Many races captured the attention of the fans, but the duel between Daniel Lacy and Jackson Gilbert was epic.
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The state's top two sprinters never got an opportunity to compete against one another at the state championship because of classification differences. Daniel Lacy (Sr., Champaign Centennial) and Jackson Gilbert (Sr., Urbana) lived several miles from one another in the twin city of Champaign-Urbana. Still, because of their respective school's enrollment, they could not compete against one another in the state series. Centennial is in the highest classification (3A), and Urbana High sits in the 2A division.
On a partly sunny Wednesday evening at Peoria Richwoods HS for the Big 12 Championship, the sprint titles met for the only time during the outdoor season. These titans shot out of the starting blocks and bolted down the backstretch, and neither could break stagger until the homestretch.
The ending was epic, with Gilbert holding off Lacy 47.18-47.38. This was one of the best 400m races in the history of non-state championship or elite invite fields.