2025 Olney Invite
Credit: Dave Rohr
We’ve made it our business to go to the competition over the past few years, wherever that might be. Champaign, Mascoutah, Edwardsville, St. Theresa… we’ve believed that our kids belong competing against the best, even if that meant long bus rides and taking our lumps at times. In hindsight, that decision has panned out - our kids have more than held their own, and it’s undeniably paid off in the post-season. Oftentimes, chasing competition means a smaller school like us will be trading off chances to go win team trophies against schools that are 2-3 times our size. But there’s always a few meets on our schedule that we circle for team purposes. One is the LIC conference meet. The Olney Invite is another. For a variety of reasons, going up against great competition around the state isn’t a guarantee that we’re going to waltz into this Invite and win it every year (we haven’t won it since 2019 - but it’s also worth noting that this is only the 3rd time we’ve had the meet since that year due to COVID and weather cancellations) . For one, there are great teams at this meet, and for another every meet is a unique competition. The number of teams and the depth of athletes at a track meet make things tough to predict unless one team is just that dominant. But at the 2025 Olney Invite, there was a dominant squad, and it was us. In what was the largest Olney Invite in decades (18 teams) we racked up:
149.5 Team Points (Salem was 2nd with 68.5)
2 Meet Records
A co-high scorer for the meet in Freshman Quaid Berger
7 First Place Finishes
13 total medals (1st through 3rd place finishes)
Highlights, splits (the ones we were able to get), and full results are all below. And I have to mention, all the amazing pictures in this write-up come courtesy of Dave Rohr. Hosting a big meet means you often barely even get to coach, let alone take pictures. Dave was gracious enough to allow me to use his work - so this will be the best looking write-up of the year.
Highlights
Credit: Dave Rohr
Sprints
Friday night was the first time we have gotten to run the 4x1 in 2025 (the race isn’t run indoors and last week’s Greenville Invite was canceled). Due to an exchange trip, we were without the guy who has used the first month of the season to firmly cement himself as our leadoff guy, Felipe Goncalves (Felipe, btw, ran an 11.43 100m and a 53.03 400m at a chilly Tuesday Night meet into a headwind last week), but again, the depth of this team is special. Freshman Xae Owusu-gyan stepped in and ran a great leg and our 3 veterans (Hallam, Cothern, and Pianfetti), did their thing. We finished with a meet record 43.58, a full second ahead of 2nd place Charleston and a half second faster than the previous meet record - good for #13 in 2A and the 3rd fastest group we’ve ever had. It’s also the fastest we’ve ever come out of the gates to start the season, and we did it with the last leg running into a legit headwind. School record is 43.13 (Pianfetti, Cothern, Hallam, Cothern in 2023)… Keep an eye out for that one.
No records were set in the 4x2, but it was another display of our depth. In addition to the foreign exchange trip, a baseball game and tennis on the road, we were stretched pretty thin at a meet with Varsity and F/S relays. Our varsity squad of Pianfetti, Edel, Germak, and Cothern turned in a 1:33.27, a second and a half faster than 2nd place Charleston. That’s good for #12 in 2A, and makes them the 6th fastest group we’ve had since 2010. Our F/S group (Owusu-gyan, Hough, Mason Brown, & Root) also dominated the field, taking first by a 2nd and a half… We aren’t going “all in” on this race yet for a variety of reasons. For one, we are trying to limit our sprint/jump athletes to no more than 3 events for the majority of April to keep their legs fresh for later in the spring. The 4x2 is also an event that doesn’t require quite the same precision as the 4x1 - it’s much easier to swap athletes in and out. We’ll likely spend the next few weeks evaluating what the best balance is for our athletes and which events make the most sense for us to “go after”.
Pianfetti and Owusu-gyan were our reps in the 100m this week. Ian had an outstanding indoor season running new bests in the 60 and 200m, but he didn’t finish on quite the high note he was hoping for at Top Times. The 100m on Friday was his opportunity to bounce back, although the night wasn’t one destined for superb times from individual athletes. It was a night to line up and compete, and Ian was one of many Tigers on Friday to take that to heart - he dominated the rest of the field, winning by half a second. His 11.47 wasn’t a personal best, but with real feel temps in the low 40s, a headwind of almost 15 mph, and no one really pushing him, you could make a case that on a good day that would have equated to a low 11s performance, and that would put him in personal best territory - a great place to start off the season. For perspective, in similar conditions to start the year at Greenville last season (only it was 10 degrees warmer and he was in a photo finish), Ian ran 11.67. Xae Owusu-gyan, part of a duo (with Gentry Hough) that broke our prior Freshman 60m dash record during indoor season, held his own on Friday Night in the 100m as well, despite what appeared to be a slow start. He took 2nd in his heat and finished 9th overall.
Last, but certainly not least, the 200 and 400 were highlighted by some tremendous improvement from a couple Tigers who’ve been at it for a while… With Goncalves out and Pianfetti’s night over after the 4x2, some different guys got a shot. Junior Reed Klingler turned in a 24.51, good for 5th place and a personal best of over a second in the 200m. Reed is a guy I’ve had my eye on… I’ve been waiting for him to “take off” like I think he’s able to. He’s gotten stronger, and the improvement has shown up in practice. I wasn’t surprised on Friday night and I expect to see more where that came from. The surprise of the night, though, had to be Brayden Beard. His 56.25 was a personal best in the 400m by 3.5 seconds. It’s been a long haul for Brayden… he’s went through an ankle surgery and slow enough progress that some kids might have just hung it up. But here in his senior season, things have started to “click” for him as of late, and the proof was in Friday night’s performance. Brayden was our GRIT award winner this week, and it was well deserved. Ryan Kirby, our lone hurdler on Friday night, also set a new best in 300m Hurdles and scored for us, finishing 6th.
Credit: Dave Rohr
Jumps
Track and field is a humbling sport… you absolutely have to work at staying on the level, or it will drive you nuts. And after putting on a show at Top Times 2 weeks ago, it was an up and down night for the Flying Tigers at the Olney Invite. The highs were high, though… the day before his 18th birthday, Rex Hallam hit a milestone that was over a year in the making. Rex finished his sophomore season (2023) with a 6th place all-state finish under his belt. His best of 22’1.5” made him the first Tiger to clear 22 feet in 30 years. Unfortunately a knee injury wiped out what we hoped would be a historic 2024 for Rex, and he’s put in countless hours of therapy and rehab to get back to this point. Ankle injuries at the tail end of basketball season meant we had to slow roll his return even more so, but he still managed to finish with a 5th place finish at indoor state. This week felt like the true return for Rex, though. We got to see him on the track for the first time (in the 4x1), and he tied the meet record in the LJ, winning it with a leap of 22’8. Easily his best jump ever, that’s currently good outdoors for #2 in Class 2A. He probably scratched on a jump that may have measured somewhere in the neighborhood of 23 feet… which would have unbelievably given us two jumpers on the same squad to clear that distance (Gavyn Cothern hit 23’ at Mt. Zion back in March) - simply ridiculous for a school of 700 students.
For his part, our resident state champ didn’t have his best night. No getting around it, these days happen. Gavyn wasn’t feeling great, and after only hitting 21’2.5” on his second jump (I’m putting only in air quotes), he decided to shut it down for the day. He went on to run a great leg and anchor our 4x2 to a win (and that jump was still good for 2nd place). Gavyn is the most competitive athlete I have ever coached. He wasn’t happy with his performance, and I didn’t expect him to be. But the reality is that every time he steps on to the runway, something incredible is possible. Last year at the LIC Conference meet, his best jump was an inch shorter than it was on Friday night, and he finished 2nd (to our Ian Winkler). It was a disappointing night for Gavyn. But less than a month later, he was crowned as the first state champion in the history of the school. Not struggling isn’t what makes you great… it’s how you respond when it happens.
Our other talented jumper named Gavin (Root) jumped for the first time outdoors Friday… and it was probably his first time legitimately jumping at all in weeks. Gavin is also a phenomenal baseball player, and tons of games have/poor weather have made it just impossible for him to get any significant work, and the cold and the poor conditions of our high jump area made life difficult for everyone in the HJ field… Ben Roedl, who went 6’6 only a few days before, only went 6’1 at the Olney Invite, which was good enough to win it. All things considered, 5’11 was a strong showing for Gavin, and it earned him a 3rd place medal. Time and better conditions will see him north of 6 feet pretty consistently this season, and he has a tremendous chance of being a State Qualifier. He’s already the 2nd best Sophomore High Jumper I’ve ever had, trailing only Cothern.
Rounding out the rest of the jumps crew, we had plenty of other highlights to celebrate. Maverik Cordell hit 11’6 again and scored for us despite being out sick at the start of the week and weather not permitting him to practice. That mark outdoors officially makes him the 2nd best sophomore we’ve had in PV since 2010 (and #5 overall since then), only 6 inches off Ben Lynch’s 12’0 (2014). Ryan Kirby grabbed a 5th place finish in TJ with a jump of 38’4.5”… not his best this season but it seems like what was his best last year is now his floor. A clear sign of growth and an indicator he’s going to continue to see even more impressive numbers. And Xae Owusu-gyan long jumped over 19 feet again, putting him at #3 all-time on our freshman list trailing only Pianfetti, Cothern, and Hallam (Rex’s 21’2.5 is a freshman record that might hang around for a while.).
Credit: Dave Rohr
Throws
I’ve already written on Casey Thomann’s challenges in the ring to start the season… illness, the lingering effects of a pretty bad ankle injury, and transitioning to a spin rather than a glide (which is a significant undertaking for a guy his size). Health is becoming less and less of an issue for the big fella, but adjusting his approach is still something that is going to take time. It changes the event for an athlete…. almost like a Long Jumper switching to Triple Jump - reps, time, and high-stakes circumstances are necessary. Casey’s been working - and seeing some great results in practice - but competition is another level. Basketball and football teams always face a certain amount of what my dad calls “game slippage”… bad timing, forgotten plays, old habits, etc. all come out when the crowd is watching and the lights come on. The same is true of track and field, and Casey experienced a little of that on Friday. His throws of 46+ feet (shot) and 136+ (disc) were both good enough to medal, but not where he wants to be and not what he expected based on what we’ve been seeing in practice. At some point, what we know is there is going to start showing through in competition, and it will be fun to watch when it does. Youngsters Taylor Levitt and Jace Tracey both threw on Friday as well. Neither set a new best this time out, but Levitt’s throw of 37’5 on Tuesday at Mattoon puts him at #3 on our Freshman honor roll (since 2010). He has an outstanding shot to be only the 2nd freshman we’ve ever had to hit 40 feet (Dylan Reed in 2018 - Thomann did not throw his freshman year due to injury).
Credit: Dave Rohr
Distance Crew
Saving our fantastic freshman distance group for last is not due to a lack of significance… they could make a case for being the most dominant group at the meet on Friday Night. They were led by phenom Quaid Berger, who finished indoor season ranked as the #1 Freshman in 2A in both the 1600 and 3200m and landed a 3rd place finish at IL top times in the latter. Quaid already has his sights set on Mike Bridges 50+ year old record in the 3200m… amazingly his Top Times indoor performance was only 7 seconds away. But the conditions weren’t on his side Friday night: strong winds and a lack of competition (he won the 3200m by over 20 seconds) made it an unlikely night for record-breaking. But Quaid’s 9:37 was good enough for #2 on our outdoor honor roll, trailing only Braden Nicholson’s 9:35 at the IHSA meet in 2019. Quaid also won the 1600m convincingly, and two wins gave him enough points to be recognized as the high point award winner (tied with Roedl from Altamont) for the meet. Not bad for a freshman.
Our other freshmen stars had great nights as well. Tristin Butler’s 2:03 (good for a silver medal) puts him at #1 on our F/S leaderboard since 2010 (good for the #3 performance by a Freshman in Class 2A), and Judah Dicks cracked 10 minutes in the 3200 on his way to silver… only trailing Quaid on that F/S leaderboard and making him the #5 freshman in Class 2A outdoors. Both of these young cats also turned in tough performances in the 1600, giving us 3 of the top 7 finishers in the event on Friday - all freshmen. Livingston, Grimes, Kuenstler, and Fehrenbacher (all freshman except Grimes) scored for us in the 4x8 as well. To say the future is bright for our distance group would be an understatement… these guys might already have a case for being the best group of distance runners I’ve had in my 15 years.
Side note, the great Mike Bridges, who holds the school record in both the 1600 and 3200, came out on Friday to meet our young crew before the running got started. I wasn’t able to be there for that myself, but I know that meant a lot to our kids. Tiger Track as a whole was just phenomenal in the 60s and 70s - so many records on our board were set in that era. As some of them have begun to be threatened and/or fall in recent years and our kids are checking that record board more and more, I know they have a ton of reverence for the guys that are on it. Sincerely appreciate Mr. Bridges taking the time to come watch our kids!
Up Next
Good Friday begins our quest around Central and Southern Illinois to line up against the best competition we can find. We dive in with the big dogs at Mascoutah, where there will be no shortage of competition. 25 teams, including heavyweights from 2A & 3A, all at Mascoutah's jaw-dropping facility. Our goals at a meet like this shift… the premium is on getting pushed (or pulled) as much as we can. Winning is great, but if you never get beat (or at least pushed), you’re not going to find out how good you can be. Competition and health are the two biggest keys for us if we want go where we think we can this year.
Relay Splits
*Still working on tracking down and sorting out splits for this meet. Dealing with the inevitable issues that come up when hosting a meet disrupted us on a few races.
Event Winners
Pianfetti - 100m
Berger - 1600m & 3200m
Hallam - Long Jump
4x100 - Owusu-gyan, Hallam, Cothern, Pianfetti
4x200 - Pianfetti, Germak, Edel, Cothern
4x200 (FS) - Owusu-gyan, Hough, M. Brown, Root
New Personal Bests
Hallam - LJ
Klinger - 200m
Beard - 400m
Butler - 800m & 1600m
Kirby - 300m Hurdles
New Honor Roll Performances (Top 10, Outdoors, Since 2010)
Butler / 800m - #6 (#1 F/S)
Berger / 1600m - #6 (#1 Freshman)
Butler / 1600m - #8
Berger / 3200m - #2 (#1 F/S)
Dicks / 3200m - #3
4x1 - #3
4x2 - #6
Cordell / PV - #5