If James Reilly can make it back to the Class 3A state boys track and field meet, he has Hinsdale Central coach Jim Kupres to thank.
Reilly qualified for last year’s state meet in the 800-meter relay, but it was disqualified in the preliminaries. While it was the final chance at a state medal for three members of that unit, Reilly has one more opportunity.
The Red Devils senior will try give it another try in the 800 relay with juniors Matt Hillock, Kareem Muhammad and Christian Bobak. They finished fourth (1 minutes, 30.98 seconds) on Saturday, May 16, at the West Suburban Silver meet at Glenbard West.
They now will take aim at the state qualifying mark of 1:29.64 at the Downers Grove South Sectional Friday, May 22.
Reilly, a Clarendon Hills resident, also placed fourth at the conference meet (22.94) in the 200; the state qualifying time is 22.24.
To prepare Reilly as much as possible for the relay, Kupres will enter him in the 200-meter dash instead of the 400, which Reilly ran earlier this season.
“He’s a great teammate and a great role model,” Kupres said . “He’s a great leader and a hard worker.”
Kupres said competing in the 200 and 800 relay should work best for Reilly. The 800 relay and the 400 are conducted back-to-back, which would negatively affect Reilly’s performance.
“We’ve talked about helping him getting a relay down (state),” Kupres said. “It’s doable with the 200 and 4-by-2.”
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Reilly said he ran his first 200 outdoors on April 18 at the Downers Grove South Mohns Invitational. He competed in both the 200 and the 400, crossing runner-up in the 200 and fourth in the 400.
While happy that he placed second, Reilly saw how he measured up against the top 200 runner in the state. Missouri-bound Plainfield Central senior Kahmari Montgomery won the event in a state-best 21.05.
“He runs really, really well,” Reilly said. “It’s pretty cool to watch him. He’s an exception, the way he runs really relaxed. That’s a running form I would like to have.”
In the fall, Reilly worked out with the cross country to train for sprinting, but appeared in only a dual against Lyons.
“Running those three miles gave me respect for distance runners,” Reilly said. “It’s pretty difficult. I thought I would have died. I remember [assistant] coach [Noah] Lawrence yelling at me, ‘Where’s my speed?’ “
Reilly plans to study mechanical engineering at Duke this fall and may consider walking on the track and field team.
Twitter: @geomwilcox