Stretch Run By Amos Delivers State Relay Championship

CHARLESTON --- Carl Klamm was a great closer for the Evanston boys track team back in his day.

So was Robert Simmons.

But no one has ever done it for the Wildkits quite like Dallas Amos.

Another brilliant stretch run by Amos as the anchor man on the 1600-meter relay delivered a state championship for the Kits at the Class 3A Illinois High School Association state track and field finals here Saturday at Eastern Illinois University.

Amos chased down Lockport anchor runner Nolan Lamoureux --- who earlier in the day won the 800-meter state title --- in the last 25 meters with another stirring come-from-behind effort that has become a trademark for the Wildkit senior in his two short years in the ETHS track program.

Amos teamed up with junior Deshawn Priester, senior Amani Christian and freshman Anthony Honore to post a winning time of 3 minutes, 17.73 seconds to Lockport’s 3:18.01 as the Wildkits captured their first state relay crown since 2015 and the first in the 1600 since 1998.

Amos’ showstopping performance, with a sizzling split of 47.3 seconds, came just about one hour after the entire squad was left reeling emotionally. Senior Ryan Rice popped his hamstring and fell to the blue oval surface on the third leg of the 800 relay, a race the Wildkits could have --- and even should have --- won but weren’t able to finish.

That left it up to Amos to provide a happier ending.

“Dallas Amos is definitely one of the top closers we’ve ever had,” declared a jubilant ETHS head coach, Don Michelin, who couldn’t make the trip and had to follow the meet results on his phone after suffering two broken legs in a practice mishap before the sectional. “(Hall of Fame coach) Willie May used to say it’s always nice for Evanston to go out and close the show (with a victory in the final race of the day) --- and we closed the show.

“Dallas has made a living the last couple of years out of setting up that anchor leg to be at his best in the last 100 meters. Yes, I’d have to say he’s our best closer ever after running down a state champion like that. This kid is really unique. When everyone’s getting tired in that race with 300 meters left and knows they’ll have to rely on their grit to get it done, Amos’ grit is better than everyone else’s.”

“We were able to make it happen for Coach Mich on the track even though he couldn’t be here, and we feel great about that,” said Amos. “They tried to make a move away from me, but I started pushing and I caught them about the 200. I was really digging after him (Lamoureux). I just wanted to finish like I always do.”

Outstanding legs by Priester (49.8), Christian (49.6) and Honore (49.85) kept the Kits in contention to set up the fantastic finish that allowed Amos, an Illinois State University football recruit, to slam the door on the competition.

“I’ve seen Dallas do that multiple times. Otherwise I would have had a heart attack!” joked assistant coach Kevin Caines, who guided the team in Michelin’s absence. “I was sitting in the stands with (junior hurdler) Jordan Harvey and when Dallas hit that last curve and came up on the leader, Jordan turned to me and said Coach, he’s got it, it’s over.

“We’re fortunate to have someone like Dallas as one of the leaders on this team. I think his success is certainly due to confidence from having done it so many times before. It just kept working for him and he’s had a lot of success for us. The numbers don’t lie.”

The Wildkits posted the second fastest preliminary qualifying time on Friday at 3:19.06 to Lockport’s 3:18.37 behind a major boost from Honore on the third leg. He only cracked the varsity lineup by winning a run-off with junior Milo Porter after the sectional meet and broke 50 seconds for the first time on Friday.

Honore joined past ETHS sprint legends Howard Jones and Joe Stewart as the only freshmen in program history to compete on a state championship relay unit. And he had to use up one of the rare allowed missed days of summer school --- he’s studying for his driver’s license --- to even make the trip.

“I felt like I earned the spot and I feel like I did a pretty good job, to be part of a state championship,” Honore said. “I am pretty surprised --- but we really showed out today.”

Evanston’s medal haul Saturday also included an 8th by Amos in the open 400 (49.62), plus two earned by sophomore Justin Johnson, who put the rest of the state of Illinois on notice that he will be a force in the future by placing 6th in the open 100 (10.64) and 8th in the 200 (21.78).

Johnson achieved PRs (personal records) in three of the four individual races he ran over the two-day test and his growth over the season was one of the highlights of a memorable campaign.

“I definitely could have done better in the 100 today,” said the sophomore standout. “There’s still something wrong with the middle of my race, the drive phase. I need to work on getting into the race faster. And in the 200, being in Lane 9 (starting position) definitely threw me off. That’s the first time I’ve been out there with everyone starting off behind me, and the race felt really long to me. I just didn’t have a good race.

“This year I learned 100 percent that I have more work to do. No matter what I do, someone else will be right there with me, and at the end of the day I learned you have to out-work the others.”

Johnson and his 4 x 200 relay teammates --- Rice, Sebastian Carmichael and Mynard Blake --- were denied a chance to mount the awards podium due to Rice’s unfortunate fall just before he was about to hand off to Johnson for the decisive anchor leg.

To a man, the Wildkits were certain that they would have captured the state crown that instead went to fellow conference rival Glenbrook North in 1:26.63. Why? Because in Friday’s prelims, the ETHS foursome put down a time (1:26.90) that was less than a second off the school record (1:26.81 by the 2015 state title winning team) and less than a second off the State mark of 1:25.98 set by Cahokia in 2007.

But Johnson never got his hands on the baton.

“I knew if we hit all our handoffs, I could hunt everyone else down when it was my turn,” Johnson declared. “I definitely believe if we could have finished that race, we would have won. It’s really hard to take and I feel really bad for Ryan. We had all the confidence in the world going into the finals. All we had to do was run it --- and finish it.”

Rice’s only consolation was a personal best time of 14.66 in the prelims of the 110 hurdles that wasn’t quick enough to advance to the finals there.

“Halfway into that last curve (on his No. 3 leg) my hamstring just popped,” Rice explained. “I’ve never had a problem with this hamstring. It felt like I got shot and it’s a rough way to go out.

“We felt like we could get both of those records (school and State) today. Overall, I had a good experience here --- but it could have ended better.”

“We thought we had a really good chance to win that 4 x 200. Our position was great at that point when it blew up. The handoffs were good and everything was in the right place for us,” Caines pointed out. “That took the wind out of our sails for a little bit. But for us to come back after getting knocked around really showed their resilience.”

Evanston might have challenged for a team trophy except for that mishap, instead settling for an 11th place overall finish with 21 points. New Trier (45 points), Homewood-Flossmoor (40) and Belleville West (38) brought trophies home ahead of fourth place finisher Chicago Kenwood (29).

Besides Rice, other Wildkits eliminated in Friday’s prelims included Harvey in the 300 hurdles (39.26), Priester in the 400 (50.5) and Enijel Shelton in the shot put (best toss 16.10 meters). The 400 relay team of Johnson, Amos, Blake and Carmichael finished back in the pack at 42.80.