The two biggest meets of impact this past weekend happened to both center themselves around the Mile. Both Hoka Festival of Miles in St. Louis, MO and Magis Miles in Chicago, IL produced some of the best performances in Illinois history! We look at some of those performances here.
Festival Of Miles -
Thursday night kicked off the weekend with the Hoka Festival Of Miles. The first race of the night was great for the 2024 IESA 3A 800m and 1600m State Champion, Klarke Goranson of Manteno. She took the race out in the lead through 400m with a quick 1:15.00, just under 5 minute pace. Iris Latta of Colorado made a move to the front to take the field through in 2:33.91. Then Goranson took the. race back over entering the bell lap going through in 3:53.07. Goranson closed in 1:13.78 and ran 5:06.85 but ultimately took 2nd behind Ella Messner of Missouri. Goranson will be attending Manteno High School in the fall. Molly Mocko (6th) of Glen Ellyn (St. Petronille) took 5th with a 5:14.22.
The Boys Middle School Mile was up next and showcased a few of Illinois top youngster stars. Carson Kaiser (8th) of Kaneland Harter took the pace out hot in this race race going through in 1:06.98 and 2:15.35 through 400m and 800m in the lead. After the 800m mark of the race the lead changed multiple times with Lucas Amador of Missouri ultimately being victorious. Kaiser took 4th with a 4:32.36, he heads to Kaneland High School in the fall. Karanveer Patil (8th) took 6th with a 4:39.60, he heads to Lake Zurich High School in the fall. Kass Kurzynski (8th) took 10th with a 4:43.60, he heads to Hersey High School in the fall.
In the Spewak Training High School Girls Mile saw Annika Swan (So) of St. Ignatius run a very strategically sound race to run 4:48.55. Her splits were. 1:10.43, 1:13.00, 1:14.11, and 1:11.01. That is a new PR for Swan and her 1600m split of 4:46.81 is the 13th fastest 1600m in Illinois History!
The FOM event doesn't only host Mile races, as an elite High School 800m field is also assembled. Illinois's Elena Rybak (Jr) of Father McGivney and Becca Heitzig (Sr) of Lincoln ventured across the border for this event. Rybak opened up her first lap in a 1:02.29 to be in 2nd place while Heitzig was right on her tail coming through in 1:02.67. Rybak finished in 4th with a 2:06.68 which is the 3rd fastest 800m in Illinois history! Only Ali Ince and Tatum David rank above her. Heitzig finished in 7th with a 2:08.53 slightly off her PR of 2:08.04. Heitzig completes the most impressive IHSA calendar years ive ever seen. 2nd place team in Volleyball, Cross Country State Champion, Team Champions in basketball, and 800m and 1600m Track & Field State Champion. She will do terrific things in the fall for Iowa State.
Ali Ince (Sr) of Normal Community tops the headlines this weekend with a new IL All-Time Record! A lot of hype around the Hoka High School Girls Championship Mile for Illinois fans as this is Ali Ince's first attempt to run a fast mile since indoors. Ince took this race out in the beginning coming through in 1:09.02. From there Allie Zealand of Virginia stormed by her and held the lead all the way through the rest of the race. The result? A new national record for Zealand with a 4:30.38! That only lasted for about 10 minutes as Sadie Engelhardt reset the national record minutes later with a 4:28.46. The result for Ali Ince? A new IL record in the 1600m running 4:34.22 to beat Tatum David's record set last year. Her splits were 1:09.02, 1:09.54, 1:10.22, 1:07.17.
Finally in the Saint Louis Track Club Professional Men's Mile we saw former Metamora runner Jake Gillum break the 4:00 barrier to run a new PR of 3:57.98. He finished right next to his college teammate Jack Anstey who ran 3:57.91.
Magis Miles -
The night of miles at St. Ignatius has become a tradition over the years with some of the best marks in state history being produced at the event. The event is headlined with the hope of finally having the first sub 4:00 mile happen within the Chicago city limits outdoors. The night started out with some great open miles that produced some great times for a lot of athletes.
The main event of the night started out with a talented middle school mile. Klarke Goranson (8th) of Manteno who ran at FOM 48 hours beforehand took this race out through 400m going through in 1:14.47. She held the lead through around 1100m until Berrit Shure (7th) of St. Benedict came up on her shoulder at 3:55.27 through 1200m. Shure powered through until the finish to run 5:07.57. Goranson was 2nd with a 5:08.83 and Francesca Mora (8th) of British International was 3rd with a 5:12.87.
In the boys middle school mile, Nike Indoor National Champion Micah Weiss (8th) of Latin was looking to take down Dan Watcke's meet record of 4:37.14. He finished just off of it with a 4:37.64. From the gun Weiss strung the pack out and came through 400m in a blistering 1:06.19. He pressed through 2:18.07 at 800m and 3:30.76 at 1200m. He was unchallenged through the entire race. 2nd was Joseph McKillop (7th) of Elmhurst Visitation with a 4:49.88 and in 3rd was Nico Rastatter (8th) of Chicago Near North with a 4:50.35.
Next was the freshman boys mile, which has some of the future stars of the sport in it. Dean Geiger (Fr) of Dixon decided to be the one to take it out early coming through in 1:08.12 in the middle of the hardest rain that we would see throughout the night. He continued his lead through 800m at 2:18.04. At the 1K mark is when Alex Batsala (Fr) of Plainfield South took the lead and held off a late push from Geiger and Joey Schuch (Fr) of Kaneland to win in 4:35.42
The Ray Mayer Elite High School Girls Mile was next up. This race could be pretty much summed up as the Ava Gilley (Jr) show who lead from the gun to set a new school record that would stand for only a couple of minutes of 4:56.21. Her splits were 1:12.25, 1:16.77, 1:16.57, and 1:10.64.
The Ray Mayer Elite High School Boys Mile had a lot of eyes to see what new 1600m State Champion Phillip Cupial (So) of Downers Grove North could run fresh as he ran the 4x8 before his state 1600m win last weekend. Calvin Allaband-Gamble (Sr) of Whitney Young was the one who decided to take out the pace in 1:04.52 which isnt very fast for a
field this talented. They came through 800m in only 2:09.37, but that is where the true race started. Nick Strayer (Sr) of Lyons, Josiah Hortin (Sr) of Tuscola, and Jacob Barraza (Jr) of DeKalb essentially started a 800m sprint to the finish with Barraza coming out on top with a 4:12.96. Hortin was 2nd in 4:13.71 and Strayer waas 3rd in 4:15.86.
The Womens Elite Mile was next on the docket. The headline athlete heading into this was recent University of Missouri graduate Reilly Revord who sported a 4:25 1500m PR coming in. Molly Farrell (So) of Marshall took this race out to start out coming through 400m in 1:14.15. She then was passed up by Liv Phillips (Sr) of Naperville Central, Lily Eddington (So) of Downers Grove North, Emma Berres (Jr) of Naperville North, and Revord. Phillips, Eddington, and Berres took turns leading throughout the rest of the race and resulted with Phillips being victorious in 4:55.57. 2nd was Eddington beating her teammate Gilley's school record in 4:55.59. Berres was 3rd with a 4:56.73.
The final event of the night was the Mens Elite Mile. Thanks to a pacer none of the guys in the field had to worry about being the one to take the race out. Cam Knudsen was the first competitor to come through the 409m mark in 1:01.80. He continued to keep his foot on the pedal while high schoolers Aden Bandukwala (Sr) of Hinsdale Central, Ryan Eddington (Sr) of Downers Grove North, and Trey Sato (Sr) of Grayslake Central gathered behind him. They hit the bell lap in 3:04.49 and the race to the finish was on. Knudsen, Sato, and Eddington all took turns leading with ultimately it being Sato who got the victory in 4:04.58. Eddington took 2nd in 4:05.50 and Knudsen was 3rd in 4:05.80. Sato's mark was the 4th fastest 1600m in Illinois High School History and Eddington is the 8th.
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