Lane Tech re-captures both Boys and Girls team championships; Meet records by Phillips 4x2 and Imani Payton

By Michael Newman

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Chicago --- The story was different a year ago for Briyanna Desrosiers (North Lawndale Prep). She was just a face in the crowd at this meet as she finished fourth in the 100 Meter Dash and seventh in the 200 Meter Dash.

A year later she is now in a different school. The change of atmosphere is evident in the way that this athlete runs. She came full circle in Saturday’s city finals at Hanson Stadium winning two events including anticipated race with Ebony McClendon (Brooks College Prep) and Ryan Preacely (Johnson College Prep in the 200 Meter Dash.

She first had to take care of business in the 400 Meter Dash. By the time she reached the far turn, she had made up the stagger and was on her way to a city championship. She won the race with the state’s second best time (55.09). She was three seconds ahead of the Lane Tech duo of Imani Davis and Alex Martel.

McClendon and Preacely faced off 20 minutes before the 200 in the finals of the 100 Meter Dash. Their prelim times were within a tenth of each other. The finals were the same. McClendon got off to a powerful start, then held off an on-charging Preacely to win the 100 Meter Dash. The margin of victory between McClendon and Preacely was only five hundredths of a second.

Would it be the fast start of McClendon, the strength of Desrosiers, or the perseverance of Preacely that would win the 200 race? McClendon got off to a great start making up the stagger on Desrosiers by the first 60 meters of the race. But when they came off the turn, it was Preacely that the lead. The three came down the final 100 meters side by side. With 35 meters to go, Desrosiers made a slight surge enough to break away from the other two athletes. Three runners under 25 seconds. The end of the race looked like a state meet finish. Desrosiers (24.47), McClendon (24.57), and Preacely (24.65) will all be at the front in two weeks. On this day however, the crown belonged to Desrosiers.

Lane Tech repeated as city champions in both the Girls and Boys team competitions. The Indians scored 138 points in the Girls meet, 26 points ahead of Whitney Young. The margin of victory for Lane’s Boys team was fifteen points ahead of second place Morgan Park.

Here are some of the highlights in both the Girls and Boys Meets:

Girls

• McClendon and Desrosiers faced each other before their 200 final in the Long Jump. McClendon had the best preliminary jump from the Tuesday prelims and was out to maintain that lead in Saturday’s finals. She did that winning the event with a 17-8 effort. Desrosiers was second only two inches behind (17-6).

• Ryan Preacely did not get any individual wins, but she did help her team for two relay titles. She anchored her team to a win in the 4 x 100 Meter Relay (48.45) with the state’s fifth fastest time. Johnson Prep was almost a second ahead of Whitney Young. The margin was much closer in the 4 x 200 Meter Relay. It was a battle down the final 100 meters as Preacely held off Young’s Indya McGuffin for the win. Both teams ran times that are ranked in the top five in the state (Johnson College Prep: 1:42.77 – IL #3; Whitney Young 1:43.17 – IL #4).

• One other athlete was a double winner besides Desrosiers and McClendon. Jenal Ortiz (Lane Tech HS) was victorious in both of the weight disciplines. She first won the Shot Put with a 37-1 ½ effort. She came back to win the Discus with a 104-8 throw.

Boys

• The finishes of the races up to 800 meters were very close in the finals. The one athlete that stepped into the limelight was Demoria Harris (Dunbar HS). In the 100 Meter Dash final, Terry McGee (North Lawndale Prep) got off to a quick start. It was the strength of Harris as he caught McGee two meters from the finish. Eric McMiller (Lane Tech) was also close making it a blanket finish with only nine hundredths of a second separating the first three. Harris (10.91) won on the lean only ahead of McGee by three hundredths of a second (10.94). McMiller was third also under 11 seconds (10.99). The story was the same between Harris and McGee in the 200 final. It looked like McGee had a slight advantage heading out of the turn, but it was Harris that crossed the line first in a season best 21.79.

• A consolation for McGee was North Lawndale’s performance in the 4 x 100 Meter Relay. The Phoenix looked sharp getting off crisp exchanges and staying even with relay upstart Phillips Academy who has been running extremely well this spring. A good leadoff by McGee, some “shaky passes by Phiilips, and a strong anchor by Imani Payton gave North Lawndale the in with the state’s fourth fastest time (42.01). Phillips Academy did get some revenge in the 4 x 200 Meter Relay. They were in control all the way running two tents of a second slower than their seasonal best. Their time of 1:28.97 established a new meet record.

• Payton was in control in winning both of the hurdle races. He looked sharp throughout the 110 Meter High Hurdles winning with a comfortable three tenths of a second margin ahead of Evan Lowry (Payton Prep). The North Lawndale senior had his 300 Intermediate race won by the middle of the far turn. He won by more than a second ahead of Maciej Markiewicz (Lane Tech). Payton’s time of 38.55 established a new meet record.

• Jeremiah Watson (Bronzeville) and Brandon Riley (Morgan Park HS) came off the turn fairly even. It was one final push to the finish line that gave Riley the slight edge in winning the 400 Meter Dash by only two hundredths of a second (49.34 – 49.36).

• David Schmieg (Lane Tech HS) went through the first 400 in 54.5 in the 800 trying to run away from the rest of the field. The only runner that he could not shake was Kevin Ma (Whitney Young). Ma got a little closer as the two passed the 600 in 1:24.9. The fast early pace took a toll on both runners in the final 200 but it was Schmieg that had a little more. He finished first (1:55.75) more than two tenths ahead of Ma (1:56.00). Deivi Thairaj (Mather HS) closed nicely for third.

• Jones College Prep picked up two wins in the distance races. Tony Solis, a last minute substitution in Jones Prep’s 4x8 quartet, broke the race open on the third leg giving his team an easy win in the race ahead of Lane Tech. The pace in the 2 Mile Run was a sluggish 2:32 with no runners wanting to take the lead. Peter Schaible and Kyle Maloney (Jones College Prep) ran the next 800 in 2:15 breaking away from the pack. Schaible went on for an easy win (9:42.08), 12 seconds ahead of Maloney.

• Pavlo Hutsalyuk (Lane Tech) brought home a title in the 1600. He ran an even paced race going through the first 800 in 2:11. He pulled away from the pack making the 4:21.42 winning time he had look very easy. Danny Rosen (Northside Prep) ran a lifetime best 4:25.30 to finish second.

• The big surprise in the field events was in the Long Jump. Matt Fleming (Simeon HS) jumped over a foot better than he ever has (23-4 ¾) to win the event. Dontel Payne (Mather HS) jumped a good 22-0 but was a distant second.