The Carl Klamm Experiment continued under less than ideal weather conditions Friday night at the Red Grange Invitational hosted by Wheaton Warrenville South.
And while Evanston head coach Don Michelin still hasn’t determined just what events the talented senior will compete in when the postseason approaches, Klamm continues to offer options for the Wildkit lineup.
He accounted for three ETHS victories at WWS — including the first time he’s ever anchored the 400-meter relay — and helped the Wildkits repeat as team champions in the unique meet format that allows schools to enter three competitors (in separate flights or races) per event.
By racking up 12 first place finishes overall in the A, B and C divisions, Evanston outscored runnerup Rockton Hononegah 188.5 to 180 and ruled the 14-team field for the second straight year. Palatine placed 3rd with 137 points.
A steady rain slowed runners over the last one-third of the meet but couldn’t prevent Klamm from winning both the Class A 800 meters (in 2:00.03) and Class B 400 meters (50.66). He ran both races into a slight headwind, but won going away both times.
Klamm also teamed up with Reggie Murphy, Brad Garron, and Malachi Adams to take top honors in the 400 relay in 42.62 seconds. That time is under the Illinois High School Association state qualifying standard, and the fact that Klamm was able to increase Evanston’s slight lead with a split of 10.75 is one reason Michelin is mulling the idea of having the senior run 3 relays (400, 800 and 1600) along with the open 400 when the sectional meet comes around.
Or maybe he’ll stick with the 800 and 400 and 1600 relay, which was Michelin’s original plan when the outdoor season opened.
“I never really gave up on the thought that Carl could run 3 relays early in the season, because you want to put your horses everywhere you can,” Michelin pointed out. “Carl’s just Carl. He continues to do whatever the team needs him to do and now it’s serious, he could run all 3 relays. I don’t want to mess up his chances (at State) in the 400, but he can make us a special team in the 4 x 100. With a running start (on the anchor leg), he can compete with anybody.
“I thought all of our kids did a great job under these conditions. Once the rain started, you pretty much had to throw out what the times were.”
Evanston’s list of individual winners Friday included Roland Amarteifio, 14.84 in the A 110 hurdles; Murphy, 11.18 in the B 100; Trinton Jones, 2:02.95 in the B 800; Ryan Christie, 40.90 in the B 300 hurdles; Garron, 23.27 in the B 200; Brian Daniels, 16.63 in the C 110 hurdles; Colin Watson, 51.99 in the C 400; Marcus Starks, 23.58 in the C 200; and B.J. Bamgbose, 43.36 in the C 300 hurdles.
Also scoring top 3 finishes were Garron, 2nd in the C 100 in 11.46; Amarteifio, 2nd in the A 300 hurdles in 41.29; Adams, 3rd in the A 100 in 11.34; Garron, 3rd in the A 400 in 51.98; and sophomore Ben Easington, 3rd in the C discus throw with a toss of 116 feet, 3 inches.
The 800 relay unit of Murphy, Starks, Adams and freshman Jonathan Wilburn ran 2nd in 1:32.02, behind only Plainfield Central’s winning effort of 1:30.53 that was just off the meet record.