The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Ed Pence - Special for The Quill
After a successful regular season the DC/LH Junior High Track and Field Team competed at the Class A Sectional 8 Meet held at Kewanee Wethersfield High School hosted by Annawan on Saturday, May 6.
What started out as a cloudy and chilly day turned into a sunny and warm afternoon and fourteen Bulldog athlete's punched their tickets for the right to compete both individually and in relay events in the IESA Class A State Meet at Eastside Centre in East Peoria on May 12 and 13.
Ellie Marsden was the lone girl who was able to advance by winning the seventh grade 1600M with a personal record time of 6:04.08. The amazing thing about Ellie is she is a sixth grader competing up a grade.
Other athletes advancing at the seventh grade level and the events they will be competing in are:
Chase Heath won all three of his individual events at sectional which included the 110M hurdles,100M dash and 400M run, and will also compete at the eighth grade level in the 4×100M relay running anchor. Chases' personal records this year were 16:16 in the hurdles,12:50 in the 100M and 1:00.70 in the 400M.
Beau Goff, Gage Troutman, Bryar Rodeffer and Gunnar Donaldson finished second, but were able to qualify for state in the 4x100M with a time of 56.12 which was under the state standard time of 57.5. They have worked hard for the opportunity and earned a well deserved trip to state.
Bryar Huss rounded out the seventh grade qualifiers by achieving a personal record discus toss of 88-05, good enough for first place. Bryar is also the alternate for the seventh grade 4×100M relay team.
At the eighth grade level, those qualifying were as follows:
Draiden Heath won both of his individual events with personal record times. In the 100M, Draiden threw down a 12:67 and in the 200M he ran a PR time of 25:67. Draiden will also run the third leg in the 4×100M and second leg in the 4×400M relays.
Connor Finch is competing in his first year of track and field but was able to advance to East Peoria by tossing the shot put 38-04.00 besting the state standard of 34-11. Pretty impressive for a first year participant.
Jackson Parsano finished second in the high jump, but by virtue of his personal record leap of 5-01.00 he was able to qualify, as the state standard was the same as his PR. Jackson will also run the second leg in the 4×100M and lead off the 4×400M relay team.
Keagan Walker running the 1600M was able to lay down a personal record of 5:19.96. Keagan finished third by just under two seconds but crossed the finish line comfortably under the state standard of 5:24.00 to punch his ticket. He will also be the alternate on the 4×400 relay team.
Tanner Stonger will be participating in the 4×400M relay by helping the team bring home a second place finish by posting a season best time of 4:10.85 which was better than the state standard of 4:20.00. Tanner joined the 4x400 team later in the year but helped solidify a state qualifying team running the third leg.
Wyatt Pence will be headed to compete at state in three events. Wyatt was able to improve his season record in the 110M hurdles to 9-0 by finishing first at sectional. He will also run anchor on the 4×400M relay and he will lead off the 4×100M relay team which along with Jackson Parsano, Draiden Heath, and Chase Heath have a season best time of 50:35 which is good enough for second best this season in Class A in the State of Illinois.
Anakin Solis will be the alternate runner on the 4×100M relay and will be more than capable if needed.
As a team, the eighth grade boys were able to bring home the Sectional Team Championship by outscoring Peoria St. Jude 126 points to 105 points.
The team is coached by Krissy Altgilbers and Shane Milligan who have done a fabulous job with these athletes, always taking no credit and putting the kids first. The unofficial slogan of the team has been Meet. Defeat. Repeat. and Krissy and Shane have set the team up to do just that.
The team bus will be departing for East Peoria this Friday morning leaving Dallas City Elementary School at 6:00 A.M. and La Harpe Elementary School at approximately 6:20 A.M.
Come out and line the streets and see these athletes off and show them appreciation for representing our communities so well.
The DC/LH Bulldogs Junior High Track team will head for the IESA Class A State Meet at Eastside Centre in East Peoria May 12-13. They are from left front row kneeling: Keagan Walker, Anakin Solis, and Ellie Marsden. Back row L to R: Gunnar Donaldson, Bryar Rodeffer, Chase Heath, Jackson Parsano, Beau Goff, Tanner Stonger, Draiden Heath, Bryar Huss, Wyatt Pence and Gage Troutman. Not Pictured Connor Finch. -