This year there were two indoor state meets ― both held this past weekend, and both gave everybody a chance to learn twice as much as before.
The biggest thing we learned is just how intensely good some of the track and field talent around the Rockford area really is.
"There is a lot of work still to come," Hononegah runner and jumper Jordan Dimke said, "but this is when we see what we've got for this year."
We got a good taste of it all from the Illinois Top Times Indoor State Championships held on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington on Friday and Saturday, and from the Illinois Indoor Championships held at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Track and Field Center in Chicago on Saturday.
Rockford-area competitors earned 31 medals at the Top Times indoor state, and 10 more from the Illinois Indoor Championships. The top eight in each event earned medals.
Here is a look at some highlights from both, and what it will mean headed forward:
In Bloomington...
Three locals hauled in indoor state titles Saturday at the Illinois Top Times Indoor State Championships held on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, and two of them were boys.
Winnebago's Nicolai Martino soared to the Class 1A victory in the 1,600-meter run, and he also got second in the 800 run, and anchored Winnebago's runner-up 4X400 relay team. Jefferson's Janardie Turner was the other boys state champion, earning the victory in the 60 hurdles at the 3A level. Turner also finished in 10th place in the 3A long jump.
Rockford Christian's Andrew Kurien came in second, right behind Martino, in the 1,600 run at 1A, and his teammate Blake Lindberg placed eighth in the same race, while their teammate Julian Honeyville took 13th.
Lutheran's David Ballard showed that he's going to be a star on the track this season by taking fourth at indoor state in the 1A 200 dash and eighth in the 60. He came in right behind Lena-Winslow's Alec Schlichting in the 60, and Schlichting also took seventh in the 200 dash, and anchored Le-Win's sprint relay team to an 11th-place finish. Le-Win's Gannon Dunker also took fourth in the shot put.
Jesse Kramer won the 3A indoor state championship in the 1,600 run by just over a second in Bloomington on Saturday, and he helped Belvidere North's 4X800 relay corps to a second-place finish. His teammate Judah Binger placed eighth in the mile run at indoor state.
And also for Belvidere North, Kayden Malone took eighth, the final medal position, in the 400 run, while his teammate Isaac Erwin took ninth. And North's Kristian ...
