Although the Percy Julian Middle School girls track and field team recently fell just two points shy of winning an IESA state title, head coaches Dave Benson and Don Robinson couldn’t have been prouder of the Jayhawks’ stellar postseason run.
“People don’t really realize that there is a very competitive state competition for middle school track and field,” Benson said. “Getting to the state meet is always our goal, and we really did well at the sectional meet to reach that goal. To finish second in such a competitive competition is very impressive.”
After dominating the sectional meet with a score of 100 points (almost 50 points higher than the runner-up), the Julian girls squad scored 30 points at the state finals en route to a second-place finish. State champion Springfield tallied 32 points. Over 400 schools competed in Julian’s division.
Sixth-grader Monica Bradford finished second in the hurdles (15.62 seconds), fourth in the 400-meter dash (1 minute, 1.3 seconds) and anchored the state champion 1,600 relay (4:16.50). Seventh-graders Akila Davidson, Violet Harper, and Olivia Kerr comprised the rest of the Jayhawks’ 1,600 relay title team, which finished only 1.5 seconds slower than the state record. Harper also finished 10th in the 1,600 and fourth in the 800 (2:27).
Other key contributors for the Jayhawks included Hayden Benson, Ruby Harper, Grace Malagoli, Knadi Daniels, Jada Turner-Bailey, Carrington McGowan, Olivia Kerr, Gillian Lundgren and Jazmin Benion. Every athlete who participated recorded a personal best time in each of her events.
“[Bradford] has been demolishing school records all season,” Benson said. “She’s the best hurdler I’ve had in 20 years. The mile relay was very exciting. Getting that close to a state record is pretty impressive for a team that doesn’t have its own track.”
Julian sixth-grader Marcello Robbins finished 11th in the 800-meter race (time) in the boys competition at the state meet.
“This was a transitional year for the boys team but Robbins was impressive,” Benson said. “We had a smaller group going to state this year, but the talent was definitely there.”
As a coach at Julian over the past 20 years, Benson’s experience mentoring such a wide array of talented athletes has been incredibly gratifying. According to the Illinois Elementary School Association website (iesa.org), Julian has amassed seven individual state championships and five relay team state titles on the girls side along with two individual state titles and one relay state championship for the boys program since 1985.
“It’s always very satisfying that our kids leave the program with a higher track I.Q.,” Benson said. “Their level of interest is much higher than when they first came in. To see them succeed in high school and get positive feedback from their coaches is very satisfying for me. The high schools (Oak Park and River Forest, Fenwick) have very good teams, and I’m really proud that a lot of those kids came from Julian.”
Thirty-one Julian athletes have gone on to run in college after having successful careers at OPRF, including Brittney Smith, who was a state champion at discus for Julian in 2005 before having a successful career at Illinois State University. She also ran in the 2012 Olympic trials. Malachy Schrobilgen, who went on to have a successful career in distance running at OPRF, is now a distance runner at the University of Wisconsin. Other recent OPRF track stars from Julian include Chris Wright-Madison, Jamal Baggett, Lionel Towns, Amari Wilkerson, Erin Schrobilgen and Takira Owens.
“That is something I’m always very excited about,” Benson said. “A lot of our kids go on to do big things. It’s something that we’re always really proud of and enjoy being a part of their success.”