Gene Armer Highlights: More Broken Records & a 7th Place Finish

A Long Day, But a Great One for Tiger Track & Field

Saturday was a looooong day for our guys. We pulled out at 8:30am for an 11:30 start, and the meet didn’t finish up until around 6:30. By the time we ate and got back into town, it was after 9pm. But it was an incredible experience for our crew. For starters, the facility, which got a major renovation in the early 2000s, is incredible (I got to run there for the Top Times Meet in 1999, and it’s pretty much unrecognizable compared to then). The atmosphere, equipment, and track itself were all top notch. And with over 50 teams in attendance, it provided Championship-level competition and a fantastic showcase for our kids.

We made the most of our first ever trip to the Gene Armer Invite, netting a 7th place overall finish. For reference on just how well we competed, the average enrollment of the 6 teams ahead of us average an enrollment of 1467 students (roughly double our 734). The next closest school in those 6 to us was Marion at 1093. On the way to that finish, we broke 4 indoor school records, came within .01 of another, and over half of our performances resulted in a new personal record (we consider PRs the ultimate goal… it drives our guys towards becoming better versions of themselves, and when you concentrate on beating yourself, all the other goals will fall into place on their own).

Cothern Meets His Match… And Has His Greatest Day Ever

We knew going in that Saturday was going to be a fast one. Ayden Cothern, who had yet to be defeated going into the Gene Armer, was seeded 3rd behind 2 of the 5 fastest athletes in IL (regardless of class). No one wants to lose, but going up against the best provides an opportunity to be driven to greater heights, even when you don’t finish first. Ayden left no doubt that he belonged on Saturday, winning his preliminary heat with a 7.02, drawing some “oooohs” from the crowd. As of Saturday that was good for IL#13 (again, regardless of class).

Ayden repeated that performance in the finals, finishing 3rd behind Lacy from Centennial and Hippard from Mascoutah. Both Lacy and Hippard crossed the vaunted 7 second landmark, which just barely evaded Ayden. He’ll get (hopefully) 2 more shots this coming Saturday at the Top Times meet (including prelims).

Ayden wasn’t done, though. After anchoring our 4x2 (we’ll come back to that), Ayden capped his day off by dropping 3 tenths of a second in the 200m, running a 23.04 and coming within .01 of Gus Lathrop’s Indoor 200m record (which he ran at the Top Times meet back in 2015). Ayden ran that time while winning his heat by almost 3 quarters of a second… with some fresh legs and a more competitive heat, a clean race might result in yet another record-breaking performance.

Hallam Takes 2nd in Long Jump

On a pretty huge stage (literally, boys long jump was on an elevated runway), and against a very talented field, Rex Hallam came to compete. I point that out, because despite the setting and what was on the line (Rex knew he was right on the edge of getting invited to Top Times this coming weekend), he didn’t necessarily have his A game with him. He was feeling sluggish, the elevated runway was a bit disorienting, and at one point he had blood running down his leg where he’d accidentally spiked himself.

At this point in the season, when he’s had barely any time to actually practice jumping on a runway, it was probably tempting to close up shop, but he kept competing. His best jump came in the finals at 6.46m, breaking his own indoor LJ record, and netting a 2nd place finish (he was only about 1/4 inch off the leader). That jump was also good enough to tie him for #12 in 2A… and qualify him for the Top Times meet.

Also have to mention this picture… Rex actually scratched on this jump, but I love how many people are watching him take off and the looks on all their faces. There’s a lot going on at these indoor meets, but Rex’s jumps became must-see for anyone in the area.

Hough Takes Care of Business in the 3200

Holden Hough has had racing in the 3200 at the Top Times Meet in his sights all spring. The hope was that he’d be on solid enough ground to sit that race out this week, but at over 10:00, we just couldn’t be certain enough that his run from EIU was going to be good enough. We felt fairly confident that the competition at Gene Armer was going to be fast enough to get him where he needed to be, but Holden still had to take care of business.

That turned out to be a tougher task than we realized. Nalley of Marion and Beckmier of Arthur got well out ahead of the pack and both turned in sub 9:40 times, and the next man behind Holden was Conderman of Dixon, who ran a 10:07. Essentially, that left him in no man’s land, which is a place no distance runner wants to be in, especially in the indoor 3200m. Holden’s training and guts carried him home though, and finished third in under 10 minutes. That put him at #14 on the Top Times leaderboard (they take 15), and solidfied him as our fastest 2 miler indoors in the RCHS era.

Jones Settles In, and Breaks His First School Record

Last week the story was on Saul getting back in the saddle after a rough run and a DNF at EIU the week before. This week at Gene Armer, he showed he’s really settling in after being out for a year and approaching the greatness that we know he’s got in him.

Jones is another guy we knew was on the edge of getting in to the Top Times meet, and we knew he was probably going to have to run well to make the cut. Even with that as the backdrop, Saul calmly and confidently went out and ran two great races on Saturday. In the prelims, he became our first Tiger to ever crack 9 seconds in the 60m Hurdles (8.96), and then he came back and topped that with an 8.94, good for 5th and #22 on the Top Times Board for 2A (they take 24). Saul will get at least one shot to break his own record this weekend. The scary/awesome thing about this: the 60m is potentially his weakest hurdle race… Can’t wait to see what he does in the 110s and 300s outside.

Gavyn Cothern Shows Some Special Versatility

Gavyn Cothern won the EIU Indoor in the Long Jump 2 weeks ago. The next week Rex Hallam won the MTZ Invite, edging Gavyn out by a little over an inch. The Gene Armer really limits entries, only allowing 1 athlete per event from each school. In those types of situations, we let the numbers decide, and so Rex represented us in the Long Jump this week. But there aren’t many things Gavyn can’t do, and we had a spot open in the HJ (which he was able to fill because baseball had been canceled… again, there’s not much he can’t do).

Because of weather and being a dual sport athlete, Gavyn had gotten a total of 1 workout in going into the Gene Armer Invite, but our ultra-competitive freshman wasn’t intimidated. Gavyn cleared 5’10.5”, good for an 8th place finish, our 3rd best indoor HJ effort in the RCHS Era, and breaks the freshman record for us all-conditions in the RCHS era. All signs point to this kid becoming one of the more decorated multi-sport athletes to ever walk the halls of RCHS.

Other Notables…

• Casey Thomann was just as impressive on a bigger stage. His throw of 41’5.75 was just under his best from last week, but good enough to land him in the top 20 of a very competitive field. Casey is already the freshman record holder for us in the RCHS era, and finishes up indoor season at #3 all-time for us.

• Ian Winkler continues to improve, setting a new PR in the Triple Jump. At over 38’6”, Ian finishes up indoor season #3 for us all-time indoors, and heads into his first outdoor season already #5 for us in the TJ all-conditions… (really looking forward to getting him going in the High Jump too.

• 6 new personal bests for the Tigers at Gene Armer. Our guys weren’t intimidated by the big stage at all.

• Full Results from Gene Armer & U of I

• Next meet: Top Times @ Illinois Wesleyan… unofficially recognized as “Indoor State”. We begin outdoor season with a smaller meet at Newton and then head to the Greenville Invite on Saturday, April 1.