IHSA Boy’s state track and field Classes 2A, 3A compete to qualify for final competition

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Jordan Boyer

Anfernee Richardson, a senior at MacArthur High School, and Jonathan Turner, a senior at Perspectives/IIT Math & Science Academy, compete in the third heat of the Class 2A 4×200-meter relay, Friday at O’Brien Field.

Jordan Boyer, Editor-in-Chief

Dalton Spencer, a senior at Olympia High School, competes in the third heat of the Class 2A 100-meter high hurdles, Friday morning at O’Brien Field. He finished in fourth place with a time of 15.17.
Jordan Boyer
Dalton Spencer, a senior at Olympia High School, competes in the third heat of the Class 2A 100-meter high hurdles, Friday morning at O’Brien Field. He finished in fourth place with a time of 15.17.

Many high schools from Classes 2A and 3A competed Friday in the IHSA Boy’s Track & Field State semifinals to qualify for finals on Saturday.

Jared Harrison, a senior at Dixon High School, broke a Dixon High School record with a time of 38.72 in the Class 2A 300-meter intermediate hurdles. The record was originally set by Rick Laskowski at the IHSA Boy’s Track & Field State Championships in 2011, with a time of 38.82.

“It felt really good. Hurdle number four was a little rough, but the rest of them were all really good,” Harrison said.

Harrison said his whole team was performing well, with many of his teammates qualifying for the finals.

They are all trying to get enough team points to get the  big trophy, he said.

Harrison also competed in the 4×400-meter relay with the rest of his team. They qualified with a time of 3:23.47. Dixon High School also qualified for the 400-meter dash, 4×100-meter relay and the 4×800-meter relay.

Nick Oakley, a senior at Charleston High School, came in first place for the third heat of the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.96, but he said he felt like he could of done better in the race.

“A lot of things did not go my way,” Oakley said, “Definitely do not feel like I wanted to, and (I) do not feel like that was my best time.”

Oakley said he had leg pain and his legs started to almost give out near the end of the race, which affected his performance and final time.

Jordan Boyer
Competitors start the second heat of the Class 2A 4×200-meter relay, Friday at O’Brien Field. Mascoutah Community High School came in first with a time of 1.29.61.

He said he was ready to compete in the state finals and that he has been preparing for these races for a while.

“I wasn’t nervous about state finals, I was pretty confident in my ability to get through it,” Oakley said.

Classes 1A, 2A and 3A are competing in the state finals Saturday. The parade of competitors starts at 9:15 a.m., and all events begin at 10 a.m.

Jordan Boyer can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].