an 8.281 in the prelims, and finished with an 8th place overall finish, with an 8.43. Brooke Bouwens wasn’t far behind her teammates, coming in at 8.34 for a 10th place finish in the prelims and a large pr! Next up was Sumin Cho, who went out and ran a speedy 8.90 in her club debut. Christina Li had a great day, running a 9.16, over 0.3 seconds faster than her last race at IC. Leah Wilson was close behind her teammate, coming in at a 9.28, a great way to start her club career.
On the men’s side, it was social coordinator Kevin Saju leading the pack, running a speedy 7.34. Current sprints coach Nic Soto ran a beautiful 7.433, just barely edging out teammate and former sprints coach Adam Adil, who ran a 7.46. Michael Baker did not disappoint in his first race with the club, running a quick 7.643. Henry Martinez’s debut time of 7.798 closely edged out his own competition, coming out ahead of 2 other competitors by 0.02 seconds! Koen Brown wasn’t far behind, coming in at a gorgeous 7.87. Taking a break from designing fire merch, David Welte-Hart ran a beautiful 7.897, coming out just a few milliseconds ahead of teammate Tanav Palisetti, who ran a 7.93.
It’s hurdle time, or I should say, it’s Ari Afolabi time! After her impressive 2nd place finish in the 60m, she came with a vengeance to the 60m hurdles, running a 9.61 in the prelims, and then an impressive 1st place finish of 9.45 in the finals, 0.3 seconds ahead of the competition, congrats! Not to be outdone, Christina Jordan had a similarly awesome hurdles day, running a 10.72 in the prelims, and a speedy 10.56 in the finals, a pr of almost 2 seconds, a great 4th place finish!
Increasing the distance, it’s time for the women’s 200m dash. Head Coach Ninawa Odicho was leading the pack, running a 27.33 to claim 2nd place overall, wow! Close behind her was Brooke Bouwens, who ran an impressive 27.47 to claim 4th place overall and her second PR of the day! Travel Coordinator Bella Brunke had an awesome race, running a 28.99 to round out the Illini women!
For the men, it was Nic Soto out in front, whose 27.746 cemented him a 7th place finish overall! Tyler Vizgirda had a great race, getting out and running a PR of 24.25. Next up was Henry Martinez, who came in at a quick 25.813. Michael Baker barely edged out his fellow teammate Henry Hornbrook, running 26.03 and 26.10, respectively. David Welte-Hart closed it out for the men, with a beautiful 26.29.
If one lap is not enough, try two laps! Ninawa Odicho claimed a very close 2nd place finish in the 400m, running a 1:01.76, just 0.03 seconds off the first place finisher! Unofficial team photographer Lucca Bibbey was up next, taking a break from taking photos to run a casual 1:06.18, claiming 7th place overall.
For the men, it was Mid-D coach Ryan Fredericks flexing his sprinting muscles, running a 54.17 to claim 8th place overall. Koen Brown came in next, running a super speedy 56.93.
If two laps still aren’t enough, try doubling it, it’s 800m time! Brooke Silbernagel led the women, running a 2:38.49 to claim 3rd place overall congrats! Christina Li had a huge PR from the last meet, running a 2:58.94, a 14-second improvement from the last meet!
John Wiser started his season off strong, with a beautifully even split 2:04.52, snagging a 6th place finish along the way. Dante Ragozzino didn’t let the reputation of the 800 scare him, running a speedy 2:27.86. In his season debut, Gabe Benson ran a 2:41.09, a great way to start off his final season with the club.
Today is a great day to be Bridget Brokaw, coming out and running a 5:27.35 to claim 1st place in the mile, kicking out her competitor in the final stretch! Carlin Hass was close behind, running a 5:52.41, claiming a 4th place overall finish! Lia Tondeva had a great race of her own, running a 6:35.55, a race that was almost perfectly evenly split!
For the men, it was everyone’s favorite highland resident Easton Rosen, starting his track season with a speedy 4:22.81, claiming a 2nd place finish, only 0.5 seconds off the leader! After his impressive 800m, John Wiser flexed his distance muscles, running a quick 4:25.01 to claim 4th place! Right behind him was money man James Stanley, narrowly missing Wiser, but running an impressive 4:26.95 to claim 6th place. Simon Hildy stayed right on James’ tail throughout the race, coming in at a great 4:32.37 to get 7th place! Freshman sensation Alex Herrera made his track club debut with a speedy 4:41.91, just barely edging out the other Freshman sensation Dakota Amar, who came in at 4:44.18. Close behind Dakota was Declan Ahern, who ran an impressive 4:45.18. Orange Krush staple Henry Hornbrook slid right under the 5-minute mark, coming in at 4:59.11. Close behind Henry was fellow tall person John Bledsoe, who came in at 5:00.24. Soon after came the other John B on the team, John Burns, coming in at 5:05.88. ECE Wizard Gabe Inojosa had a great race, coming in at 5:10.60. Rounding it out was Gabe Benson, coming in at 5:54.53.
Time to put the distance in long distance with the 3000m, and it was Claire Casiello leading the women, whose impressive 10:58.96 was quick enough to grab a 3rd.place finish! Lia Tondeva was the only other woman brave enough to run the 3k, running a 13:10.47 to claim 8th place.
On the men’s side, it was the pride of Oswego Ethan Forsell, who casually took 2nd place with his incredible 8:50.84. Aidan Markiewicz was the only other Illini in the 3k, but that didn’t stop him from running a great 10:21.93.
It’s relay time! The women’s 4x200m team composed of Sumin Cho, Christina Li, Leah Wilson, and Ari Afolabi ran a great time of 2:01.19 to claim 3rd place! The men’s team matched the women and also came in 3rd place, that team was made up of Adam Adil, Kevin Saju, Tyler Vizgirda, and Ryan Fredericks, running a 1:37.17.
The story was similar for the 4x400m teams, who all had great days! The women’s team of Bridget Brokaw, Carlin Hass, Brooke Silbernagel, and Lucca Bibbey ran a speedy 4:27.44 to claim 2nd place overall. For the men, it was the B team that reigned victorious, the team of Nic Soto, Tyler Vizgirda, Ryan Fredericks, and John Burns coming in at 3:38.93 to claim 2nd place! Right on their tails was the A team, made up of Easton Rosen, Alex Herrera, Simon Hildy, and James Stanley, who snagged a 3rd place finish with a 3:40.39. Not far behind was the C team, made up of Dakota Amar, John Bledose, John Wiser, and Henry Hornbrook, grabbing a 5th place finish with a time of 3:46.65.
Enough running events, it’s jumping time! Starting things off in the women’s high jump was an incredible performance by Christina Jordan, jumping 1.50m (4’ 11”) to claim a 1st place finish! Right behind her was Bella Brunke, whose awesome jump of 1.45m (4’ 9”) earned her 3rd place.
Gwen Bottom wasn’t far from the action, jumping a great 1.35m (4’ 5”) to get 5th place.
Moving onto the women’s long jump, only Bella Brunke was in the mood to jump into the sand pit, with an impressive jump of 4.83m (15’ 11”) to claim 5th place.
We had 2 brave competitors on the men’s side, with Henry Martinez leading off with an impressive 5.63m (18’ 5.75”) to claim 9th place. Adam Adil was close behind, who leaped 5.26m (17’ 3.25”).
Ciara Shreeves was the only Illini brave enough to tackle the tricky triple jump, jumping an impressive 9.07m (29’ 9.25”) to claim 6th place.
Ivy Del Real was the only thrower to compete today, showing up and throwing a season PR in the shotput of 7.89m (25’ 11”)
That about wraps it up from this meet! We’ll be back this upcoming weekend at the Titan Open at Illinois Wesleyan University on February 10th, see you there!
Until next time,
I-L-L
Meet Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-KPt56T3netDNH59w5eh3Bp6vwTN01O5
Meet Results: https://liveresults.trxctiming.com/meets/Jim_Green_Invite_2024