CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

 On Friday, March 25, 2011, Northside Head Coach Jon Gordon, Assistant Coach Kwaku Attoh, and Northside Junior Mac Melto traveled to Bloomington, Illinois for the Indoor State Championships (Illinois Prep Top Times).

 The Mustangs stayed at Eastland Suites. The hotel was complete with a refrigerator and microwave in every suite, fitness center, Internet, first run movies, and the NCAA basketball tournament was featured on every television. A special thanks to Northside Principal Barry Rodgers and Northside Athletic Director Andrew Mayer for the wonderful accomadations. 

 The Team dined at Olive Garden the night before Illinois Prep Top Times. The Bloomington Olive Garden was the most popular place in town, and Illinois Prep Top Times qualifiers filled the restaurent to capacity. After an extensive wait for a table, the Mustangs had a gourmet meal and then went to a local grocery store to stock the Hotel with nutritional snacks.

 On Saturday, March 26, 2011, 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.

 Mac Melto received his race numbers upon arrival, and was placed in a large turf room adjacent to the stadium to put away belongings, and set up a Team Camp. Right next to the turf room, a special gymnasium was used for event check-in, and to run warm-ups. The athletes had access to stands on the main floor, that were roped off from the Track.

 Mac Melto had one of the largest cheering sections at the meet, which included his parents, Bud and Crystal Melto, and Northside athletes, Junior Josh Williams, Junior Lisa Wendt, and Northside parent Craig Williams. A special thanks to all of the Northside parents and athletes that made the trip to see the historic race.

 Northside witnessed an incredible Track meet throughout the day, as they waited for the main event, the 400m run. 

 The 400m run consisted of three heats, and only the top 8 times would reach the medal stand. Mac Melto was assigned to heat two, and lane six. Melto had never started a race before from lane six.

 In heat one, Chicago Mount Carmel Tom Benson ran a 52.60 to win the first heat.

 In the second heat, Mac Melto ran the first 200m in 26.0 seconds, and four athletes were ahead of Melto in his heat! In the final 200m, Mac Melto passed three athletes (Moline Matt Thornton, Rolling Meadows Ryan Gundersen, and Loyola Academy Ryan Sanacrose), and ran a NEGATIVE SPLIT of 24.54 seconds to finish second to St. Charles North Brandon Baymon (50.23) with a new school record of 50.54! It was one of the greatest finishes anyone had ever seen, with Melto passing three athletes in the final 150m! Mac Melto will be honored in practice on Monday with a Watermelon for breaking the school record in the 400m run!

 In the third heat, Plainfield South Sheldon Magee (49.61), Argo Community Mike Brown (49.75), and Neuqua Valley Jacob Bender (49.90) finished first through third, and the fourth place finisher Oswego East Derek Drew crossed the line with an outstanding time of 53.18. At that moment, it became official that Mac Melto made the Medal stand with a fifth place finish in the Indoor State Championships!!! Northside Junior Mac Melto is now only 0.93 of a second from the fastest runner in Illinois!

 Mac Melto stayed in Bloomington on Saturday evening, for dinner, before returning to Chicago, celebrating his outstanding performance with family, friends and teammates. He will also be honored at Northside on Monday for placing fifth in the Indoor State Championships!!!

 Varsity Points scored at Illinois Prep Top Times

 1. Mac Melto      3.0