2023 Edwardsville “Meet of Champions” Recap

I spent quite a few words in last week’s writeup on efforts to ratchet up our schedule, a schedule I believe is the most challenging that we’ve faced in decades. The outdoor portion of our schedule includes trips to Greenville, Mascoutah, and Mattoon (two of those were ultimately cancelled, unfortunately). But when it was confirmed a few weeks back that we’d be competing at the Winston Brown “Meet of Champions”, I immediately put a star by that one - for a couple reasons. For starters, the fan in me just wanted to be in attendance. The facilities, the top flight programs, the individual performers… all make this one of the premier meets in Illinois. A few weeks back, Milesplit referred to it as the best all-class competition likely to take place before post-season. In all, this year’s meet consisted of 9 3A teams, 9 2A teams, and about half a dozen 1A schools… 22 teams in all after a few backed out due to weather (a lot more on that going forward). In the end, just about every part of the state was represented. On top of all that, one of my coaching heroes, Tony Holler, brings his Plainfield North team to this meet each year all the way from Chicago (his son, Alec, coaches hurdles for Edwardsville). It was a huge thrill for me to see the Orange and Black at the same meet as one of Tony’s teams, and it was especially exciting to see that we were seeded in the fast heat of the 4x2, just a few lanes down from Plainfield North.

After watching our kids compete the past few weeks, though, the excitement of attending this meet was quickly overcome by the anticipation of seeing how our guys stacked up. Part of the reason you head to a big meet like this instead of staying around home is to get your kids used to being in these big situations. Bigger situations and more competition now hopefully means fewer nerves and less intimidation later on. If you want to be the best you possible, at some point you’re probably going to have to get beat in this sport… You don’t find out how truly good you are unless you get pushed to the brink. Having said all that, I knew going in that we have a special group (we took 6 Tigers who ranked in or near the Top 25 in IL 2A in a variety of events) and that they belonged in a meet like this. It wasn’t just a place for us to learn - it was a showcase for our kids.

Lastly, I can’t move on without talking about the weather. One of the things this meet is famous for is historically great weather, which you would expect to be typical for late April. This year however - not so much. We’re talking sub-50 temps (with the real feel creeping down into the 30s at times), no sun, and pretty brutal winds… at least it wasn’t raining. But even with all that I don’t recall hearing a single complaint from our kids (at least within earshot of me). These guys came to compete. No excuses.

Hallam Crosses the 22-Foot Barrier

Rex Hallam hasn’t been short on success in the Long Jump up to this point. He came into Saturday the top sophomore in Class 2A and #10 in the state, with a 3rd place finish at the Top Times Meet under his belt. But he’s also had his share of “almosts”. The latest came last week at Mascoutah, where he had two absolute monster jumps tossed out due to hairline scratches (his best that day was 21’7.5, good for 3rd place). We’ve known Rex was due for something big, but I started wondering early on whether Saturday was going to be the day for it.

In addition to the weather, Rex’s morning in particular didn’t get off to an ideal start. Halfway to Edwardsville, Rex got sick to his stomach. I spent the rest of the ride unsure whether he would be able to jump or if our relays would be able to compete. Looking back, we’re pretty sure it was car sickness, but regardless… not an ideal way to head into such a big meet. Rex came to compete, though, and that’s exactly what he did. Rex’s first two jumps were scratches - the same was true for a lot of jumpers that day as they got acclimated to the conditions. His 3rd jump was roughly in the same league as his best from Mascoutah. Going into his final jump, Rex was trailing Jacob Morrison of Mt. Vernon, an excellent jumper whose also been flirting with 22 feet all spring and who, up to this point, has had Rex’s number (he edged him out last week at Mascoutah and at the Top Times Meet both by just over an inch). He also had Keith Cyracus of Plainfield North breathing down his neck for 3rd. But Rex responded to the weather, competition, and illness by finally sticking that jump we’ve been looking for. The judge said immediately after that he “got every single bit of the board”, and you can tell by the look on her face (red coat in the picture above). I also love the looks on some of the faces of the Plainfield North crew that had gathered. It was impressive.

The jump measured at 22’1.25… our first ever event at the Meet of Champions ended in a gold medal performance. That catapults Rex to #3 in the 2A rankings. It also makes him Olney’s first 22-foot jumper since Mike Rodgers in the early 90s (that I’m aware of). Rex is now just over half a foot from busting a 50-year old record, originally set by Mike Dugan in 1967. By the way, that’s our 2nd 50 year old record to be threatened this year. The 100m dash record that went down last week at the hands of Ayden Cothern was originally set in 1964.

Gavyn Cothern Comes Out of Nowhere to Win the High Jump

Two years of coaching Ayden Cothern, and now his younger brother Gavyn, have trained me not to be surprised, even when I’m shocked. Both of these kids continuously come out of seemingly nowhere to do things that I have never seen, over and over again. Gavyn managed to pull that off again Saturday, in an event that we weren’t even sure he would compete in coming into the 2023 season. Whereas Ayden has bloomed later in his high school career and gone on to do historical things for us, Gavyn hasn’t snuck up on anybody. He broke the Middle School record in the long jump last spring, and at 5’9-ish (give or take), the kid was dunking this summer as an incoming freshman. Still, no one had him winning the High Jump on their “Meet of Champions” Bingo Card. Not only had Gavyn never cleared 6 feet coming into Saturday, he hadn’t competed in High Jump since back on March 18th at the Gene Armer Indoor (he broke his hand sliding into 3rd base shortly thereafter). He’s been outstanding on our relays over the past month, but finally got cleared to do what he loves this week, and he refused to let the conditions spoil his return.

Khalil Thorps-watt of Collinsville has cleared 6’4 or higher on 4 different occasions this season, twice clearing 6’6. He currently sits at #5 in 3A, and has turned in a 22’ Long Jump & a 46’ Triple Jump. In other words, he was definitely the favorite coming in. The problem for him on this day, which doesn’t happen too often in track and field, is he never saw Gavyn coming. Gavyn’s injury status meant his seed coming in wasn’t good enough to get him into the better flight, which competed first. Thorps-watt cleared 6’2.75, and with the rest of the field (in the better flight) out at that point, he had no reason to suspect that he hadn’t won outright. So he took the opportunity to raise the bar and go for a new personal best, not knowing our freshman was lying in the weeds. Thorps-watt missed on the ensuing attempts, and Gavyn promptly came in and tied him from the weaker heat (PR-ing by over 4 inches). FYI, when there’s a tie in high jump, tie-breakers are employed, mostly revolving around the number of misses an athlete has (first on their last-cleared height, then overall). On Saturday, that wound up favoring Gavyn.

None of this diminishes what Gavyn accomplished in any way. His performance was big time, tied for #10 in 2A and making him the top freshman in our class. It also makes him #3 for us since 2010, just barely trailing recently graduated Drew Blank at 6’3, and former Sectional Champion Blaine Storer who jumped 6’7 back in 2013. The school record is an incredible 6’9.25” (Brad Richardson, 1967).

Unkind Conditions Put Damper on 100m; AC and Pianfetti Run Great Races

“Control the controllables.”

“E+R=O” (Event plus Response equals Outcome)

These are things we try to preach throughout our athletic program, and I believe that Track & Field is one of the greatest (and at times, harshest) teachers of these concepts. You have no control over the weather, the abilities of the guy in the lane next to you, or even the talent you’ve been given. Especially in track (and ESPECIALLY in the sprints), there isn’t really any way to gameplan around these things. It’s up to you to make the most of what you’ve been given, good or bad. Saturday was a huge lesson in perspective for sprinters… the conditions meant out of the gate that records weren’t going to be broken that day… but you still had the opportunity to go compete and make yourself better if you chose to do so.

Saturday was initially set to be a showcase in the 100m, with Hippard from Mascoutah (10.61), Aneefy Ford of Streator (10.74), and our own Ayden Cothern (10.81). But mother nature had other ideas. After Mascoutah bowed out due to the temps, it essentially became a two man race between Ford and AC. Ayden got off to his typical fantastic start, and it was essentially neck and neck at the 50m mark. Ayden finished out a great race, but in the end Ford had a bit more juice down the stretch. Still, a 2nd place finish in the 100m at this meet is no small accomplishment for a kid from Olney, Illinois.

Unfortunately, with the conditions being what they were, Ayden didn’t wind up with a new personal best (or anything close) to hang his hat on. This is where perspective comes in. I’m going to steal some math from Tony Holler’s post-meet writeup (which actually mentions Ayden - pretty cool). The top 8 sprinters on Saturday ran times that were on average .45 seconds slower than their incoming best. Coach was using this math to convert his athlete’s time to what it might have been in good conditions… so I’ll do the same. Applying that rule to Ayden’s time turns an 11.32 into a 10.87 - a mark that would still have broken the old school record and been good for #7 in Class 2A. Another amazing statistic that shows just how much AC has improved since last spring… his actual time of 11.32 is still better than his best FAT times last spring, 11.33 at Charleston, 11.35 a the Conference Championship, and 11.40 at the Tolono Sectional. All those meets took place in May, and all of them had infinitely better weather conditions.

One of our other talented freshman, Ian Pianfetti, continues to impress despite nursing a nagging groin injury. After running a fantastic opening leg for our 4x1, Ian turned in another great performance in heat 3 of the 100m. He finished 3rd in his heat with an 11.76… again the time is deceptive. If we apply that same .45 rule, Ian’s time equates to a low 11.3 in good conditions. That would be a huge PR, and our #1 Freshman 100m since 2010. This kid just keeps getting better.

4x1 Shows it Belongs With the Big Cats, 4x2 Has Another Mishap

I’ve been saying for a few weeks that our 4x1 is still waiting for the right race on the right day. On Saturday, our guys controlled what they could - they ran the right race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the right day. Our seed time wasn’t enough to get us in the fast heat (we still hadn’t run a race with 3 clean handoffs), but our cats put on a clinic at the Meet of Champions, and proved the fast heat was where we belonged. Just like last week, our first two exchanges were great. Rex ran a great third leg around the turn, and a perfect final exchange allowed Ayden to seal the deal. Our guys put a full second and a half between themselves and the rest of the field in their heat. In fact our time was good enough to land us a 4th place finish overall - no small accomplishment from the slow heat.

As a speed guy, it’s a pretty big thrill to see us amongst names like Plainfield North and Edwardsville. We were the highest finishing group amongst the 2A schools in attendance, and we placed ahead of three 3A schools along the way. To once again borrow some math from Coach Holler and make some comparisons between seed times and performances on Saturday, we can come up with an educated guess that our 44.35 would have looked more like 43.10 or 43.20. Both would obliterate our school record and be well below state-qualifying. Even scarier, we probably would have run faster if we were in the fast heat…

Unfortunately, our 4x2, which I was so excited to watch and which has been the more impressive of our relays up to this point, never really had a chance to get going. The weather once again played a factor. Our lead off man, Dawson Brown, ran a tough first leg, but the wind and cold was obviously dragging him down a bit. Gavyn Cothern, our second leg, saw his teammate battling, and started to second-guess in the moment whether he should adjust his takeoff. Ultimately that led to Gavyn getting out too early on Dawson, and ultimately we wound up outside the exchange zone, resulting in a DQ. No doubt that the weather impacted us here (Cothern and Brown might be our two most serious and competitive athletes and their exchanges have been great as of late), but no one was making excuses, either. Everyone else was running in the same conditions as us; we made a mistake. Our talented freshman immediately owned up to his role in the mishap, which demonstrates a tremendous amount of maturity that you don’t always find in a 15 year old kid. I was just as proud to hear that from him as I was when he told me he won the HJ earlier in the day.

Believe it or not, stuff like this is also why you go big meets, even when the conditions aren’t great. Dropping that baton was a learning experience, and I’m confident our kids are going to use it. We’ll be better later in the year because of it.

Jones Continues His Steady Excellence in the Hurdles

Saul Jones is one of the most mild-mannered kids I’ve ever coached. He’s quiet and obviously thoughtful, but up until the past few months, you’d be lucky to get anything more than a one word answer out of him. And yet, with any mention of running, and specifically running the hurdles, Saul is physically incapable of keeping a smile off his face. He’s gifted, but he’s constantly putting in extra time, filming himself, and looking for ways to improve. I also catch him hanging around Middle School practice, passing what he’s learned on to youngsters. In short, Saul’s a great kid, and a tremendous competitor.

On Saturday, hurdlers were facing the same fate as sprinters were. Times are important to these guys, but on a day like Saturday you just have to throw those out and be a competitor. Most of the guys competing in the 110 Hurdles on Saturday saw their times at least .20 higher than their incoming seed time, but Saul bucked that trend… He ran his fastest 110H time of the year so far, 16.2 (good for 7th overall). Making adjustments for weather again lead to more exciting possibilities, namely Saul cracking the 16 second mark. That’s something he did back in the off-the-wall 2021 season, but after sitting out last year, he’s been gradually working himself back into form. Saul is one of only 3 Tigers to break 16 seconds since 2010; there’s a lot of season left to see how far he can take this momentum.

Some would say the 300 hurdles are the toughest race in high school track and field. It’s probably not as technically difficult as the 110s (the hurdles are 3 inches lower and spread out quite a bit further), but the amount of guts it takes to hurdle obstacles of any kind over 3/4 of the track more than makes up for it. Put together with the fact that it took place towards the end of a frigid and grueling meet, the 300 hurdles on Saturday was for warriors only… in the end 11 of the 29 athletes that entered would scratch. I trust kids and don’t make a habit of questioning their reasoning when they scratch out of a race, especially in a situation like that. But I do think it shows just how rough the conditions were on athletes that day. When Saul lined up, only one other competitor lined up with him (that means 6 athletes in the 2nd fastest heat scratched out). For those two kids, the decreased competition meant racing got that much tougher. Saul ran a tough race, winning his heat and turning in a 43.36. Not his best, but at this point we’ve discussed the impact on times ad nauseam. The most impressive note about this is that despite essentially running by himself (Saul finished a full 2.5 seconds ahead of the other athlete in his heat), he ran fast enough to beat out two kids in the fast heat. More evidence of what a gutsy competitor Saul is.

Other Notables

• Holden Hough, who definitely qualifies as one of our top ranking competitors, travelled east rather than west last weekend. He ran in the Eastern Relays on Friday, a massive meet in Louisville, Kentucky. Conditions were similar to what we faced on Friday, except wet (in other words, worse). Holden didn’t run as well as he wanted, either. Holden ran 20 seconds slower than his best 3200m so far this year. He’s a competitor, though, and I have no doubt he’ll bounce back.

• Full Results from the Meet of Champions can be found here.

• The full gallery from Saturday can also be found here.

• Hard to believe, but the Newton Invite is up next. I’ve always dubbed this meet as the beginning of “Championship Season”. Conference comes just 5 days later, and from there we start looking ahead to Sectionals.

• Being on the home stretch also means it’s time to start checking the scoring leaderboard. Our post-season awards and varsity letters are largely based on points, FYI.