2025 SIU & EIU Indoors
2025 kicked off for real this past weekend. It was a whirlwind tour of Southeastern Illinois, and our kids made the most of the opportunity. I was excited coming into this season, and our kids efforts over the weekend only added to that excitement. Read on for Highlights and History… Full results and photo galleries are linked at the bottom of the page.
Highlights
Distance Crew
Been lots of talk about our incoming distance group... they've more than lived up to the hype over the first two weeks of the season. So far we have two freshmen under 10 minutes in the 3200 and 4 of them are under 5 minutes in the mile. Yesterday they combined for the fastest indoor 4x8 we've ever had. That 4x8 is currently ranked #20 in IL2A. Some other crazy stats:
Friday night at SIU, Quaid Berger turned in a 9:31, the fastest 3200 I've ever had all conditions. He took one of the best runners in the state, Gabriel Greer of Marion all the way down to the wire (Greer edged him out by just .03). For perspective on just how impressive that run was Friday night: In 2019, all-time Tiger Great Braden Nicholson finished 4th at the IHSA State finals (outdoors) running a 9:35.88. Braden has spent the past 4-5 years racking up collegiate records and all-American honors. That was the fastest 3200 I’ve had in my 15 years as head coach by 20 seconds. Quaid ran 4 seconds faster indoors (200 meter track = 16 laps, 32 turns, tighter curves). This kid is gonna be fun to watch (and he’s a phenomenal young man). As of this writing he sits at #5 in IL2A.
Freshman Judah Dicks ran the 2nd fastest indoor 3200 we've ever had the next day at EIU @ 9:53. To have have two freshmen under 10 minutes in the 3200 is simply incredible. We’ve only ever had one other runner (Holden Hough, Class of 2023) break 10 minutes indoors. Btw, Judah currently sits at #18 in 2A.
Tristin Butler ran our 5th fastest indoor 800 we've ever had, breaking our freshman indoor record, and anchored both our fastest indoor 4x8 and our fastest indoor 4x4 ever, all in the same day. Kid’s a workhorse with a great attitude, and ultra-competitive.
After just missing the mark last week, Landon Livingston broke 5 minutes at EIU yesterday, making that him the 9th fastest indoor miler we have ever had. All 4 of these guys are in our top 10. Landon was also our GRIT award winner this week. He fell just short of the 5 minute mark at our first chance meet, and then told me "It's happening next week". He then proceeded to run a 4:57 this past Saturday. Kid is just a relentless worker. Landon is now the 4th current freshman to make our top 10 all-time list in the indoor 1600.
Jumps
Gavyn Cothern did his Superman thing this weekend... first finishing a close 2nd in Carbondale @ the SIU Indoor - his jump (22' 1.5") was less than an inch off his personal best indoors - and then winning the High Jump in Charleston @ the EIU Indoor the next day, where he tied his indoor PB (6' 6"). His indoor bests are both school records, and he currently sits at #4 and #1 in Class 2A in the Long Jump & High Jump, respectively. The entire weekend was an enormous accomplishment for Gavyn. The travel and time involved for him to jump in two different locations, and then to perform like he did was incredible. The clutch factor that Gavyn has thrived on his entire career was on full display as well. His best long jump came on his final attempt - with the pressure on following two less than great jumps (for him). High Jump was pressure-filled for another reason - his big bro Ayden, along with Ayden’s EIU teammates, were all there to watch. I know Gavyn was nervous, but he just put his cape on and did his thing.
Ayden, by the way, has been tearing it up at EIU as a Panther... The fastest man in the history of Olney is now one of the fastest people in the Ohio Valley Conference. He ran 6.87 in the 60m and 21.50 in the 200m indoors last week - and he’d been sick. Unreal what that kid has become in just a few short years. His old sprint coach is so proud!!!
Ryan Kirby came screaming out of the gates setting a all-conditions best for himself in the Triple Jump, and moved himself #4 indoors for us all-time. Ryno is one of the most improved athletes in the school and I am looking forward to seeing how that translates out on the track for him.
Maverik Cordell bounced back from a tough first meet, and cleared a new best (all conditions) in the PV Saturday at EIU. At roughly 11 feet, Maverik is in a 3-way tie for #3 on our all-time indoor list. He’s a worker (and a talented athlete), I could definitely see our school record (13’6) being in play before he’s done.
Younger/newer jumpers like Mattey Sanders and Gavin Root also got a crack at some legit indoor competition on Friday night at SIU. For some of them it was their first indoor meet, and it can be a bit overwhelming, and being asked to jump after a 5 hour wait (following a 2.5 hour bus ride can be extremely tough). They handled it extremely well. Gavin Root had high hopes going into Friday night, and it didn’t come together for him (he cleared 5’5 after hitting on 6’1 last week)… but High Jump might very well be the craziest event - never know what you are going to get from week to week. I have no doubts Gavin will bounce back strong.
Last but not least, for those of you on the Rex Hallam watch… we hope to see him back in action this coming weekend. It’ll be his first time jumping in the orange and black since the the 2023 IHSA state meet, where he finished 6th (Rex was forced to sit out last season with a knee injury). We have brought him along slowly following some ankle issues at the tail end of basketball season. We are certainly in no hurry - however long we have to wait, it will be worth it. Rex is one of the best jumpers in the history of the school, and one of my all-time favorite Olney Tigers.
Sprints
For the 2nd time in 3 years, the winner of the 60m at the EIU Indoor came from Olney (the previous was the man I mentioned just above, Ayden Cothern). Ian Pianfetti ran a personal best of 7.14, and topped a field of 101 sprinters from over 50 schools. To say I am proud of this kid would be an enormous understatement. Ian firmly sits at #2 all-time in the 60m for us behind Ayden, who ran a 6.97 in 2023 (#3 is another all-time great, Gus Lathrop… Ian is in tremendous company). Ian also turned in a 3rd place finish in the 200m, where he now sits 3rd all time behind Ayden and Gus. Ian hasn’t even really finished a true “track” workout yet… he was ill at the start of the season and is still getting back to 100%. Can’t contain my excitement for what will happen when he’s fully healthy and in the swing of things.
We also have a ton of other performances to be stoked about in the 60 this weekend. Felipe Goncalves, one of our outstanding foreign exchange students, has stepped right into our historically great group of sprinters, and made it known that he belongs. This weekend at EIU, he carved over a 10th of a second off his time from the week before in the 60m. At 7.39, he now sits at #5 for us all-time… that’s faster than Tiger Greats Jace Greenwood and Gavyn Dorn - and those dudes could fly. Felipe also ran a tremendous leg on our 4x4, which I’ll mention below.
And I can’t fail to mention two outstanding performances from our Freshmen sprinters at SIU. Xavier “Xae” Owusu-gyan broke our freshman record in the 60m (previously held by Ian Pianfetti) with a 7.50. That’s also #7 on our all-time list. Keep an eye on this kid! Not far behind was Gentry Hough, whose 7.53 was just .01 off Ian’s old record. He now sits at #3 on our Freshman list and #8 overall. The future isn’t getting any slower for us.
In the open 400m, Carter Seaman improved on his previous best, and moved up to #4 all-time indoors for us… just .02 off the #4 spot (Gavin Lathrop at 57.44).
Last, but certainly not least: Our 4x4 group of Johan Edel, Antoine Georis, Felipe Goncalves, and Tristin Butler (that’s 3 foreign exchange students and a freshman, for those keeping score), broke our indoor 4x4 record, running a 3:43 and finishing 5th despite being in only the 3rd fastest heat. Tremendous efforts from all of them (Felipe’s 4x4 leg might be tied with Judah’s 3200 for the surprise of the EIU meet), and the picture of the fellas going nuts as Tristin crossed the finish line is going to be tough to beat for photo of the spring.
Throws
Big news of the week was undoubtedly the return of the Big Fella, recent U of I football commit Casey Thomann. Like Rex, Casey is working his way back from a late season ankle injury. He’s probably not quite 100% yet, but he was deemed by our AT (Mary Grace Inyart) as ok to throw. Casey is smart, and easing his way back into things… he hasn’t really practiced much yet, and his primary goal on Saturday was to come out healthy. His throw of 46’8 Saturday at EIU is several feet away from where he plans on ending up this spring (the school record of 54’9 is in his sights), but he still threw a full foot further than he threw at any point during indoor season last year. Before it’s all said and done, Casey will be one of the top throwers in Illinois this spring.
Youngsters Taylor Levitt & Jace Tracy competed at SIU on Friday Night. It was a super competitive environment (80 plus throwers), and a long trip. Those two competed extremely well, and they have a chance to be very good.
Up Next
This weekend was crazy (we got back at 12:30am on Friday and left at 7am on Saturday), but it was phenomenal. Things are starting to warm up outside a bit, which means practices are going to start getting more physical and competitive. The indoor season has 3 weeks left, and only 2 more chances for kids to qualify for the indoor Top Times meet at the end of March… this week it’s the MTZ Apollo+ meet. Two members of our young talented distance crew (Berger and Butler) will be competing in the freshman division of the New Balance Indoor Meet in Boston this weekend, a great opportunity for them. It will be live-streamed here. The boys run in the 1600m first thing on Thursday morning.
Relay Splits
4x2 @ SIU - Timing company had a malfunction and did not get splits.
4x4 @ EIU
Edel - 55.32
Georis - 57.54
Goncalves - 54.54
Butler - 55.80
4x8 @ EIU
Butler - 2:07.40
Berger - 2:09.50
Livingston - 2:11.20
Dicks - 2:14.20
Event Winners (both at EIU)
Gavyn Cothern - HJ
Ian Pianfetti - 60m
New Personal Bests
Ian Pianfetti - 60m, 200m (Indoors)
Felipe Goncalves - 60m
Xae Owusu-gyan - 60m
Gentry Hough - 60m
Carter Seaman - 400m (Indoors)
Landon Livingston - 1600m (Indoors)
Maverik Cordell - PV
Ryan Kirby - TJ
Casey Thomann - Shot (Indoors)
New Honor Roll Performances
Pianfetti / 60m - #2 All-Time
Pianfetti / 200m - #3 All-Time
Goncalves / 60m - #5 All-Time
Hough / 60m - #8 All-Time
Owusu-gyan / 60m - #1 Freshman All-Time
Seaman / 400m - #5 All-Time
Berger/ 3200m - #1 All-Time
Butler/ 800m - #5 All-Time & #1 Freshman
Dicks / 3200m - #2 All-Time
Livingston / 1600m - #9 All-Time
4x4 - New #1 All-Time
4x8 - New #1 All-Time
Cothern / HJ - Tied his Previous Best, which is #1 All-Tme
Cordell / PV - #5 All-Time
Thomann / Shot - Improved on his Previous Best, which is #1 All-Time