BLOOMINGTON --- After missing almost all of the outdoor track season last season because he wasn’t eligible, Mynard Blake came close to qualifying for the Illinois High School Association state finals anyway in the 100-meter dash.
That was just a sneak peak at what might be to come for the Evanston sprinter.
Blake offered the rest of the dashmen in the state of Illinois another glimpse of his potential here Saturday at the Illinois Prep Top Times invitational indoor meet.
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They probably didn’t like what they saw. Blake captured first place in the 60-meter dash, posting one of the top times in the entire country --- 6.75 seconds --- and also led the Wildkits to victory in the 800-meter relay in 1 minute, 30.45 seconds.
Coach Don Michelin’s squad was represented in a staggering 10 events at the invitation-only meet that has served as the unofficial indoor state meet for decades. As a team, the Kits recorded 10 top six finishes at a meet where no team standings were kept.
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Blake was clearly the headliner. Math might have been one of those subjects he struggled with a year ago at ETHS, but the junior standout didn’t have any problems describing his own potential when asked if he can be a game-changer for the Wildkits when the scene shifts to the outdoor portion of the season in a couple of weeks.
“Can I be a game-changer? One thousand percent, I can,” Blake said. “Now that I showed I can go that fast, I know there’s more to come. I want to go faster.
“I realize now that I can compete with the best. After last year I locked in on my grades, did my homework and went to AM support (extra study hall at ETHS). Things have been great and I haven’t had any problems this year.”
Blake and teammate Anthony Honore competed at the New Balance National meet a couple of weeks ago in Boston, where he registered a semifinal time that netted an invitation to the Top Times meet. That was also where he realized he could be an elite performer.
“I’ve practiced really hard this year and I think I can transition well to outdoors (and longer sprints in the 100 and 200). In the 60 my start isn’t the best part of my race, and today they left me in the blocks.”
His closing speed, however, is a thing of beauty. In the relay, he put the race out of reach of the field with a leadoff leg of 21.99 and the Kits rushed to victory as Honore, Jordan Harvey and Emmanuel Roache added the finishing touches, beating Lincoln-Way West by a half second.
“He didn’t train with us at all last year until the end and he still almost made it to State,” Michelin pointed out. “He’s just getting going for us. Now, we’re seeing what he can do for us full-time. He’s big and tall and strong, but no, I didn’t see this coming from him. This is a kid who wants it --- you can’t teach that --- and he’s really developed. He believes in himself.
”We had a lot of personal bests today and I think today showed our kids can be very special. We were competitive in every event we were in. We just told them give yourselves a chance, win your heat and go to the finals.”
Evanston actually entered the season-ending indoor meet as the favorite in the 1600 relay, too, but minor injuries forced Michelin to tweak the lineup slightly and the Kits settled for second in a solid 3:26.28. Lincoln-Way West registered a winning time of 3:24.35.
The Kits also counted top 6 finishes from sophomore Andrew Praeuner, fourth in the 3200 run in 9:40.72; Deshawn Preister, fourth in the 400 in 50.09; Roache, fifth in the 60 in 6.95; and Jordan Harvey, fifth in the 60 hurdles in 8.22.
Jaden Jean-Paul’s busy day in the field events included a fifth place finish in the long jump (6.51 meters), a tie for fifth in the high jump (1.93), and a sixth in the triple jump (12.96) for the exhausted junior.
Praeuner’s performance was especially impressive for an ETHS distance program that is rarely, if ever, represented at the Top Times. He scored a PR for the third week in a row and moved up a spot after being ranked fifth coming into the meet.
Runners in a state like Illinois, which annually produces elite distance stars, rarely merit an invitation to the Top Times with a clocking in the 9:40s, but Praeuner made the most of his opportunity. Saturday’s winning time of 9:23.01 was posted by Judah Binger, a sophomore from Belvidere North.
“After the conference meet, I thought my season was over. But a friend of mine said no, your time (9:43.54) should get you into the Top Times,” Praeuner said. “Each race I’ve run over the last few weeks I’ve felt like the stakes get higher, and I just adjusted my mentality to meet those stakes.
“I was on an incline last year in cross country but being on the varsity this year really helped me get to this point. At the beginning of the season, I was just going for PRs (in track), but as the season went on I became a little more tactical. Now I’m running hard and I’m running smart. That’s helped me get this big leap.
“Now I find a guy (opposing runner) to stick with in a race and then I try to move up and up and up. I’m less geared toward a time and more geared toward a place. Now, I’m excited to move outdoors. I think I can expect good things.”
