There’s snow on the ground, so Leo’s track team heads to its “indoor facility.”
The Lions get a pretty good warmup just walking up three flights of stairs to the top floor of the school at 79th and Sangamon in Chicago. Once there, they begin stretching in the hallway. When they start jogging, it’s not around some 200-meter oval covered with a rubber surface.
Their “track” is a long hallway, and their laps are back and forth, 50 meters up and 50 meters back.
The fact that Leo doesn’t have a fieldhouse like some of the teams it will compete against this spring hasn’t stopped coach Ed Adams’ team from being one of the best in the state and a perennial Class A state-title contender.
“I’ve been running in the halls for four years,” said Ryan Shields, who is considered by most as the fastest high school sprinter in Illinois. “You get used to it. It doesn’t really affect me. Basically, it’s still running.”
Shields, who has narrowed his college choices to Iowa and Eastern Illinois, swept the three sprint races in Class A at state the past two seasons. Last May, his winning times in the 200 (21.83 seconds) and 400 meters (47.73) were faster than the winning Class AA times and his 100 meter time of 10.64 was an eye-blink slower than the time posted by Class AA winner Ron Mitchell of Thornwood. Shields also anchored the Lions’ second-place 400-meter relay team.
All of Shields’ points, though, weren’t enough for Leo to win the state title. Leo finished third, four points behind champion Harrisburg and three points behind runner-up Burlington Central.
“I’d like to help the team win state,” said Shields, who will be challenged by Red Hill’s Matt Scherer in all three Class A sprints. “That’s my goal. I want to ride home with that trophy sitting next to me.”
Adams has a squad of 52 running the halls of Leo. His distance runners hit the streets and his weightmen throw the shot in the school’s parking lot. The sprinters dash up and down the hall, and the hurdlers work on their form there. Adams lays down a big piece of carpet so athletes can anchor their blocks and work on their starts.
Adams is a veteran of hall training, having coached at Mendel and St. Martin de Porres before he came to Leo 10 years ago. The Lions make the best of the situation and run a Class AA schedule both indoors and outdoors.
“It was the same at Mendel,” Adams said with a chuckle. “Fortunately, this hallway is a little bit longer, and that helps us out. It’s about 60 meters long, so we run 50 meters up and 50 meters back. It’s all scientific. It works.”
Footwear is important.
“I tell them when they purchase training flats, purchase heavy shoes and wear two pairs of socks since the floor is so hard,” Adams said. “We do a lot to protect their shins, tell them to ice when they go home.
“We’re fortunate they follow directions.”
This season’s squad is off to a great start. The Lions won the Catholic League indoor championship, holding off a talented Mt. Carmel team, and competed against the top teams in the suburbs in weekly invitationals.
Adams not only returns Shields, he also has triple jumpers Christopher Easley, who was eighth in the state meet, and Curshawn Pullen, who was 12th. Marcel Morgan, a transfer from Luther South, was eighth in the long jump. Leo returns its second-place 400-meter relay team of Jason Hall, DeJahn Means, Jimmy Williams and Shields.
Williams recorded a faster 55-meter time than Shields this winter. Hurdlers Nelson Miller and Maric Bulluck have been among the Class A leaders indoors, as has middle-distance runner Cortez Brown. Lonnie Newman is working with the spin technique in the shot put and could score points in the state meet.
“Our goals from Day One are to win the Class A state meet and the outdoor conference meet,” Adams said.
While Shields is most concerned with his team, he does have some ambitious goals. He’d like to run 10.2 in the 100, 20.9 in the 200 and 46.8 in the 400, all of which would be Class A records. Only one other Class A runner, D.J. Glynn of Spring Valley Hall in 1997, has ever swept the sprints in the state finals.
“It would mean a great deal to me if it helps us win a state title,” Shields said.
Top returners
Listed by order of finish at last year’s state meet.
Class AA
Long jump: 9. Seantae Holland, sr., Zion-Benton.
Pole vault: 9. Ken Kellett, sr., Lockport; 10. Joel Hillman, sr., Sycamore.
High jump: 2. Ceith Creekmur, sr., Waubonsie Valley; 8. Sean Johnston, sr., Palatine; 10. Phil Tyler., sr., De La Salle.
Shot put: 4. Chris Barry, sr., Sandburg; 6. Scott Moss, sr., Minooka; 8. Matt Whalen, sr., Jacobs.
Triple jump: 11. Jason Stark, sr., Rich East.
Discus: 1. Moss, Minooka; 10. Josh Frederick, sr., Wheaton Warrenville South.
3,200: 8. Scott Frazin, sr., Highland Park; 9. Tom Longo, sr., Glenbrook North.
110 high hurdles: 1. A.J. Harris, sr., Wheaton North; 5. Enrique Cook, sr., Mt. Carmel; 6. Eric Mitchum, sr., Mt. Carmel.
100: 9. Marquice Cole, sr., Hillcrest.
800: 6. Bronco Meeks, sr., Batavia; 7. Jake Hack, sr.,Woodstock; 8. Chad Tredway, sr., Carmel; 10. Tramell Smith, sr., Willowbrook.
400: 2. Dion Ballentine, sr., Thornwood; 7. Tyreese Andrews, jr., Bloom; 8. Kurt Laughary, sr., Morris.
300 intermediate hurdles: 2. Anthony Young, sr., Rich Central; 3. Nathan Probst, sr., Lake Park; 8. Steve Schnackel, sr., Wheaton Warrenville South.
1,600: 4. Carlos Mendoza, sr., Fenton; 9. Micah VanDenend, sr., Glenbard South.
Class A
Long jump: 7. Kurt Laurinaitis, sr., Montini; 8. Marcel Morgan, sr., Leo.
High jump: 12. Micah Kirstein, jr., Bishop McNamara.
Triple jump: 5. Laurinaitis, Montini; 7. Felton Williams, sr., Hales Franciscan; 8. Christopher Easley, sr., Leo; 9. Oyekolade Agbaje-Williams, sr., Evergreen Park; 12. Curshawn Pullen, sr., Leo.
3,200: 1. Paul Jellema, sr., Illiana Christian; 2. Shawn Lucas, sr., St. Edward; 7. Pat Quinn, sr., St. Francis; 8. Nathan Block, sr., Stillman Valley.
110 high hurdles: 2. Dan Roby, sr., Burlington Central.
100: 1. Ryan Shields, sr., Leo; 5. Joe Mastrino, jr., Immaculate Conception.
400: 1. Shields, Leo; 3. Clinton Perrot, sr., Plano Coop.
300 intermediate hurdles: 2. Roby, Burlington Central.
1,600: 1. Matt Field, jr., Wheaton Academy; 3. Jellema, Illiana Christian; 6. Quinn, St. Francis.
200: Shields, Leo; Dan Stanley, jr., Byron.
Top boys track teams
1. Thornwood: Thunderbirds coach Gary Haupert has the main ingredient needed to win the Class AA state championship: speed. Thornwood broke through to win its first team title last year behind sprinter Ron Mitchell, and Dion Ballentine appears to be his successor. Ballentine was second in the 400 meters in last year’s state meet and will be the runner to beat in the one-lap race. He also will be a contender in the short sprints and gives Haupert an experienced relay runner. Ballentine and Marcus Lesley ran on the state-champion 400-meter relay team, while Stephen Taylor ran on the winning 800-meter relay and the second-place 1,600-meter relay team that also featured Ballentine. Lesley was also a state qualifier in the 110 hurdles and has had a good indoor season. Staying healthy is always a concern for sprinters, and Ballentine holds the key for Thornwood.
2. Leo: Ryan Shields has swept the Class A sprints twice and is a solid bet to make it three straight. The Lions senior is the top sprinter in the state and has unusual versatility and strength. Coach Ed Adams won’t overwork Shields, pointing for the final three weeks of the season. In the state series he’ll probably add a relay and hope to leave Charleston with four gold medals and a state championship trophy. Adams has a deeper team than he had a year ago, when Leo finished third in Class A. Triple jumper Christopher Easley was eighth in the Class A state meet at 43-5 1/2 and has jumped 44-4 1/2 indoors this season. Marcel Morgan, eighth in the long jump, has transferred in from Luther South. Curshawn Pullen is a possible point scorer in the horizontal jumps. The wild card for the Lions could be Lonnie Newman, who has the potential to score in both the shot and discus.
3. Mt. Carmel: This could be the Caravan’s best team if the indoor season is any indication. Hurdlers Enrique Cook and Eric Mitchum were fifth and sixth in the 110-meter hurdles last year and have been outstanding indoors. They will be packaged in relays in addition to their hurdling and could put Mt. Carmel in trophy contention. Mitchum also had the top Class AA 400-meter indoor time at 50.2 and the best high jump at 6-8. Robbie Krutilla has shown improvement and has put himself into medal contention in the shot put. Sprinter Chris Goffer has run well indoors. The Caravan, like Leo, has no track facilities at the school.
4. Bloom: The Blazing Trojans are back with sprinters Thomas Moore and the Andrews twins–Tyreese and Tyrell. They are three-fourths of the 400 and 800 relays that placed in the Class AA state meet. All three should contend in the open sprints. Tyreese Andrews placed seventh in the 400 last spring. Moore had the top 200-meter time in the state indoors with a 21.99.
5. Wheaton Warrenville South: This should be another good Tigers team. Intermediate hurdler Steve Schnackel was eighth in the 300 hurdles at state and is a versatile runner who will score a lot of points. Sprinter Adam Tyler, weight men Josh Frederick and Luka Ulicevic and distance runner Mike Popejoy should pile up the points. Popejoy, the son of former Glenbard West mile champion Ken Popejoy, is a sophomore who should challenge for a state medal in the 1,600 or 3,200 meters.
Other top teams: Batavia, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Geneva, Homewood-Flossmoor, Hinsdale Central, Joliet, Lake Park, Waukegan, Wheaton North.
— Reid Hanley.
