IHSA track and field recap: Record-setting day at boys state championships

That's a wrap from the Illinois boys track and field state finals.

Athletes from across the state competed Saturday in the Illinois High School Association boys track and field state finals at O'Brien Stadium at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Three athletes from Journal Star-area schools won state championships, led by Metamora senior high jumper Drew Tucker's title in the Class 2A high jump. Also winning gold were Macomb long jumper Jayden Jones and Deer Creek-Mackinaw wheelchair athlete Christopher McCaleb.

Catlin Salt Fork (1A), East St. Louis (2A) and Homewood-Flossmoor (3A) won the team championships on a day that saw at least three event records set: the 1A pole vault, the 2A 3200 and the 2A 800.

There were three sweeps on Saturday, one in sprints, one in distance races and another on the weights. Champaign Centennial senior sprinter Daniel Lacy won the 2A 100, 200 and 400 championships. Senior Tommy Murray of Port Byron Riverdale won the 1A 1600 and 3200. Senior Garrett Taylor of Catlin Salt Fork won the 1A shot put and discus titles.

Elmwood runner rallies to silver

Elmwood junior Isaiah Hill nearly pulled off a comeback to win the Class 1A 1600-meter run, moving from sixth place to second in the final stretch of the four-lap race. Hill eventually finished second in 4 minutes, 19.93 seconds — just .69 behind champion Tommy Murray of Port Byron Riverdale.

It was the end of a stellar day for Hill, who also was fourth in the 800 (1:55.38) and helped the Trojans' 4x800 relay team to fifth place (8:10.61).

State records keep falling ...

... and falling! A third state record was set Saturday when Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic won the Class 2A 800-meter run in 1 minute, 50.49 seconds. It eclipses the previous 2A mark of 1:51.42 set just last year by Garrett Slack of Lincoln.

Metamora senior makes school history

Metamora senior Drew Tucker won the Class 2A high jump state title with a leap of 6 feet, 7.5 inches. He is the school's first boys champ in a field event and the first in track and field since Adam Gilbreath-Glaub won the 2A 3200-meter run in 2018.

Tucker, a three-sport star, was a starter on Metamora's Class 3A state championship basketball team and also played baseball this spring. Read more about his athletic success here.

Another state record

Ethan Hogan of Columbia clocked a time of 9 minutes, 2.22 seconds to win the Class 2A 3200-meter run on Saturday. That set the mark for Class 2A finals mark, surpassing the 9:08.44 set by Riley McInerney of Charleston at the 2013 finals.

Freshman sets a Class 1A state record

Bloomington Central Catholic freshman Isaiah Whitaker set a Class 1A record while winning the pole vault state championship, clearing 16 feet, 8.75 inches.

The overall pole vault record is 17-6, held by another athlete from Bloomington — Zachery Bradford, who set it for Bloomington High in 2018.

Dee-Mack wheelchair athlete scores pair of golds

Deer Creek-Mackinaw athlete Christopher McCaleb won the state championship in the wheelchair shot put competition, with a toss of 17 feet, 3.25 inches. McCaleb was the lone competitor in the event.

McCaleb also won the wheelchair discus throw later Saturday, launching it 42 feet, 10 inches.

Early gold for Journal Star-area athlete

Macomb junior Jayden Jones is the Class 2A state champion after a leap of 22 feet, 11.75 inches. He beat out Aidan Wyzard of Sycamore.

This is the first boys track and field state title for Macomb since Ben Pratt won the triple jump crown in 2008.

Jones can add to his medal haul later today when he competes in the Class 2A high jump finals.

Anyone from Peoria in line to win an IHSA championship?

Eight athletes from the Peoria area finished with the top performances during the preliminary competition Thursday and Friday in Charleston.

Here are the top-seeded qualifiers from the Class 1A prelims on Thursday: The Eureka 4x800-meter relay team of Carson Lehman, Gabriel Gerber, Brady Monk and Charlie Bardwell ran 8:05.53 for the top qualifying time, nearly 12 seconds ahead of second place. El Paso-Gridley sophomore Marcus Czapar (pole vault) and Eureka sophomore Lance Wiegand (high jump) were among the field event athletes who head into the finals tied with the top performance in their event.

In Class 2A on Friday, four Peoria area athletes had top performances: Macomb's Jayden Jones leaped 21 feet, 10.25 inches to lead the long jump. He also is headed to the high jump finals after clearing 6-2 along with Metamora senior Drew Tucker and nine others. Richwoods pole vaulter Zenon Rule cleared 13-3.5 and was one of 15 to advance in the event. Illinois Valley Central weight thrower David Russell had the top preliminary distance in the discus (172-6) and third-best in the shot put. Dunlap's Reese Dusek qualified second in the 800-meter run, in 1:56.27 — just .33 behind the top time.

In Class 3A on Friday, Pekin pole vaulter Heath Hawkins cleared 14-1.25 to advance to the finals along with 10 others at the same height.

Other IHSA track and field coverage

• Predictions: Which Peoria athletes could win a state title? Here's what we think
• Top times:Here's an honor roll of the top athlete performances around Peoria
• The records: The all-time best track and field performances by Peoria-area athletes
• Boys sectionals: Here's a list of Peoria-area boys athletes to advance to state
• Girls state finals:How two friends won pole vault state titles | Live updates and recap

2023 IHSA boys track and field state champions

Here is a list of the athletes to win state championships. We will update this list throughout Saturday. * — denotes class record.

Discus

• 1A: Garrett Taylor, Catlin Salt Fork, 183-07
• 2A: Caleb Smith, Salem, 182-3
• 3A: Maverick Ohle, Naperville Central, 183-1
• WC: Christopher McCaleb, Deer Creek-Mackinaw, 42-10

High jump

• 1A: Mason Kooi, Springfield Lutheran, 6-8.75
• 2A: Drew Tucker, Metamora, 6-7.5
• 3A: Voldy Makabu, Champaign Centennial, 6-8.25

Long jump

• 1A: K.J. Davis, Oblong-Palestine-Hutsonville, 21-4.75
• 2A: Jayden Jones, Macomb, 22-11.75
• 3A: Parrish Hartley, Chicago Kenwood, 22-10

Pole vault

• 1A: Isaiah Whitaker, Bloomington Central Catholic, 16-8.75*
• 2A: Paul Migas, Lake Villa Lakes, 16-1.25
• 3A: Tyler Petersen, Bloomington, 15-7

Shot put

• 1A: Garrett Taylor, Catlin Salt Fork, 60-7.25
• 2A: Chase Crawford, Cahokia, 63-3.25
• 3A: Tyler Michelini, Roselle Lake Park, 61-4.25
• WC: Christopher McCaleb, Deer Creek-Mackinaw, 17-3.25*

Triple jump

• 1A: Max Milbrath, Pecatonica, 44-10.25
• 2A: Nicholas Deloach, Cahokia, 46-0
• 3A: Malik Allen, Edwardsville, 48-9.50

100-meter dash

• 1A: Peyton Locke, Taylor Ridge Rockridge, 10.86
• 2A: Braydon Waller, Chicago Heights Marian, 10.75
• 3A: Daniel Lacy, Champaign Centennial, 10.69
• WC: Brannon Duffin, Grayslake Central, 18.09

200-meter dash

• 1A: Supreme Muhammad, Winnebago, 21.60
• 2A: Jackson Gilbert, Urbana, 21.64
• 3A: Daniel Lacy, Champaign Centennial, 21.51
• WC: Brannon Duffin, Grayslake Central, 34.68

400-meter dash

• 1A: Reece Curtis, St. Anne, 49.28
• 2A: Devion Montgomery, East St. Louis, 48.17
• 3A: Daniel Lacy, Champaign Centennial, 47.28
• WC: Brannon Duffin, Grayslake Central, 1:10.14

800-meter run

• 1A: Julian Aske, Evanston Beacon Academy, 1:53.53
• 2A: Patrick Hilby, Aurora Central Catholic, 1:50.49*
• 3A: Dan Watcke, Hinsdale Central, 1:52.16

1600-meter run

• 1A: Tommy Murray, Port Byron Riverdale, 4:19.24
• 2A: Gavin Genisio, Bento, 4:08.68
• 3A: Aden Bandukwala, Hinsdale Central, 4:10.39

3200-meter run

• 1A: Tommy Murray, Port Byron Riverdale, 9:14.77
• 2A: Ethan Hogan, Columbia, 9:02.22*
• 3A: Evan Horgan, Belvidere North, 9:05.98

110-meter hurdles

• 1A: Nathan Kirby, Catlin Salt Fork, 14.28
• 2A: Ajani Rush, Country Club Hills Hillcrest, 14.26
• 3A: Miles Granjean, Evanston, 14.36

300-meter hurdles

• 1A: Jackson Kern, Auburn, 37.80
• 2A: Demarlynn Taylor, East St. Louis, 37.85
• 3A: Ryan Schaefer, Glenview Glenbrook South, 38.34

4x100 relay

• 1A: Forreston (De'Angelo Fernandez, McKeon Crase, Noah Dewey, Michael Taylor) 42.91
• 2A: Herrin (Logan Clough, Chris Nelson, Exavier Williams, Kyrese Lukens) 41.66
• 3A: Homewood-Flossmoor (Olusoga Adeyiga, Robert Scott III, John Gore, Jeremiah Turner) 41.43

4x200 relay

• 1A: Catlin Salt Fork (Brysen Vasquez, Ethan McLain, Jacob DePratt, Nathan Kirby) 1:28.69
• 2A: Herrin (Logan Clough, Kyrese Lukens, Exavier Williams, Chris Nelson) 1:27.25
• 3A: Homewood-Flossmoor (Jeremiah Turner, Andrew Mitchell, John Gore, Robert Scott III) 1:26.20

4x400 relay

• 1A: Colfax Ridgeview (Alec Thomas, Micah Coffman, Payton Campbell, Braydon Campbell) 3:22.03
• 2A: East St. Louis (Quenton Stepney, Demarlynn Taylor, Darris Ivy, Devion Montgomery) 3:18.73
• 3A: Yorkville (Brycen Clements, Owen Horeni, Elliot Goodwin, Josh Pugh) 3:19.04

4x800 relay

• 1A: Elgin Harvest Christian Academy (David Peterson, Luca Bryja, Jimmy Bernaeyge, Daniel Winkelman), 7:58.35
• 2A: Chicago Payton (Ryan Murray, Declan Slavin, Maximilian Kollmeyer, Evan Rainville) 7:53.59
• 3A: Hinsdale Central (Michael Skora, Grant Miller, Kyle Doorhy, Dan Watcke) 7:38.59

IHSA boys track and field state finals time schedule

All events at O'Brien Stadium, Charleston. Wheelchair finals are first in the 100, 200 and 400 races, followed by Class 1A, 2A and 3A. Class 1A competes first in other events, followed by 2A and 3A.

• 12:30 p.m. — Discus
• 10 a.m. — Long jump, triple jump, shot put, pole vault, high jump
• 10 a.m. — 3200-meter run (Section 1)
• 11 a.m. — 4x800-meter relay
• 11:40 a.m. — 4x100-meter relay
• 12:10 p.m. — 3200-meter run (Section 2)
• 1:10 p.m. — 110-meter intermediate hurdles
• 1:35 p.m. — 100-meter dash
• 1:55 p.m. — 800-meter run
• 2:25 p.m. — 4x200-meter relay
• 2:55 p.m. — 400-meter dash
• 3:15 p.m. — 300-meter low hurdles
• 3:35 p.m. — 1600-meter run
• 4:05 p.m. — 200-meter dash
• 4:20 p.m. — 4x400-meter relay
• 5 p.m. — team awards

Wes Huett is Journal Star sports and news editor. Email him at whuett@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @WesHuett. Dave Eminian contributed to this story.