2025 Top Times
The 2025 Indoor Season seems like it finished up almost as soon as it got here, but our guys made the most of it… our representation at IL Top Times is clear indicator of that. I did a pretty extensive explainer on the background of this meet last year (you can find it here), but long story short, you have to be very good to even compete at this meet. Depending on the event, you have to be ranked anywhere from the top 12 to the top 24 in the state. For context, at the IHSA’s outdoor state meet last year, each event averaged somewhere in the range of 40-50 qualifiers. There are no certainties in this sport, but getting into this meet means you have a tremendous chance to qualify for the IHSA Championship Meet in May. For kids from RCHS, a school of 700 with no legit indoor facility competing in a class with schools that are almost double that size (a couple of which do have indoor tracks), that’s a big deal.
From 2012 to 2022 (our first decade in Class 2A) we only got three athletes through to Top Times, and we earned just one medal - Gus Lathrop finished 6th in 200 back in 2015. However, since 2023, Olney has had a much bigger presence at this meet. We qualified 4 athletes in 5 events in 2023 and picked up two medals (3rd place finishes from Ayden Cothern in the 60 and Rex Hallam in the LJ). Last year, we had 2 athletes qualify in 3 events… we medaled in all three and came home with our first indoor state champion since Max Gassmann won the Class A 1600m in 2011 (Gavyn Cothern went 2nd in the LJ and 5th in the HJ, and Ian Winkler won the Triple Jump). This year, the Tigers sent 7 Tigers in 10 events (covering all 4 major facets of T&F - Distance, Sprints, Jumps, and Throws), and we brought home 4 medals (narrowly missing out on a few more)… both a huge accomplishment and cause to be excited about what lies ahead this outdoor season.
Highlights
Jumps
For the 2nd year in a row, our Flying Tigers brought home 3 medals and a state champion from IL Top Times. Since 2023, we’ve racked up 7 medals and 2 champions across 3 different events… I’m not sure any other school in 2A can boast this type of resume in the jumps:
Hallam - 3rd (2023) and 5th (2025) in LJ
Winkler - 1st (2024) in TJ
Cothern - 5th (2024) & 1st (2025) in HJ and 2nd (2024 & 2025) in the LJ
Rex Hallam took another step forward in the 2.0 version of his track career on Saturday. General tightness (he hasn’t done things he’s currently doing in 2 years), ankle soreness (he sprained is ankle at the tail end of basketball season), and poor weather conditions throughout the week (remember - no indoor facilities)… Rex had plenty of excuses going into Top Times. But Rex is a competitor (sometimes to a fault), and a pretty clutch one at that. He struggled to find his footing throughout the morning, at times stutter-stepping as he got close to the board. But the thing about the horizontal events (both jumping and throwing) is that it only takes one, and over the past few years we’ve had guys who are capable of doing something amazing at any given time. Rex is fun to watch not just because of his amazing talent, but also because of how smart he is and how calm and collected he stays. I expected to find him frustrated after he scratched on his 2nd jump, but instead he was almost glad to get it out of the way and happy that he’d had a solid run through without stuttering. That shows a ton of maturity and patience. 2 jumps later he hit on a 6.58m jump (21’7.25”). Not his best jump, but within an inch of his season best - good enough for a 5th place finish and a medal.
As I discussed last week, Rex has had to strike a strange balance with all the emotions and expectations of coming back with the process of actually returning. I think he’s shown a tremendous amount of maturity and gratitude, but it’s still something that would be tremendously difficult for any 18 year old kid. Even with that, Rex on average has jumped about 4 inches further than he did his last indoor season (2023, his sophomore year), and he’s done it coming back from an ankle injury on his jumping leg. No reason to expect that he’s only going to grow stronger as the season progresses.
Where to start with Gavyn Cothern? He came into this, his junior season, with a strong argument for being the most decorated track athlete in the history of the school. His resume currently includes 3 IHSA state medals, a runner-up finish in the HJ, a State Championship in the Long Jump (the first state champion in anything on the male side of athletics at Olney), the school record in the Long Jump (which was almost 50 years at the time he broke it), and two co-records as the member of our 4x1 and 4x2 relays. Based on his 2025 indoor season, there are no signs of him slowing down. A few weeks back he became the first athlete in the history of the school to clear 23 feet in the Long Jump, and this weekend, he probably put on his most impressive display yet.
Gavyn came into the day ranked #2 in Long Jump and #1 in High Jump, and, unlike at the IHSA Finals, both of those events take place simultaneously at IL Top Times. Anyone who watched closely on Saturday would have seen Gavyn long jump, climb out of the pit, change into his high jump spikes, clear whatever height they were currently on, change back into his long jump spikes, and then repeat the whole process again. The whole thing had to have been mentally draining (to me, high jump is up there with the pole vault and the 60/100m for the most tension-inducing event), and just flat out physically exhausting. Gavyn continued that routine throughout the entirety of both events, jumping roughly 22’6 (not his best, but a phenomenal mark and good enough to hold the lead until almost the last round of jumps), and then going on the most exciting run of his career in the high jump (so far). First, he cleared 6’7 on his final attempt to clinch the win following Lance Wiegand’s (Eureka) final miss… Gavyn’s clutch ability is something he demonstrated repeatedly on the track and the football field since his Freshman year - this jump on what must have been tired legs might have been the most impressive thing I’ve seen him do. Gavyn then followed that up by clearing 6’8 for the first time ever, setting a new PR and putting him within reach of Brad Richardson’s school record (6’9.25” in 1967). He then went for 6’9.5”, and both of his first two attempts clearly had the height, he just barely clipped the bar with the back of his calf on the way down (he finally ran out of steam on his final attempt). Nonetheless, that 50 year old record is officially on the watchlist, and we’re all left wondering what in the world is this kid gonna do next.
Distance
The last couple years, we’ve seen some unprecedented stuff in the Sprints, Jumps, and Throws. Decades old records have been threatened and/or broken in all those areas (in some cases 50 years or older). A couple sprint relay records have been broken and then broken again. Now, our Distance Crew is getting in on the act. Despite not qualifying for Top Times (it was an unlucky draw - it happens to be an extremely deep field in the 800 this year), Tristen Butler ran our fastest indoor 800 ever, and at 2:03, it’s more than reasonable to think he could break 2:00 outdoors… I’ve never had a freshman run faster than 2:05 in any conditions. The school record is 1:54, set by Ron Sager in 1981… keep an eye on it.
Quaid Berger is threatening two records that are even older (the phenomenal Mike Bridges ran 4:18.14 in the 1600 and 9:16.04 in the 3200 in 1971 - both of of those times have been converted to FAT by the way), and his indoor season suggests at least one might already be within reach on the right day. This Saturday Quaid dropped around 8 seconds in the 3200, running a 9:23.38. That was good enough to give him a 3rd place finish, and to give two of the best runners in the state, Simon Lane of Chicago (University) and Raphael Greer of Marion, a serious run for their money. Quaid then came back and attempted the double (3200 & 1600) for the first time ever… he knew he wouldn’t have his best stuff, but he gutted it out and still ran a 4:34, finishing 12th. As I’ve told a few other folks in person, I knew Quaid was going to be good, but he has exceeded expectations. I didn’t know he was going to be THIS good this early. And don’t forget, in good weather conditions, the expectation is that times will drop because of the 400 meter track alone. Quaid is humble and a tireless worker, and he’s got some pretty huge things ahead of him.
Our other distance runner Saturday was another freshman, Judah Dicks. I’ve talked on more than one occasion about just how spoiled we currently are with athletes who are doing amazing things. The downside to that is that some athlete’s accomplishments might get overlooked… Gavin Root, as an example, would be the best High Jumper on 80-90% of teams in the area; he has an outstanding shot to be a state-qualifier and is one of the best high jumpers I’ve ever had… he just so happens to be on the same team with arguably the best high jumper in the state. That doesn’t diminish what Gavin Root has accomplished at all, just the attention he gets. I often say “it’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem”. Judah is in that same situation - he’s run some absolutely fantastic times just a month into his freshman year - he just so happens to be doing so in the same race as Quaid. Saturday he finished 11th at Top Times with a new best of 9:49.45. For some context on just how good Judah has been, consider: Judah is #2 indoors for us all-time, regardless of class. All conditions, his 9:49 is the 3rd fastest 3200m time in my 15 years as head coach. And he’s currently the 3rd fastest freshman in the state in that event, trailing only Quaid and Johnsburg’s Grady Smith. In short, he’s already one of the best 2 milers we’ve ever had, and he deserves every bit of whatever attention he gets.
Sprints
As a whole, this is the fastest spring we’ve ever had indoors. The 60m dash became the standard short sprint indoors 12ish years ago (prior to that it was the 55m)… 4 of the 10 fastest 60m sprinters we’ve ever had are on the this team, including 2 of the top 3 (Pianfetti and Goncalves). We had not one, but two kids break our freshman record in the 60m (Hough and Owusu-gyan). Two of the top 10 fastest indoor 200m we’ve ever had were run this spring, too (Pianfetti & Goncalves). And to cap it off, we had two athletes qualify for Top Times in the 60m, a first.
Neither of these guys ran the way they wanted on Saturday, but they both represented themselves extremely well on a tough stage. The 60m inside (and the 100m outside) is the most competitive event there is. Speed is a skill, but it’s also the event most influenced by raw talent… and to top it off, everyone wants to be fast (go to any USATF or AAU track meet, or a smaller HS meet without entry limits, and you’ll find that the shortest race always dwarfs every other event when it comes to the number of entries). To even qualify for this event is an enormous accomplishment. To go along with that, in my experience sprinters are often some of the most impacted athletes when it comes to being in unfamiliar circumstances - this is the first time either Ian or Felipe have had to stay overnight somewhere and then get up and and run their race before 10am. It’s not impossible to run fast under those circumstances (Jaiduan Cranford of Metamora ran a 6.85 at around 10am that morning, which is scorching fast), but it is an adjustment for guys.
Ian Pianfetti still ran a 7.19, .07 off his best of two weeks ago, and a 23.20 200m, within .05 of his personal indoor best. He placed 19th and 12th, respectively. He was disappointed, especially with the 60, and I didn’t expect him not to be. But big picture, his coach is extremely pleased. On average Ian ran a tenth faster this indoor season than last (that’s a ton in the 60m), and had himself the fastest junior indoor season of anyone I’ve ever coached (at the time he was also the fastest freshman I’ve ever coached and the fastest sophomore I’ve ever coached). He did all that without anything that could be considered a consistent training routine in March… illness, travel, and soreness/tightness all got in the way. But the bottom line is he’s faster than he was a year ago, and he’s primed for a stellar outdoor season once things settle in for him. Super proud of this kid, and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.
Our other sprinter on Saturday was Felipe Goncalves. Felipe has come out of nowhere this spring… we met for the first time back in January, and he told me that he thought he was fast (in a humble way, fyi). Now, any track coach will probably tell you they’ve had plenty of kids proclaim their own speed, and that few can actually back it up. Felipe, though, has made me feel like we hit the speed lottery. He is now the 3rd fastest athlete I’ve ever had in the 60m. Dirk Washburn, Gus Lathrop, Gavin Dorn, Jace Greenwood… all these guys were fast enough to win conference championships in the 100m at Olney (and Gavin Lathrop likely would have if not for injury-riddled Junior and Senior seasons). Felipe Goncalves has walked in and run faster than any of them in the 60, and he’s only the 4th Tiger to qualify for Top Times in this event. I came into this spring thinking that this group has the potential to be the fastest overall group we’ve ever had, and I expected that I would have some tough decisions to make (again, a good problem). This indoor season has confirmed my thoughts, and there will still be some tough decisions, but amidst all that, Felipe has cemented himself as a guy who will likely be key to our relays this spring. I can’t really think of a higher compliment to him than that.
Throws
It’s pretty impressive that Casey Thomann even qualified for the Top Times meet this spring… the Big Fella had a late start after a pretty bad ankle injury that kept him out of the final few weeks of basketball season, and then had a lingering illness that zapped him for several weeks - not ideal in an event like shot that is so dominated by power. But Saturday, he started to look and feel like himself, and it showed in his numbers… he threw 49’3, just a few inches off his indoor best, good for 10th. Like a few other guys we’ve mentioned, despite the things that have impeded his progress, he’s still shown considerable growth over last year, throwing almost 4 feet further during indoor season than he did in 2024. Add to that, Casey is also in the process of changing up his throwing style (from a glide to a spin) - something that may cause a temporary downturn for him - the bigger you are, the more difficult it’s going to be to transition to a spin, and Casey is 6’8” - but that will hopefully create the opportunity to throw further than he ever has if he can master the change.
Casey is extremely mature, and a workhorse (we’ve had many a talk about him dialing things back so he can get adequate rest). He also knows what he has a chance to accomplish and what his throwing means to the success of this group. He and our Throws Coach (Coach Snyder) are going to put in the work, and Casey is going to have a phenomenal spring in both throws. It’s going to be fun watching him chase history this spring!
Up Next
And just like that, outdoor season is upon us. We begin with a JV Meet @ Robinson Thursday and then the Greenville Invite on Saturday. Outdoor season means some new events… we trade in the 60m and the 60m Hurdles for the 100m and the 110 Hurdles, and we also add the 4x1, the the 300 Hurdles, as well as the Discus. It also means smaller meets… 15-20 teams at invites instead of the 50 team mega-meets we attended throughout march (way more schools out there with outdoor tracks than schools with indoor ones). The indoor season confirmed that our goals for this spring are realistic… in the end outdoor season is where it’s at, though. Time to find out how good we really are.
Relay Splits
No Relays This Week.
Event Winners
Cothern - HJ
New Personal Bests
Berger - 3200m (All-Conditions)
Cothern - HJ (All-Conditions)
Dicks - 3200m (All-Conditions)
New Honor Roll Performances (Indoors)
Berger / 3200m - #1 All-Time
Cothern / HJ - #1 All-Time
Dicks / 3200m - #2 All-Time