Boys track and field: 5 storylines to watch in The Herald-News area

Boys track and field season is always full of questions and intrigue. Here are five of the top storylines to follow this spring.

Who’s on top?

The area is always full of strong teams, and this season appears to be no different. Joliet West finished ninth at the Class 3A state meet last season, while Plainfield South was 17th, Minooka was 26th, Lincoln-Way East, Plainfield East and Bolingbrook tied for 46th, Lincoln-Way West tied for 55th, and Joliet Central tied for 61st.

Look for the Southwest Prairie and SouthWest Suburban Conferences to be a tight battle for conference supremacy.

In Class 2A, Morris tied for 36th last season, while Joliet Catholic Academy tied for 49th. In Class 1A, Reed-Custer tied for 65th.

Magnificent milers

Camyn Viger of Plainfield South and Marcellus Mines of Joliet West return as state medalists in the 1600-meter run. Viger placed second at last year’s Class 3A state meet with a time of 4:11.75 and Mines was third in 4:12.47. No other returning area runner qualified for state in the event, but given the strength of such cross country programs as Plainfield North, Plainfield South and Minooka, the 1600-meter race at any Southwest Prairie Conference meet is sure to feature a strong field.

Speed demons

Joliet West’s Billy Bailey Jr. owned the sprint races last season in the area, taking second in the Class 3A 400-meter dash at the state meet and fourth in the 100 and 200. Bailey has graduated, and area sprinters will battle to see who now is the fastest.

Top 3A returners in the sprint events this season, based on sectional finishes last season, are Aiden Rodriguez of Joliet West, Nigel Osei Asare of Plainfield Central, Isaish Kuli of Lincoln-Way East, Vincent Gonzalez of Lockport and Aziriah Henry Bolls of Romeoville in the 100; Austin Rowswell of Lincoln-Way West, Rodriguez, Anthony Vilcek of Plainfield South, Christian Remsblake of Lincoln-Way East, Zavire Adeniyi of Lockport, Keith Cyracus and Zader Pauley of Plainfield North, and CJ Jones of Bolingbrook in the 200; and Rowswell, Vencent Demma and Korey Cagnolatti of Lincoln-Way Central, Nolan Lamoreaux of Lockport, Alex Brennan of Plainfield North and Jason Vernak of Bolingbrook in the 400.

Returning Class 2A state qualifiers this season are Adrian Washington of JCA in the 100 and Providence Catholic’s Luke Leverett in the 100 and 200.

Jumping jacks

There are several returning athletes who qualified for state last season in jumping events. In the Class 3A long jump, Dedrick Richardson Jr. of Lincoln-Way East finished sixth, while Keirh Cyracus of Plainfield North also qualfied. Returning 3A state qualfiers in the high jump are Ehi Ogbomo of Plainfield East and Spencer Thompson of Lincoln-Way West, while Ogbomo, Plainfieold North’s Kwame Amoo-Otoo, Joliet Central’s Jamari Straughter and Richardson all are returning qualifiers in the triple jump.

In Class 2A, Joliet Catholic Academy’s Adrian Washington (5th) and HJ Grigsby (10th) return after qualifying in the long jump, while Matthew Velazquez of Providence Catholic returns after qualifying in the pole vault.

In Class 1A, returning state qualifiers are Seneca’s Nathan Grant in the high jump and teammate Sam Churchill in the pole vault.

Throwing down

Athletes in the area will have some work to do in the throwing events, as only four state qualifiers return from last season.

Returning as a 3A qualifier in the shot put is Jacob Katauskas of Lemont, while 3A returning qualfiers in the discus are Chase Creed of Lockport and Micah Hamilton of Minooka. In Class 1A, Alex Bogner-Kidwell of Seneca returns as a qualifier in the shot put.