EDWARDSVILLE – As Edwardsville boys track and field coach Chad Lakatos walked up the stands of O’Brien Stadium for the Class 3A state meet, he could hear the murmurs in the crowd about Brandon Battle.
The questions were there.
Was this the year a runner wins all three sprints?
Will Brandon Battle live up to the hype?
In the end, Battle was worth the price of admission for the crowd, including the EHS coaching staff, as he became just the second runner to sweep the sprints at the large-school state meet.
“It was a pretty special moment to see it all unfold,” Lakatos said. “It was an honor to see and I couldn’t be happier for him for the final result.”
MVPs
The Intelligencer is celebrating the MVPs of the 2020-21 school year with stories throughout July and the first week of August. There will be Edwardsville High School MVPs for each sport and small-school MVPs with Metro-East Lutheran and Father McGivney student-athletes eligible.
Battle, who will run next season for the University of Arkansas after de-committing from Eastern Illinois University, is the Intelligencer’s MVP for Edwardsville boys track and field.
After a breakout sophomore season, which included running a 49.54 in the 400-meter dash at the Collinsville Invitational, Battle used his junior season that was canceled by COVID to prepare for his senior season. He carried the mantra of “unfinished business” throughout his training sessions and senior season.
“Brandon came in with the motto of ‘unfinished business’ and he put in the work when a lot of people weren’t watching. A lot of people say that’s when champions are made,” Lakatos said. “When we were shut down his junior year, he continued to work.
“We stayed in communication the whole time. We were giving him feedback and recommendations. It was a great relationship.”
Battle’s stock began soaring in his senior indoor season when he became the first-ever Illinois high school runner to break 48 seconds for the 400-meter race, finishing in 47.88 to win at the Gately Indoor Track and Field Complex in south Chicago.
Lakatos, the coaching staff and Battle mapped out outdoor season with hope the elite sprinter would be at his best for the state meet on the campus of Eastern Illinois.
“He bought into our system and philosophy of what we do here. He embraced it,” Lakatos said. “It was the perfect season for him.”
At the state meet, Battle swept the sprints, winning the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes at the state meet to claim the triple crown.
Entering as the No. 9 seed in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.95 and running in lane one along the rail, Battle went 10.61, breaking his former best mark of 10.63 set at the Mascoutah Military Classic on May 21. He edged out Wauconda’s Javerius McGuinn by less than a tenth-of-a-second for first.
While the 100 came down to the wire, the 400 dash was a runaway for Battle, who won with a personal best of 46.48. He was nearly three seconds better than Huntley’s Evan Gronewold, who was runner-up in 49.01.
In the 200, Battle edged out a victory over Colwell to complete the sweep. Battle finished in 21.65 with Colwell right behind him in 21.97.
Battle became the first runner, regardless of class, to win all three sprints in one state meet since Khamari Montgomery for Plainfield Central in 2015. According to a Chicago Tribune article in 2015, Montgomery was the first sprinter in IHSA history to achieve the feat for the large school division — the IHSA started using multiple classes in 1914 for 10 years and then for good in 1975.
“Brandon is a great kid. When you put together good athleticism, attitude and work ethic, you get a great kid and athlete,” Lakatos said.
Following the season, Battle was named the Gatorade’s Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year for Illinois. He was the second Tiger to earn the honor.
As of Tuesday, Battle, the school record holder in all three sprints, ranks No. 1 in Illinois and No. 4 in the United States for the 2020-21 season in the 400-meter dash at 46.48. He is No. 1 in Illinois in the 200-meter dash in 21.46 and No. 3 in Illinois in the 100-meter dash in 10.61.
The school records could eventually fall, but the impact Battle made on the EHS program will last a long time.
“The younger kids that saw Brandon run in that uniform are going to want to be just like him,” Lakatos said. “We’re going to feel the ripple effects of Brandon Battle for years to come.”