2025 MTZ Mini-Meet
Always kind of tough to explain what we are trying to accomplish to athletes, parents, and fans when it comes to this meet… How are we competing before we’ve even started practice? The explanation really comes down to two points:
While we haven’t had official practice yet, we have athletes who don’t play winter sports, and have been training all winter long. At this point, those guys are totally chomping at the bit to get out and compete after running in hallways and jumping on boxes for the past 3 months! It’s no doubt tougher on the events that are more skill heavy - namely the field events and hurdles, but it’s still an opportunity to jump, vault, etc. when snow, cold temps, etc. have kept our kids off the track for pretty much the entirety of 2025 so far.
In many ways, this meet amounts to a scrimmage. Low stakes, no team scores, etc. - just an opportunity for the kids to have fun, shake the rust off, and get some of those jitters out before things start to get more intense over the next couple weeks.
It’s worth noting that we were by no means at full strength at this meet. Virtually all of our veterans were either nursing injuries, coming back from being ill, still resting after finishing up their winter sport, etc. And we limited the ones who did compete to one event, max. Having said all that, it was well worth the trip. The returnees got a chance to shake off the cobwebs, and the new guys got a chance to show what they can do. Always a blast going to this meet in Mount Zion’s beautiful facility, and last night was no exception.
Returnees
Gavyn Cothern
Our returning state champ and school record holder in the Long Jump was out of school for much of the week for a variety of reasons, and it’s no doubt been a stressful couple days for him, but he wanted to compete on Friday Night. So he began his 2025 campaign in the Long Jump with out doing much more than setting foot on a runway (which he did late on Thursday night after being out of town for several days). His first real run throughs of the year happened within 15 minutes of the meet starting. He didn’t go out and set any new bests, but he still jumped 3 inches further than his average jump from last outdoor season, and full two feet further than the next closes competitor. It would have been good enough to tie him for the #2 spot all-time on our indoor list… except he’s already number 1. As of last night that jump was good for #3 in IL2A... All things considered, a pretty tremendous accomplishment from one of the greatest competitors in the history of Olney. And as ever, I’m just really proud of the kid. Next weekend the plan is for Gavyn to jump in two different meets: Long Jump @ SIU on Friday and High Jump @ EIU on Saturday (don’t forget he’s also a former state runner-up in the HJ)… What could be an unprecedented season for Tiger Track starts with an unprecedented athlete - Olney needs to enjoy watching Mr. Cothern make history for as long as we get to.
Ian Pianfetti
Our returning Conference Champ in the 100m had some challenges of his own this week - he was bitten by the flu bug, which knocked him down pretty hard for 4 or 5 days. I had him as a question mark to even run this week. He insisted he was ready to roll, so we lined him up in the 60m (no 200 this week). The 60 probably wouldn’t be as technical of an event as the Long Jump even, but not having had a chance to get in the blocks or even sprint at any point during the week leading up to your first meet of the year definitely isn’t idea. And even though he was well enough to go, there’s probably almost no chance having been that ill isn’t going to impact his race. But he’s a competitor, and he didn’t disappoint. Ian went neck and neck with one of the fastest kids in Illinois (and one of his good buddies), Reid Carlen of Cumberland. Reid finished 6th in the 1A 100m last spring, and they have trained together off and on throughout the winter. Last night Reid edged him out by .01 (they went 1-2), and it was fun to watch. Luckily we’re going to get multiple rematches over the next few weeks (starting with EIU next weekend). And by the way, Ian PR’d, shaving .01 his previous best and further cementing his #2 spot on our all-time list, and slotting him at #12 in IL2A in this young season. Ian now has the freshman, sophomore, and junior program records for us in the 60m. Ayden Cothern set the bar for the school record extremely high two seasons ago (6.97), but Ian has put himself in the conversation. It’s gonna be fun watching him chase his own history.
Gavin Root
Gavin Root (I’ve taken to calling him “Groot” because my family loves Marvel movies and because I have two super-talented guys named Gavyn/Gavin - not sure yet whether he appreciates it) was a guy that may not have flown under the radar quite as much in just about any other season than 2024, but he happened to be really good at something that we had a returning state-runner up in. Last season Gavin jumped higher than any freshman since 2010 not named Gavyn Cothern. At 6’1, his best was a state-qualifying performance on the right day (i.e. at Sectionals). Last night, Gavin hit 6’1 again (technically 6’0.75”) - this would’ve been impressive enough on its own in the first meet of the season, but Mt. Zion doesn’t currently allow spikes on their high jump surface. In other words, Gavyn did what he did in tennis shoes. And he’ll be the first to tell you he has things he can clean up in terms of technique. As it stands, Gavin is now #3 indoors for us all-time behind Gavyn Cothern (6’6”) and Blaine Storer (6’3”), and as of this writing is #12 in IL2A. No doubt about it, Gavin is one to watch in 2025 (and btw, he’s a baseball player, too).
Newcomers
Distance Crew
There’s been quite a bit of talk around Olney about our incoming group of freshmen runners, and with good reason. Tristin Butler and Quaid Berger went 1/3 in the 1600m and 2/3 in the 800m at the Class L state meet last season, and Judah Dicks took 3rd in the Class S meet. And it goes beyond those three… with guys like Landon Livingston and Oliver Fehrenbacher, this group has talent to spare - and they work their tails off, too. Always fun to watch young guys eyes light up at their first indoor experience, but our young distance crew competed like they owned the place last night, going 1-4 in the 1600m. Berger took first with a 4:37 (currently #15 in IL2A), putting him at #3 all-time indoors for us. Butler and Dicks also cracked our top 10 and ran sub-5 minute miles (Livingston just missed it at 5:04). That same group finished off the meet by taking 2nd in the 4x4 with a 3:56 - our 4th fastest group indoors all-time.
Freshman Sprint/Jumps
This group was primarily made up of two youngsters last night: Xavier Owusu-gyan and Gentry Hough. Both were standouts for their Middle School teams last spring, and both were standouts on the football field this fall as freshman. Any freshman sprinters first indoor meet experience is going to be tense. Thinking about the gun and getting a jump out of the blocks, especially in an event as quick as the 60m, can be nerve-wracking. It’s also their first opportunity to see how they stack up in HS sprinting, which is fiercely competitive. Both of our freshmen showed they definitely belonged. Hough turned in a 7.56, good for #9 all-time in the 60m. "OG”’s 7.60 just missed our top 10, but a poor start (and having to rush over to the start line from the Long Jump runway) has us thinking that’s about to change. By the way: his Long Jump was good for a 3rd place finish and #5 all-time for us indoors.
Foreign Exchange Sprinters
It’s become a bit of a tradition for us to have a group of foreign exchange students come out every year. We’ve had some great kids who have added to the experience and culture of our team, and we’ve been lucky to have them. Many of them I still follow and/or keep in touch with. Plus, they always have a different outlook on athletics and track than American kids… it’s just fun to coach them! I can already tell that this years group is going to be a special one. All of them great guys, and a couple of them have a chance to break through and contribute at the varsity level for us. On Tuesday, Johan Edel (Germany) won our 4x4 predictor drill and cracked our all-time top 10 list (which dates back to 2018). Friday night, he turned in the best split on both our 4x2 and 4x4 relays. Felipe Goncalves (Brazil) turned in two top 10 performances for us: a 7.48 in the 60m (#6 all-time) and 24.69 (#7 all-time). Bela Buergel and Geremia Lodi also pitched in on relays Friday night and did a great job for us.
Up Next
Things really get going this week. First official practice Monday, parent meeting on Thursday, and this weekend we split our squad up to compete at SIU (Friday) and EIU (Saturday). This is the first year we’ll be going to both meets since EIU moved their meet to the first weekend of March several years ago. SIU moved their meet from Saturday to Friday, allowing us to take some athletes we won’t be able to fit in at EIU, where the entry limits are pretty restrictive (only 1 athlete in most several events). We’re fortunate to have a lot of great athletes… so we are going to take advantage of the opportunity. More on that to come. We also look forward to slowly getting our winter athletes back in on the action. Due to late-season injury, some will take more time than others. Hopefully we’ll be at full strength by mid to late March. As we go, keep an eye on on the 2A rankings… we’ve got a number of guys who will be vying for spots at the IL Top Times meet the last weekend of March (it’s not sanctioned by the IHSA, but many refer to it as “Indoor State”).
Relay Splits
4x2
Edel - 24.4
Georis - 25.4
Beard - 25.5
Buergel - 28.5
4x4
Edel – 56.7
Livingston – 56.8
Butler – 56.9
Georis – 57.8
Berger – 59.9
Dicks – 1:01.2
Beard – 1:03.1
Lodi – 1:05.0
Event Winners
Quaid Berger - 1600 Meters
Gavyn Cothern - Long Jump
Felipe Goncalves - 200 Meters
Gavin Root - High Jump
New Personal Bests
Ian Pianfetti - 60m
Gavin Root - HJ (Indoors)
New Honor Roll Performances
Pianfetti / 60m - #2 All-Time / #1 Junior All-Time
Goncalves / 60m - #2 Soph & #6 All-Time
Goncalves / 200m - #4 Soph & #7 All-Time (Indoors)
Hough / 60m - #2 Freshman & #9 All-Time
Owusu-gyan / 60m - #3 Freshman
Owusu-gyan / LJ - #2 Freshman (Indoors)
Root / HJ - #3 All-Time (Indoors)
Berger/ 1600m - #3 All-Time & #1 Freshman
Butler/ 1600m - #6 All-Time & #2 Freshman
Dicks / 1600m - #8 All-Time & #3 Freshman
Livingston / 1600m - #4 Freshman
Levitt / Shot - #3 Freshman Indoors and #10 all-time
4x2 - #8 All-time indoors
4x4 - Freshmen #4 All-time indoors / older Group #10