Stars step up to push New Trier over finish line for historic state championship

The sun drenched O’Brien Field at Eastern Illinois University on Saturday but arguably nothing shined brighter than the superstars of New Trier track and field.

The Trevians made all kinds of history during the IHSA Class 3A championships in Charleston, capping the momentous weekend by hoisting their first state championship in 80 years.

Behind a record four first-place finishes, New Trier scored 45 team points — five ahead of runnerup Homewood-Flossmoor and seven better than Belleville West — to claim its third state title in program history and its first in the modern era. The other triumphs came in 1944 and 1933.

“I am incredibly satisfied. These are really great kids, a great coaching staff, a really special team, and they really came through,” New Trier head coach Andrew Schmitt said. “… People came through and this is just a real special team and I couldn’t be happier.”

Not the favorite to win the meet, New Trier needed big performances to overcome H-F and its incredibly talented sprinters, who collectively recorded five top-five finishes for the Vikings.

While seniors Ben Crane and William Landwer were projected to win from 3,200 and 100 meters, respectively, the Trevians got unexpected victories from Landwer in the 200 (state record 20.87 seconds) and senior Dylan Benjamin in the triple jump (personal best 14.7 meters).

Each first-place finish earned the Trevians 10 team points, and it is the first time in program history that New Trier won four events at the state finals. Three Trevians won championships in 1934 and 1944.

It was also the first time in program history that a Trevian won the triple jump and the 3,200.

Landwer’s performances were historic in multiple ways. Not only is he the first Trevian to win the 100- and the 200-meter dashes (though, New Trier had winners in similar events when they were measured in yards — 220-yard champ George Quinlan in 1931, 100-yard champ Dick Robinson in 1964), but also he set state records with both runs.

And his 200 win clinched his team’s state championship.

“I feel great,” Landwer said a few hours after this 200 victory. “I had full faith in myself to win the individual (events) today but it means way more when the team can pull it off. No one on our team thought we could do it and we pulled it off, so it feels amazing for sure.”

Will Landwer: Fastest in Illinois 

Landwer scoffed when he talked about his humble sprint beginnings.

As a New Trier freshman, Landwer ran the 100 in 12.3 seconds and 200 in 25.8 — results he called “horrific.”

Things changed. But not overnight.

“He was just one of those kids who got a little better every year and grew a little every year,” Schmitt said. “Last year he ran 11.1 and for him to come back now and run 10.2, that’s unbelievable.”

Landwer dominated the 100, besting H-F’s Zion Morrison (an All-Stater in four events) by more than two tenths of a second and breaking the state record (10.31 by Marcellus Moore of Plainfield North in 2013) by seven one-hundredths.

He posted the fourth-best time (21.6) in the 200 preliminary race and then was the only competitor under 21 seconds in the finals, finishing in 20.87 to break the 28-year-old record of 20.89 set by Lake Park’s Anthony Moorman.

Landwer also anchored New Trier’s 4-by-100 relay team (Dylan Nemerovski, Will Miller, William Hanahan, Landwer) to a seventh-place finish.

Prior to his senior-year surge, Landwer got the cold shoulder from many collegiate programs. Now, Landwer is committed to Penn State University.

“To be honest, freshman and sophomore year, it was just figuring out how to run,” he said of his progression. “After that, junior and senior years, it was just spending every day in the offseason trying to be the best I can be. Growing definitely helped, and definitely the training and going to this track club called TNT. Just working out every day paid off.”

Dylan Benjamin: More to come

It’s a whole new world for Dylan Benjamin. That’s how he sees it.

The senior jumper found another gear in the postseason. He improved his personal-best triple jump by two feet between the conference meet and sectional meet, and improved it another two feet by the state finals.

The final product — a triple jump of 14.7 meters, or just over 48 feet — was the top mark at the state finals. And the new state champion said he thinks there is more where that came from.

“I’m feeling really happy but at the same time I feel like I’m not done,” Benjamin said. “There are so many things I can work on and still go further.”

He said one of the keys to the big attempt on Saturday was a disappointing result in the long jump finals.

Benjamin placed 11th in the long jump and felt he underperformed. It was a motivating factor going into the triple jump.

With that championship in his pocket, Benjamin is reconsidering his future. He was planning to attend College of DuPage to compete in football and track and field. But now, there may be more opportunities out there.

“It opened a whole new door and I’m so excited,” he said. “We’re going to see. My options are open in a way and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

Ben Crane: The long run

Crane’s legacy was already locked in place, but the Trevians senior lived up to the hype in his final high school track meet.

A cross-country state champ and state record holder, Crane won the 3,200 with a four-second cushion to become New Trier’s first two-mile state champ.

Crane led from the start, and when he noticed runnerup Carter Hayes, of Palatine, a little too close, he kicked it into high gear, finishing the race in 8:57.13.

“It was a fun race. I knew I had a target on my back going into it,” Crane said. “I led from the gun. With a lap to go I made a move and came out on top. … I could hear the guy in second breathing on my shoulder, so I just started speeding up a little bit and dropped him by the end.”

Crane also picked up points in the 1,600, placing seventh in the race that comes after the 3,200.

Crane will continue running at collegiate power Brigham Young University, but first will travel to Brazil as part of a two-year BYU mission.

Reflecting on the season, and his superstar seniors, Schmitt praised their collective commitment to the craft.

“It was just a great team effort,” he said. “New Trier kids historically have so many options and so many things going on — of course academics are super important, and other activities and working. You can do anything but you can’t do everything, and these kids really sacrificed and worked hard and it all paid off big.” 

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