CHICAGO MARIST TRACK AND FIELD

 On Saturday, March 17, 2018, the Chicago Marist RedHawks traveled to the University of Illinois Armory for the 40th Annual Gene Armer Invitational.

 Gene Armer served Urbana High School for 28 years, and in 1951, his Cross Country Team won the State Championship. Urbana High School sponsors the meet in the name of Gene Armer, who gave his entire life to the promotion of Track and Field at Urbana High School and the State of Illinois.

 The meet featured a record 67 high schools, and over 900 athletes.

 In 2017, Marist finished in 9th place at the Gene Armer Invitational.

 In 2018, the Marist RedHawks competed with guts and determination in every event, and were in SECOND place, with only ONE event remaining in the competition.

The RedHawks did not score in the final event, and came up a few points short on taking home the TEAM trophy. However, it was an incredible day! The Marist Track and Field Coaching Staff is very proud of every member of the TEAM's performance on saturday, including multiple qualifiers for Illinois Top Times, the "Indoor State Championships". The Indoor State Championships will take place on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at Illinois Wesleyan University.

 Points for individual events and relays were from the following point scale: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.

 Medals were awarded for the Top 6 places, and Points were awarded for the Top 8 places.

 In the Pole Vault, Marist Sophomore Peter Derdzinski made three outstanding attempts at 8'0, but was unable to clear it.

 In the Long Jump, Marist Senior Justin Williams finished in tenth place with an outstanding jump of 19'8.

 In the Triple Jump, Marist Junior Tom Johnson finished in 11th place with an outstanding Triple Jump of 37'2.

 In the Shot Put, Marist Junior Kendric Nowling finished in 19th place with a throw of 37'9.5.

 In the High Jump, Marist Senior Steven Rowe finished in SIXTH place with an outstanding leap of 6'0. Steven Rowe was awarded a MEDAL for finishing in sixth place overall.

 In the 4x800m Relay, Marist Freshman Jonathan Rivera ran a 2:21.84 800m split on the first leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Alexis Arreola. Marist Junior Alexis Arreola ran a 2:22.50 800m split on the second leg of the relay, and made a good exchange to Luke Hortsman. Marist Sophomore Luke Hortsman ran a 2:35.42 800m split on the third leg of the relay, and made a nice exchange to Joe Donnelly. Marist Junior Joe Donnelly anchored the RedHawks to tenth in their heat with a 2:25.94 800m split for an official time of 9:45.71.

 In the 3200m run, Francis Parker Senior Jack McNabola won it with an official time of 9:35.20. Marist Sophomore Thomas Leonard outkicked Lane Tech Senior KC Pruitt (10:09.79, 3rd place) to finish in SECOND place with a personal best time of 10:08.24. Thomas Leonard was awarded a MEDAL for finishing in second place overall. Deerfield Freshman Josh Puyer finished in fourth place with an official time of 10:22.08. O'Fallon Junior Will Brant finished in fifth place with an official time of 10:22.28. Normal Community High School Sophomore Colin Fitzgerald finished in sixth place with an official time of 10:23.69. Danville Sophomore Michael Moreman finished in seventh place with an official time of 10:28.06. Springfield Sacred-Heart Junior Brendan Fahey finished in eighth place to complete the scoring with an official time of 10:28.73.

 In the 60m High Hurdles, Marist Senior Martin Smith qualified for the Finals with a personal best prelim time of 8.51. Martin Smith WON 60m High Hurdles Finals with an outstanding time of 8.54. Martin Smith was awarded a MEDAL for winning the 60m High Hurdles. Martin Smith also QUALIFIED for Illinois Top Times, the "Indoor State Championships" next saturday!

 In the 60m Dash, Marist Freshman Jovan Marsh qualified for the Finals with an outstanding prelim time of 7.25. Jovan Marsh finished in THIRD place in the 60m Dash Finals with a PERSONAL BEST time of 7.20. Jovan Marsh was awarded a MEDAL for finishing in third place in the 60m dash. Jovan Marsh is currently tied for the final spot in the 60m dash for Illinois Top Times, the "Indoor State Championships", and will find out on Monday evening if he will be joining his teammates in Bloomington, Illinois on Saturday.

 In the 800m run, Marist Junior Lucas Pennix won his heat of the 800m, and finished in 14th place overall with a PERSONAL BEST time of 2:14.57.

 In the 4x200m Relay, Marist Freshman Amari Watkins ran a 25.77 200m split on the first leg of the relay. Marist Sophomore Keyon Turner ran a 25.02 200m split on the second leg of the relay. Marist Junior Tom Johnson ran an impressive 24.89 200m split on the third leg of the relay. Marist Junior Kendric Nowling ran an impressive 24.19 200m split to anchor the Redhawks to second in their heat, and in 16th place overall with a season best time of 1:39.90.

 In the 400m dash, Marist Sophomore Brian Ferguson ran an Indoor 400m PERSONAL BEST time of 52.25 to finish in SECOND place overall, and qualify for Illinois Top Times, the "Indoor State Championships" next saturday! Brian Ferguson was awarded a MEDAL for finishing in second place overall.

 In the 1600m run, Marist Sophomore Thomas Leonard finished in eighth place to complete the scoring with an outstanding time of 4:47.01.

 In the 200m Dash, Marist Freshman Jovan Marsh won his heat, and finished in tenth place overall with an outstanding time of 23.88.

 In the 4x400m Relay, Marist Junior Joe Donnelly ran a 59.56 400m split on the first leg of the relay. Marist Sophomore Keyon Turner ran a 58.44 400m split on the second leg of the relay. Marist Junior Alexis Arreola ran a 58.00 400m split on the third leg of the relay. Marist Freshman Tyler Thomas anchored the RedHawks to 15th place overall with a 61.63 400m split for an official time of 3:58.07.

 Bloom High School won the Gene Armer Invitational with 66 points. Morgan Park came from behind to finish in second place with 39.50 points. Marion also came from behind to finish in third place with 39.00 points.

 The Chicago Marist RedHawks finished in a FOURTH Place tie with Normal Community High School with 36 points, and posted victories over, among others: 6. Urbana (35 points), 7. Freeburg (33 points), 8. Danville (28 points), 9. Madison (22 points), 10. Macon Meridian (21 points), 11. Lane Tech (19 points), 12. Athens (18 points), 13. Calumet City Thornton (17 points), 14. Francis W. Parker (16 points), 14. Decatur Eisenhower (16 points), 14. Pontiac (16 poinys), 17. Deerfield (15 points), 17. Farmer City Blue Ridge (15 points), 19. Granite City (14 points), 20. Alton (11 points), 21. Pittsfield (10 points), 21. Troy Triad (10 points), 23. Springfield Sacred-Heart (8 points), 24. Morton (7 points), 24. Vandalia (7 points), 26. Lincoln (6 points), 27. Elgin Westminster (5 points), 27. Urban Prep Charter (5 points), 29. O'Fallon (4 points), 30. Stanford Olympia (3 points), 31. Highland (2 points), 31. Manual Academy (2 points), 31. Rockford Lutheran (2 points), 34. Peoria Christian (1 point), and 35. Brownstown (0.50 point).

(Coming soon: Varsity Point Totals)