Schlenker leading a loaded Girls 1600 Meter Run could be the top race of the evening

 

By Michael Newman

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The fifth annual Batavia Distance Madness Meet could be the best yet. The first race, beginning at 5:15 PM Friday, will satisfy the appetite of the distance running fan as well as distance runners getting to race on one of the fastest tracks in the Chicago area.

The Girls race of the night could be the Girls 1600 Meter Run headlined by Batavia freshman Katrina Schlenker and Illinois list leaders at 800-meters Erin Reidy and Claire Hill. The Boys race of the night could be the 3200 Meter Run with Lincoln-Way Central’s Jared Kries leading a loaded field.

Here is a look of what to watch for in each of the six championship races. The meet schedule is published underneath this preview.

 

Girls Championship 800 Meter Run

Start Time – 6:13 PM

Meet Record – 2:14.57 – Michaela Hackbarth, Downers Grove South – 2016

Preview – This race is wide-open especially with event state list leaders Erin Reidy and Claire Hill opting to compete in the 1600 Meter Run. Lauren Huber of Glenbard East has the fastest 2019 time entering this event having run 2:22.20 on this track last Saturday. Lauren Hayes of Glenbrook South is the top seed in this race. She has a 2:15.52 personal best from her sophomore season in 2017.

Julia Finegan of Fremd, Olivia Schmitt of Lakes Community, and Rachel Baumgartner of Lincoln-Way Central could be some of the runners to keep an eye on. Also keep watch for Mia Gianfrancesco of Batavia who is in her first year of track. The junior earned All-State Cross-Country honors last fall. She had competed on Batavia’s soccer team the past two spring seasons. Gianfrancesco ran a 2:21.8 split on Batavia’s 3200 Meter Relay last Monday at the Mustang Relays. She should be a threat on her home track.

 

Boys Championship 800 Meter Run

Start Time – 6:18 PM

Meet Record – 1:57.91 – Charles Harders, Lyons Township – 2018

Preview – How close could this race be on Friday Night? Minooka’s Jason Hoffman has the third fastest time in the state (1:59.19) and he is in this field. Chris Simek of Huntley is the last seed in this field, and he ran 2:00.84 last week at Homewood-Flossmoor. 12 runners within two seconds of each other entering this race means there will be a lot of bumping going on in this championship section. The name of the game will be finding a spot to be ready to make your move.

One runner that finds his way through crowds is Rockford Christian’s Riley Wells. The two-time 1A state champion ran a controlled 2:00.78 at Rockford at the beginning of February and will be up for the challenge in this race. In last year’s race, he let Charles Harders get away and finished second. Adam Swanson of Dundee-Crown has a 1:56 personal best and has run 2:01 early this season. He could be a runner to keep an eye on. Batavia’s Joseph Knanishu has run under two-minutes and will be a factor. Jordan Freese of Minooka will have teammate Jason Hoffman by his side. Both could push for fast times. Grant Jensen of Prairie Ridge ran 1:53 last spring. Never count this runner out in a big-time race. Huntley’s Jadon Conroy could be a surprise in this race. The talent is here for a new meet record unless the pace gets too tactical in the first 300-meters of this race.

 

Girls Championship 3200 Meter Run

Start Time – 7:06 PM

Meet Record – 10:34.25 – Sarah Schmitt, Naperville North – 2018

Preview – Last year’s race saw Sarah Schmitt blow away the field on her way to a new meet record. We could see the same scenario in this race with another Naperville North runner leading the way.

Alex Morris showed at last Thursday’s NCC Girls HS Classic that she was at a great fitness level running under five minutes in finishing second behind Katelynne Hart. Morris will be the favorite in this race and could go past Schmitt’s record. Morris’ teammate Campbell Petersen just finished ahead of Morris in that race. The two could push each other to a fast time.

This is a race that I am looking forward to seeing. There is talent in this field where we could see six to seven runners go under 11-minutes. Kailey Fox of Yorkville ran 10:54 last week at NCC and could go past that mark in this race. Abby Lopez of Argo ran a solo 11:04 on her home track in February. She will have the runners along side her to go sub-11. Brenna Cohoon of Downers Grove South ran 11:04 last week at NCC. Emma Watcke of Hinsdale Central has run 5:01 for 1600-meters indoors and will be running her first 3200 of the season. She does have a 10:42 personal best for the distance. I would not count any of these four runners out in this race.

Laurel Moneysmith of Wheaton-Warrenville South, who was all-state last fall in cross-country, will be running her first 3200 of the season. She does have a 5:09 1600 Meter Run to her credit indoors. She could threaten for a top five finish. The Naperville North duo of Maggie Gamboa and Audrey Mendrys, along with Minooka’s Vivian Van Eck and Lincoln-Way Central’s Merrigan Allen, could be pushing for times near or under 11 minutes.

 

Boys Championship 3200 Meter Run

Start Time – 7:21 PM

Meet Record – 9:24.19 – Caleb Washington, Shepard – 2017

Preview – The 16-runner championship race has the talent to break the meet record. Lincoln-Way Central’s Jared Kries has been the hottest distance runner in the state this indoor season. The junior is coming off consecutive weeks where he ran 9:21 for 3200-meters at Oliver Nazarene and then came back to run 4:21 on his home 177.9-meter track for 1600-meters. With the field as tough as it is, we could see him dip under 9:20.

Tyler Cushing of Bolingbrook is back to defend his title after winning a nail-biter last year. Cushing ran 9:30 at Proviso West two weeks ago and came back to run 4:27 for 1600-meters last weekend at Illinois State. Rory Cavan of Glenbard West will run this distance for the first time this season. He does have a 9:28 outdoor personal best. Cavan ran 2:00 / 4:31 on this track two weeks ago and did run a 1:59 split at the Mustang Relays last Monday. He does have the speed to take this race at the end if it gets tactical.

Lake Forest’s Nathan Schmitt only has one race under his belt this indoor season. He did finish second last fall in the 2A State XC finals. He could be a threat in this race.

Naperville North’s Nick Trattner ran 9:31 last week at York with teammate Jake Allen three seconds back. Both runners could be among the top three in this race. Whitney Young’s Charlie Nevins ran 9:49 at Proviso West two weeks ago and should be well under that time in this race. Ian Geisler of Huntley ran 9:41 on his home track two weeks ago. He could have more in his tank for this race. Ford Baker of New Trier and Anthony Maida of Jones Prep could be among the surprise runners in this race.

 

Girls Championship 1600 Meter Run

Start Time – 9:05 PM

Meet Record – 4:49.30 – Judy Pendergast, Naperville North – 2016

Preview – This is the most anticipated of the six championship races held at this meet. The one thing that I like is that this will not be a tactical pace. The talent in this field could push each other close to Judy Pendergast’s meet record.

Batavia’s Katrina Schlenker has not been pushed in the two 1600 Meter Run races that she has competed in this indoor season. In last week’s Coach Heimsath Invitational on the Batavia track, Schlenker went under five-minutes indoors for the first time (4:55.46) winning that race by 27 seconds.

It will be closer for the Batavia freshman in this race. Erin Reidy of Downers Grove South and Claire Hill of Naperville North pushed each other under 2:12 for the fastest state times at 800-meters last week at North Central College. Hill ran 5:03 on Hinsdale Central’s 160-meter track at the beginning of February. Reidy ran 5:05 for a full mile on the University of Kentucky’s 291-meter track. Both are capable of being close to Schlenker in this race.

Brooke Stromsland of Lakes Community ran 5:04 and Samantha Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South ran 5:08 last week at North Central College. Both, however, were doubling back from the 3200 Meter Relay. Stromsland and Poglitsch will be running fresh in this race. It will be interesting to see how close the two get to five-minutes. Poglitsch has a 5:00 outdoor personal best.

13 runners are in this field. All could be under 5:10 in what could be a pressure-cooker of a race. Isabelle Christiansen of Oswego and Katherine Olsen of DeKalb have the talent to finish in the top five. The Hinsdale Central trio of Mckenna Revord, Bella Pisani, and Kayla Byrne, Alice Abbott of St. Charles East (who ran 10:50 last week at NCC), Victoria Palma of Willowbrook, and Kennedy Warden of Downers Grove South will all be pushing for front places.

 

Boys Championship 1600 Meter Run

Start Time – 9:12 PM

Meet Record – 4:17.47 – Keagan Smith, Huntley – 2015

Preview – Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Sean Maison is the defending champion in this race and the top seed in the championship section. Maison stayed off the pace last week at York moving in the final three laps to capture the race. We used the same type of strategy in last year’s race. We could see the same thing on Friday night.

This rave is wide-open after Maison. Batavia’s Damian Rodriguez and Adam Kennedy have sub-two speed at 800-meters that could be factors if this race gets too tactical. Andrew Englert of Lincoln-Way Central is coming off a 4:29 off his teammate Adam Kries last week and could be a surprise. St Charles East has four runners in this race (Aidan King, Bennett Melone, Charles Murphy, Bob Liking). Any of these four runners could finish in the top three. Glenbard West’s Stephen Moody has a 4:22.66 outdoor best at the distance and could be among the front runners.

1A State Cross Country Champion Christopher Collet of Seneca is also in the field and could be a difference maker in this race. Lyons Township’s Jack Ehlert and Ryan Bonfiglio, William Hauenstein of Wheaton-Warrenville South, and Ben Rosa of Lake Forest will also be runners to watch for.

 

MEET SCHEDULE

 

3200 Slow Heats- 5:15

Girls Heat 2 3200 (13 athletes)- 5:15

Boys Heat 2 3200 (16 athletes)- 5:30

Girls Heat 3 3200 (13 athletes)- 5:44

Boys Heat 3 3200 (15 athletes)- 5:59

 

800 Meters- 6:13

Girls Heat 1 (Fast Heat) 800 (12 Athletes)- 6:13

Boys Heat 1 (Fast Heat) 800 (12 Athletes)- 6:18

Girls Heat 2- 800 (14 Athletes)- 6:22

Boys Heat 2- 800 (14 Athletes)- 6:27

Girls Heat 3- 800 (15 Athletes)- 6:31

Boys Heat 3- 800 (14 Athletes)- 6:36

Girls Heat 4- 800 (15 Athletes)- 6:40

Boys Heat 4- 800 (14 Athletes)- 6:45

Girls Heat 5- 800 (15 Athletes)- 6:49

Boys Heat 5- 800 (15 Athletes)- 6:54

Boys Heat 6- 800 (15 Athletes)- 6:58

Boys Heat 7- 800 (14 Athletes)- 7:02

 

3200 Meters Fast Heats- 7:06

Girls Fast Heat 3200 (14 Athletes)- 7:06

Boys Fast Heat 3200 (16 Athletes)- 7:21

 

1600 Meters- 7:35

Girls Heat 1- (Slow Heat) 1600 (14 Athletes)- 7:35

Boys Heat 1- (Slow Heat) 1600 (15 Athletes)- 7:43

Girls Heat 2- 1600 (14 Athletes)- 7:50

Boy Heat 2- 1600 (15 Athletes)- 7:58

Girls Heat 3- 1600 (14 Athletes)- 8:05

Boys Heat 3- 1600 (15 Athletes)- 8:13

Girls Heat 4- 1600 (14 Athletes)- 8:20

Boys Heat 4- 1600 (15 Athletes)- 8:28

Girls Heat 5- 1600 (13 Athletes)- 8:35

Boys Heat 5- 1600 (15 Athletes)- 8:43

Girls Heat 6- 1600 (13 Athletes)- 8:50

Boys Heat 6-1600 (15 Athletes)- 8:58

Girls Championship Heat 1600 (13 Athletes)- 9:05

Boys Championship Heat 1600 (14 Athletes)- 9:12

 

MEET PROGRAM