Boys Track: Jones’ Jamison Dale breaks Class 2A 1,600 record at state
CHARLESTON, Ill. — Jamison Dale and his Jones teammates weren’t exactly making fashion statements on Thursday, but he was looking pretty good on Friday.
Dale bettered his previous personal best by more than five seconds and broke the Class 2A record in the 1,600 meters, running 4 minutes, 15.97 seconds in the preliminaries at Eastern Illinois University.
It was an impressive effort under any circumstances, especially strong coming on O’Brien Stadium’s artificial surface on a hot, humid afternoon. But Dale was ready.
“We wore sweats all week,” the junior said. “Yesterday, my teammates and I were the only ones in sweatpants. It paid off today.”
Grayslake Central’s Will Brewster was runner-up to Dale with the second-best qualifying time (4:18.13), and he also broke the old class record.
“Definitely the hottest race I’ve run this year,” Brewster said. “That 4:18 felt harder than it should have. It’s just brutal out there.”
Feeling bad for another reason was Plano’s Joseph Jones, a Northwestern football recruit. He came in among the top four seeds in three events but failed to advance in any. He was disqualified for a false start in the 110 hurdles, was 19th in the 100 and 10th in the 200.
Jones suffered a left knee injury on Tuesday that cost him a few days of practice, but said, “I felt fine. [It was] just a really bad day.”
Glenbard South, on the other hand, had a pretty good day, advancing three relays and six individual entries for Saturday’s finals. Elven Walker led the way for the Raiders, advancing in the 110 and 300 hurdles and as a member of the 400 relay team.
“We want to be in the top three [teams],” Walker said. “We came down here to win something. We’re not cocky at all. We’re just confident in our abilities.”
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