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COLLINSVILLE – The Edwardsville boys’ track and field Tigers are showing a strong overall team as the year winds down.
Edwardsville and Alton finished finished in the top two, with the Tigers winning the meet with 70.5 points and the Redbirds finishing second with 62. Granite City finished 12th with 27 points, while Roxana scored eight points. Rounding out the top five were Belleville West with 53 points, Mascoutah with 52 and O'Fallon with 44. The host Kahoks finished sixth with 43.5.
Tiger coach Chad Lakatos was very pleased with his team's efforts throughout the day.
“Yeah, great team effort for us,” Lakatos said. “Our kids competed, a lot of (personal records) across the board. Still staying balanced across the board, we're scoring some points in the field, and the relay circles and the sprints. So, yeah, I'm pleased with the way our kids competed today.”
The weather, which had been a hinderance most of the season, was sunny and warm on Saturday, and it helped in the performances.
“We were blessed with great weather today,” Lakatos said. “It is good times at this point in the season. Hopefully, it can carry over to our conference meet on Wednesday.”
The Tigers were paced by distance runner Roland Prenzler, who set a meet record in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:25.77 to win the event. His teammate, Henry Gruben, finished seventh at 10:30.53. Prenzler's record run set the tone for the rest of the day for Edwardsville.
“You know, there's a lot going on, so hopefully, the kids are paying attention,” Lakatos said. “Obviously, it sets the tone for me. And those that are paying attention, we've got kids doing different things, but it really sets the tone for the rest of the meet. There's a lot of events on the track, and for him to do what he did today was incredible. He's a couple of seconds off, and he could be on the medal stand in a couple of weeks at Charleston. Roland just keeps getting better, keeps improving. Conditions today, it was a little warm for him, but he still ran awesome. I'm happy for him.”
The Tigers got another first place in the long jump, as sophomore Kenyon Johnson took the event with a leap of 22 feet, 9.75 inches. Alton's Ahmad Sanders took third with a jump of 21 feet, 4.25 inches while the Redbirds' Tony Smith finished eighth with a distance of 20 feet, 2.75 inches.
“He had a big jump last week at the Triad (Invitational), so things are starting to click for him,” Lakatos said. “Again, the weather's great, and when you come to a big meet like this, and the competition rises, he rose to the occasion today.”
And with the weather starting to turn warm, Lakatos knows what the Tigers need to do to prepare for the warmer days ahead.
“Most definitely. Lots of variables with kids,” Lakatos said. “You never know what they did last night, how much rest they got, and how it's going to carry over to today. We talked about it yesterday and earlier in the week. We've got to start hydrating. It doesn't start Saturday at the meet, it starts early on. They've got to start fluids, fluids, fluids, and making sure they rest, and try to stay out of the sun today was important, too. They don't need to be sitting out in the sun the entire day. So, hopefully, they were smart. the times prove we had a good day, so hopefully, they did the right things along the way.”
O'Keefe win highlights Granite City performances
A highlight for Granite City was Andrew O'Keefe's win in the 1,600-meter run, winning with a time of 4:13.59, establishing himself as one of the favorites in the event when the state series begins. The Tigers' Jack Pifer finished fourth with a time of 4:25.08.
“He's just got the biggest heart of any kid I've ever coached,” said Warriors assistant coach Sam Nesbit of O'Keefe. “He's willing to take a chance, and you see the results. Not many kids will put everthing on the line, and not worry what happens at the end. He's willing to do it, but he's willing every day of the week, and that's the difference. He goes out, and he works hard. And he's drawing other kids with him, and that's our hope, is that he makes the program better. Kids like that make the program better.”
As others are, O'Keefe is starting to peak at the right time, and that could mean big things ahead for the junior.
“Absolutely,” Nesbit said. “Everything points in the right direction. He needs bodies around him on that third lap. If they're around him, I don't know what's going to happen; I really can't tell you. Because he's got that ability. We don't put limits. We really preach the old distance thing, there are no limits.”
Roxana's Hawkins is second in discus throw
Roxana's Jordan Hawkins finished second in the discus throw with a toss of 178 feet, three inches, recording the Shells' only points of the meet.
2018 COLLINSVILLE INVITATIONAL
BOYS TRACK AND FIELD MEET
TEAM STANDINGS
Edwardsville, 70.5; Alton, 62; Belleville West, 53; Mascoutah, 52; O'Fallon, 44; Collinsville, 43.5; Cahokia, 43; Springfield, 37; Centralia, 36; Waterloo, 32; Freeburg, 28. Granite City, 27; Quincy, 20; Springfield Lanphier,18; Belleville East, 17; Vandalia, 16; Tuscola, 16; East St. Louis, 14; Rantoul, 12; Trenton, Wesclin, 12; Highland, 9; Roxana, 8; Carbondale, 8; Carlinville, 8; Breese Mater Dei, 7; Belleville Althoff, 7; O'Fallon First Baptist Academy, 3
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (TOP FIVE ONLY)
HIGH JUMP: Zack Pluff, Freeburg, 6-6; Johnathan Keeler, Centralia, 6-2; Russhyd Hollis, East St. Louis, 6-2; A'Jonte Lee, Springfield Lanphier, 6-2; Antwan Baker, Cahokia, 6-2
POLE VAULT: Zane Steele, Vandalia, 13-6; Blake Nevill, Edwardsville, 13-6; Cameron Withers, Vandalia, 12-6; Kyle Ciborwowski, Trenton Wesclin, 12-0; Seby Wolf, Highland, 12-0
LONG JUMP: Kenyon Johnson, Edwardsville, 22-9.75; Quan Cobb, O'Fallon, 21-1.25; Ahmad Sanders, Alton, 21-4.25; Brendan Meng, Freeburg, 21-0.5; Roderick Williams, O'Fallon, 20-10
TRIPLE JUMP: Curtis Williams, Belleville West, 44-6; Dontea Jones, Centralia, 44-4.5; A'Jonte Lee, Springfield Lanphier, 44-2.5; Jerome Williams, Belleville East, 44-3.5; Jaylin Mosby, Belleville West, 43-2.5
DISCUS THROW: Jordan Johnson, Quincy, 180-6; Jordan Hawkins, Roxana, 178-3; Jackson Ivers, 157-8; Hunter Woodard, Tuscola, 152-5; Anthony Guzman, Granite City, 131-8
SHOT PUT: Hunter Woodard, Tuscola, 58-7.5; Amari Brooks, Edwardsville, 51-11.5; Jordan Johnson, Quincy, 51-7.5; Cody Vonalevn, Springfield Lanphier, 50-2; Dustin Petty, Collinsville, 48-6
4X800 RELAY: Waterloo, 7:58.86; Mascoutah, 8:01.10; Belleville East, 8:21.48; O'Fallon, 8:34.16; Belleville West, 8:36.98
4X100 RELAY: Alton, 42.86 seconds (Wilson, Bumpers, Singleton, McGoy); Mascoutah, 43.00; Edwardsville, 43.25 (Rodgers, Abdur-Rahman, Johnson, Ryan); Collinsville, 43.29; East St. Louis, 43.78
3200 METERS: Roland Prenzler, Edwardsville, 9:25.77; Ethan Cherry, Carbondale, 9:53.77; Luke Goebel, Breese Mater Dei, 10:16.44; Sam Forness, Springfield, 10:22.81; Patrick Thompson, Mascoutah, 10:24.98
110 HURDLES: Stephen Harris, Cahokia, 15.25 seconds; Robert Williams, Springfield, 15.26; Tyrone Treadwell, Springfield, 15.46; Jonathan Bumpers, Alton, 15.52; Tyler Tindall, Granite City, 15.77
100 METERS: Jermarrion Stewart, Collinsville, 11.08 seconds; Deonte McGoy, Aton, 11.13; Eddie Wilson, Mascoutah, 11.14; Dorian Brown, O'Fallon, 11.26; Matthew Patrick, Centralia, 11.28
800 METERS: Clayton Kirkham, Waterloo, 1:59.40; Jacob Ramirez, O'Fallon, 1:59.41; Jason Landon, Carlinville, 2:00.10; Kelvin Cummings, Alton, 2:00.53; Jimmy Reed, Belleville West, 2:00.94
4X200 RELAY: Belleville West, 1:28.50; Mascoutah, 1:29.38; Cahokia, 1:31.20; Edwardsville, 1:32.16 (Abdur-Rahman, Johnson, Battle, Ryan); Belleville Althoff, 1:32.58
400 METERS: Jermarrion Stewart, Collinsville, 50.15 seconds; Jerry Harper, Rantoul, 50.33; Jackson McAlister, Waterloo, 51.21; Ni'Zarlen Cason, Belleville West, 51.60; Matthew Abe-Bell, Springfield, 51.64
300 HURDLES: Robert Williams, Springfield, 39.35 seconds; Lanard Harris, Cahokia, 39.64; Daniel Powell, Edwardsville, 39.89; Stephen Harris, Cahokia, 39.99; Andrew Johnson, East St. Louis, 40.63
1600 METERS: Andrew O'Keefe, Granite City, 4:13.59; Charlie Parrish, Freeburg, 4:21.50; Lucas Capistrant, O'Fallon, 4:24.33; Jack Pifer, Edwardsville, 4:25.08; Cassius Havis, Alton, 4:25.41
200 METERS: Matthew Patrick, Centralia, 22.46 seconds; Darreon West, Cahokia, 22.49; Deonte McGoy, Alton, 22.82; Ni'el Hill, Belleville West, 22.87; Antonio Harrison, Alton, 23.60
4X400 RELAY: Belleville West, 3:23.76; Alton, 3:26.41 (Bratton, Sanders, Bumpers, Cummings); Mascoutah, 3:26.39; Collinsville, 3:27.90; Edwardsville, 3:28.48 (Powell, Townsend, Ryan, Battle)Brent Feeney also contributed to this story.
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