Oswego’s Dontrell Young realizes his goal, medals in all three Class 3A sprints at IHSA state track meet

CHARLESTON — Oswego sophomore Dontrell Young always had one goal on his mind for the season — three All-State medals.

After finishing his freshman season with a fifth-place finish in the Class 3A 400-meter dash at the IHSA Boys Track and Field State Championship, the sophomore knew that he wanted to end his season with a medal in the 100, 200 and 400 to go alongside it.

And Saturday, he made it a reality.

“It just feels great,” Young said. “It’s something I was really aiming to do this season. I didn’t get what I wanted in the 400, but I got personal bests in the 100 and 200, so I can’t be mad at that.”

Young’s best finish came in the Class 3A 200. The sophomore finished the race in 21.22 for second place, only finishing behind New Trier’s William Landwer, who ran a 20.87 to break the state record.

“My start could have been better, but once I got to the 100 we were even, so I thought it was going to be a battle of who wanted it most,” Young said. “But then he just kept going and I thought he was going to run in the 19-second range. But then I saw I ran a personal-record, and I couldn’t even be mad.”

Young also recorded a fourth-place finish in the 100, finishing in 10.57 and took eighth in the 400 in 50.55. While the finishes weren’t exactly what he wanted, the sophomore said that it was more fuel to the fire for his final two high school track seasons.

“It’s definitely built my confidence up for next season,” Young said. “I really want to go for that triple crown now.”

Oswego East finished the day as the most decorated Kendall County schools with four All-State medals on the day.

Of the four medals, two came from senior Zach Morrisroe in the throwing events. The Northern Illinois football commit took third in the Class 3A shot put after throwing 18.78 meters, and added a fourth-place finish in the discus with a throw of 54.78 meters.

Making his first and only state appearance, Morrisroe was glad to know that the work that he put in to become the Wolves’ first All-Stater in the throwing events paid off.

“I saw a lot of potential in the events after last season, and I’m a big weight room guy,” Morrisroe said. “So it feels good to walk away with both those school records, and also bring it home at state.”

Oswego East’s other two All-State medals came from the mid-distance relays. The relay team of seniors Austin Ward, Nicholas Goduto and Eddie Bozett, along with junior Aiden Fell took seventh in the 4x800 relay after finishing in 7:53.11. Ward and Fell came back to join senior Nigel Grisby and junior Micah Monahan to run a 3:18.98 in the 4x400 for fourth place.

Yorkville junior Owen Horeni came just a few meters short of winning the Class 3A 800 title after taking fourth last year as a sophomore. Horeni, who had the lead heading into the final stretch before getting chased down by Lockport’s Nolan Lamoureux, still recorded a personal-best time of 1:52.22 to take second in the event.

But after sneaking his way into the finals during the preliminary rounds, Horeni was more than happy to walk away with another state medal.

“That back stretch I was just really hoping that I was opening up a gap, because if he was anywhere close to me, I knew I was going to get caught,” Horeni said. “After my stretch yesterday, I was just euphoric and really happy. Couldn’t really describe the feelings I was having, but coming back and getting second felt really good.”

Plano senior Tristan Meszaros also recorded a multi-medal day in his final high school track meet. Meszaros took fourth in the Class 2A 100 after running a 10.63, and followed it up finishing the Class 2A 200 in 22.13 for seventh.

Sandwich sophomore Jacob Ross took home an All-State medal in the Class 2A pole vault. After just missing out on the finals in his freshman season, Ross secured a fourth-place finish in the event after clearing 4.50 meters.

Senior Graham Razum made history on the track for Yorkville Christian. The senior took seventh in the Class 1A 800 in a personal-best 1:58.48 to record the team’s first-ever state medal in a track event.