CHARLESTON, Ill. (WAND) - Last week, girls from across central Illinois took home hardware representing their schools and communities in the IHSA track & field state finals. This week, the boys take center stage and the action began Thursday with the 1A prelims.
Numerous athletes earned themselves a shot at the finals for the 110M hurdles, lead by Sullivan's Mason Booker who led all times with a time of 14.78. Joining him are Karson Zerrusen (Teutopolis) and Carter Simpson (Tuscola). Booker fell during his race in prelims in 2024, but is glad to have a chance at redemption this year.
"It's been a journey," Booker said. "I want to win."
In the 1600M, Sullivan also performed well thanks to a 4:23.52 race by Johnathan Iacobazzi. St. Teresa's Evan Cook and Cerro Gordo-Bement's Will Fuson also advance to Saturday's final.
The Pleasant Plains girls' track team won the 4x800M race at state during their opportunity. The boys are looking to do the same, finishing their prelim with the third best time of 8:09.85.
Tuscola's 4x200M team nearly broke the record they set one year ago with a time of 1:28.78. Maroa-Forsyth and Pleasant Plains also posted top-ten times.
"We've been looking forward to it all year," said Kade Wilcox, a runner on Tuscola's crew. "We've been talking about breaking our record since we started track and I think we've got a really good shot."
In field events, Will Nohren from Shelbyville set a distance of 6.96M in long jump and is the favorite to win the state title. He also cleared a height of 1.83M in high jump, the best in prelims.
Pole Vault saw many central Illinois representatives make it to the final round, including Riley Hogan (St. Tomas More), Brant Niebrugge (Teutopolis), Gradyn Hartlaub (Riverton), and Peyton Curry (Shelbyville).
Sawyer Woodard cemented himself as a top competitor in shot put, throwing for 16.58M and is in good position to place in the top three.
WAND Sports will have continued coverage of the IHSA state finals meet.
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