For decades, northern Illinois 1A sectional track and field meets have been the domain of Forreston-Polo, Oregon, Rockford Christian and Winnebago. That all changed in dramatic fashion as Hinckley-Big Rock knocked the door down on those traditional powers and claimed its first sectional team title in school history.

“We’ve come a long way from my freshman year,” said senior Alex Casanas, who qualified for the state in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. “We build each other up and support our underclassmen. We have high expectations for our freshmen, sophomores and juniors. You can win a race on your own, but not a meet. You need your team.”

H-BR had 105 to 96.5 for Forreston-Polo. Another southern DeKalb county upstart, Indian Creek was third with 94, followed by Winnebago (89.5) and Rockford Christian (85).

“To score that many points against all those bigger teams is impressive,” H-BR coach Amber Moore said. “Our team has grown a lot and is well-rounded in so many events.”

Casanas lost by 11.37-11.38 in the 100 to Brody Schwartz of F-P, but came back to win his specialty, the 400 in 50.05. That time ranks in the top 10 for the entire season in 1A.

In the 200, Casanas ran 23.12 for second. In the past, he had qualified in the high jump. But a wealth of talent by the Royals in that event has allowed him to concentrate on the sprints.

The high jump at Oregon saw five high jumpers make state.

Last year, Parker Murry of Indian Creek set a school record at the Oregon sectional. This year he broke it with a leap of 6-7. In fact, he didn’t have a miss until the bar was raised to 6-8.

“I love jumping here,” said Murry, who had the crowd revved up and clapping in unison for his jumps. “With all the competition here, this meet is equivalent to being at the state meet.”

Murry wasn’t even the top seed. That was Myles Smith of Winnebago (6-8), who quit to save energy after making the state qualifying mark. Also qualifying were Marshall Ledbetter and Gavin Pickert of Hinckley-Big Rock and Eli Ferris of Forreston.

Pickert kept busy qualifying for the triple jump, long jump and high jump, as all were contested in the same time frame. He was long jump champ at 21-8.

“After last year, I learned how to handle it,” said Pickert, who made it downstate in the high jump as a freshman. “I felt really good today and had the adrenaline going. My first jump (43-2) in the triple was a PR and felt even better in the long jump. It was perfect conditions for jumping.”

It was domination in the throws by IC with Wyatt Gletty (49-6) and Isaac Wills (43-1) going 1-2 in the shot put and Wills (156-4) winning the discus and Gletty third.

“My goal downstate is to better my fifth place (165-7),” said Wills, a junior and 3-time qualifier.

Like Murry, Gletty likes competing at Oregon.

“I PR about every time we have a meet here,” Gletty said.

IC junior Jason Brewer was excited about hitting a pair of personal bests in the long jump (21-1) and triple jump (41-7) to qualify in both. He also took second in the 110 highs with another PR and SQ, just ahead of teammate Amir Brown, 16.59-16.61.

“Great weather and I just felt good,” Brewer said.

Brown did come back to make state with a winning time of 42.34 in the 300 hurdles. He was mobbed by his teammates afterwards.

Known more for his music-making than hurdles, Brown who refers to himself as “Playonce?”, uses singing to help him relax at practice and meets.

The other area championship came from H-BR junior Caden Hageman, who ran 9:49 PR in the 3,200 meters.

“My strategy was to run the first mile slower (4:58),” Hageman said. “I was pretty relaxed and went all out on the last two laps. I didn’t expect to win, but the top two seeds scratched.”

H-BR Freshman Graham Lang cleared 10-8 to place second and gain an automatic berth downstate. HBR doesn’t have vaulting facilities so he has been training at the RISE pole vault academy in Joliet the last two years.

“Eventually, I want to beat my dad’s PR at Kaneland of 14-1,” Lang said.

Another underclassman to advance downstate for HBR was sophomore Lofton Atkins, who took second in the 300 hurdles (42.96).

“You got to give Hinckley-Big Rock their due,” F-P coach Tony Hardin said. “They hit on a lot of events and capitalized on opportunities.”