Illinois Weekly Wrap-Up
By: Scott Bush
IllinoisRunner.com

Freshman Aleisha Leeper leaps 38-11 TJ, state's #1 mark this season. Sean McNamara 9:00.8. Prospect boys 7:52.2. Freshman Sarah Landau 12-9 PV. Jon Reagan 6-11. Lance Hartley 7-0. John Adamczyk 15-6.

- Perhaps the best newcomer of the year is Aleisha Leeper (Fr., Freeport). Leeper just started competing in track and field according to the Journal Standard. Leeper lept to an excellent mark last Thursday in the triple jump, a mark of 38' 11". This mark easily ranks her first in the state, and is one of the top marks nationally by a freshman.

- On Saturday at the Palatine Relays (Palatine High School), Jamil Walker (Sr., Fremd), who has signed to play football for Wisconsin, ran a great time of 21.6 in the 200m dash, to move into a top three spot on the leader board. Walker also holds the top spot in the 100m dash. Assuming this kid can stay healthy, watch out for him at state.

- Another great mark taking place at the Palatine Relays was Aaron Reed's (Sr.,Barrington) long jump mark of 22' 8.75". This ranks Reed third in the state, as he continues to improve each week.

- Derek Walker (Sr., Glenbard East) threw 183 0" in the discus Friday evening at Hinsdale South High School. Walker's mark ranks him among Illinois' all-time best and puts him a top the leader board in the event.

- Senior sprint sensation Traciann Henry (Evanston Twp.) signed with the University of Florida to become part of their dominant track and field program.

- At Palatine High School on Saturday, Shalina Clarke (So., Evanston Township) easily won the 300m IH race. She ran 42.4, which is the fastest time ever run in Illinois before the state meet. Clarke is one of the premier athletes in this event nationally.

- Evanston Township also ran the 800m medley at Palatine with an all frosh/soph crew. They ran a dominant time of 1:48.6, which is the fastest time ever in Illinois prior to a state meet.

- Also at Palatine on Saturday, Barrington senior Christina Fiduccia ran a great 1600m race to beat a good field in a state leading 5:03.1. Fiduccia has had a great week, moving into the number two spot on the 3200m list and the top spot on the 1600m list. Barrington's 3200m relay squad also ran a state leading 9:30.0 at the Palatine Relays.

- Hillary Werth (Jr., Chatham-Glenwood) regained the top spot on the girls 100m HH list, as she ran a great time of 14.4 to win the race at Conant on Friday night.

- The Prospect Invitational was the most anticipated meet of the weekend. Some great marks were put down Friday night at this meet despite it being rainy and cold. Here are some of the best ones:
- Sean McNamara (Jr., York) won the 3200m run in 9:00.8. This mark ranks McNamara fourth on the Dyestat listings, right behind Eric MacTaggart (Sr., Glenbard South). This also ranks McNamara third among juniors if you covert his time to a full two miles.
- Prospect High School ran a gutsy 3200m relay race, to beat pre-race favorites York and Lyons Township. Prospect ran 7:52.2, which ranks them first in Illinois and top ten nationally. Prospect's anchor, Peter Garde, ran a great time of 1:54.5 to hold off a late charging Brad Topol (Sr., Lyons Twp.)
- Rich Fugiel (Sr., Carmel) ran a great time in the open 400m run, as he beat a strong field running 48.8, and taking a top five position on our leader boards.

- Shanon Beelendorf (Sr., Sterling) has announced that she will be attending Tulane University (LA) to compete in track and field. Beelendorf is one of the top female sprinters in Illinois, and will challenge the other top sprinters in the state in the 400m and 200m dashes in a few weeks at state.

- On Wednesday evening at Thornwood High School, Elizabeth Jean-Pierre (Sr., Thornwood) lept 37' 10" to win the triple jump. This leap pushes her to the number two spot on our leader boards. Jean-Pierre is an instrumental part of a Thornwood squad that will be looking to trophy at state.

- Sarah Landau (Sr., Geneva), who was the Class AA state champion in the pole vault last year, cleared 12' 9" at Geneva High School in a dual meet against Sycamore H.S. This mark ranks Landau as the number three vaulter in the nation according to the lastest Dyestat.com Rankings. It will be interesting to see how much higher she can go this year.

- John Adamczyk (Sr., Fremd), who has been coming back from injury/sickness, cleared 15' 6" on Tuesday evening to regain the top spot on the leader boards in the pole vault. Jeff Newton of the Daily Herald, reported to us that Adamczyk cleared 15' 6" and then just missed on his three tries at 16' 1". Newton also reported that Adamczyk has some big goals this outdoor season, as in state record goals.

- On Tuesday evening at Barrington High School, Christina Fiduccia (Sr., Barrington) ran 10:49.5 in the 3200m run to move up to the number two spot on the leader boards. Fiduccia then came back later in the meet to run a season PR of 5:13.5. Also, in the 800m run Erin Frommeyer (Sr., Barrington) ran 2:16.5 to win the race and take over the top spot on our leader boards.

- Tuesday evening at Belleville East High School, Jon Reagan (Sr., Freeburg), the Class A champ in the high jump in '03, won the high jump with a huge leap of 6' 11". This is great news for the defending state champ and U of I recruit. State will be a great match up between Reagan and Hartley assuming both stay injury free.

- Lance Hartley (Jr., Taylorville) cleared seven feet (7' 0") Monday evening (4/26) at Taylorville High School. Hartley has been progressing very rapidly this year in this event. We talked to his coach and he told us that Hartley did not do track his freshman year, and last year split time between baseball and track and only competed in the meets. This year he decided to dedicate himself to track and look at the results. His mark puts him as the number two junior in the nation.

- On Monday Matt Cook (Sr., Canton) threw the shot put 59' 1" at Lewistown High School moving him up to the number two spot on the leader boards behind Pat Whalen.