3. Mascoutah
4. Sandwich
6. Marion
7. Urbana
10. Carbondale
The narrative: Eureka still sits atop the rankings. Their senior leaders, Micah Senior and Aden Sears will be key both individually and in the relays. Senior already has the 2nd best time in the 400m and poses as a long jump threat while Sears look to sting challengers with his state-leading (49.15) ability in the 400m. Don't forget about former state champion Trevor Heffren who has been quiet in the high jump.
Devontae Ford will do his best to lead the historic Flyers to a title. The class leader in the 300H (37.92) and a title threat in the 110H(14.16) have been running dynamite all season long while wearing a different uniform combo for every event. Don't forget about the traditionally good relays from the East Side, the three sprint relays currently are second best in the classification.
Mascoutah will get its first shot at East St Louis in a championship format at home this week in the sectional round, can the Indians show out for the home fans while sending a message to the rest of the class? Barry Evans will look to get things going in the throws, he leads the class in the discus (176-5) and hopes to improve his shot put performance. On the track Mascoutah can score in all four relays, the 4x200m relay currently leads the classification (1:30.25).
Look for Jayden McCulskie-Green of Sandwich to turn the heat up a notch in the jumps with hopes of propelling his Indians into the trophy mix, his buddy Michael Mars (100 & 200m ) will be by his side.
Jake Borman will look to throw the Central Rockets into the conversation, he is currently second-best in both throw events.