BETHALTO – The Triad Knights went to a familiar spot Wednesday afternoon, Civic Memorial’s Hauser Field, to take part in an IHSA Class 2A Boys Track and Field Sectional.
The Knights qualified athletes in a slew of events for next weekend’s state track meet at Eastern Illinois University and finished third at the sectional with 79 points.
They were only behind East St. Louis (127) and Cahokia (93).
Beginning with field events, one of the highlights was sophomore Zane Meier winning the pole vault, setting a PR, clearing 4.63 meters. The result set a new Illinois No. 13 mark and qualifies him for the state tournament. Sophomore teammate Henry Parker took eighth, clearing 3.43 meters.
Sophomore Mac Musgrave finished fifth in the high jump, achieving a personal record of 1.87 meters, which earned him a spot at state. Finally, wrapping up the field events, junior Bryce Van Tieghem finished fourth in the shot put with a throw of 15.30 meters, qualifying him for state.
Moving on to some distance races, senior Anthony Massie just missed the cutline by less than a second with a time of 2:01.29 in the 800-meter race. Senior Drew Twyman will be making the trip, though, in both the one-mile and two-mile races.
He was fourth in the 1600-meter with a time of 4:29.70 and third in the 3200-meter at 9:32.76.
The highlight of the meet for the Knights was probably the 4×100-meter relay.
The group of Fitzgerald Davis, Silas Thomason, James O’Toole, and Louis Yohannes just barely won the race in what was a three-way photo finish with East St. Louis and Cahokia. Triad ran a school record time of 41.83 seconds. It was nonetheless a season-best and now ranks as the 17th fastest time in the state. East Side and Cahokia also ran top 25 times.
The Knights later ran a season-best 1:30.52 in the 4×200-meter relay with Davis, Jacob Odle, O’Toole, and Thomason.
O’Toole later qualified in the 100-meter dash, taking second with a time of 10.99 seconds.
Yohannes also had himself a day. He started the meet by anchoring the 4×100-meter relay and later won the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.34 seconds, earning him a trip to state in that event. Fellow senior teammate Terrance Lamb-Carraway will join him. Lamb-Carraway was fourth at 15.41 seconds.
Thomason set a PR in the 200-meter with a time of 23.14 seconds, just missing the state cutline, while Odle ran it in 23.51 seconds for 11th.
