The final day of the IHSA boys track and field season is finally here. The long-awaited meet always provides some amazing highlights and this year should be no different. Keep checking back throughout the day for results, highlights and much more.
Top State Meet Highlights- Kevin Havel (IL) wins 3200m run in 9:01.37 - St. Charles North wins boys 4x8 in IL #1 of 7:45.97 - Dan Block (Lake Park) throws 63-03.75 SP on Friday, wins AA - Matt Eader (West Frankfort) wins A shot put in 60-00.75
IHSA Boys State T&F Championships
IHSA Boys State T&F Champs: IHSA Site / Meet Page / Results
Saturday Weather: 70-75 degrees, low wind, sunny skies
Saturday Highlights - Perfect weather should mean so fine performances today. The meet got off to a great start with new personal bests in the shot put and 3200m run. Keep checking back as we update throughout the day.
Photo: Kevin Havel (Hersey) jumps for joy across the finish line after his 3200m win
3200m Run (Heat 2): Kevin Havel (Hersey, IL) finally wins! No one could be happier with the result of the 3200m run than Kevin Havel. For four years the Hersey senior had been shooting for this exact result and with a great second half of his race Havel finally clinched gold. Havel outworked Nick Holmes (Limestone, IL) and the rest of the field after a 4:38 first mile, but running 67, 64, 64, 66 on his final four laps to win in 9:01.37.
Photo: St. Charles North anchor Chris DeSilva winning 4x8 relay (photo by Paul Kwak)
4x800m Relay: After two legs of the boys AA 4x8, it was fairly established that St. Charles North and York were going to take first and second. Stride for stride these two squads went as the crowd quickly stood up on their feet. Going into the anchor leg, Rojin Thomas (York) and Chris DeSilva (St. Charles North) started at the exact mark and ran together for the first 400m. With a lap to go DeSilva took off and gapped Thomas with 200m to go by a comfortable margin. After falling in the prelim 1600m run yesterday DeSilva wanted to get some revenge and had that on his mind going into his final kick. DeSilva ran an impressive last leg to finish in 7:45.97. York placed second.
3200m Run (Heat 1) - Rich Eber (Brother Rice), who finished tenth at cross country state in the fall, had a sub-par race last week in his sectional and his time placed him in the slow heat this weekend. A very conservative start let Eber crush the field over the back-half of the first heat of the 3200m run, running 9:17 to win.
Shot Put - Dan Block (Lake Park) continued his winning ways this season with a monster series of throws, taking the top spot with a toss of 63-03.75. Block threw over 63 feet twice on Friday, while coming back Saturday and throwing over 60 feet each of his three throws. Matt Eader (West Frankfort) won the boys A shot put by breaking 60 feet and winning by nearly eight feet. Eader threw 60-00.75 on his final toss of the day.
Friday Highlights - Massive rain delays and brisk temperatures made for a long day at the track. The state prelims ended three and a half hours later than anticipated and the gloom of the day seemed to really affect the athletes. One athlete who didn't seem affected however was Dan Block (Lake Park, IL). Block came up big in the shot put, earning the top prelim mark of the day in 63-03.75 and a sizeable cushion heading into Saturday's final. Block's rival Brett Einbecker (Waubonsie Valley, IL) surprisingly missed the shot put final, but redeemed himself a bit by earning the top discus prelim mark in 182-01, ranking just ahead of Block.
Most of the distance events were fairly slow compared to years past. Perhaps the best highlight of the day came in the 4x800m relay, which saw St. Charles North (IL) win the first heat in a great time of 7:48.22. With all four athletes only running this event on Saturday one can expect a big time here. Jeff Thode (Conant, IL) ran the top 1600m performance on the day in 4:13.82, blitzing the field over the final 250 meters.
The sprints weren't as deep as expected, but up front saw some nice highlights. Hurdlers Tyler Sipes (Bloomington, IL) and Kraig Appleton (East St. Louis, IL) ran 1-2 in prelim times in both the 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles. Sipes took the top time Friday in the 110m hurdles with a mark of 14.08, while Appleton ran the top mark in the longer hurdle event with a 38.21 effort. Junior Darien Donald (Cahokia, IL) ran the top mark in the 400m dash with a 48.01 effort and Demarcus Brooks (Springfield Southeast, IL) ran the 100m dash in 10.59 and 200m dash in 21.55, both the fastest prelim marks of the day.
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