Davis and Warren tops in distances, but its Eiker’s 200 that steals the show

By Michael Newman

mike@dyestat.com

Champaign, Ill --- The discussion for the fans entering the University of Illinois Armory for Saturday’s Charger Classic was the sprint races involving some of the top sprinters in the state including Josh Eiker (Galesburg HS) and Cary Lockhart (Bloomington HS). By the time the meet was over, the only name on observers of the meet’s lips was just one person: Josh Eiker.

If Eiker wanted to make a statement at this meet not only for the other runners in the state as well as his future teammates at the University of Illinois where he will attend starting this fall, he more than accomplished that. The Galesburg senior swept both sprint events at this meet as well as running a spectacular leg on his team’s 800 Meter Relay.

Cary Lockhart entered this competition with the meet record in the 60 Meter Dash (6.99) that he ran last year. With the field this year with him, Eiker, Vincent Gordon (Centennial HS, Champaign), and Deshon Buchanan (Belleville West HS) a part of the race, there was little doubt that this record would fall. Eiker and Lockhart both possess great starts in the short sprints. On this day, the edge at the gun belonged to Eiker. He crossed the line in 6.90 just five hundredths of a second ahead of Lockhart. Gordon finished third just missing going under seven seconds (7.00).

25 minutes later, both Lockhart and Eiker were waiting on the side in the final section of the 800 Meter Relay. Both would be running the anchor leg for their teams. Bloomington had the advantage through most of the race when Lockhart received the baton ahead of Galesburg and Eiker. Never mind the fact that Plainfield North was blowing away the field in this race on their way to the win and a 1:32.27 time, all eyes were on the two star sprinters. Eiker got close at the end but Lockhart held him off for Bloomington as they finished second (1:33.64). Eiker gave Galesburg a third place finish (1:33.81). Lockhart ran a great 21.5 anchor leg for his team. Eiker’s split of 20.8 on the final leg was a little more shocking.

Those two races set the stage for what would be a memorable 200 Meter Dash final. Eiker set his blocks up in Lane 5. Lockhart was on his outside in Lane 6 and would be running without knowing what was happening with the runners behind him. He has been successful in indoor races like this. The gun went off with Lockhart blazing around the first turn.

Eiker’s start was a little better.

By the middle of the back stretch 60 meters into the race, Eiker made up the stagger passing the Bloomington runner almost like he was standing still. Jaws dropped as Eiker continued to motor around the curve. The only question at this point was what the time would be.

It was a “Wow” moment that track fans live for when they go to a meet. Eiker supplied that for him as he finished in 21.57. Lockhart’s time was a great 22.21 but it was almost three quarters of a second back. The time is the fastest ever in the historic Armory for a high school athlete since the track was shortened to 200 Meters from 262 yards. It is also believed to be the third fastest time ever in the facility according to Brandon Stryganek and DJ Zahn who were watching the future U of I runner perform. They are also the runners that have the times faster than him while they were running at the University of Illinois.

“The strategy was to get ahead of Lockhart but I did not think that it would happen that quickly,” Eiker said after the race. “I knew I wanted to beat him to the 100 meter mark. I did not think I would get him at 50 or 75. I knew I was feeling strong.”

The show that Eiker put on Saturday afternoon overshadowed so many other great performances at this meet. Plainfield North dominated winning both of the sprint relays. The quartet of Carlos Baggett, Jordan Gumila, Joe Stiffend, and Hunter Houslet turned in the fourth best time so far in the state in the 800 Relay. Matt Hosler joined Gumila, Houslet, and Baggett in the 1600 Meter Relay. North held off crosstown rival Plainfield South in the final leg of the race winning in 3:29.66 (IL #7). Plainfield South was less than a second behind (3:30.52, IL #10).

There were hopes that Jonathan Davis (Oakwood HS) and Heath Warren (Springfield HS) would face off in the 1600 Meter Run. The showdown did not happen as Davis opted to run the 3200 Meter Run as the first race of the season and also posting a good time for the Arcadia Invitational that he will compete in this April. Both athletes won their races in what were controlled pace races that were impressive to say the least.

Before the start of the 3200 Meter Run, Davis and future University of Illinois teammate Alex Keeble (Mahomet-Seymour HS) talked about their plans for the race.  Keeble had run 9:39 the week before at Normal West in training flats. He was looking for a time in the mid 9:20’s. Davis did not know what to expect for his first race. He wanted to pass by the 1600 in 4:40 and just go from there.

It was a help that Keeble was on Davis for most of the race. They went past the first 1600 in 4:43. Keeble took the lead that lasted for only 200 meters. Davis took it back the next lap and went on from there. He slowly pulled away from Keeble in the final 400 to run a meet record 9:21.62. All through the race, Davis clipped off 35 to 36 second laps. He finished controlled and not breathing hard with eyes on fast races in two weeks back in the Armory (1600) and then the following week at Illinois Top Times (3200). Keeble ran an indoor personal best in finishing second (9:24.06) and also under the old meet record.

“The objective for this race was just to be a rust buster since it was my first race of the season,” Davis said. “I really did throw down the hammer or anything. I just ran as I felt and I felt pretty good.”

Davis splits – 32.8 / 68.1 / 1:43.1 / 2:18.8 / 2:54.8 / 3:31.2 / 4:07.6 / 4:43.4 / 5:18.5 / 5:54.2 / 6:29.5 / 7:05.7 / 7:41.3 / 8:17.3 / 8:51.4 / 9:21.6

The 1600 Meter Run would be the second race of the season for Warren after running 2:01 for the 800 Meter Run the week before at Normal West. It was a race that his coach Trae Cotner did not want him to run. “He was sick the day of the race. I told him not to run but it is kind of hard to stop him,” Cotner said. “He said he did not remember the race after the first lap.”

That 800 race was a rust buster for Warren and it showed in the smoothness of his race Saturday afternoon. He was not threatened after the first two laps of the race cruising to the win (4:25.02). Gabe Pommier (Mahomet-Seymour HS) closed on Warren the final lap finishing second (4:33.73) just ahead of David Gaytan (Oswego HS). This race was all about Warren as he ran 33 second laps throughout the race not even kicking at the end. Those fast times will come later.

“Since I knew that there would not be very much competition in this meet, there was not much really to worry about,” Warren said. “I just wanted to stay consistent which I was happy about.”

Warren splits – 32.4 / 65.1 / 1:38.3 / 2:11.9 / 2:45.0 / 3:18.3 / 3:51.6 / 4:25.04

The 60 Meter Hurdles was the closest race of the day between two of the top athletes in the event in the state Tyler Kirkwood (Waubonsie Valley HS, Aurora) and Travis Anderson (Edwardsville HS). Anderson was in a close race last week at Lockport only winning by one hundredth of a second. He was about to be in another close race as he stepped into the blocks. Kirkwood had the advantage early in the race but was barely nipping the first four hurdles. Anderson overcame his start getting Kirkwood on the final hurdle to win the race only by two hundredth of a second.

The top field event performance was in the Pole Vault and it belonged to Ryan Ashenbremer (Normal West HS). The junior was nearly flawless in this meet clearing 14-6 and 15-0 on his first attempt after clearing 14-0 on his second attempt.  He cleared a seasonal best 15-6 on his second attempt for his winning height. After his event was over, he hopped into the car with his coach and headed north for the Windy City Pole Vault Summit and his second competition of the day.