By Michael Newman

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Here is a glimpse of what happened at each of the 2A Boys Sectional Meets that took place on May 22-23, 2014 throughout Illinois

THURSDAY

Chicago Orr Sectional (at Hanson Stadium)

Highlights

• Payton Prep easily won this sectional Thursday afternoon at Hanson Stadium with 157 points. They qualified 10 to next week’s state meet. Payton’s Evan Lowry was a double winner winning the 110 High Hurdles (15.03) and the 300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles (41.90).

Dolton Thornridge Sectional

Highlights

• Illiana Christian’s strength in the distances gave them a boost and the sectional championship scoring 91 ½ points. Host Thornridge finished second with 75 points. Illiana qualified 9 to Charleston.

• Illiana swept the distance events winning 3200 relay (8:18.91). They went 1-2 in the 3200, 800, and 1600. Nick Wondall won the 3200 Meter Run (9:43.50), Kevin Vreogh won the 800 (1:57.82), and Nick Fiene won the 1600 (4:24.10).

Dunlap Sectional

Highlights

• Dunlap scored 108 points and advanced nine in winning their own sectional.

• Josh Eiker (Galesburg HS) could help his team place in the top five at state. Eiker won the 100 Meter Dash (10.95), 200 Meter Dash (21.82), and anchored their winning 400 Meter Relay (43.00) and 2^nd place 800 Meter Relay behind Dunlap (1:30.09).

• JD Lafayette (University HS, Normal) is having a great season. That continued at this sectional meet when he won the 800 (1:56.33). He won the 1600 (4:23.63). In that race, seven athletes went under the 2A qualifying standard. Metamora could be a factor in the 3200 Relay at state. They won the sectional title (8:04.46) just ahead of Stanford Olympia, Peoria Richwoods, and Normal University who all qualified.  

Herrin Sectional

Highlights

• Three time 2A defending champion Cahokia dominated winning all 4 relays and qualifying 12 individuals in winning the sectional with 152 ½ points. Carbondale and Mt. Vernon tied for second place with 60 points.

• Ja’Mari Ward (Cahokia HS only took two jumps total in both the Long and Triple Jump. The state’s list leader in the Long Jump soared to a 24-0 to win the event. He only jumped 46-2 to qualify for state. That was the only one he took. Teammate Jalon Monigan won the event (46-3 ½).

• Gary Hickman (Cahokia HS) will be one of the favorites in both of the hurdle events in Charleston. He won both in this sectional. His 14.41 was only seventeen hundredths ahead of teammate Korrion Session. Hickman came back to win the 300 Intermediate Hurdles (38.31) just ahead of second place Kalvin Johnson (Centralia HS).

• Tayvonne Landry (Carbondale HS) will make his presence known at state. He will be one of the favorites in the two events he won Thursday night. Landry won the 400 Meter Dash just missing going under 49 seconds (49.03). Landry completed a good double winning the 200 Meter Dash (21.91) just ahead of Robert Grider (Mt. Vernon HS) by nine hundredth of a second (21.91 – 22.00).

• The Affolders were in control of distances in this meet. Freshman Noah Affolder won the 3200 Meter Run (9:39.03) seven seconds ahead of Ben Richter (Triad HS, Troy). Senior Murphy Affolder ran a great race running 4:21.36 to win the 1600 Meter Run just ahead of David Modert (Mt. Vernon HS). Noah finished sixth in the race also qualifying. State meet will be the last race in Illinois for both. Murphy has graduated and will be attending St. Louis Pharmaceutical School. Noah will be moving with his family to New York in June.

FRIDAY

Burlington Central Sectional

Highlights

• Kaneland has been waiting for the state meet all season. They dominated this sectional qualifying 15 individuals and all four relays winning by more than 100 points with 183 points. Host Burlington Central was next with 75 ½ points. All four of their relays could score points at state.

• Nate Dyer was a double winner for Kaneland winning the Shot Put (56-2) and the Discus (164-8). Defending 2A 200 champion Dion Hooker (Sycamore HS) looks ready to repeat. Hooker won the 100 (10.75) as well as the 200 (21.89). Simon Thorpe (Dixon HS) was also a double winner in the 3200 (9:29.42) and the 1600 (4:28.86).

• Lucas Ege (Central HS, Burlington) will be an athlete to watch in Charleston in both hurdle races. He won the 110 High Hurdles (14.58), then came back to run the best 2A time in the 300 Intermediate Hurdles (37.99) for the win.

Champaign Centennial Sectional

Highlights

• Champaign Centennial continued a trend of 2a host schools winning their own sectional meet. The Chargers scored 113 ½ points to finish ahead of Mahomet-Seymour (79 points). Centennial looked strong winning the 400 Meter Relay (43.33) and the 800 Relay (1:29.94). They qualified 9 overall for the short trip to Charleston.

• Keep an eye on Alex Keeble (Mahomet-Seymour HS) in the 3200 Meter Run. He won the race in this sectional (9:27.58). Taylor Garnett (Charleston HS) could be a surprise in the 800 Meter Run at state. Garnett ran 1:56.53 to win the sectional ahead of a surprising Sean Zerrusen (Effingham HS).

Chicago Phillips Sectional (at Hanson Stadium)

Highlights

Dunbar won the team championship at this Hanson Stadium sectional (part 2). They scored 133 points ahead of second place DuSable (84 points). Demoria Harris (Dunbar HS, Chicago) will be one of the sprint favorites at Charleston. He won the 100 Meter Dash (10.80) and the 200 Meter Dash (21.85) at this sectional. He was also part of Dunbar’s sprint relays. Dunbar won the 400 Meter Relay (43.35) after a disqualification eliminated pre-race favorite Phillips. In the 800 relay, it was Phillips that won the event (1:29.43) almost a second ahead of Dunbar.

Glen Ellyn Glenbard South Sectional

Highlights

• Host Glenbard South was an easy winner scoring 163 points almost doubling the score of second place Evergreen Park. The Raiders advanced 11 to Charleston. Joe Singleton could score some big points for his team. The senior won the 3200 (9:24.47) by fifteen seconds ahead of Brixton Rill (Fenwick HS, Oak Park). Singleton just a tough finishing kick to win the 1600 (4:21.14) ahead of Sal Flight (Fenwick HS, Oak Park).

• Wheaton Academy swept the sprints. Sophomore Ty Seager won both the 100 (10.97) and the 200 (22.08). Matt Ruff could contend for a top finish at state in the 400. He won the 400 Meter Dash by more than a second (49.71).

Grayslake Central Sectional

Highlights

• Grayslake Central advanced ten in winning their own sectional with 115 points. The meet’s closest race was the 3200 when Kyle Whitney (Vernon Hills HS) edged Nick Brey (St. Viator HS, Arlington Heights) by less than a second (9:32.12 – 9:33.07).

Mendota Sectional

Highlights

• Geneseo advanced seven to Charleston in winning this sectional with 91 points. Plano was next with 72 points. Geneseo’s AJ Marmion was a double winner in the Shot Put (54-7) and the Discus (165-3).

• Zach Hird (Alleman HS, Rock Island) doubled up in the distances with fairly easy wins. He coasted to a win in the 3200 (9:32.82) by 27 seconds ahead of teammate Matthew Mallory. He won easily also in the 1600 running a comfortable 4:31.28 to win by more than 10 seconds. Zac Justus (Pontiac HS) will be one of the favorites in the 800 at state. He tuned up for Charleston running 1:55.75 for the win.

Springfield Southeast Sectional

Highlights

• Springfield advanced seven to Charleston including all four relays to win the sectional team title with 91 points. Jacksonville could score some big points at state from the efforts of Devante Clark. He won the High Jump (6-5), the 400 Meter Dash (49.33), and the 200 Meter Dash (22.38).