Class 1A and 2A state track and field athletes poised for big weekend

Here is a look at last weekend's qualifiers from the area for this weekend's IHSA Class 1A and 2A Boys Track and Field Championship state meet at Eastern Illinois University's O'Brien Field in Charleston.

CLASS 2A: Triad won the Lincoln Sectional with an 87-point performance, sending three relays and four individuals to the state meet; the Knights edged out Springfield Lanphier by four points with Breese Central third with 50 points, Springfield Southeast fourth with 46 and Rochester fifth with 45 points. Other area teams included Jersey (ninth at 25 points), Roxana (10^th with 24), Piasa Southwestern (12^th with 19), Civic Memorial (13^th with 18) and East Alton-Wood River (15^th with 12).

Roxana's Jordan Hawkins won the discus throw with a toss of 181-10 to highlight the day; teammate Cree Stumpf advanced to state in the 3200 meters with a second-place finish in 10:19.84.

Triad advanced the 4x800 relay team of Jack Hansen, Ben Walter, Zach Knopf and Luke Perry with a winning time of 8:24.02; the 4x100 relay team of Josh Edison, Johnnie Caswell, Malik Curtis and Amaziah Lusk in 43.59 seconds, good for second in the event; and the 4x200 relay team of Cody Qualls, Carson Milligan, Marshall Boeren and Edison in 1:32.37. Individuals advancing for the Knights included Jadon Elliott in the pole vault (13-0, finishing first on fewer misses), Caswell in the 100 meters (second in 11.01 seconds) and Drake Bleier in the 1600 meters (second in 4:41.78).

Other area individuals advancing included Jersey's James Arbuthnot in the high jump (third with a 6-3 leap) and Tom Rexing in the 300 hurdles (second in 43.62 seconds), Southwestern's Eugene Kahl (second in the 200 meters in 22.77 seconds) and CM's Steven Qui in the 110 hurdles (second in 16.40 seconds).

Qualifying sessions at state will be held Thursday for Class 1A, Friday morning for Class 2A and Friday afternoon for Class 3A; finals in all classes will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the 3200-meter finals in all classes taking place in two sections Saturday.

CLASS 1A: The highlight of the Litchfield Sectional meet was McGivney Catholic's Elijah Burns qualifying for the 3200-meter run; Burns is the first Griffin to reach the state meet in the school's brief athletic history.

Burns reached the state meet with a second-place finish in the race, covering the distance in 10:42.70; Madison's Javon Watkins won in 10:06.32.

Bunker Hill's Trent Bertlesman advanced to state in the 110 hurdles, finishing third in a state-qualifying time of 15.87 seconds, while Marquette Catholic's Kaleb Ware qualified for state with a second-place finish in the 400 meters in 52.99 seconds.

Madison led the way with two relay teams and eight individuals heading to Charleston; the Trojans won the meet with 141 points, followed by Carlinville with 108, the host Purple Panthers with 49, Auburn with 43 and Riverton with 37. The Griffins were sixth with 24 points, Explorers in a three-way tie for eighth with Carrollton and Gillespie with 17 points, Metro East Lutheran 13^th with 10 points and Minutemen 14^th with eight points on the day.

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