Evanston’s 1600-meter relay team posted the second fastest qualifying time Friday in the preliminary races at the Illinois High School Association Class 3A boys state track meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
The team of Josh Hopson, Aremon Alegheband, Ramon Hayes and Carl Klamm was clocked in 3:17.75, second only to the 3:17.01 effort by East St. Louis Senior.
Klamm also turned in a qualifying effort of 48.4 in the 400-meter dash — 4th fastest among the qualifiers — and will compete for a state title on Saturday afternoon. The ETHS coaching staff decided to drop the speedy junior — who placed 11th in the 800 last year — out of that event to focus on the two shorter races with temperatures in the 90s downstate.
Klamm anchored the 1600 relay in 48.88, with Hayes turning in one of his fastest legs of the season in 48.31.
“Carl would have qualified in the 800 and in the 400, but with the heat the way it is today, I’m glad I went this way,” said Evanston head coach Don Michelin. “Even though he hasn’t run a lot of open quarters this year, from the work he’s done over the past year, I’m convinced he’s a quarter-miler. That’s where he belongs.”
Non-qualifiers among Evanston’s individuals included Reggie Murphy, 11.04 in the 100; Maalik Todd, 21 feet, 5.25 inches in the long jump; Brad Garron, 22.54 in the 200; and Maliq Banks, who cleared 6-feet even in the high jump.
The Wildkits fell short in both the 400 and 800 relays. In the short race, the team of Todd, Garron, Murphy and Malachi Adams was clocked in 43.07, while the unit of Garron, Hayes, Adams and Hopson combined for a time of 1:28.65 in the 800.
Source: ETHS Sports Information