The Bronco Relays are the other half of the action packed Monday. We will see some big time sprint relays go down at the Gately Center in Chicago, get ready for the leaderboards to be torn to pieces. Like with Mustang Relays, we are going to talk about the best teams in each event.
Boys
4x200m
After Kenwood's team performance at Cabin Fever, it should be no surprise that they are the favorite in this event. Their trio of Parrish Hartley, Armond Boulware, and Logic West are arguably the fastest sprinting trio in the state of Illinois. Boulware is IL #1 in the 200 and is one of 2 athletes under 22 seconds, sitting at 21.63. West is IL #1 in the 400, and he has a 200 PR of 22.70. Hartley is IL #4 in the 200 with a 22.29 and will also contribute to this relay. Their final runner will likely be David Campbell. He was a part of their state champion and all-American 4x2 last year and will likely return to cause havoc for the other teams. His has dealt with injuries this indoor season, but ran 21.6 last summer in the 200m. They are seeded at 1:28.88, they should be well under 1:30. The team that will make it close to them will be Lincoln Way West. The quartet of Austin Rowswell, Joshua Veldman, Ryan Stilglic and Chase Markowicz will create an excellent matchup between the Broncos and the Warriors. LWW will also be well under 1:30, especially when you remember that Rowswell just ran 21.74 for 200 on a flat track. With the bank under his feet, who knows how fast he can go. The final 3 teams with a shot at the win will be St. Laurence, Whitney Young, and Brother Rice. St. Laurence came into the season with an unreal amount of hype, and they have so far lived up to that hype. The duo of Harley Rizzs and Monroe Thompson Jr. has turned out to be one of the most electric sprint duos in the state, closely trailing the group of Kenwood boys mentioned above. Rizzs and Thompson have both ran 6.90 for 60, and are currently tied for IL #6. If we see the return of John Hannah III, this squad could be well under 1:30 right with LWW and Kenwood. Whitney Young is listed at both Mustang Relays and Bronco Relays, so we’re not actually sure which one they are attending. Should they attend the Bronco Relays, they will certainly compete for a title. They ran 1:31.38 at the Select Challenger Invite and they have the capacity to challenge the favorites. Brother Rice ran a surprising 1:31.94 to win the ICOPS Invite over St. Laurence. What’s impressive about that mark is they don’t have any athletes who are under 23 seconds in the open. I’m not sure how the Crusaders pulled it off, but if they can do it again, they will definitely be in contention for a win here at Gately. There is the potential for several teams to run under 1:30, this will be an exciting battle between the best teams in the state.
4x400m
Once again, Kenwood and Lincoln Way West are going to duke it out for the title. These two teams are seeded well above the rest of the competition. Kenwood’s group of Logic West, Taylor Shurtliff, David Campbell and Armond Boulware will likely be starting on the A-team. West is one of 2 kids under 50 seconds in the 400 right now, he currently sits at IL #1 with a 49.36. Shurtliff has recorded a 4x4 split of 49.8 so far this season he will put up a big leg for the Broncos as well. Campbell and Boulware are mainly known in the 200, but will be depended on to move up a distance and run on this excellent relay. This squad is seeded at 3:25, don't be shocked if they steamroll that time and go somewhere in the low 3:20s. Lincoln Way West is equally equipped to combat this impressive squad. Austin Rowswell, Zaven Johnson, Hunter Spee, and Anthony Lusciatti are well prepared to compete for the win. Rowswell is currently the only athlete in the state under 22 seconds in the 200 AND under 50 seconds in the 400. His wicked PRs of 21.74 and 49.53 were both set on flat tracks as well, whereas almost all of Kenwood’s PRs have been set on the banked track at Gately. Zaven Johnson was a superstar in middle school, he has an outdoor PR of 50.53 and has been a big help for the Warriors. Lusciatti and Spee have picked up the slack as well, both have consistently been splitting in the 52s. The Warriors are seeded right behind Kenwood at 3:26.84. They will be right up with Kenwood if not in front. It will be an insane showdown between these two teams.
4x800m
Maybe not as strong as some of the other events, there will be two teams that will gun for the title. Deerfield and Lakes will go at it, and it will be a very close race. Lakes has the quartet of Brady Mock, Blake Salbilla, Cooper Summy, and Jackson Summy and they are confident in their ability to win. Mock, Salbilla, and Cooper all ran the open 800 at their quad meet on Friday, and they all finished together, right around 2:03. Their season best together was at Lakes’ home Invite, where they ran 8:20 to take the win by about 4 seconds. If you watch the video, the final leg run by Brady Mock, splits a 2:11. This 8:20 is not a sign of how fast they are, it’s a sign of how much left there is in the tank. This squad also has Jackson Summy. Jackson has a 4x8 split PR of 1:54.6, which he used to anchor home a sectional title last year during outdoors. He has been on a trend of shattering his outdoor PRs, so the line of best fit suggests that he will shatter this as well. They are seeded around 8:12 but there is a genuine possibility that this squad will run under 8 minutes. They will be met by Deerfield and it could be a cat and mouse game for most of the race. Deerfield will run the quartet of Nick Dowell, Ben Freedman, Will Lambert, and Jamie Chandler. Dowell and Freedman both have split PRs of 2:02, they will match up well with Salbilla and Cooper. Lambert just recently ran 1:26.07 and will look to run under 2 for the first time. Chandler is more traditionally a 3200 runner, but he showcased some of his speed last week when he dropped a 4:22.90 in the 1600. He can run on or under 2 minutes and he will be a valuable piece to the Warrior 4x8. The key for Deerfield is to extend the gap as early as possible. If they can create space early on, it will be harder for Jackson to go hunting for their anchor leg, and they could get away with a win. Both of these teams can run in the vicinity of 8 minutes, it will be a real battle to see who walks away with the win.
Girls
4x200m
Kenwood did an amazing job finding the best possible competition for them, this event is absolutely loaded. Homewood Flossmoor, Kankakee, Kenwood, South Shore International, I mean what more could you ask for. Homewood-Flossmoor currently holds down IL #1 in this event, they ran a blistering 1:41.89 at their home invite, which was held on a flat track. IL #2 goes to Whitney Young, but unfortunately they will only be running a serious 4x4, so we will not get to see them go head to head with the Vikings. This squad is led by Mariyah Robinson who had an excellent meet to kick off her season as she ran 24.32 in the 200m. However, that doesn’t mean that Flossmoor is uncontended, they will have plenty of teams biting at their ankles. Kankakee is currently IL #3 with a 1:42.63. Their quartet of DaMariana Tooles, Naomi Bey-Osborne, Essence Bell, and Trinity Noble demolished the ONU 1A/2A invite with that time, they will seek the win over Flossmoor. They ran 1:43 without their star runner Naomi Bey-Osborne at the Cabin Fever Invite. Kenwood is seated at 1:43.11, they will likely run with Kee’Lani Whitlock, Shaniyah Rutledge, Ariel Haynes, and Mya Williams. Kenwood ran 1:45.11 at Flossmoor’s home invite, I believe they can beat that time at Gately. South Shore International will run Jordan Hamb, Leah Smith, Kylee Gardner, and Oluwaferanmi Arileola with hopes of competing with the top teams 3A has to offer. I would not be surprised if IL #1 - #4 are set in this event. Definitely keep your eyes on South Shore as well, they are only in 2A and whatever they run will likely be the 2A #1 by a country mile. This event is sure to bring fireworks to the Bronco Relays, be excited for the girls 4x2.
4x400m
Whitney Young is a narrow favorite in this event. The Dolphins could run Angelena Bullocks, which would make them large favorites, however I am unable to see who they have on their relay card. Even if they don’t run her, they should still be able to win, but it will be much closer between them, Kenwood, and Flossmoor. Whitney Young will run Ella Sweatt, Mia Seaton, and Madison Hurt for sure. Sweatt has run 1:00.4 in the open 400, it should be easy for her to recreate that in a relay. Seaton has run 1:01.1 so far this season, and she has an outdoor PR of 59.39. If she can lower her indoor season best to that, the Dolphins will have a great day. If the Dolphins choose to run with Bullocks, they could maybe even sneak under the 4 minute barrier. Bullocks ran under 40 seconds in the 300 so far this season and her outdoor PR in the 400 was a 58.0. I think she could reasonably be under a minute, if not capable of running 57-58 seconds. Hurt has run 1:01.21 so far this season, which is a big open PR for her. She was a part of the team that took 3rd last year at state. Either direction they choose to go, this team is going to light up the track and bring home the win. Kenwood looks to be in a position to take second. They will likely go with Carly Wiggins, Ariel Haynes, Kee’Lani Whitlock, and Jamiylah Jones. Wiggins and Haynes were on Kenwoods state 4x4. They ran a 3:53.9 in prelims, but did not finish during finals. Whitlock has an open PR of 1:01.06 from her sophomore year, but she has been able to split a 1:01 for several years. Jamiylah Jones has run a PR already this year in 1:02.4. I think this squad is maybe a little behind Whitney Young, but still capable of pulling off something great. Expect Homewood Flossmoor will be right with them. They have 3 girls who are all around 1:02, Aubrey Haley-Jones, Aniya Mullens, and London Jarrett. To anchor this squad home will be Mariyah Robinson. Robinson has yet to run the 400 indoors, but she has an outdoor PR of 55.23. I would expect her to put this team on her back to put them to a podium position. Robinson has been truly unbelievable throughout this season, running 7.45 and 24.32. She is IL #2 in both, she only sits behind Angelena Bullocks. HF has profited off of her success in the 4x2, now it is time for them to reap the benefits in the 4x4. It will be an interesting race for sure, definitely a close one, I would not be surprised if there are several top ten times set in this event.
4x800m
Fenwick, their squad of Juliana Gamboa, Mia Menendez, Bridget Brunick, and Mia Bagato will look to be the most talented team in the field. Mendendez and Gamboa are two of the top runners in the 2A classification and will be looking to show out here. St. Ignatius sends their A team and B team to Mustang Relays, so their C team will look to compete with Fenwick. Same goes for Lane who is sending their B team to Bronco Relays and has the top seed time.
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