CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

On Saturday, March 28, 2009, the Indoor State Championships (Illinois Prep Top Times) took place at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Illinois. The energy in the stadium was electric, with a sold-out stadium crowd filled to its capacity, with people standing in the upper deck just to get a glimpse of the meet. The stadium featured a jumbotron video screen, showing the results of all the events throughout the meet, and a play-by-play announcer, who gave live commentary on every event that took place.

The high jump pit area, was complete with extended warm-up areas, and featured four officials. One with a red and white flag, for an immediate ruling on each jump. Two officials with tape measures to confirm the height of each jump. Also, there was one official to call the names of each athlete for their attempt at the given height, and to give notice to the next athlete, who was on deck, and in the hole. The coaches from all the schools were kept in a roped off seating area, approximately 5 feet from the begining of the high jump pit area.  

To qualify for Illinois Prep Top Times in the High Jump, an athlete has to jump a minimum height of 6'3 during the Indoor Season. In Class 3A, 15 athletes qualified for the Illinois Prep Top Times this year. Medals were awarded to the Top 8 athletes in the competition. 

The meet featured the top returning athletes from the 2008 Outdoor State Championships, who all jumped 6'3 or higher during the 2009 Indoor season to qualify for Illinois Prep Top Times, including: Buffalo Grove Senior Matt Newman, who placed third in the Outdoor State Championships in 2008, with a jump of 6'7. McHenry Senior Ryan Michel who placed sixth in the Outdoor State Championships in 2008, with a jump of 6'5. Aurora West Junior Aviance King, who place seventh in the Outdoor State Championships in 2008 with a jump of 6'4. Normal West Senior Troy Walls, and Northside Senior Eric Nelson, who both placed 10th in the Outdoor State Championships in 2008 with jumps of 6'4. United Township Junior Michael Crabtree, who jumped 6'2 in the Outdoor State Championships in 2008. St. Patrick Junior Patrick Nelson, and Belleville East Junior Daryl Rice, who qualified for the 2008 Outdoor State Championships, but did not clear the opening height.

In addition to the top State returnees, the meet featured: Niles West Aron Smart, who qualified for the meet with a jump of 6'3. St. Charles North's Andrew Carlson, who qualified for the meet with a jump of 6'4. Belleville West's Nick Besse, who qualified for the meet with a jump of 6'4. West Chicago's Jeff Foreman, who qualified for the meet with a jump of 6'4. Lyons Dane Krzyskowski, who qualified for the meet with a jump of 6'4. Niles West Danny Lohan, who qualified for the meet with a jump of 6'5.

The opening height was 5'11. All of the athletes cleared 5'11 on their first attempt.

The bar was then raised to 6'1. Belleville East Junior Daryl Rice made three quality attempts at 6'1, and was unable to clear it. Northside Senior Eric Nelson, Belleville West Nick Besse, St. Charles North Andrew Carlson, Niles West Aron Smart, and Normal West Senior Troy Walls missed clearing it on their first attempt, and then cleared 6'1 on their second attempt. Buffalo Grove Senior Matt Newman missed it on his first two attempts, and then cleared 6'1 on his third attempt. All other athletes in the competition cleared it on their first attempt.

The bar was then raised to 6'3. Belleville West Nick Besse, Dundee-Crown Pat Livengood, Niles West Aron Smart, and St. Charles Andrew Carlson made three quality attempts at 6'3, and were unable to clear it.  Northside Senior Eric Nelson cleared 6'3 on his first attempt. Aurora West Aviance King, Niles West Danny Lohan, United Township Michael Crabtree, Lyons Dane Krzyskowski, and McHenry Ryan Michel also cleared 6'3 on their first attempt. Normal West Senior Troy Walls, St. Patrick Junior Patrick Nelson, and West Chicago's Jeff Foreman cleared 6'3 on their second attempt.

The bar was then raised to 6'5, and 10 athletes still remained in the competition. Only 9 athletes were able to clear 6'5 at the Outdoor State Championships in 2008. The athletes knew that this height would make or break everyone in the competition. United Township's Michael Crabtree, Buffalo Grove's Matt Newman, West Chicago's Jeff Foreman, Lyon's Dane Krzyskowski, and Normal West Senior Troy Walls all missed on their first attempt, and then Northside Senior Eric Nelson's name was called by the official to make his first attempt at 6'5. Nobody had cleared 6'5 yet. Northside Senior Eric Nelson had one of his best jumps of the day, and cleared 6'5 on his first attempt!, and Niles West's Danny Lohan immediately gave him a high five! Lohan and Nelson had jumped against each other frequently during the last two years, and were pulling for each other throughout the competition. Niles West Danny Lohan missed on his first attempt at 6'5, but then cleared 6'5 on his second attempt, and received a high five from Eric Nelson. McHenry Senior Ryan Michel and Aurora West Aviance King both cleared 6'5 on their first attempt. United Township's Michael Crabtree and Normal West Senior Troy Walls cleared 6'5 on their second attempt. Buffalo Grove Senior Matt Newman, West Chicago's Jeff Foreman, Lyons Dane Krzyskowski, and St. Patrick Junior Patrick Nelson all failed to clear 6'5, and were out of the competition.

The bar was then raised to 6'7. Prior to the meet, only one athlete in the competition had ever cleared 6'7 in their career, and the school record for Northside College Prep was 6'6 (Eric Nelson, 2008 Deerfield Classic). Six athletes remained in the competition, Michael Crabtree, Eric Nelson, Danny Lohan, Troy Walls, Ryan Michel, and Aviance King.

Michael Crabtree, Eric Nelson, Danny Lohan, Troy Walls, Ryan Michel, and Aviance King, all missed on their first attempt at 6'7.

On his second attempt, United Township Junior Michael Crabtree jumped a personal best 6'7!

Eric Nelson, Danny Lohan, Troy Walls, Ryan Michel, and Aviance King, all missed on their second attempt at 6'7.

Niles West Danny Lohan, and Normal West Troy Walls made an outstanding effort, and were unable to clear 6'7 on their final attempt, and were awarded fifth and sixth place medals respectively.  

On their third attempt, McHenry Senior Ryan Michel and Aviance King jumped a personal best 6'7! Northside Eric Nelson made an outstanding final attempt, and had the height, but hit the cross bar on his trail leg. Eric Nelson was awarded a Medal for placing fourth overall in the High Jump. It was the highest place a Northside Athlete has ever placed at Illinois Prep Top Times. Nelson then left the high jump pit area to switch into running spikes to help the Mustangs break the school record in the Distance Medley relay by 21.66 seconds, and earn his second Medal of the day. Eric Nelson is the first athlete in Northside history to earn Medals in multiple events at the Indoor State Championships.

McHenry Senior Ryan Michel won the High Jump competition with a personal best jump of 6'10. United Township Junior Michael Crabtree finished in second place with a personal best jump of 6'7. Aurora West's Aviance King finished in third place with a personal best jump of 6'7.