Area's best: Meet the 2024 state qualifiers around Springfield for boys track and field

Here are the boys track and field state qualifiers from the Springfield area, including results from Friday's Class 2A Rochester Sectional.

Who's going to state? Meet the Springfield area's 2024 state qualifiers for girls track

From each sectional, the top two placers and qualifying performances advance to the main event.

The state meet will take place at O’Brien Field in Charleston beginning Thursday, May 23 through Saturday, May 25.

Class 3A

Danville Sectional

400: Deandre Brown, sophomore, Springfield High (49.91); Ben Wilcoxen, senior, Chatham Glenwood (50.70)

800: Van Schneider, sophomore, Glenwood (1:56.13)

4x400 relay: Glenwood (Micah Grussenmeyer, Will Patzia, Schneider, Wilcoxen) 3:24.75

4x800 relay: Glenwood (Carter Simmons, Schneider, Ayden Groves, Patzia) 7:54.28

High jump: McKenzie Doe III, freshman, Glenwood (1.90 meters/6 feet, 3 inches)

Long jump: Larry Wills, sophomore, Glenwood (22-3)

Triple jump: Byron McNeil, senior, Springfield High (44-0 ½)

What to know: Chatham Glenwood’s Van Schneider posted the highest finish among Springfield area athletes in the sectional with second place in the 800-meter run. He reached a personal best 1:56.13 after winning the event at the Central State Eight Conference meet. He also qualified in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays. Springfield High’s Deandre Brown was third in the 400 while teammate Byron McNeil tied for third in the triple jump.

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Class 2A

Rochester Sectional

800: Owen Morgan, senior, Taylorville (1:56.96); Jack Arends, senior, Rochester (1:58.64); Connor Boesdorfer, junior, Sacred Heart-Griffin (2:00.61); Drew Mirabile, senior, Williamsville (2:01.23)

1600: Morgan, Taylorville (4:22.66); Liam Bettis, freshman, Taylorville (4:33.77)

3200: Lucas Hollinshead, freshman, Williamsville (10:00.04)

110 hurdles: Jaevon Solomon, junior, Southeast (15.74)

300 hurdles: Solomon, Southeast (42.43)

4x100 relay: Rochester (Gage Pletsch, Kaiden Stout, Tristan Stanton, Elliot Riedel) 43.34; Southeast (Byron Walker, Chase Turner, Kashmir Towns, Braimah Kanu) 43.49

Shot put: Ryan McCombs, junior, Jacksonville (49-6 ¾); Anthony Beckman, sophomore, Williamsville (48-9)

Discus throw: Griffin Martin, senior, Jacksonville (156-11)

Pole vault: Drake Howard, junior, Taylorville (4.35 meters/14-3)

Long jump: Jacob Kollman, senior, Jacksonville (21-3 ¾); Tristan Stanton, sophomore, Rochester (21-2 ¾)

Triple jump: Jamarion Bardwell, junior, SHG (45-8 ½); Earl Clark, junior, Williamsville (43-4); Kollman, Jacksonville (42-8 ½)

What to know: Taylorville’s Owen Morgan nabbed the sectional title in the 1600 and was runnerup in the 800. The long-distance senior earned third place in the former at the indoor Illinois Top Times meet. Taylorville’s Drake Howard ascended to a personal best in the pole vault for first place. Sacred Heart-Griffin's Jamarion Bardwell also grabbed first place with his best effort in the triple jump. Williamsville reached as high as fourth place as a team, led by Lucas Hollinshead’s third-place showing in the 3200. Southeast’s Jaevon Solomon was second in both hurdles.

Pontiac Sectional

400: Kani Carson, senior, Lincoln (50.29); Ben Crombie, senior, Lincoln (50.85)

800: Crombie, Lincoln (1:58.84)

110 hurdles: Parker Campbell, junior, Lincoln (14.77)

300 hurdles: Campbell, Lincoln (40.45)

4x400 relay: Lincoln (Ki’on Carson, Luke Jones, Ben Crombie, Kani Carson) 3:25.51

4x800 relay: Lincoln (Owen Cyrulik, Colin Crombie, Preston Short, Luke Jones) 8:15.34

What to know: Senior teammates Kani Carson and Ben Crombie swept the top two places in the 400-meter run before capturing first in the the 4x400 relay. Crombie was also second in the 800. Fellow junior Parker Campbell surged to first in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles.

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Class 1A

Carlinville Sectional

400: Easton Grammer, senior, Litchfield (51.97)

800: Camden Quarton, senior, Litchfield (2:02.38); Chaz Oberkfell, sophomore, Gillespie (2:03.28)

1600: Oberkfell, Gillespie (4:40.21)

3200: Oberkfell, Gillespie (10:17.19)

110 hurdles: Michael Matesa, senior, Staunton (15.38)

300 hurdles: Matesa, Staunton (40.84)

4x100 relay: Staunton (Matesa, Ethan Rantanen, Nathan Oller, Trace Trettenero) 43.48

4x200 relay: Staunton (Trettenero, Rantanen, Ty Simpson, Oller) 1:31.89

4x400 relay: Litchfield (Grammer, Keenan Powell, Mitchell Floyd, Quarton) 3:30.85; Staunton (Simpson, Oller, Matesa, Rantanen) 3:31.06

4x800 relay: Litchfield (Floyd, Tucker Maguire, Quarton, Sam Schwab) 8:37.80

Shot put: Ozzie Maddox, sophomore, North Mac (50-2 ¾)

Discus throw: Weston Kuykendall, junior, Carlinville (137-7 ¼)

High jump: Keagan Greff, senior, North Mac (1.85 meters/6-1)

Pole vault: Mason Gilpin, junior, Carlinville (4.10 meters/13-5); Austin Homer, sophomore, Carlinville (3.70 meters/12-2)

Long jump: Clark Nelson, junior, South County (20-4 ¾); Martavious Jones, junior, Litchfield (20-3 ¼)

Triple jump: Keenan Powell, senior, Litchfield (45-11 ½); Thomas Ogata, senior, Staunton (40-7 ¼)

What to know: Staunton secured the sectional team title with 81 points, just ahead of Litchfield (79) and South County (77.5). Litchfield previously won the South Central Conference title over Staunton in April. Michael Matesa won three golds for the Bulldogs. He swept the hurdles and assisted the winning 4x100 relay. Staunton also won the 4x200. Litchfield’s Keenan Powell set a personal best in the triple jump at 45-11 ¾ after winning the indoor Illinois Top Times meet. He took third place at last year’s outdoor state meet. Teammate Camden Quarton, the State Journal-Register's two-time Small School Cross Country Runner of the Year , won the 800 and 4x400 relay. Carlinville’s Mason Gilpin, who went state runnerup last spring, and teammate Austin Homer took the top two spots in the pole vault. Another state medalist, North Mac’s Keagan Greff, also returns after reaching third place in the high jump at last year’s state meet.

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Rushville-Industry Sectional

100: Isaiah Babington, senior, Pleasant Plains (11.17)

200: Jacob Vogel, senior, Petersburg PORTA (23.17)

400: Charlie Alan, junior, Jacksonville Routt (52.10)

800: Garrett Beebe, junior, Plains (2:01.06); Daxton Trueblood, senior, PORTA (2:01.16); Cole Payne, junior, Plains (2:01.43); Kellen Creviston, junior, Routt (2:02.71)

1600: Elijah Teefey, sophomore, Plains (4:35.55); Jack Willenborg, senior, Plains (4:35.95)

3200: Ryan Driskill, sophomore, Plains (10:07); Teefey, Plains (10:07.01)

110 hurdles: Danny Skelton, senior, Plains (15.41)

300 hurdles: Bryson Schachtsiek, senior, PORTA (41.53); Skelton, Plains (43.04)

4x100 relay: Plains (Babington, Cayden Donnelly, Skelton, Michael Carter) 43.12

4x200 relay: Plains (Jacob Crater, Skelton, Carter, Donnelly) 1:30.73; PORTA (Hunter Stroupe, Schachtsiek, Isaac Rennecker, Vogel) 1:32

4x400 relay: Plains (Carter, Donnelly, Beebe, Payne) 3:30.84; PORTA (Stroupe, Noah Hardy, Cael Cotner, Trueblood) 3:32.22

4x800 relay: Plains (Teefey, Willenborg, Payne, Beebe) 8:19.71; PORTA (Justin Zimmerman, Quincy Stuhmer, Kade Parker, Trueblood) 8:26.16

Discus throw: Ephriam Vuwa, senior, Rushville-Industry (144-5)

High jump: Adam Abell, sophomore, Routt (1.85 meters/6-1); Isaac Rennecker, sophomore, PORTA (6-1)

Pole vault: Brody Brush, sophomore, Rushville (3.70 meters/12-2); Peyton Stinson, freshman, New Berlin (3.55 meters/11-8)

Long jump: Schachtsiek, PORTA (21-1)

Triple jump: Rennecker, PORTA (42-11 ¾)

What to know: Pleasant Plains swept the relays and mopped up its eighth straight sectional title and 11th in the last 12 years (excluding the canceled 2020 season). The Cardinals breezed to first place with 144 points while Petersburg PORTA was second with 92. Michael Carter and Cayden Donnelly contributed to three winning relays (4x100, 4x200 and 4x400) while Garrett Beebe and Danny Skelton each snapped up three victories, including the 800 and 100 hurdles, respectively. Plains’ Ryan Driskill edged teammate Elijah Teefey, who won the 1600 by .4 seconds over teammate Jack Willenborg, by one hundredth of a second. Petersburg PORTA’s Bryson Schachtsiek claimed the 300 hurdles and qualified in two other events.

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Bethany Okaw Valley Sectional

200: Jamarion Cobbins, senior, Pana (22.92)

400: Jacob Barth, sophomore, Auburn (50.74)

800: Isaac Crumrine, senior, Riverton (2:00.33)

1600: Crumrine, Riverton (4:34.25); James Baisden, sophomore, Auburn (4:36.04)

300 hurdles: Cobbins, Pana (41.12)

4x100 relay: Pana (Griffin Kimbrel, Cobbins, Wyatt Kile, Sam Sims) 43.94

4x400 relay: Auburn (Hunter Piper, Barth, Carter Hunley, Baisden) 3:26.59

4x800 relay: Auburn (Barth, Baisden, Wyatt Thurman, Clayton Kessler) 8:25.33; Riverton (Crumrine, Gradyn Hartlaub, Cole Endres, Jaden Rivelli) 8:26.27

Pole vault: Griffin Kimbrel, senior, Pana (4.70 meters/15-5); Isaiah Harbert, junior, Pana (4.02 meters/13-2); Gradyn Hartlaub, freshman, Riverton (3.70 meters/12-2)

Long jump: Sam Sims, junior Pana (20-8 ¾)

What to know: Pana’s Griffin Kimbrel set a personal best in the pole vault and will contend for a state title after nabbing second place in the indoor Illinois Top Times meet. Teammates Jamarion Cobbins and Sam Sims took the 300 hurdles and long jump, respectively. Auburn’s Jacob Barth claimed the individual 400 and 4x400 relay while also qualifying in the 4x800. Riverton’s Isaac Crurmine also qualified in three events: 800, 1600 and 4x800 relay.

Mackinaw-Deer Creek Sectional

Long jump: Cayden Green, sophomore, Havana (20-4)

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Area's best: Meet the 2024 state qualifiers around Springfield for boys track and field