Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet.
BELLEVILLE — Nine entries had already qualified for the upcoming Class 3A state boys’ track and field meet, but No. 10 for Edwardsville was the cherry on top of a strong day at the Belleville West Sectional.
The 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:23.36 to qualify for the state meet and send head coach Chad Lakatos into a fist-bumping celebration near the finish line.
“This means a lot. We haven’t ran a qualifying time all year, and it was great to be able to do it today,” said Ben Ryan, who ran anchor in the final race.
The Tigers ran away with the sectional championship. They scored 97 points, outdistancing second-place Bloomington’s 67 points and third-place Belleville West’s 55 points. Alton finished fourth with 52 points.
The sectional championship is the second consecutive for Edwardsville, which won last year in Moline with 13 entries en route to the program’s second state title in three seasons.
Alton’s Redbirds are sending three entries to state, including Jonathon Bumpers in the 300-meter hurdles and their 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.
“We definitely wanted to qualify a few more guys, but we still ran some of our best times of the season. We put it all out on the table. We came up short, but they should hold their heads up because they ran great times,” Alton coach Jeff White said.
The Redbirds enjoyed a strong day in the relays by sending two entries through to state.
The 400-meter relay team of Demontra Wilson, Bumpers, Jaden Singleton and Deonte McGoy finished in 42.37 to take second behind Belleville West.
The 800-meter relay team of Antonio Harrison, Terrance Walker, Wilson and McGoy also took second to West, finishing in 1:29.65.
After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bumpers rebounded in the 300-meter hurdles with a
second-place finish of 39.72. He was only .6 seconds behind Springfield’s Robert Williams.
“It’s a hard sectional to score points in and we’re pretty happy with a fourth-place finish,” White said. “This will be the biggest group we’ve had going to state in a while. We’re going to hold our heads high about that. We’re excited to get up there and run at state.”
Edwardsville capped off the day with a strong finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Franky Romano, Dan Powell, Brandon Battle and Ryan took fourth in 3:23.06 to eclipse the qualifying time of 3:24.07.
Ryan, who ran anchor, is in his first season competing with the track and field team.
“He’s had a great year and has had good times. Every once in awhile we will get one of those seniors to come out for the first time and we knew he had the talent,” Lakatos said. “We also got Dan to switch over from the distance crew and he ran well. Of course, Franky ran well, along with freshman Brandon Battle.”
Amari Brooks got the day started off on the right foot for the Tigers by qualifying in both the discus and shot put.
Brooks qualified in the shot put with a throw of 53-5 and the discus with a throw of 158-11. He finished second to Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (194-3) in the discus and to Chatham Glenwood’s Mikey Ford (54-10) in the shot put.
Kenyon Johnson was also a double qualifier in the field, making it in the long jump and triple jump.
Johnson, a first-time state qualifier, finished 22-5 for first in the long jump and 44-6 for third in the triple jump.
Blake Neville earned a return trip to state in the pole vault. He went 14-6 in the pole vault, surpassing the qualifying mark by a foot. He took second to Bloomington’s Zachery Bradford, who went 17-9.
“This feels pretty satisfying. I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the year, but coming into today I was pretty confident,” said Neville, who had pole vault marks of 13-3 and 13-6 at the beginning of the season.
LaVontas Hairston finished off the strong day in the field events for the Tigers by qualifying in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. It was good for fifth.
Roland Prenzler won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9:24.42. A strong finish lifted Prenzler to his second state meet, as Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel was on his heels until the final 100 meters.
“I was trying to go out a bit quick and then try to hold them off and wear them off early. With about 600 to go, (Wetzel) tried to edge it out a bit but I turned it on from there. I don’t think the last lap has hurt that bad in awhile,” Prenzler said.
Qualifier No. 8 was Romano in the 800-meter race. A future Eastern Illinois Panther, Romano will end his prep career where his college career will start at O’Brien Stadium.
Romano won with a time of 1:54.41, holding off Danville’s Phillip Hall, who finished in 1:54.65.
“I’m super excited to run again on the blue track,” Romano said. “I’m excited to go there and race.
“I went out there and I knew I had to run my race. I kept pushing and I was able to kick it at the end.”
Jack Pifer will make his first trip to state after finishing second in the 1,600-meter run to Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe. Pifer finished with a PR of 4:23.94 to earn his trip to state. O’Keefe won in 4:19.34.
“I am in disbelief. Honestly, I knew that I could run well enough to get to state. It wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I was able to get out there and hold my own,” Pifer said.
Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet.
BELLEVILLE — Nine entries had already qualified for the upcoming Class 3A state boys’ track and field meet, but No. 10 for Edwardsville was the cherry on top of a strong day at the Belleville West Sectional.
The 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:23.36 to qualify for the state meet and send head coach Chad Lakatos into a fist-bumping celebration near the finish line.
“This means a lot. We haven’t ran a qualifying time all year, and it was great to be able to do it today,” said Ben Ryan, who ran anchor in the final race.
The Tigers ran away with the sectional championship. They scored 97 points, outdistancing second-place Bloomington’s 67 points and third-place Belleville West’s 55 points. Alton finished fourth with 52 points.
The sectional championship is the second consecutive for Edwardsville, which won last year in Moline with 13 entries en route to the program’s second state title in three seasons.
Alton’s Redbirds are sending three entries to state, including Jonathon Bumpers in the 300-meter hurdles and their 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.
“We definitely wanted to qualify a few more guys, but we still ran some of our best times of the season. We put it all out on the table. We came up short, but they should hold their heads up because they ran great times,” Alton coach Jeff White said.
The Redbirds enjoyed a strong day in the relays by sending two entries through to state.
The 400-meter relay team of Demontra Wilson, Bumpers, Jaden Singleton and Deonte McGoy finished in 42.37 to take second behind Belleville West.
The 800-meter relay team of Antonio Harrison, Terrance Walker, Wilson and McGoy also took second to West, finishing in 1:29.65.
After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bumpers rebounded in the 300-meter hurdles with a
second-place finish of 39.72. He was only .6 seconds behind Springfield’s Robert Williams.
“It’s a hard sectional to score points in and we’re pretty happy with a fourth-place finish,” White said. “This will be the biggest group we’ve had going to state in a while. We’re going to hold our heads high about that. We’re excited to get up there and run at state.”
Edwardsville capped off the day with a strong finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Franky Romano, Dan Powell, Brandon Battle and Ryan took fourth in 3:23.06 to eclipse the qualifying time of 3:24.07.
Ryan, who ran anchor, is in his first season competing with the track and field team.
“He’s had a great year and has had good times. Every once in awhile we will get one of those seniors to come out for the first time and we knew he had the talent,” Lakatos said. “We also got Dan to switch over from the distance crew and he ran well. Of course, Franky ran well, along with freshman Brandon Battle.”
Amari Brooks got the day started off on the right foot for the Tigers by qualifying in both the discus and shot put.
Brooks qualified in the shot put with a throw of 53-5 and the discus with a throw of 158-11. He finished second to Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (194-3) in the discus and to Chatham Glenwood’s Mikey Ford (54-10) in the shot put.
Kenyon Johnson was also a double qualifier in the field, making it in the long jump and triple jump.
Johnson, a first-time state qualifier, finished 22-5 for first in the long jump and 44-6 for third in the triple jump.
Blake Neville earned a return trip to state in the pole vault. He went 14-6 in the pole vault, surpassing the qualifying mark by a foot. He took second to Bloomington’s Zachery Bradford, who went 17-9.
“This feels pretty satisfying. I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the year, but coming into today I was pretty confident,” said Neville, who had pole vault marks of 13-3 and 13-6 at the beginning of the season.
LaVontas Hairston finished off the strong day in the field events for the Tigers by qualifying in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. It was good for fifth.
Roland Prenzler won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9:24.42. A strong finish lifted Prenzler to his second state meet, as Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel was on his heels until the final 100 meters.
“I was trying to go out a bit quick and then try to hold them off and wear them off early. With about 600 to go, (Wetzel) tried to edge it out a bit but I turned it on from there. I don’t think the last lap has hurt that bad in awhile,” Prenzler said.
Qualifier No. 8 was Romano in the 800-meter race. A future Eastern Illinois Panther, Romano will end his prep career where his college career will start at O’Brien Stadium.
Romano won with a time of 1:54.41, holding off Danville’s Phillip Hall, who finished in 1:54.65.
“I’m super excited to run again on the blue track,” Romano said. “I’m excited to go there and race.
“I went out there and I knew I had to run my race. I kept pushing and I was able to kick it at the end.”
Jack Pifer will make his first trip to state after finishing second in the 1,600-meter run to Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe. Pifer finished with a PR of 4:23.94 to earn his trip to state. O’Keefe won in 4:19.34.
“I am in disbelief. Honestly, I knew that I could run well enough to get to state. It wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I was able to get out there and hold my own,” Pifer said.
Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet.
BELLEVILLE — Nine entries had already qualified for the upcoming Class 3A state boys’ track and field meet, but No. 10 for Edwardsville was the cherry on top of a strong day at the Belleville West Sectional.
The 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:23.36 to qualify for the state meet and send head coach Chad Lakatos into a fist-bumping celebration near the finish line.
“This means a lot. We haven’t ran a qualifying time all year, and it was great to be able to do it today,” said Ben Ryan, who ran anchor in the final race.
The Tigers ran away with the sectional championship. They scored 97 points, outdistancing second-place Bloomington’s 67 points and third-place Belleville West’s 55 points. Alton finished fourth with 52 points.
The sectional championship is the second consecutive for Edwardsville, which won last year in Moline with 13 entries en route to the program’s second state title in three seasons.
Alton’s Redbirds are sending three entries to state, including Jonathon Bumpers in the 300-meter hurdles and their 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.
“We definitely wanted to qualify a few more guys, but we still ran some of our best times of the season. We put it all out on the table. We came up short, but they should hold their heads up because they ran great times,” Alton coach Jeff White said.
The Redbirds enjoyed a strong day in the relays by sending two entries through to state.
The 400-meter relay team of Demontra Wilson, Bumpers, Jaden Singleton and Deonte McGoy finished in 42.37 to take second behind Belleville West.
The 800-meter relay team of Antonio Harrison, Terrance Walker, Wilson and McGoy also took second to West, finishing in 1:29.65.
After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bumpers rebounded in the 300-meter hurdles with a
second-place finish of 39.72. He was only .6 seconds behind Springfield’s Robert Williams.
“It’s a hard sectional to score points in and we’re pretty happy with a fourth-place finish,” White said. “This will be the biggest group we’ve had going to state in a while. We’re going to hold our heads high about that. We’re excited to get up there and run at state.”
Edwardsville capped off the day with a strong finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Franky Romano, Dan Powell, Brandon Battle and Ryan took fourth in 3:23.06 to eclipse the qualifying time of 3:24.07.
Ryan, who ran anchor, is in his first season competing with the track and field team.
“He’s had a great year and has had good times. Every once in awhile we will get one of those seniors to come out for the first time and we knew he had the talent,” Lakatos said. “We also got Dan to switch over from the distance crew and he ran well. Of course, Franky ran well, along with freshman Brandon Battle.”
Amari Brooks got the day started off on the right foot for the Tigers by qualifying in both the discus and shot put.
Brooks qualified in the shot put with a throw of 53-5 and the discus with a throw of 158-11. He finished second to Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (194-3) in the discus and to Chatham Glenwood’s Mikey Ford (54-10) in the shot put.
Kenyon Johnson was also a double qualifier in the field, making it in the long jump and triple jump.
Johnson, a first-time state qualifier, finished 22-5 for first in the long jump and 44-6 for third in the triple jump.
Blake Neville earned a return trip to state in the pole vault. He went 14-6 in the pole vault, surpassing the qualifying mark by a foot. He took second to Bloomington’s Zachery Bradford, who went 17-9.
“This feels pretty satisfying. I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the year, but coming into today I was pretty confident,” said Neville, who had pole vault marks of 13-3 and 13-6 at the beginning of the season.
LaVontas Hairston finished off the strong day in the field events for the Tigers by qualifying in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. It was good for fifth.
Roland Prenzler won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9:24.42. A strong finish lifted Prenzler to his second state meet, as Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel was on his heels until the final 100 meters.
“I was trying to go out a bit quick and then try to hold them off and wear them off early. With about 600 to go, (Wetzel) tried to edge it out a bit but I turned it on from there. I don’t think the last lap has hurt that bad in awhile,” Prenzler said.
Qualifier No. 8 was Romano in the 800-meter race. A future Eastern Illinois Panther, Romano will end his prep career where his college career will start at O’Brien Stadium.
Romano won with a time of 1:54.41, holding off Danville’s Phillip Hall, who finished in 1:54.65.
“I’m super excited to run again on the blue track,” Romano said. “I’m excited to go there and race.
“I went out there and I knew I had to run my race. I kept pushing and I was able to kick it at the end.”
Jack Pifer will make his first trip to state after finishing second in the 1,600-meter run to Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe. Pifer finished with a PR of 4:23.94 to earn his trip to state. O’Keefe won in 4:19.34.
“I am in disbelief. Honestly, I knew that I could run well enough to get to state. It wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I was able to get out there and hold my own,” Pifer said.
Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet.
BELLEVILLE — Nine entries had already qualified for the upcoming Class 3A state boys’ track and field meet, but No. 10 for Edwardsville was the cherry on top of a strong day at the Belleville West Sectional.
The 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:23.36 to qualify for the state meet and send head coach Chad Lakatos into a fist-bumping celebration near the finish line.
“This means a lot. We haven’t ran a qualifying time all year, and it was great to be able to do it today,” said Ben Ryan, who ran anchor in the final race.
The Tigers ran away with the sectional championship. They scored 97 points, outdistancing second-place Bloomington’s 67 points and third-place Belleville West’s 55 points. Alton finished fourth with 52 points.
The sectional championship is the second consecutive for Edwardsville, which won last year in Moline with 13 entries en route to the program’s second state title in three seasons.
Alton’s Redbirds are sending three entries to state, including Jonathon Bumpers in the 300-meter hurdles and their 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.
“We definitely wanted to qualify a few more guys, but we still ran some of our best times of the season. We put it all out on the table. We came up short, but they should hold their heads up because they ran great times,” Alton coach Jeff White said.
The Redbirds enjoyed a strong day in the relays by sending two entries through to state.
The 400-meter relay team of Demontra Wilson, Bumpers, Jaden Singleton and Deonte McGoy finished in 42.37 to take second behind Belleville West.
The 800-meter relay team of Antonio Harrison, Terrance Walker, Wilson and McGoy also took second to West, finishing in 1:29.65.
After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bumpers rebounded in the 300-meter hurdles with a
second-place finish of 39.72. He was only .6 seconds behind Springfield’s Robert Williams.
“It’s a hard sectional to score points in and we’re pretty happy with a fourth-place finish,” White said. “This will be the biggest group we’ve had going to state in a while. We’re going to hold our heads high about that. We’re excited to get up there and run at state.”
Edwardsville capped off the day with a strong finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Franky Romano, Dan Powell, Brandon Battle and Ryan took fourth in 3:23.06 to eclipse the qualifying time of 3:24.07.
Ryan, who ran anchor, is in his first season competing with the track and field team.
“He’s had a great year and has had good times. Every once in awhile we will get one of those seniors to come out for the first time and we knew he had the talent,” Lakatos said. “We also got Dan to switch over from the distance crew and he ran well. Of course, Franky ran well, along with freshman Brandon Battle.”
Amari Brooks got the day started off on the right foot for the Tigers by qualifying in both the discus and shot put.
Brooks qualified in the shot put with a throw of 53-5 and the discus with a throw of 158-11. He finished second to Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (194-3) in the discus and to Chatham Glenwood’s Mikey Ford (54-10) in the shot put.
Kenyon Johnson was also a double qualifier in the field, making it in the long jump and triple jump.
Johnson, a first-time state qualifier, finished 22-5 for first in the long jump and 44-6 for third in the triple jump.
Blake Neville earned a return trip to state in the pole vault. He went 14-6 in the pole vault, surpassing the qualifying mark by a foot. He took second to Bloomington’s Zachery Bradford, who went 17-9.
“This feels pretty satisfying. I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the year, but coming into today I was pretty confident,” said Neville, who had pole vault marks of 13-3 and 13-6 at the beginning of the season.
LaVontas Hairston finished off the strong day in the field events for the Tigers by qualifying in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. It was good for fifth.
Roland Prenzler won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9:24.42. A strong finish lifted Prenzler to his second state meet, as Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel was on his heels until the final 100 meters.
“I was trying to go out a bit quick and then try to hold them off and wear them off early. With about 600 to go, (Wetzel) tried to edge it out a bit but I turned it on from there. I don’t think the last lap has hurt that bad in awhile,” Prenzler said.
Qualifier No. 8 was Romano in the 800-meter race. A future Eastern Illinois Panther, Romano will end his prep career where his college career will start at O’Brien Stadium.
Romano won with a time of 1:54.41, holding off Danville’s Phillip Hall, who finished in 1:54.65.
“I’m super excited to run again on the blue track,” Romano said. “I’m excited to go there and race.
“I went out there and I knew I had to run my race. I kept pushing and I was able to kick it at the end.”
Jack Pifer will make his first trip to state after finishing second in the 1,600-meter run to Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe. Pifer finished with a PR of 4:23.94 to earn his trip to state. O’Keefe won in 4:19.34.
“I am in disbelief. Honestly, I knew that I could run well enough to get to state. It wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I was able to get out there and hold my own,” Pifer said.
EHS holds off Alton, sweeps MadCo Meet - The Telegraph - 4/25/2018
Updated on 06/10/2022
MADCO TRACK: EHS holds off Alton, sweeps MadCo meets
EHS holds off Alton, sweeps MadCo meets
Scott Marion, scott.marion@hearstil.com
Published 10:13 pm, Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Photo:
Scott Marion | For The Telegraph
Alton senior David Weaver competes in the discus during Tuesday’s Madison County Large School Meet at Highland. Weaver placed third with a throw of 136-9.
HIGHLAND — Edwardsville held off strong challenges from Alton and swept to the championships of Tuesday’s Madison County Large School Track Meet at Highland.
The EHS boys won their 10th consecutive county championship, scoring 167.5 points while the second-place Redbirds had 154.5 points. Collinsville (146.5), Collinsville (102), Granite City (68) and host Highland (46.5) rounded out the six-team field.
The EHS girls earned their 18th consecutive county title, outscoring runner-up Alton 172.5-155. Collinsville (131.5), Triad (83), Highland (76) and Granite City (71) placed third through sixth, respectively.
In placing second, the Alton boys and girls produced some impressive results.
The Redbirds girls had seven first-place finishes, including senior Katie Mans, who was a double winner in the high jump (5-4) and the 400-meter run (1:00.35).
Other individual winners for the Alton girls were Lauren Weiner in the pole vault (8-2), Laila McNeal in the long jump (17-1.25) and Sierra Stahlschmidt in the 100-meter hurdles (16.97).
The Redbirds also posted winning times in the 400-meter relay (49:14 and the 800-meter relay (1:46.46).
“We would have liked to have won, but this is probably the closest we’ve been to Edwardsville,” Alton girls coach Jada Moore said. “It’s a respectful rivalry — the coaches get along great and the girls get along as well.”
The Alton boys had three first-place finishes, including Jonathon Bumpers, who was a double winner in the 110-meter hurdles (15.87) and the 300-meter hurdles (39.97).
The Redbirds also won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 43.83.
“We are happy with the group that we brought today,” Alton boys coach Jeff White said. “We have guys out for various reasons, but these guys have really picked up our team the last few meets. I feel better about them every time we come out to a meet.”
The Edwardsville boys won 10 events, including two relays and eight individual events.
“Our kids fought well. We had some events that we had to scratch out due to some injuries, but overall we had a good meet,” EHS coach Chad Lakatos said. “We had a lot of effort to compile to the team total and that’s what I continue to tell the kids. We have to have everybody coming together because that’s what a team is about.”
Victories for boys included the triple jump, where junior Jackie Townsend set a personal record of 44-15 after scratching on his first attempt.
Junior Amari Brooks was a double winner in the shot (51-1.25) and the discus (161-1).
The Tigers’ dominance in field events didn’t end there.
In the pole vault, senior Blake Neville took first place with a leap of 13-6.
EHS junior Kenyon Johnson win the long jump with a leap of 20-8.
Another personal record was set by sophomore Jack Pifer, who won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:29.02.
Tigers senior Frankie Romano had another strong meet, winning the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.87. Romano fell just short of the meet record of 1:55.79 set by former EHS runner Wes Schoenthal in 2015.
Edwardsville’s 800-meter relay team of Kendall Abdur-Rahman, Ben Ryan, Brandon Battle and Matt Swanson, placed first with a season-best time of 1:31.87.
In the final event of the day, the Tigers’ 1,600-meter relay, comprised of Dan Powell, Romano, Ryan and Battle finished first with a time of 3:26.23.
On the girls’ side, Edwardsville won six events, including two relays and four individual events.
“We put some girls in some different events just trying to accummuiate points and they really came through,” EHS coach Camilla Eberlin said.
The highlight of the day for the Tigers may have come in the 800-meter run, where sophomore Abby Korak set a meet record of 2:16.77. The old record of 2:16.90 was set by Edwardsville’s Julie Barringer in 1984.
Senior teammate Lorie Cashdollar placed to Korak with a season-best time of 2:17.07.
EHS also had one-two finishes in two other races.
In the 1,600-meter run, Korak posted a winning time of 5:17.11 while senior Melssia Spencer was second with a personal record of 5:18.99.
In the 3,200-meter run, junior Abby Schrobilgen was first in 11:28.29 while junior Hannah Stuart was second with a time of 11:35.38.
The Tigers’ 3,200-meter relay, featuring Elise Krone, Maddie Miller, Kaitlyn Loyet and Kaitlyn Singh, posted a winning time of 10:09.09.
Edwardsville’s 1,600-meter relay, comprised of Cashdollar, Miller, Loyet and Swanson, capped the girls’ meet with a first-place time of 4:08.84.
MADCO TRACK: EHS holds off Alton, sweeps MadCo meets
EHS holds off Alton, sweeps MadCo meets
Scott Marion, scott.marion@hearstil.com
Published 10:13 pm, Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Photo:
Scott Marion | For The Telegraph
Alton senior David Weaver competes in the discus during Tuesday’s Madison County Large School Meet at Highland. Weaver placed third with a throw of 136-9.
HIGHLAND — Edwardsville held off strong challenges from Alton and swept to the championships of Tuesday’s Madison County Large School Track Meet at Highland.
The EHS boys won their 10th consecutive county championship, scoring 167.5 points while the second-place Redbirds had 154.5 points. Collinsville (146.5), Collinsville (102), Granite City (68) and host Highland (46.5) rounded out the six-team field.
The EHS girls earned their 18th consecutive county title, outscoring runner-up Alton 172.5-155. Collinsville (131.5), Triad (83), Highland (76) and Granite City (71) placed third through sixth, respectively.
In placing second, the Alton boys and girls produced some impressive results.
The Redbirds girls had seven first-place finishes, including senior Katie Mans, who was a double winner in the high jump (5-4) and the 400-meter run (1:00.35).
Other individual winners for the Alton girls were Lauren Weiner in the pole vault (8-2), Laila McNeal in the long jump (17-1.25) and Sierra Stahlschmidt in the 100-meter hurdles (16.97).
The Redbirds also posted winning times in the 400-meter relay (49:14 and the 800-meter relay (1:46.46).
“We would have liked to have won, but this is probably the closest we’ve been to Edwardsville,” Alton girls coach Jada Moore said. “It’s a respectful rivalry — the coaches get along great and the girls get along as well.”
The Alton boys had three first-place finishes, including Jonathon Bumpers, who was a double winner in the 110-meter hurdles (15.87) and the 300-meter hurdles (39.97).
The Redbirds also won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 43.83.
“We are happy with the group that we brought today,” Alton boys coach Jeff White said. “We have guys out for various reasons, but these guys have really picked up our team the last few meets. I feel better about them every time we come out to a meet.”
The Edwardsville boys won 10 events, including two relays and eight individual events.
“Our kids fought well. We had some events that we had to scratch out due to some injuries, but overall we had a good meet,” EHS coach Chad Lakatos said. “We had a lot of effort to compile to the team total and that’s what I continue to tell the kids. We have to have everybody coming together because that’s what a team is about.”
Victories for boys included the triple jump, where junior Jackie Townsend set a personal record of 44-15 after scratching on his first attempt.
Junior Amari Brooks was a double winner in the shot (51-1.25) and the discus (161-1).
The Tigers’ dominance in field events didn’t end there.
In the pole vault, senior Blake Neville took first place with a leap of 13-6.
EHS junior Kenyon Johnson win the long jump with a leap of 20-8.
Another personal record was set by sophomore Jack Pifer, who won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:29.02.
Tigers senior Frankie Romano had another strong meet, winning the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.87. Romano fell just short of the meet record of 1:55.79 set by former EHS runner Wes Schoenthal in 2015.
Edwardsville’s 800-meter relay team of Kendall Abdur-Rahman, Ben Ryan, Brandon Battle and Matt Swanson, placed first with a season-best time of 1:31.87.
In the final event of the day, the Tigers’ 1,600-meter relay, comprised of Dan Powell, Romano, Ryan and Battle finished first with a time of 3:26.23.
On the girls’ side, Edwardsville won six events, including two relays and four individual events.
“We put some girls in some different events just trying to accummuiate points and they really came through,” EHS coach Camilla Eberlin said.
The highlight of the day for the Tigers may have come in the 800-meter run, where sophomore Abby Korak set a meet record of 2:16.77. The old record of 2:16.90 was set by Edwardsville’s Julie Barringer in 1984.
Senior teammate Lorie Cashdollar placed to Korak with a season-best time of 2:17.07.
EHS also had one-two finishes in two other races.
In the 1,600-meter run, Korak posted a winning time of 5:17.11 while senior Melssia Spencer was second with a personal record of 5:18.99.
In the 3,200-meter run, junior Abby Schrobilgen was first in 11:28.29 while junior Hannah Stuart was second with a time of 11:35.38.
The Tigers’ 3,200-meter relay, featuring Elise Krone, Maddie Miller, Kaitlyn Loyet and Kaitlyn Singh, posted a winning time of 10:09.09.
Edwardsville’s 1,600-meter relay, comprised of Cashdollar, Miller, Loyet and Swanson, capped the girls’ meet with a first-place time of 4:08.84.
Redbird boys track and field coach expects the best for rest of season - Riverbender.com - 4/19/2018
ALTON - Alton head boys track coach Jeff White is convinced the best is yet to come from his boys track and field team.
After a slow time because of bad weather, the Redbirds boys track and field team hosted a freshman-sophomore invitational, then traveled to the Norm Armstrong Invitational at Belleville West, and then the Warrior Relays this past Friday in Granite City.
Coach White's hopes are high after observing the performances of his team in two key meets and the knowledge that a few key athletes have nursed injuries but are coming back.
One of the shining stars for the Redbirds has been hurdler/long jumper Jonathan Bumpers. Bumpers has consistently won the 300-meter hurdle races this season. He ran a 39.35 against some top competition at Belleville West and was also fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles (15.71) in the same meet.
“For Jonathan to do what he did against the competition that was at the Belleville West Meet was a great place to start his outdoor season,” White said. “We think he will be one of the top hurdlers in the state this year. He is a senior and really wanted to focus on track this year. We have worked with Jonathan on his technique and it has really paid off.”
Bumpers was eighth place in the 60-meter hurdles at the state indoor meet and seems ready to hit the ground running this outdoor season, White said.
Long jumpers Ahmad Sanders and Antonio Harrison are also off to great starts in the long jumps. Sanders went 21-6 at Belleville West and Harris 20-8.
Both have “really been working on their jump techniques,” Coach White said. Ju’qui Womack has also been competitive in the triple jump for the Redbirds.
Cassius Havis remains a force for Alton in the middle distances - 800 and 1,600 meters.
“We think Cassius will be in the 4:20s in the 1,600 by the end of the season,” White said. “He set the meet record in the 1,600 at the freshman-sophomore meet. He is a very talented kid and he competes and goes out hard.” To date, Havis has recorded a 4:33.7 in the 1,600.
The Redbirds’ Earlie Brown was seventh in the 100 and eighth in the 200 at Belleville with times of 11.24 and 22.59.
Deonte’ McCoy was third at the state indoor meet in the 60 with a time of 7.02, so he is expected to be a strong force in the sprints and sprint relays for Alton. Terry Walker is another key competitor for relays, White said. White said he believes Alton’s 4 x 100 relay will be one of the best in the state. Kelvin Cummings is another Redbird who will be competitive in the middle to distance races.
White said he thinks the Redbirds are going to be a sleeper team with their immense talent in all the events.
“We have talent spread out in the sprints, jumps, relays and throws and we think we can come out and compete pretty well,” he said. “I think we will have some kids make it to state. We will be a fast team with some great overall depth and versatility.”
GRANITE CITY – Edwardsville High School's track team, led by Amari Brooks, who won both the shot put and discus throw with personal records, finished second at the Granite City Invitational boys track meet Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, scoring 84 points, edging Belleville West by a point. Alton finished sixth with 54.5 points, the host Warriors right behind in seventh with 51.5. Jersey finished in 15th place in the 16-team field, scoring five points. Mascoutah won the meet with 93 points.
Brooks won the discus with a throw of 164 feet, two inches, and the shot with a throw of 52 feet, three inches.
“It looked strong – I was actually over there for both of those (personal records),” said Tiger coach Chad Lakatos. “The wind definitely helped him, but sometimes, that's what you get. It's a big thrill – 160s will definitely get you on the medal stand at state. Both of them were P.R.s in the shot and disc.
“He just continues to improve,” Lakatos continued about Brooks. “Coach (Matt) Martin does a great job with our throwers, and Amari's obviously talented. You put a good coach and a talented athlete together, good things will happen. So I'm happy with Amari, and I hope he can continue to get better.”
The Warriors' Andrew O'Keefe was named athlete of the meet with wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs, with times of 4:21.23 and 9:36.21. In addition, the sprint relay teams all had top-eight finishes.
“This was probably our best finish of the season, and our guys really stepped up,” said Granite coach Tom Miller. “We medaled in all the sprint relays, which was a big deal today. We haven't done that in a while. Our sprinters have really been coming along this year, and what's really great, all our relays are mostly underclassmen, except for one senior (Eugene Williba). Eugene's doing a great job being a leader for us. Two seniors for us – Jordan Smith and Tyra Tindall – both stepped up and filled in the relays for us.
“Andrew O'Keefe stepped up for us,” Miller continued. “He was the track athlete of the meet, and won the mile and two-mile in amazing times, especially in heavy wind. The season's going great; we lost a lot of seniors from last year, and we only have a few this year, and not too many juniors. The bulk of our team is sophomores, and we have a few good freshmen. It's been a good year so far.”
O'Keefe won his heat in an entertaining race over Edwardsville's Franky Romano that had the crowd cheering to the end.
“O'Keefe's a great runner, and he's proven it the last couple of years,” Lakatos said. “I was happy the way our kids competed, and it makes for an exciting day. Sometimes, it's about the strengths, but you can see the showdown between O'Keefe and Franky Romano put on. It makes for an exciting distance atmosphere as well.”
Alton had a surprise third-place finish in the discus, with David Weaver lofting a throw of 156 feet, two inches, while Johnathan Bumpers took first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of: 41.30. The sprint relay teams did well, finishing fifth in both the 4x100 and 4x200 meter races, and finished fourth in the 4x400 race.
“We're happy,' said Redbird coach Jeff White. “We're using some of our different runners today, some of our freshmen and sophomores. We were shorthanded this week, so we were missing a few of our top sprinters. But it was really great to see these guys come out and compete. We've been scoring points, and racing, competing in this stuff, and we're really happy with how we've done today with the guys we brought.”
Jersey's strength was in the relays as well, bringing home a sixth in the 4x800 relay and an eighth in the 4x400. The Panthers were coming off a busy week, and performed very well.
“We've got a high-powered meet,” said Jersey coach Harold Landon. “We're coming off a good week, where we won a quadrangular at (Civic Memorial), we had our Jersey Relays on Wednesday, and we won that five-team meet. And now, we're now bigger; a lot more talent at this meet. But we did well; our 4x800 got sixth place, our 4x400 was eighth. And some of our individual runners got some personal bests today.”
As far as individual runners who did well, Landon pointed to his three top seniors, Tom Rexing, Lucas Ross and Austin Koenig.
“Well, Tom Rexing was our top hurdler. . .I know he got :16.7 in the 110 hurdles,” Landon said. “Lucas Ross, he's our anchor leg in 4x100, 4x200, 4x400. Another senior who's really doing well for us is Austin Koenig. He ran a solid leg in the 4x800, and he's going to lead off the 4x400 for us. Those three seniors are kind of leading the way for us, and they need to be. And so, they're doing a good job, just not in leading the way, but senior leadership as well.”
And coming nearly at the halfway point of the season, the teams can use it as a gauge for their progress, even with the uncooperative weather conditions that has disrupted the entire spring sports season.
“This is the most talent we're going to be running against all year long,” Landon said. “There's some (Mississippi Valley) conference schools here; Mascoutah and Highland, Waterloo, so it was nice to see those schools as well.”
For the Panthers, Landon has some simple goals as they go through the rest of the season.
“Stay injury free, and better weather,” Landon said with a laugh. “As I said, injury free, and still improving our times. We've had some inclement weather, and really, with the inclement weather, we've had some good times and distances on our field events. If we get some warmer weather, I think you'll see our times come down more.”
“There's some good competition here,” White said. “Collinsville is really good this year, and there's some really good Class 2A teams here, like Marion and Mascoutah. They're both very good teams, and there's no easy races today for sure. And it's great to see this competition, to get out and have some decent temperatures to run in.”
And despite the bad weather, the Redbirds have been raring to go.
“It's been really hard with the weather,” White said. “We feel like we're a few weeks behind where we should be. But our guys are also very hungry to get out there and compete. They've just been dying for the competition the last couple of weeks, and we haven't been able to do it. So when they get out here, they're really excited to run. So that's good to see.”
And once the weather keeps getting better, Alton could turn out to be one of the surprise teams of the season.
“I think we're going to be pretty good, without a doubt, in a couple of weeks here,” White said, “when we get tuned up a little bit more and we get a couple of guys back. I think we're really going to turn some heads this year. We've got Johnathan Bumpers who won the 300-meter hurdles, and he's number one in the state in that right now, which is awesome. And then, we also had a great performance today with David Weaver in the discus. He was a surprise for us, and he got third place and was throwing over the state qualifying mark. So, we feel in a few weeks, we're going to shock some people.”
The Warriors also feel confident about their prospects going into the final weeks of the season.
“There's definitely some growing going on,” Miller said. “They've been patient with this weather, coming to practice every day. I'm really happy with this group of kids.”
Edwardsville's balance has been a big plus for them, and you can expect it to carry over into the final weeks.
“We try to attack and be smart with it,” Lakatos said, “but we're not getting greedy. I didn't go into Belleville West expecting to get second, I didn't come in here expecting to get third. We just put a meet lineup together and do the best we can. Because we are a well-balanced team, good things happen for us, and next week's going to be different for our team.”
Edwardsville will be hosting its Senior Night meet next Thursday night, then host the Winston Brown Invitational meet on April 21. And the Tigers are relishing the chance to run on their home track as well.
“Anytime you can run at home, it's a good feeling, and it's Senior Night, and that's special for them, too,” Lakatos said. “They're used to practicing there, and we always run well at home. So hopefully, we can put up some good times next week.”
GRANITE CITY INVITATIONAL BOYS TRACK AND FIELD MEET RESULTS
800 METERS: Wyatt Henning, Edwardsville, eighth (2:09.80); Jeremiah Perry, Granite City, ninth (2:10.11); Max Hartman, Edwardsville, 13th (2:11.69); Tony Harold, Granite City, 16th (2:17.33); Asher Stidd, Jersey, 17th (2:18.77); Jeff Guardado, Jersey, 20th (2:21.20); Lucas Tankersly, Alton, 24th (2:29.82)
1,600 METERS: Andrew O'Keefe, Granite City, first (4:21.23); Franky Romano, Edwardsville, second (4:24.81); Zach Walters, Edwardsville, sixth (4:40.81); Andrew Bertman, Jersey, ninth (4:56.47); Christian Cazier, Jersey, 16th (5:16.95)
3,200 METERS: Andrew O'Keefe, Granite City, first (9:36.21); Roland Prenzler, Edwardsville, second (9:44.87); Jack Pfifer, Edwardsville, third (10:00.60); Jack Blomme, Granite City, eighth (10:56.95); Daniel Rojo, Alton, 14th (11:54.62)
SHOT PUT: Amari Brooks, Edwardsville, first (52-3); Blake Williams, Edwardsville, third (48-5); Myles Marfell, Alton, sixth (43-6.5); Anthony Guzman, Granite City, 10th (39-0); Donovan Porter, Alton, 15th (37-11); Kurt Clark, Granite City, 18th (35-3.5)
DISCUS THROW: Amari Brooks, Edwardsville, first (164-2); David Weaver, Alton, third (156-2); Anthony Guzman, Granite City, sixth (140-5); Cameron Kirkpatrick, Edwardsville, seventh (138-4); Myles Marfell, Alton, ninth (133-5); Kurt Clark, Granite City, 11th (121-10)
GRANITE CITY – Edwardsville High School's track team, led by Amari Brooks, who won both the shot put and discus throw with personal records, finished second at the Granite City Invitational boys track meet Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, scoring 84 points, edging Belleville West by a point. Alton finished sixth with 54.5 points, the host Warriors right behind in seventh with 51.5. Jersey finished in 15th place in the 16-team field, scoring five points. Mascoutah won the meet with 93 points.
Brooks won the discus with a throw of 164 feet, two inches, and the shot with a throw of 52 feet, three inches.
“It looked strong – I was actually over there for both of those (personal records),” said Tiger coach Chad Lakatos. “The wind definitely helped him, but sometimes, that's what you get. It's a big thrill – 160s will definitely get you on the medal stand at state. Both of them were P.R.s in the shot and disc.
“He just continues to improve,” Lakatos continued about Brooks. “Coach (Matt) Martin does a great job with our throwers, and Amari's obviously talented. You put a good coach and a talented athlete together, good things will happen. So I'm happy with Amari, and I hope he can continue to get better.”
The Warriors' Andrew O'Keefe was named athlete of the meet with wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs, with times of 4:21.23 and 9:36.21. In addition, the sprint relay teams all had top-eight finishes.
“This was probably our best finish of the season, and our guys really stepped up,” said Granite coach Tom Miller. “We medaled in all the sprint relays, which was a big deal today. We haven't done that in a while. Our sprinters have really been coming along this year, and what's really great, all our relays are mostly underclassmen, except for one senior (Eugene Williba). Eugene's doing a great job being a leader for us. Two seniors for us – Jordan Smith and Tyra Tindall – both stepped up and filled in the relays for us.
“Andrew O'Keefe stepped up for us,” Miller continued. “He was the track athlete of the meet, and won the mile and two-mile in amazing times, especially in heavy wind. The season's going great; we lost a lot of seniors from last year, and we only have a few this year, and not too many juniors. The bulk of our team is sophomores, and we have a few good freshmen. It's been a good year so far.”
O'Keefe won his heat in an entertaining race over Edwardsville's Franky Romano that had the crowd cheering to the end.
“O'Keefe's a great runner, and he's proven it the last couple of years,” Lakatos said. “I was happy the way our kids competed, and it makes for an exciting day. Sometimes, it's about the strengths, but you can see the showdown between O'Keefe and Franky Romano put on. It makes for an exciting distance atmosphere as well.”
Alton had a surprise third-place finish in the discus, with David Weaver lofting a throw of 156 feet, two inches, while Johnathan Bumpers took first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of: 41.30. The sprint relay teams did well, finishing fifth in both the 4x100 and 4x200 meter races, and finished fourth in the 4x400 race.
“We're happy,' said Redbird coach Jeff White. “We're using some of our different runners today, some of our freshmen and sophomores. We were shorthanded this week, so we were missing a few of our top sprinters. But it was really great to see these guys come out and compete. We've been scoring points, and racing, competing in this stuff, and we're really happy with how we've done today with the guys we brought.”
Jersey's strength was in the relays as well, bringing home a sixth in the 4x800 relay and an eighth in the 4x400. The Panthers were coming off a busy week, and performed very well.
“We've got a high-powered meet,” said Jersey coach Harold Landon. “We're coming off a good week, where we won a quadrangular at (Civic Memorial), we had our Jersey Relays on Wednesday, and we won that five-team meet. And now, we're now bigger; a lot more talent at this meet. But we did well; our 4x800 got sixth place, our 4x400 was eighth. And some of our individual runners got some personal bests today.”
As far as individual runners who did well, Landon pointed to his three top seniors, Tom Rexing, Lucas Ross and Austin Koenig.
“Well, Tom Rexing was our top hurdler. . .I know he got :16.7 in the 110 hurdles,” Landon said. “Lucas Ross, he's our anchor leg in 4x100, 4x200, 4x400. Another senior who's really doing well for us is Austin Koenig. He ran a solid leg in the 4x800, and he's going to lead off the 4x400 for us. Those three seniors are kind of leading the way for us, and they need to be. And so, they're doing a good job, just not in leading the way, but senior leadership as well.”
And coming nearly at the halfway point of the season, the teams can use it as a gauge for their progress, even with the uncooperative weather conditions that has disrupted the entire spring sports season.
“This is the most talent we're going to be running against all year long,” Landon said. “There's some (Mississippi Valley) conference schools here; Mascoutah and Highland, Waterloo, so it was nice to see those schools as well.”
For the Panthers, Landon has some simple goals as they go through the rest of the season.
“Stay injury free, and better weather,” Landon said with a laugh. “As I said, injury free, and still improving our times. We've had some inclement weather, and really, with the inclement weather, we've had some good times and distances on our field events. If we get some warmer weather, I think you'll see our times come down more.”
“There's some good competition here,” White said. “Collinsville is really good this year, and there's some really good Class 2A teams here, like Marion and Mascoutah. They're both very good teams, and there's no easy races today for sure. And it's great to see this competition, to get out and have some decent temperatures to run in.”
And despite the bad weather, the Redbirds have been raring to go.
“It's been really hard with the weather,” White said. “We feel like we're a few weeks behind where we should be. But our guys are also very hungry to get out there and compete. They've just been dying for the competition the last couple of weeks, and we haven't been able to do it. So when they get out here, they're really excited to run. So that's good to see.”
And once the weather keeps getting better, Alton could turn out to be one of the surprise teams of the season.
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Tigers, Redbirds turn in top performances in Edwardsville Indoor Invite - Riverbender.com - 3/10/2018
Updated on 06/10/2022
Tigers, Redbirds turn in top performances in Edwardsville Indoor Invitational
by Brent Feeney
published March 10 2018 1:20 PM
updated March 10 2018 1:22 PM
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ELSAH – Preparations for the upcoming boys track and field season are well under way for both Alton and Edwardsville's teams.
The Tigers and Redbirds took the opportunity to get ready for the season by meeting some good competition Friday night at the Tiger Indoor Invitational meet, which took place at Principia College's Crafton Center. No team scores were kept for the meet.
The meet attracted what Tiger coach Chad Lakatos called “good-quality teams; when you can bring those guys together, it makes for a good meet. I'm pretty happy with the overall performance for our guys, but we still have some work to do. The indoor season is a good way to prepare; with the way the weather's been, it's been tough to get out with our sprinters and do some workouts, so we look at these types of meets as a workout for us.
“We got guys to be able to compete in some different events – I'm pleased. Obviously, there's some things we did really well and some things we still need to work on; it's a long season and I think we're taking steps in the right direction.”
“It was a great opportunity for us to race against some really good competition,” said Redbird coach Jeff White. “We've been doing pretty well this indoor season and it's starting to kind of come together for us right now; we indoor track meets a lot ot get in some really hard practices and get our times down so when we get outside, we're ready to go.
“We've got a really good balance right now between distance and sprints; we also have a really good freshman-sophomore class as well. We feel like we're pretty good at all levels in most events that we compete in.”
The highlight of the meet came in the 800 meters, where the top three runners in the race – including race winner Franky Romano of Edwardsville – topped the meet record for the event, Romano covering the distance in 1:57.05, followed by Carthage Illini West's Jacob Bryan in 1:57.79 and East St. Louis' Bryaun Manuel in 1:58.59, all faster than the previous mark of 1:59.02 set by O'Fallon's Chris Conrad the year before. Alton's Cassius Havis wasn't far behind, taking fourth place in 1:59.56, with the Redbirds' Kelvin Cummngs fifth in 2:01.06.
Other Edwardsvillew winners on the night included Blake Neville in the pole vault (who had a winning height of 13-6), Zach Walters in the 3,200 meters (10:04.48) and Roland Prenzler in the 1,600 meters (4:29.86); Alton's only winner on the night came from the 4x200 relay team of Earlie Brown, Demontra Wilson, Jonathan Bumpers and Terry Walker (1:33.48).
Feeney, 56, is a native of Granite City and graduated from Granite City South in 1978. He was a part-time writer for the old Granite City Journal from 1979-84 before attending Eastern Illinois University in Charleston,
from which he earned his BA in journalism in 1988. He has worked for newspapers in Sikeston, Mo., Rocky Mount, N.C., Seneca, S.C. and in Charleston-Mattoon. He also worked for the old St. Clair County Suburban
Journals.
