Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
SEE EDWARDSVILLE BOYS, GIRLS, ALTON BOYS, GIRLS PHOTO GALLERY BELOW:
EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville’s A.J. Epenesa rolled from exceptional football and basketball seasons into an extraordinary start in the field events of track on Saturday in the Southwestern Illinois Relays with a meet record performance in the discus and victory in the shot put.
Epenesa won the discus with a toss of 185-3, eclipsing the previous mark by Belleville West’s Pierre Gee-Tucker in 2013. Edwardsville head coach Chad Lakatos directed the Tigers to the IHSA Class 3A state championship last year and the hope is to finish the same way again this year.
Epenesa’s career best was 194-3 last year in the Collinsville Invitational and he seems already well on his way of breaking his goal of 200 feet with such a dominant throw in his first meet. Epenesa won the shot put with a throw of 53-5. Coach Matt Martin, a strong competitor in the weights in his own athletic career, spends constant time perfecting Epenesa and the other shot put and discus throwers. 
On Saturday, he showed video of several of Epenesa’s throws to help discuss technique and approach. Martin is also the head Edwardsville football coach.
Edwardsville’s boys placed second to East St. Louis on Saturday. East St. Louis seems to be restocked and loaded for a solid 2016 challenge to Edwardsville as the season progresses. East St. Louis won with 120 points on Saturday, followed by Edwardsville (113.5); Rockwood Summit (67); and Collinsville (59). Edwardsville held some of its top competitors out of different events on Saturday, resting injuries, so the team will be completely unleashed in coming days.
Edwardsville’s Travis Anderson, second last year in the 110-meter high hurdles at state, was second by a fraction on Saturday to East St. Louis’ Delano Anderson in the 300 low hurdles. Anderson recorded a time of 38.93, while Anderson finished in 38.94.
Edwardsville’s Tariq Minor unleashed a triple jump of 44-5 for second place and set himself up for big things to come.
The Tigers’ Blake Neville was second in the pole vault at 12-0. Anderson only performed in one event on Saturday, while D.J. Harlan, another of the top performers on the squad, also did only one event. Matt Griebe is still nursing an injury and didn’t perform.
Other Edwardsville highlights were: second place in the 4 x 100 relay (42.86); second in the 4 x 200 (1:29.93); and third in the 4 x 800 relay (8:33.84). Edwardsville was fifth in the 4000-meter medley with a time of 11:29.43; and second in the 4 x 110 shuttle hurdle relay (1:09.09).
Justin White was third in the high jump (6-0); Torrey Deal was fifth (5-8). Devonte Tincher was fourth in the long jump (21-0-.50).
Dan Powell was fifth in the 1,600 (4:52.33); Desmond Chapple was sixth in the shot put (46-4); and Sam McCormick was seventh in the 1,600 (4:56.81).
More like this:
