Evanston’s boys track team hasn’t experienced much good weather this spring, just like the rest of the teams in the state of Illinois.
But give the Wildkits some decent conditions to run in and a brand new track to compete on — and the Kits know just what to do.
Evanston blazed to three new school records Saturday and won the team championship at the Thornton Invitational in their annual trip to the south suburbs.
Coach Don Michelin’s team beat Homewood-Flossmoor again — this time by a margin of 138 points to 126 — at the 11-team invitational that also included defending Class 3A champion New Trier. The Trevians placed third with 81 points.
Junior Mynard Blake broke Robert Simmons’ 200-meter record of 21.30, set in 1993, with a winning effort of 21.29 on his way to victory in that event.
The Kits also crushed two relay records. The 400-meter team of Blake, Emmanuel Roche, Anthony Honore and Justin Johnson dashed to a win in a sizzling 41.03, beating the mark of 41.68 established by the state champions back in 2015.
And in the 800 relay, that same foursome hit the tape first in 1:24.94, quicker than the 2015 quartet that also won a state championship back in 2015 — in 1:26.81.
Saturday’s record assault also included a new meet mark set by ETHS junior Jaden Jean-Paul, who won the high jump crown at a personal best 2.09 meters, or approximately 6 feet, 9 inches.
Michelin was probably most impressed by that new mark in the 800 relay.
“We’ve never been in the 1:24s or 1:25s in that event, and we’ve only been in the 1:26s twice that I know of,” said the veteran coach. “Honore (a sophomore) really pulverized those other kids on his (No. 3 leg) with a split of 20.5. It was really something to see.
“That new (gray and purple) track they have is outstanding, and we got lucky with the wind because it stayed down. The heat (weather), track, and competition were all great, and that’s just what we needed.”
Evanston totaled eight first place finishes overall while defeating the state power Vikings for the third time this season.
The Wildkits also counted wins from Blake in the 100-meter dash (10.65), Deshawn Preister in the 400 (49.82), sophomore Alex Praeuner in the 1600 (4 minutes, 41.49 seconds) and Jordan Harvey in the 110 hurdles (14.54).
Contributing top three individual finishes were Jean-Paul, second in the triple jump at 14.14 meters; Harvey, second in the 300 hurdles in 38.59; Johnson, second in the 100 in 10.77; Andrew Rich, second in the 800 in 1:59.44; Evan Kleiman, second in the 1,600 in 4:42.13; Andrew Praeuner, second in the 3,200 in 10:09.70; and Dylan Wooller, third in the 3,200 in 10:28.79.
