O’FALLON – Edwardsville was the dominant team on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, as the Tigers captured the championship of the IHSA Class 3A boys sectional track meet, held at OTHS Panther Stadium in O’Fallon.
The Tigers won with 120.5 points, with Belleville West coming in second with 72 points, Belleville East was third at 70 points, and both Normal Community and Normal Community West tied for fourth place with 62 points each. The host Panthers were ninth with 37 points, Collinsville finished 10th with 31 points, Alton came in 13th at 18 points, and Granite City was 14th with 13 points.
In the 100 meters, Clayton Lakatos of Edwardsville won the race, qualifying for state at 10.58 seconds, while Springfield’s Mekhi Newman was second, qualifying at 10.79 seconds. Also qualifying for state were Morquez Bulliner of West, also at 10.79 seconds, Jaylen Dewalt of East, also coming in at 10.79 seconds, Cincere Ruffin of Edwardsville at 10.82 seconds, and Montriez Fuller of the Lancers at 10.92 seconds. Bulliner won the 200 meters at 21.46 seconds, just beating out Lakatos, who was second at 21.47 seconds, with Kyman Wilingham of East coming in at 22.07 seconds, Ruffin coming in at 22.10 seconds, and Silas Mitchell of East had a time of 22.22 seconds, all qualifying for the state meet. Troy Mclean of the Maroons won the 400 meters, having a time of 49.03 seconds, and Nate Witzeg of Normal Community was second at 49.72 seconds, both qualifying for state.
A.J. Ince of Normal Community won the 800 meters at 1:56.75, with Hank McClaine of Alton going through to state by finishing second at 1:57.52. Landon Harris of Granite City was the winner of the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:21.22 while Joey Yaros of Normal Community came in second at 4:21.55 to qualify for state. Brayden Kloeppel of O’Fallon won the 3,200 meters with a time of 9:19.57, with Edwardsville’s Hugh Davis coming in second, qualifying for state at 9:23.91.
In the hurdles races, the winner of the 110 meters was Jayln Cole of the Maroons, who had a time of 13.76 seconds, while East’s Daylin Donaldson was second, qualifying at 13.93 seconds. Also going through to state were Jaydon Wright of the Lancers at 14.53 seconds, and Brandon Houston of the Tigers at 15.19 seconds. In the 300 meters, the winner was Donaldson at 38.19 seconds, with Wright finishing second at 40.20 seconds.
In the relay races, Edwardsville won the 4×100 meters at 41.69 seconds, with Normal Community West placing second at 41.98 seconds, with Belleville West joining the top two at state, coming in at 42.36 seconds. In the 4×200 meters, Springfield won at 1:27.26, with second place going to Normal Community West at 1:28.18, with the Lancers qualifying for state at 1:28.24, the Maroons went through with a time of 1:28.86, and the Tigers qualified at 1:29.17. In the 4×400 meters, the winners were Belleville West at 3:16.56, with Springfield second at 3:17.02. Belleville East also qualified for state at 3:19.24. In the 4×800 meters, Normal Community won with a time of 7:53.52, while Chatham Glenwood was second at 7:58.09, and the Tigers went through with a time of 7:58.97.
In the field events, Iose Epenesa of Edwardsville won the shot put with a throw of 16.80 meters, with Devin Habermehl of Collinsville second at 16.16 meters, while Gavin Stukenberg of the Tigers also qualified for state with a distance of 15.92 meters. In the discus throw, Shane Box of the Kahoks won with a toss of 52.30 meters, with Habermehl second at 49.70 meters, with Edwardsville’s Javion Smith also qualifying for state at 47.95 meters. McKenzie Doe III of Glenwood won the high jump, clearing the bar at 2.03 meters to go through, while Voidy Makabu of Champaign Centennial finished second at 1.98 meters, and Edwardsville’s Devyon Hill-Lomax went through to state by going over at 1.93 meters.
Parker Owens of the Tigers won the pole vault, going over at 5.00 meters to win, while Matthew Sherman of Danville was second at 4.31 meters, and Owens’ teammate, Eli Gilmor, qualified for state by clearing 4.16 meters. In the long jump, Braden Missey of the Maroons won with a jump of 7.21 meters, with Michael Sheppard of O’Fallon second at 7.07 meters, both going through to state. In the triple jump, Makson Makaya of Centennial won by going 13.78 meters, beating out Edwardsville’s Gino Montgomery, who also went 13.78 meters, with Makaya winning on a tiebreak. Also qualifying for state were Kamron Daniel of the Lancers, who had a leap of 13.56 meters, and Jasiah Brown of the Redbirds, who went 13,48 meters to qualify.
The state qualifiers will compete in the Class 3A preliminaries next Friday, May 30, 2025, at O’Brien Stadium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, with the state finals the next day, May 31.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
