Here are five storylines to watch for Kendall County-area athletes at the IHSA state boys track meet

The IHSA boys track and field state meet is this weekend on the campus of Eastern Illinois in Charleston. Class 1A preliminaries are scheduled for Thursday, Class 2A and Class 3A prelims Friday, with the finals in all three classes set for Saturday.

Here are five storylines to watch for Kendall County-area athletes this weekend:

Is the time now for Dontrell Young?

Oswego’s Dontrell Young enjoyed a smashing state debut last spring, finishing fifth in the Class 3A 400-meter dash as a freshman.

He was just getting started, it appears.

After missing all of indoor season with a torn meniscus suffered during football season, Young came back to set school and conference records in the 200 and 400 at the Southwest Prairie Conference meet.

Young last Thursday blazed to the 100, 200 and 400 sectional titles at East Aurora.

He still has two years left after this one, sure, but Young looks primed for a big weekend in Charleston as a sophomore. Young posted the fourth-fastest 100 sectional time of 10.68, the fourth-fastest 400 time of 48.48 and the third-fastest 200 time of 21.50 seconds. His 47.63 400 at conference is third-fastest in the state this spring, his 21.31 200 at conference the fourth-fastest.

Zach Morrisroe’s last hurrah

Oswego East senior Zach Morrisroe’s athletic future resides on the football field, where he is committed to NIU as an offensive lineman.

He looks set to go out with a bang in track and field.

Morrisroe, with personal records in both the shot put and discus in sweeping the throws titles at sectionals, is in good position heading into his first state meet.

Morrisroe’s sectional shot put of 19.10 meters (62 feet, 8 inches) was the third-best in the state last week. So was his best discus throw of 55.03 meters (180-6). Those throws are the fourth and seventh-best marks, respectively, in the state all outdoors season.

On the track, Oswego East teammate Nigel Grisby – an Eastern Illinois football commit – is a medal hopeful in the 200 with his 21.76 time 10th best at sectionals.

It’s already been a memorable season for Oswego East track, undefeated outdoors and conference and sectional champs for the first time.

Could it end on the medal stand?

Owen Horeni’s quest for more medals

Owen Horeni already has a good amount of state meet medals in his back pocket.

The Yorkville junior ran on the school’s state champion 4x400 relay as a freshman. He took fourth in the Class 3A 800 last spring. He added an All-State 17th-best finish at the state cross country meet in the fall.

And looks poised for more.

Horeni posted the state’s fourth-best 800 time of 1:55.72 at sectionals in winning the race at Minooka. Horeni’s season-best time of 1:52.99 run at conference is the state’s third best during outdoor season.

Can Tristan Meszaros add to record season?

Regardless of what happens this weekend, Tristan Meszaros has had a season for the record books.

The Plano senior broke Joseph Jones’ 13-year-old program record in the 200. The Aurora University commit was part of a record-breaking 4x100 relay at conference and he ran a school record 10.74 seconds in the 100 last week at the sectional meet.

He’ll be a busy man in Charleston, a qualifier in the 100 and 200 and part of qualifying 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Can it end on the medal stand?

His best bets would appear to be in the open races. Meszaros’ 100 time of 10.74 last week was tied for the fifth-fastest statewide in sectionals. Meszaros’ 200 time of 22.06 was also tied for fifth-best, while the two relays are further back in the middle of the pack with their seed times.

Meszaaros’ 100 time at sectionals is seventh-fastest in Class 2A all outdoor season, while his outdoor-best 200 of 21.92 run in late April is ninth-best in Class 2A.

Plano’s last state medalist was Keegan Cullison, seventh in the 100 in 2019. The Plano program has never had a runner medal in both sprints at the same state meet.

Who else to watch?

Besides the aforementioned four, the Kendall County-area has a handful of other athletes to watch in Charleston.

Sandwich sophomore Jacob Ross had the fifth-best sectional pole vault of 4.33 meters in Class 2A. Senior teammate Peter Popp threw the shot put 15.63 at sectionals, 14th-best statewide. In Class 1A Yorkville Christian sophomore Graham Razum posted the third-fastest 800 time of 1:58.52 and is poised to become that school’s only second state medalist, first in a running event.

And back in Class 3A, Oswego East has a strong medal shot in the 4x800 relay. One of seven state qualifiers from the East Aurora Sectional in the event, the Wolves’ time of 7:54.53 is seventh-best.

And Yorkville senior Taelor Clements, a two-time state medalist in the high jump, is a contender once again. Hs cleared 1.93 meters at sectionals, tied for eighth-best in the state.