Cless, Wildkit Relays Earn Top Times Titles

The ascension to the elite ranks of high jumpers in the state of Illinois, in just over one calendar year since he took up the sport, has mostly been free of adversity for Matt Cless during that time.

But the Evanston senior learned something about rising to the occasion --- and overcoming new challenges --- on his way to the Class 3A high jump championship at the Illinois Prep Top Times meet held Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.

Cless avoided his first defeat since placing third at the Illinois High School Association state finals last spring, overcoming a couple of uncharacteristic missed jumps to rule at 2.02 meters and paced the Wildkit boys at what serves as an unofficial state indoor championship meet.

Evanston’s girls captured meet titles in both the 800-meter and 1600-meter relays --- with statement wins in both races --- in a rare appearance at the competition.

Since he burst onto the scene last year, Cless has typically entered competitions at heights after most of the high jump field has already been eliminated. But Saturday, he had to shake off the rust after spending spring break chilling on the beach in the Dominican Republic and going an entire week without practice.

He missed two jumps at 6 feet, 6 inches and that gave the edge to Normal West’s Jonovan Findley on the basis of fewer misses at that height. But Findley couldn’t clear the next height, and Cless soared over the bar on his second try to secure the victory.

Cless also added an 7th place finish in the 60-meter dash --- in 7.13 seconds --- and teamed up with Vorn Ellis, Skyler Lee and Chase Cubia to place 3rd in the 800 relay in a season best time of 1 minute, 32.82 seconds.

“I was a little out of it today. I’ve been just chilling on the beach the past week and I was kinda shaky at first,” Cless admitted. “My tendinitis in my knee was bothering me, too. But the pain went away (after those two missed jumps) and after that, it was game over.

“I’m actually glad that this all happened. I need more training to be able to push through at times like this when I have to shake things off and stay calm. I didn’t really think too much about the misses. I just always want to keep going until there’s no one left.

“When you’re the hunted (ranked No. 1 in your specialty) you have to go harder than the other guys. It’s easier to be the predator. I just don’t want any of the others to get close to me. It’s a nice win because every top guy in Class 3A came here today and it’s like winning an indoor state title. Now, I can’t wait to get outdoors! I think I’m where I want to be.”

ETHS assistant coach Kevin Caines wasn’t sure just how Cless would react to the layoff and the misses.

“He looked a little flat. He looked out of sync,” said Caines, “but he worked it out. It was good for Matt to have to compete in a meet like this. He clearly didn’t have it in his legs today, because he was out of his usual routine this week, but he had three good attempts at 6-10 and he clearly worked it out.”

Evanston actually triumphed in the final heat of the 800 relay, but two teams from a “slower” heat --- Plainfield North at 1:31.65 and Naperville North at 1:32.82 --- posted faster efforts to deny the Wildkits a possible win.

Ellis added a 5th in the open 200, winning his heat in 22.93 and breaking the 23-second barrier for the first time. The Kits also counted an 8th in the 1600 relay (3:33.74) and an 8th from Tim Russell in the shot put (16.2 meters). Junior Evan Siegel was eliminated in the preliminaries in the 60 hurdles.

“This is why we come here, to get to see guys rise to the occasion,” said Evanston head coach Don Michelin. “Like what Vorn Ellis did for us today. He got a PR (personal record) in the 200, he ran a 50 plus in the mile relay in a no-win situation and earned us a medal, and he ran a super leg on the 4 x 200. I guarantee you he’ll be a different runner for us when he comes to practice Monday because of this experience.”

Evanston’s girls ran away with relay titles in the 800 (1:44.36) and 1600 (an eye-catching 3:56.32). The wins weren’t exactly unexpected, considering that a couple of top potential challengers chose not to enter the meet and the Kits already owned the top times in the state in both races coming into the competition.

But it’s starting to look like a classic case of the rich getting richer for head coach Fenny Gunter when it comes to relay options entering the outdoor campaign. Two runners who weren’t in the lineup last year, junior Abrielle Artley and senior Maidison Hardamon, were part of the victorious 1600 team that ran all alone and posted a win by a margin of 12 seconds over the runnerup squad from Whitney Young.

Artley missed the entire outdoor campaign last year with leg injuries and Hardamon is a transfer student who was a state finalist in the 400 outdoors last year at Lincoln Park.

Their presence is a definite plus for a program that already returned all 4 standouts --- Jacklynn Okereke, Rikki Gray, Dawson Wright and Jasmine Wright --- from last year’s state champion 800 relay unit.

Saturday, Artley finished 3rd in the 60 hurdles in 9.31 while contributing a leadoff leg of about 58 seconds in the long relay that also featured Okereke, Gray and Hardamon. That win came on the heels of a winning effort in the 800 relay, in 1:44.36, by the team of Gray, Okereke, senior Dystonae Clark and Dawson Wright.

Hardamon added a 7th in the open 400 in 1:00.37 and Olivia Whatley settled for 2nd in the shot put competition at 11.98 meters for ETHS.

“We don’t usually come to this meet, but this year the timing worked out well for us,” Gunter pointed out. “We just wanted to see what we needed to fix, and to see how they’d react against quality competition. I really liked how we finished and how they supported each other. This is it, and you’ve got to enjoy the moment when you can.

“Having two more girls like that (Artley and Hardamon) in the mix gives us the potential to breathe and move some girls into individual races if we want to. We also have a couple of good freshmen we hope to work in there at some point, who haven’t run yet. Abrielle and Jackie really put it out there in the last race --- Jackie was very impressive on that second leg --- and Maidison looked good in her first double of the year, too.”

Hardamon has been eased into the training routine at Evanston after coming out of a program in Chicago where there was no indoor facility for her to work out. She still placed 8th in Class 3A at State last spring.

“We’re trying to keep her training simple, we don’t want to overwhelm her. Her coaches at Lincoln Park did a good job getting her as far as they did, and she’s done a good job of getting acclimated to the rest of the team so far,” Gunter praised. “It’s a change for her because she’s no longer the top girl like she was at Lincoln Park, she has 4 or 5 girls to run with her here.”

Whatley couldn’t find her throwing rhythm in 6 tries, although the total distance on her throws would easily have added up to a victory in the shot. But Yorkville freshman Courtney Clabough got off one good attempt --- at 12.13 meters --- and that was enough to beat out the Evanston senior, who could only muster a best of 11.98.

“I warmed up better than I threw (in the competition),” Whatley noted. “I just didn’t attack my throws enough today. I have to be more aggressive.

“There’s always a little pressure (after entering the meet ranked No. 1 in Class 3A), but I know what I’m capable of. I know what I can do. I haven’t been in a lot of big meets yet, that’s true, but I think I adjust to the pressure pretty quick. It’s still all about my technique.”