Kits Climb Back To The Top Of CSL South Track

Evanston’s track team took a hit after winning 10 straight Central Suburban League South division indoor championships from 2007 to 2017.

But the Wildkits are back on top again.

Coach Don Michelin’s squad captured first place finishes in nine different events Friday night at Willie May Fieldhouse and ran away with their first indoor title since 2019 in a display of speed and depth that ETHS fans haven’t seen in quite awhile.

Evanston reclaimed the title by amassing 148 points to Deerfield’s 84 in the team standings. Next in order were Maine South (67), Glenbrook North (64), Glenbrook South (58) and New Trier (44).

Anything less than a championship finish left a tradition-rich program with wounded pride in the aftermath of some close losses since they last won it.

That made Friday’s title worth the wait.

“It feels real good,” said Michelin. “We’ve been close to the top, we’ve always been very competitive, but now and then we did shoot ourselves in the foot at this meet. The kids did a really, really good job tonight. We have a lot of good depth on this team.”

Evanston rolled behind a pair of victories from junior Jaden Jean-Paul in the triple jump (13,68 meters) and high jump (1.90), along with Jordan Harvey in the 55-meter high hurdles (7.76 seconds), Deshawn Preister in the 400 (52.22), Mynard Blake in the 55 dash (6.52), Lucas Anderson in the 50 low hurdles (7.92), and sophomore Anthony Honore in the 200 (23.10).

None of the other schools could prevent Evanston from scoring lopsided wins in the 800 relay (1:33.77) or the 1600 relay (3:34.97), too.

Jean-Paul rose to the occasion in just his second indoor meet of the season. The talented junior had to work his way back after he was ineligible to compete and had to get his academics back in order before he could run and jump again in a meet.

He turned in personal bests in the triple jump and long jump (2^nd at 6.85) and vowed to pay more attention to his studies and less attention to sports moving forward.

“I didn’t spend enough time on my school work,” Jean-Paul admitted. “Now I have a clear goal in mind, to be a Division I athlete (in college), and in order to do that I have to do the work in the classroom, too. Having that time away from track, I felt more motivated than ever, and the coaches have done an excellent job of helping me. I felt an obligation to do my best today because I felt like I let everyone down.

“It just feels so good to be a conference champ. I worked hard for it. When that guy from GBN (fellow junior Josh Dapin) beat me in the long jump, I felt angry. I wanted to get back at him --- and I did.”

“I think Jaden has grown so much. He sees the bigger picture now, and he knows that junior is the year they (college coaches) see you,” noted Michelin. “He’s putting himself in a good position to be seen now.”

Underclassmen accounted for most of Evanston’s star-studded performances Friday. In the 200, sophomore Honore knocked off teammate Justin Johnson, the two-time defending champion in that event.

It wasn’t necessarily an upset, though. Honore entered the race as the No. 1 seed with a season best time of 22.60 to 22.70 for Johnson, and the soph standout led the race from start to finish Friday.

Johnson, who recently committed to attend the University of Illinois on a football scholarship, was second in 23.41.

Honore missed most of the indoor season last year with a groin injury but was a member of Evanston’s state championship 1600 relay team when the competition shifted outdoors.

“I’m so happy to be a conference champion, especially because I came up short last year,” Honore said. “It feels real good. And I appreciate Justin a lot. I like coming to practice every day and having someone push me every day. I was hurt a lot last year (indoors) and now I’m able to leave everything out there.

“I’m not disappointed with that time (23.10) on this track. I’ll take it. Going into the outdoor season, I’m planning on running the 400 a lot more than the 200. That (race) is my home away from home.”

Honore teamed up with Johnson, Blake and Emmanuel Roache to rule the 800 relay in 1:33.77, almost three full seconds faster than runnerup Maine South.

“I think being on that state championship relay changed things for Anthony,” Michelin added. “He’s a special kid. Can he be a Howard Jones? Can he be a Robert Simmons? Yeah, he can. He has strong values, he’s a hard worker and he’s serious when he needs to be serious out there. He can be a state champion.”

The host school put a final stamp on the team title in the last event of the night, the 1600 relay, where the foursome of Preister, Harvey, Lewis Scott and Xayvion Featherson breezed to a win in 3:34.97 that was a whopping 13 seconds quicker than Glenbrook South.

Also scoring top five finishes Friday for the Wildkits were Roache, second in the 55 in 6.68; Scott, second in the 400 in 53.98; Chance Simmons, third in the long jump at 6.67; Andrew Prauener, third in the 3200 in 9:52.44; Blake, third in the 55 high hurdles in 8.70; Abdul Hassan Ouedraogo, fourth in the shot put at 13.91; Anderson, fourth in the triple jump at 12.81 and fifth in the high jump at 1.80; and David Owomoyela-Olusesi, fifth in the shot at 13.78.