Eastern hosts 120th IHSA Boys Track and Field Finals
On a day where temperatures on the surface of O’Brien Field exceeded 100 degrees, the state’s athletes did their best to maintain their poise and hydration at the 120th IHSA Boys Track & Field State Finals on Saturday.
Plenty of hurdles came crashing down, runners pulled up with cramps, relays involved spills and the sun beat down on runners’ backs and exhaustion-ridden faces.
Chicago’s Leo High School was the most successful team in all events overall in Class 1A, Cahokia High School took glory in 2A, and Lake Park High School in 3A.
Cahokia totaled the highest number of points, 67, out of all three classes.
The lone record broken on the day came from Jacksonville High School, with a 41.67 time in the 4×100 meter relay.
Two Chicago teams, Leo High School in 1A and Dunbar Vocational High School in 3A, took home their 4×100 titles with times of 42.76 and 41.92 respectively.
Locally, Colin Carver, a senior from Casey-Westfield High School, pulled the upset over Marlon Britton of Leo High School in the 110-meter hurdles, by four-tenths of a second (14.65).
Even closer was the 3A 110-meter hurdles match-up, with Derrick Willies, a junior from Rock Island High School, defeating Rashad Hulbert, a senior at Crete-Monee High School, by only 0.001 seconds with wind at 2.8 miles per hour (14.012).
The fastest time came from 2A champ Allen Spencer, a senior from Mt. Vernon High School, running a 13.97. Class 1A Monticello High School snagged a couple events on the quick legs of Steve Schroeder, who took the 3200-meter championship and anchored the 4×800 relay team.
Burlington Central High School took the 2A competition with a time of 7:48:31, and Chicago Lane High School took the 3A competition with the day’s best time of 7:47, anchored by a strong effort from senior Lucas Beltran.
In the speediest events, Dontae Pryor of Kewanee High School took the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.61, followed by Jacksonville’s Reggie Bratton in 2A with a 10.63 and Tavaris Binion out of Hinsdale South High School ran a 10.53— the fastest time of the day—for the 100-meter dash 3A division.
Pryor also won the 1A Long Jump at 23-0.75. His counterpart in 2A, Galesburg’s Travon Diggins, won with 22-03.00. Topping them both was 3A Long Jump champ Zach Gordon, a junior out of Wheaton North High School with a 24-00.50, with less wind than all other competitors (0.1 mph).
Josh Freeman, a senior from 3A Cary-Grove High School, hoisted his best shot put to 66 feet, the best of the day, followed by Josh Augusta from Peoria with 61-05.75 and Adam Weidner (57-10.75).
Joshua Bryant can be reached 581-2812 or [email protected].
