WOOD RIVER — It’s not the usual track meet that you might see during the season.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The East Alton-Wood River High School Relays has an unique format, in where each event is a team competition in and unto itself. The emphasis is on fun and supporting your teammates in each event.
“It’s all a team relay-type stuff,” said Oiler coach Russ Colona, “and they’re counting on each other. You’ll see some fantastic splits, because they’re pushing to help their teammates.”
And at the end of the day, Greenville was the winner in both divisions, scoring 48 points to take the boys division, and 45 to win the girls division. The Roxana boys finished second with 42 points, while Trenton Wesclin was third with 35, Civic Memorial had 30.5 and EAWR finished with 27.5.
The Oilers and Eagles finished tied for second on the girls side with 33 points each, while Wesclin finished fourth at 27, and the Shells ended with 23.
“It was a fun meet,” Colona said. “We’ve done this for about 10, 12 years. It’s a fun, competitive meet.”
And with two key meets coming up, the Madison County Meet and the Prairie State Conference meet, Colona believes that the Oilers will be ready to go.
“The County meet is really competitive,” Colona said. “With East Alton-Wood River, Roxana, (Civic Memorial), and Madison all good teams, fighting every year, taking turns winning. After that is our conference meet, and the boys have won it three times in a row, looking to get four. And the girls are looking to move up. Our girls, this is the best season we’ve had in a long time.”
The same could be said for Civic Memorial, who had some very good results of their own.
“Yeah, we’re really happy,” said Eagle coach Clint Walters. “We’ve ran quite a bit this week, so we had some tired legs, but we were able to see some pretty good performances.”
The standout performers for CM were both 4x400 meter relay teams, who won their events. The boys won their race with a time of 3:39, while the girls won with a time of 4:20.
“Definitely our 4x400 teams, both boys and girls, had a good night, on both sides,” Walters said. “That was probably our main event tonight; they really stood out.”
Walters also thought the format was good, as both teams supported each other throughout the meet.
“We coach both boys and girls together,” Walters said, “so it’s great to get them rooting for one another, and get them on the track, one right after another. So we enjoy that type of atmosphere.”
The meet also serves as a good build up for both the County meet and the Mississippi Valley Conference meet.
“Definitely, County and conference is in short term, looking at our goals,” Walters said, “and looking more towards those more individual races, and where we’ll end up and line up in those.”
Each of the participating boys’ teams won at least one event, with Wesclin taking the most with four. The Warriors won the 4x100 meter relay with a time of :45.3, nipping the Shells, who had a time of :45.5. Wesclin also took the shot put with a combined distance of 80 feet, 10-and-a-half inches, four inches ahead of Roxana, who took second with 80 feet, six-and-a-half. Greenville was a distant third, coming in at 73 feet, four-and-a-half inches.
The Warriors also won the 110-meter hurdles with a combined time of :54.6, with Roxana the runner-up at :55.8. The Eagles finished third with a time of :56.2.
The Comets took three events on their way to the title, winning 4x800 meter relay, coming in at 8:43, eight seconds better than CM, with a time of 8:51. The Oilers finished third with a 8:53 mark. Greenville also won the boys high jump at 11 feet, four inches, winning by a foot over Roxana, who finished at 10 feet, four inches, The Eagles and Oilers tied for third at 10 feet, two inches.
Greenville’s final win on the boys side came in the 1600 meter relay, winning with a time of 15:26, defeating the Eagles by 14 seconds, CM coming in at 15:40. The Oilers finished third, clocking in at 15:45.
The Comets also won the meet’s only coed event, the Thrower Relay, where two boys and two girls from the throwing disciplines combined in a race. Greenville won the event with a time of :56,5, a tenth of a second better than Roxana, who came in at :56.6. EAWR finished third at :59.2.
The Comets’ girls team won five events on their way to their first place finish, starting with a win in the long jump with a distance of 29 feet, eight inches. The Oilers were second, coming in at 28 feet, nine inches, while Roxana finished third at 27 feet, three inches.
The Comets took the shot put with a distance of 61 feet, three-and-a-half inches, while the Shells finished second, coming in at 58 feet, one-and-a-half inches. The Eagles were third at 57 feet, seven-and-a-half inches. The Comets also won the high jump at eight feet, ten inches, with the Oilers finishing second at eight feet, eight inches, and CM coming in third at eight feet, two inches,
Greenville’s other wins came in the 4x100 meter relay, the Comets winning time being :54.1, and the 1,600 meter relay, winning with a time of 21:04.
And with the IHSA State meet series coming up later in May, both Walters and Colona have big goals ahead for their athletes.
‘Really at sectionals, we want to have some (personal records),” Walters said. “I don’t know on our chances for advancement. (Allie) Troeckler’s strong in the 300 meters; I would look for her to be strong up at Springfield. We want to see our jumpers and some of our distance folks really get some good times.
“On the boys’ side, we’ve got some mid-distance sprints and some distance guys who we really want to see lay down some times,” Walters continued, “and maybe, you know, be in a top-eight, top five at sectional, even if they don’t go through.”
“After our conference meet, we take a look at the sectionals, see where we can get people up to state, and we’ll go from there,’ Colona said. “I’m just proud of these kids. They’ve worked hard, and today was a showing of that.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
More like this:
