ALTON - Over the past two years under head boys’ track coaches Jeff White and Eric Dickerson, along with some outstanding assistant coaches, Alton High’s boys’ track team has made great progress.
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Jeff White is the new head coach for the Redbirds this season and each practice session and every meet his team shows improvements.
Alton placed sixth in the 12-team field on Saturday as a team at the Southwestern Illinois Relays in Edwardsville, scoring 54 points.
The Redbirds’ top finisher was Zack Llewellyn in the shot put (51-10) and discus (150-10). Teammate Arie Macias bolted out to an early lead in the 1,600 and ended up finishing third with a strong time of 4:34.37. Jonathan Bumpers placed third in the triple jump (42-1.5). Alton was third in the 4 x 400 relay with a time of 3:30.64.
White described Macias as “a hard worker,” who just keeps improving. He also praised Llewellyn and Bumpers for their individual efforts in the meet.
White said sprinter Harrison Henderson is also showing significant progress. Henderson ran the open 100 meters and a leg on the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relays. Freshman Earlie Brown is another young sprinter who has shown promise, the coach said.
“Overall, I was pretty happy and I thought the kids looked great,” Coach White said. “Our guys really battled in the relays. What I am really happy about is we are an overall young team and putting out times that are very good. We are headed toward a good future in both distances, sprints and field events.”
