CHARLESTON – Local track and field athletes fared well, and in some cases, they won individual state championships in the IHSA Boys State Track Finals, held Saturday at O’Brien Stadium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
In the Class 1A team results, Morrison won the team title with 60 points, Tuscola was a distant second at 35 points, and Rockford Christian tied for third with Shelbyville, both having 32 points. Gillespie was in a three-way tie for 16th with Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley and Pleasant Plains with 15 points each, both Belleville Althoff Catholic and Maryville Christian tied for 30th with five other schools, all scoring eight points each, Carlinville tied for 37th with three other teams with seven points apiece, Marquette Catholic was in a multi-school tie for 43rd with six points, SIUE Charter tied for 64th with three points, Dupo was in a tie for 70th with two points, and Father McGivney Catholic tied for 75th with one point.
Sycamore won the Class 2A championship with 71 points, getting past East St. Louis, who was second with 62 points, and third-place Cahokia, who had 35 points. Freeburg was 11th with 19 points, Triad and Waterloo tied with Mahomet-Seymour for 12th with 17 points apiece, Mascoutah and Burbank St. Laurence Catholic tied for 18th with 13 points each, Civic Memorial was in a multi-school tie for 24th with 10 points, and both Roxana and Columbia were in a multi-team tie for 52nd at four points each.
In Class 3A, Winnetka New Trier won the championship with 45 points, with Homewood-Flossmoor in second with 40 points, and Belleville West took third with 38 points. Edwardsville came in fifth with 27 points, while Belleville East was in a multi-team tie for 12th at 20 points, Collinsville was in a multi-school tie for 40th with seven points, and O’Fallon tied for 70th with two other schools with two points each.
In the local results in Class 1A, Jaylen Wiley of SIUE Charter finished eighth in the 100 meters at 11.33 seconds, then came in seventh in the 200 meters at 22.31 seconds, while Chaz Oberkfell of Gillespie finished third in the 1,600 meters at 4:25.18, and finished second in the 3,200 meters at 9:38,14. In the 4×800 meter relay, the McGivney team of Will Rakers, Liam Boeving, Gus Range, and Liam Schmidt finished ninth at 8:16.63.
In the field events, Josh Coulby of Maryville Christian placed second in the shot put with a throw of 17.56 meters, while Marquette’s Jack Beaber was fourth in the discus throw, having a toss of 51.20 meters, while Braxton Barnett of Dupo finished eighth at 48.62 meters. Carlinville’s Mason Gilpin finished third in the pole vault, going over at 4.40 meters, Logan Thompson of Althoff went 6.95 meters to finish second in the long jump.
In local Class 2A results, Waterloo’s Chris Pete finished eighth in the 100 meters at 10.74 seconds, with Akeelan Dowell of Cahokia finishing second in the 200 meters at 21.84 seconds, Pete taking third at 21.85 seconds, and East St. Louis’ Jayden McCallum finishing sixth at 22.05 seconds. Darrius Ivy of the Flyers was fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 49.77 seconds, with Corrion Raiford of the Comanches sixth at 49.80 seconds, and teammate Jaylen Pennington eighth at 50.62 seconds.
In the 800 meters, Luke Smith of Waterloo was second, at 1:54.57, while Ivy finished third at 1:54.94, Anthony Hardin of Roxana was eighth at 1:56.87, and Tullio Zamperi of CM came in 12th at 1:58.68. CM’s Max Weber finished fifth in the 1,600 meters at 4:26.36, and also finished fifth in the 3,200 meters at 9:26.51. Triad’s Drew Twyman placed eighth at 9:31.89, and Tyler DeVilder of Waterloo came in 38th at 10:09.95. In the hurdles races, the Knights’ Louis Yohannes won the state championship in the 110 meters at 14.11 seconds, while in the 300 meters, Matt Pluff of Freeburg finished fifth at 39.73 seconds, with East Side’s Tyreke Baker sixth at 39.84 seconds, and Nigel Gooden of the Comanches was ninth at 43.44 seconds.
In the relay races, the Flyers team of Durand Sain, McCallum, Shamond McClain, and Melvin Sledge won the 4×100 meters championship at 41.57 seconds, with Mascoutah’s team of Jackson Redemius, Carson Norman, Jaylen Wise-Singliterry, and Camren Reed finishing second at 42.71 seconds. East Side’s team of McClain, McCallum, Zavion Brownlee, and Sledge won the 4×200 meters at 1:27.03, with Cahokia’s team of Victreze Thomas, Armon Smith, Hartles Holman, and Dowell was fourth at 1:27.90, and the Indians’ team of Norman, Redemius, Wise-Singliterry, and Reed finished ninth at 1:29.97. In the 4×400 meters, the Flyers’ team of Sain, Sledge, McCallum, and Ivy won the state title at 3:17.90, with the Comanches’ team of Holman, Reginald Griffin, Gooden, and Raiford finished second at 3:19.20, while in the 4×800 meters, Highland’s team of Christian Knobeloch, Caleb Knobeloch, Adin Roach, and Donnie Miller finished 12th at 8:15.40.
In the field events, East Side’s Elmo Gillian placed 12th in the shot put, with a throw of 15.14 meters, while Chase Hendrickson of Columbia finished sixth in the discus throw with a toss of 48.95 meters, while Roxana’s Zane Losch was eighth at 48.46 meters. Pluff cleared 2.05 meters to win the high jump championship, while Darrion Bradley of East St. Louis went over at 1.85 meters to finish 10th.
Robert Williams of Mascoutah finished third in the pole vault, going over at 4.50 meters, while Pluff placed sixth in the long jump, going 6.91 meters, with Reed coming in eighth at 6.75 meters, Baker was 11th at 6.61 meters. McClain won the triple jump with a leap of 14.23 meters, with Thomas finishing second at 13.91 meters, and Baker was eighth at 13.35 meters.
In the Class 3A results, Edwardsville’s Clayton Lakatos finished third in the 100 meters at 10.51 seconds, while Morgan Bulliner of Belleville West placed fourth in the 200 meters at 21.53 meters, while Lakatos was sixth at 21.65 seconds. The Maroons’ Troy Mclean won the 400 meters at 47.98 seconds, while Alton’s Hank McClaine was 12th in the 800 meters at 1:57.38. Hugh Davis of the Tigers came in 30th in the 3,200 meters, with a time of 9:40.08, while in the hurdles races, Daylin Donaldson of Belleville East was second in the 110 meters at 13.91 seconds, with teammate Jadon Wright finishing eighth at 14.47 seconds. Donaldson also finished second in the 300 meters at 37,42 seconds, with Wright coming in eighth at 39.63 seconds.
In the relay races, the Tigers’ team of Darren Wilson, Cincere Ruffin, Lakatos, and Zach Lane finished second in the 4×100 meters at 41.10 seconds, while the Maroons’ team of Freddie Perry, Calvin Nolan, Braden Missey, and Mclean was fifth in the 4×400 meters at 3:19.47, while the Edwardsville team of Colin Thomas, Cooper Wittek, Declan Hoefferlin, and Jackson Amick was 10th in the 4×800 meters at 8:01.37.
In the field events, Devin Habermehl of Collinsville was 10th in the shot put, having a throw of 16.92 meters, while in the discus throw, Habermehl finished third with a toss of 58.16 meters. In the high jump, the Tigers’ Devyon Hill-Lomax finished 10th, clearing 1.96 meters, while in the pole vault, Edwardsville’s Parker Owens was third at 4.60 meters. while Missey placed third in the long jump with a leap of 7.03 meters.
