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5.0 years ago @ 7:55AM

Redbirds finish 4th in Boys Track Sectional - The Telegraph - 5/20/2018

BOYS PREP TRACK & FIELD: Tigers win sectional crown, Redbirds fourth

Matthew Kamp, matthew.kamp@hearstil.com

 

Updated 7:57 am, Sunday, May 20, 2018
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  • Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet. Photo: 



Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Photo:

Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet.

BELLEVILLE — Nine entries had already qualified for the upcoming Class 3A state boys’ track and field meet, but No. 10 for Edwardsville was the cherry on top of a strong day at the Belleville West Sectional.

The 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:23.36 to qualify for the state meet and send head coach Chad Lakatos into a fist-bumping celebration near the finish line.

“This means a lot. We haven’t ran a qualifying time all year, and it was great to be able to do it today,” said Ben Ryan, who ran anchor in the final race.

The Tigers ran away with the sectional championship. They scored 97 points, outdistancing second-place Bloomington’s 67 points and third-place Belleville West’s 55 points. Alton finished fourth with 52 points.

The sectional championship is the second consecutive for Edwardsville, which won last year in Moline with 13 entries en route to the program’s second state title in three seasons.

Alton’s Redbirds are sending three entries to state, including Jonathon Bumpers in the 300-meter hurdles and their 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.

“We definitely wanted to qualify a few more guys, but we still ran some of our best times of the season. We put it all out on the table. We came up short, but they should hold their heads up because they ran great times,” Alton coach Jeff White said.

The Redbirds enjoyed a strong day in the relays by sending two entries through to state.

The 400-meter relay team of Demontra Wilson, Bumpers, Jaden Singleton and Deonte McGoy finished in 42.37 to take second behind Belleville West.

The 800-meter relay team of Antonio Harrison, Terrance Walker, Wilson and McGoy also took second to West, finishing in 1:29.65.

After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bumpers rebounded in the 300-meter hurdles with a

second-place finish of 39.72. He was only .6 seconds behind Springfield’s Robert Williams.

“It’s a hard sectional to score points in and we’re pretty happy with a fourth-place finish,” White said. “This will be the biggest group we’ve had going to state in a while. We’re going to hold our heads high about that. We’re excited to get up there and run at state.”

Edwardsville capped off the day with a strong finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Franky Romano, Dan Powell, Brandon Battle and Ryan took fourth in 3:23.06 to eclipse the qualifying time of 3:24.07.

Ryan, who ran anchor, is in his first season competing with the track and field team.

“He’s had a great year and has had good times. Every once in awhile we will get one of those seniors to come out for the first time and we knew he had the talent,” Lakatos said. “We also got Dan to switch over from the distance crew and he ran well. Of course, Franky ran well, along with freshman Brandon Battle.”

Amari Brooks got the day started off on the right foot for the Tigers by qualifying in both the discus and shot put.

Brooks qualified in the shot put with a throw of 53-5 and the discus with a throw of 158-11. He finished second to Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (194-3) in the discus and to Chatham Glenwood’s Mikey Ford (54-10) in the shot put.

Kenyon Johnson was also a double qualifier in the field, making it in the long jump and triple jump.

Johnson, a first-time state qualifier, finished 22-5 for first in the long jump and 44-6 for third in the triple jump.

Blake Neville earned a return trip to state in the pole vault. He went 14-6 in the pole vault, surpassing the qualifying mark by a foot. He took second to Bloomington’s Zachery Bradford, who went 17-9.

“This feels pretty satisfying. I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the year, but coming into today I was pretty confident,” said Neville, who had pole vault marks of 13-3 and 13-6 at the beginning of the season.

LaVontas Hairston finished off the strong day in the field events for the Tigers by qualifying in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. It was good for fifth.

Roland Prenzler won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9:24.42. A strong finish lifted Prenzler to his second state meet, as Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel was on his heels until the final 100 meters.

“I was trying to go out a bit quick and then try to hold them off and wear them off early. With about 600 to go, (Wetzel) tried to edge it out a bit but I turned it on from there. I don’t think the last lap has hurt that bad in awhile,” Prenzler said.

Qualifier No. 8 was Romano in the 800-meter race. A future Eastern Illinois Panther, Romano will end his prep career where his college career will start at O’Brien Stadium.

Romano won with a time of 1:54.41, holding off Danville’s Phillip Hall, who finished in 1:54.65.

“I’m super excited to run again on the blue track,” Romano said. “I’m excited to go there and race.

“I went out there and I knew I had to run my race. I kept pushing and I was able to kick it at the end.”

Jack Pifer will make his first trip to state after finishing second in the 1,600-meter run to Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe. Pifer finished with a PR of 4:23.94 to earn his trip to state. O’Keefe won in 4:19.34.

“I am in disbelief. Honestly, I knew that I could run well enough to get to state. It wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I was able to get out there and hold my own,” Pifer said.

BOYS PREP TRACK & FIELD: Tigers win sectional crown, Redbirds fourth

Matthew Kamp, matthew.kamp@hearstil.com

 

Updated 7:57 am, Sunday, May 20, 2018
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  • Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet. Photo: 



Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Photo:

Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet.

BELLEVILLE — Nine entries had already qualified for the upcoming Class 3A state boys’ track and field meet, but No. 10 for Edwardsville was the cherry on top of a strong day at the Belleville West Sectional.

The 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:23.36 to qualify for the state meet and send head coach Chad Lakatos into a fist-bumping celebration near the finish line.

“This means a lot. We haven’t ran a qualifying time all year, and it was great to be able to do it today,” said Ben Ryan, who ran anchor in the final race.

The Tigers ran away with the sectional championship. They scored 97 points, outdistancing second-place Bloomington’s 67 points and third-place Belleville West’s 55 points. Alton finished fourth with 52 points.

The sectional championship is the second consecutive for Edwardsville, which won last year in Moline with 13 entries en route to the program’s second state title in three seasons.

Alton’s Redbirds are sending three entries to state, including Jonathon Bumpers in the 300-meter hurdles and their 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.

“We definitely wanted to qualify a few more guys, but we still ran some of our best times of the season. We put it all out on the table. We came up short, but they should hold their heads up because they ran great times,” Alton coach Jeff White said.

The Redbirds enjoyed a strong day in the relays by sending two entries through to state.

The 400-meter relay team of Demontra Wilson, Bumpers, Jaden Singleton and Deonte McGoy finished in 42.37 to take second behind Belleville West.

The 800-meter relay team of Antonio Harrison, Terrance Walker, Wilson and McGoy also took second to West, finishing in 1:29.65.

After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bumpers rebounded in the 300-meter hurdles with a

second-place finish of 39.72. He was only .6 seconds behind Springfield’s Robert Williams.

“It’s a hard sectional to score points in and we’re pretty happy with a fourth-place finish,” White said. “This will be the biggest group we’ve had going to state in a while. We’re going to hold our heads high about that. We’re excited to get up there and run at state.”

Edwardsville capped off the day with a strong finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Franky Romano, Dan Powell, Brandon Battle and Ryan took fourth in 3:23.06 to eclipse the qualifying time of 3:24.07.

Ryan, who ran anchor, is in his first season competing with the track and field team.

“He’s had a great year and has had good times. Every once in awhile we will get one of those seniors to come out for the first time and we knew he had the talent,” Lakatos said. “We also got Dan to switch over from the distance crew and he ran well. Of course, Franky ran well, along with freshman Brandon Battle.”

Amari Brooks got the day started off on the right foot for the Tigers by qualifying in both the discus and shot put.

Brooks qualified in the shot put with a throw of 53-5 and the discus with a throw of 158-11. He finished second to Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (194-3) in the discus and to Chatham Glenwood’s Mikey Ford (54-10) in the shot put.

Kenyon Johnson was also a double qualifier in the field, making it in the long jump and triple jump.

Johnson, a first-time state qualifier, finished 22-5 for first in the long jump and 44-6 for third in the triple jump.

Blake Neville earned a return trip to state in the pole vault. He went 14-6 in the pole vault, surpassing the qualifying mark by a foot. He took second to Bloomington’s Zachery Bradford, who went 17-9.

“This feels pretty satisfying. I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the year, but coming into today I was pretty confident,” said Neville, who had pole vault marks of 13-3 and 13-6 at the beginning of the season.

LaVontas Hairston finished off the strong day in the field events for the Tigers by qualifying in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. It was good for fifth.

Roland Prenzler won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9:24.42. A strong finish lifted Prenzler to his second state meet, as Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel was on his heels until the final 100 meters.

“I was trying to go out a bit quick and then try to hold them off and wear them off early. With about 600 to go, (Wetzel) tried to edge it out a bit but I turned it on from there. I don’t think the last lap has hurt that bad in awhile,” Prenzler said.

Qualifier No. 8 was Romano in the 800-meter race. A future Eastern Illinois Panther, Romano will end his prep career where his college career will start at O’Brien Stadium.

Romano won with a time of 1:54.41, holding off Danville’s Phillip Hall, who finished in 1:54.65.

“I’m super excited to run again on the blue track,” Romano said. “I’m excited to go there and race.

“I went out there and I knew I had to run my race. I kept pushing and I was able to kick it at the end.”

Jack Pifer will make his first trip to state after finishing second in the 1,600-meter run to Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe. Pifer finished with a PR of 4:23.94 to earn his trip to state. O’Keefe won in 4:19.34.

“I am in disbelief. Honestly, I knew that I could run well enough to get to state. It wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I was able to get out there and hold my own,” Pifer said.

BOYS PREP TRACK & FIELD: Tigers win sectional crown, Redbirds fourth

Matthew Kamp, matthew.kamp@hearstil.com

 

Updated 7:57 am, Sunday, May 20, 2018
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  • Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet. Photo: 



Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Photo:

Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet.

BELLEVILLE — Nine entries had already qualified for the upcoming Class 3A state boys’ track and field meet, but No. 10 for Edwardsville was the cherry on top of a strong day at the Belleville West Sectional.

The 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:23.36 to qualify for the state meet and send head coach Chad Lakatos into a fist-bumping celebration near the finish line.

“This means a lot. We haven’t ran a qualifying time all year, and it was great to be able to do it today,” said Ben Ryan, who ran anchor in the final race.

The Tigers ran away with the sectional championship. They scored 97 points, outdistancing second-place Bloomington’s 67 points and third-place Belleville West’s 55 points. Alton finished fourth with 52 points.

The sectional championship is the second consecutive for Edwardsville, which won last year in Moline with 13 entries en route to the program’s second state title in three seasons.

Alton’s Redbirds are sending three entries to state, including Jonathon Bumpers in the 300-meter hurdles and their 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.

“We definitely wanted to qualify a few more guys, but we still ran some of our best times of the season. We put it all out on the table. We came up short, but they should hold their heads up because they ran great times,” Alton coach Jeff White said.

The Redbirds enjoyed a strong day in the relays by sending two entries through to state.

The 400-meter relay team of Demontra Wilson, Bumpers, Jaden Singleton and Deonte McGoy finished in 42.37 to take second behind Belleville West.

The 800-meter relay team of Antonio Harrison, Terrance Walker, Wilson and McGoy also took second to West, finishing in 1:29.65.

After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bumpers rebounded in the 300-meter hurdles with a

second-place finish of 39.72. He was only .6 seconds behind Springfield’s Robert Williams.

“It’s a hard sectional to score points in and we’re pretty happy with a fourth-place finish,” White said. “This will be the biggest group we’ve had going to state in a while. We’re going to hold our heads high about that. We’re excited to get up there and run at state.”

Edwardsville capped off the day with a strong finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Franky Romano, Dan Powell, Brandon Battle and Ryan took fourth in 3:23.06 to eclipse the qualifying time of 3:24.07.

Ryan, who ran anchor, is in his first season competing with the track and field team.

“He’s had a great year and has had good times. Every once in awhile we will get one of those seniors to come out for the first time and we knew he had the talent,” Lakatos said. “We also got Dan to switch over from the distance crew and he ran well. Of course, Franky ran well, along with freshman Brandon Battle.”

Amari Brooks got the day started off on the right foot for the Tigers by qualifying in both the discus and shot put.

Brooks qualified in the shot put with a throw of 53-5 and the discus with a throw of 158-11. He finished second to Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (194-3) in the discus and to Chatham Glenwood’s Mikey Ford (54-10) in the shot put.

Kenyon Johnson was also a double qualifier in the field, making it in the long jump and triple jump.

Johnson, a first-time state qualifier, finished 22-5 for first in the long jump and 44-6 for third in the triple jump.

Blake Neville earned a return trip to state in the pole vault. He went 14-6 in the pole vault, surpassing the qualifying mark by a foot. He took second to Bloomington’s Zachery Bradford, who went 17-9.

“This feels pretty satisfying. I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the year, but coming into today I was pretty confident,” said Neville, who had pole vault marks of 13-3 and 13-6 at the beginning of the season.

LaVontas Hairston finished off the strong day in the field events for the Tigers by qualifying in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. It was good for fifth.

Roland Prenzler won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9:24.42. A strong finish lifted Prenzler to his second state meet, as Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel was on his heels until the final 100 meters.

“I was trying to go out a bit quick and then try to hold them off and wear them off early. With about 600 to go, (Wetzel) tried to edge it out a bit but I turned it on from there. I don’t think the last lap has hurt that bad in awhile,” Prenzler said.

Qualifier No. 8 was Romano in the 800-meter race. A future Eastern Illinois Panther, Romano will end his prep career where his college career will start at O’Brien Stadium.

Romano won with a time of 1:54.41, holding off Danville’s Phillip Hall, who finished in 1:54.65.

“I’m super excited to run again on the blue track,” Romano said. “I’m excited to go there and race.

“I went out there and I knew I had to run my race. I kept pushing and I was able to kick it at the end.”

Jack Pifer will make his first trip to state after finishing second in the 1,600-meter run to Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe. Pifer finished with a PR of 4:23.94 to earn his trip to state. O’Keefe won in 4:19.34.

“I am in disbelief. Honestly, I knew that I could run well enough to get to state. It wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I was able to get out there and hold my own,” Pifer said.

BOYS PREP TRACK & FIELD: Tigers win sectional crown, Redbirds fourth

Matthew Kamp, matthew.kamp@hearstil.com

 

Updated 7:57 am, Sunday, May 20, 2018
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  • Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet. Photo: 



Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Photo:

Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Alton’s Jonathon Bumpers, left, edges out Edwardsville’s Dan Powell for a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3A Belleville West Sectional on Saturday in Belleville. Bumpers qualified for the state meet.

BELLEVILLE — Nine entries had already qualified for the upcoming Class 3A state boys’ track and field meet, but No. 10 for Edwardsville was the cherry on top of a strong day at the Belleville West Sectional.

The 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:23.36 to qualify for the state meet and send head coach Chad Lakatos into a fist-bumping celebration near the finish line.

“This means a lot. We haven’t ran a qualifying time all year, and it was great to be able to do it today,” said Ben Ryan, who ran anchor in the final race.

The Tigers ran away with the sectional championship. They scored 97 points, outdistancing second-place Bloomington’s 67 points and third-place Belleville West’s 55 points. Alton finished fourth with 52 points.

The sectional championship is the second consecutive for Edwardsville, which won last year in Moline with 13 entries en route to the program’s second state title in three seasons.

Alton’s Redbirds are sending three entries to state, including Jonathon Bumpers in the 300-meter hurdles and their 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.

“We definitely wanted to qualify a few more guys, but we still ran some of our best times of the season. We put it all out on the table. We came up short, but they should hold their heads up because they ran great times,” Alton coach Jeff White said.

The Redbirds enjoyed a strong day in the relays by sending two entries through to state.

The 400-meter relay team of Demontra Wilson, Bumpers, Jaden Singleton and Deonte McGoy finished in 42.37 to take second behind Belleville West.

The 800-meter relay team of Antonio Harrison, Terrance Walker, Wilson and McGoy also took second to West, finishing in 1:29.65.

After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bumpers rebounded in the 300-meter hurdles with a

second-place finish of 39.72. He was only .6 seconds behind Springfield’s Robert Williams.

“It’s a hard sectional to score points in and we’re pretty happy with a fourth-place finish,” White said. “This will be the biggest group we’ve had going to state in a while. We’re going to hold our heads high about that. We’re excited to get up there and run at state.”

Edwardsville capped off the day with a strong finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Franky Romano, Dan Powell, Brandon Battle and Ryan took fourth in 3:23.06 to eclipse the qualifying time of 3:24.07.

Ryan, who ran anchor, is in his first season competing with the track and field team.

“He’s had a great year and has had good times. Every once in awhile we will get one of those seniors to come out for the first time and we knew he had the talent,” Lakatos said. “We also got Dan to switch over from the distance crew and he ran well. Of course, Franky ran well, along with freshman Brandon Battle.”

Amari Brooks got the day started off on the right foot for the Tigers by qualifying in both the discus and shot put.

Brooks qualified in the shot put with a throw of 53-5 and the discus with a throw of 158-11. He finished second to Quincy’s Jordan Johnson (194-3) in the discus and to Chatham Glenwood’s Mikey Ford (54-10) in the shot put.

Kenyon Johnson was also a double qualifier in the field, making it in the long jump and triple jump.

Johnson, a first-time state qualifier, finished 22-5 for first in the long jump and 44-6 for third in the triple jump.

Blake Neville earned a return trip to state in the pole vault. He went 14-6 in the pole vault, surpassing the qualifying mark by a foot. He took second to Bloomington’s Zachery Bradford, who went 17-9.

“This feels pretty satisfying. I was pretty nervous at the beginning of the year, but coming into today I was pretty confident,” said Neville, who had pole vault marks of 13-3 and 13-6 at the beginning of the season.

LaVontas Hairston finished off the strong day in the field events for the Tigers by qualifying in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. It was good for fifth.

Roland Prenzler won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9:24.42. A strong finish lifted Prenzler to his second state meet, as Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel was on his heels until the final 100 meters.

“I was trying to go out a bit quick and then try to hold them off and wear them off early. With about 600 to go, (Wetzel) tried to edge it out a bit but I turned it on from there. I don’t think the last lap has hurt that bad in awhile,” Prenzler said.

Qualifier No. 8 was Romano in the 800-meter race. A future Eastern Illinois Panther, Romano will end his prep career where his college career will start at O’Brien Stadium.

Romano won with a time of 1:54.41, holding off Danville’s Phillip Hall, who finished in 1:54.65.

“I’m super excited to run again on the blue track,” Romano said. “I’m excited to go there and race.

“I went out there and I knew I had to run my race. I kept pushing and I was able to kick it at the end.”

Jack Pifer will make his first trip to state after finishing second in the 1,600-meter run to Granite City’s Andrew O’Keefe. Pifer finished with a PR of 4:23.94 to earn his trip to state. O’Keefe won in 4:19.34.

“I am in disbelief. Honestly, I knew that I could run well enough to get to state. It wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I was able to get out there and hold my own,” Pifer said.


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