By Mike Clark
Tra’Monti Williams was a gymnast when he was younger, but he wanted to try another sport in high school.
“I always wanted to run track, and I want to run in general,” the Payton junior said. “And I researched, I found out cross-country was running. So (I thought), I’ll run cross when I start high school.
“It’s been great so far.”
No question about that. Williams was the Grizzlies’ No. 2 runner at last year’s IHSA Class 2A state meet, when they finished third to earn the school’s first state trophy in a boys sport.
And on Oct. 19, he edged Lake View senior Jiberil Lesman by one second to win the Public League title in perfect conditions at Washington Park. Williams ran 15:18.9 and led Payton to its first Public League title, 29-45 over runner-up Lane. Young (81), Jones (124) and Lincoln Park (171) rounded out the top five teams.
“I had fun,” Williams said. “I raced hard. … We wanted to come in here and do our best to push it, to try to bring a city title back to the team.”
Williams is an 800 runner in track and that helps to give him the finishing speed he needs in races like this.
“I knew it was going to be a close race,” he said. “I made sure I stuck to the front, made sure to keep my eyes up, stay focused on what’s ahead of me.”
The Grizzlies put five runners in the top 11. Following Williams were sophomore Steven Jiang (third, 15:24.9), senior Vaughn Collier (sixth, 15:42.8), senior Gabriel Cooper (eighth, 15:46.1) and junior Declan Slavin (11th, 15:55.1).
The title didn’t surprise Payton co-coach Daniel Dziubski.
“We thought we had a good shot going in,” he said. “Lane Tech definitely had a couple more guys up there than we expected, so they made it interesting,”
Now the Grizzlies will turn their focus to the IHSA Class 2A state series, where they want to do even better than last year.
“The guys have got big goals,” Dziubski said. “They’ve been thinking about (that) the last couple years and finally we’ve got all the pieces.
“This was one of the boxes we wanted to check. We told them right here before we ran — before the season started (we said) we want to win city and we want to win state.”
As Payton chases that goal, its depth could be a big factor.
“We probably have four or five No. 1s,” Dziubski said. “No clear-cut guy all season. It’s kind of been a rotation. Last couple weeks (Williams) has stepped up and he’s looking really strong in workouts and the last couple meets. …
“He’s just got that natural speed and he’s been working on that endurance the last few summers. He’s just consistent. He’s the guy who’s there every day doing the work. … He just keeps stacking workouts and performances.”
Lane had three top-10 finishers: sophomore Samuel Assafa (fourth, 15:36.6), junior Tristan Wong (fifth, 15:40.1) and sophomore Quinn Anderson (seventh, 15:44.1). Young sophs Amilo Rajandram (15:48,7) and Langston Ellis (15:51.) finished 9-10.
The Champions were without usual No. 1 Cole Magac, who had been sidelined by illness but is expected back for the state series.
“The sophomore class, between Young, us and Payton — there are some incredible runners,” Lane coach Kris Roof said.
Photos by Andrew Rosenthal/OSA
