Area athletes take first place in 13 events at Herscher Invite

HERSCHER − The 2025 outdoor track and field season is entering the home stretch, and with conference meets starting next week, 13 area schools competed at the Herscher Invite on Friday to try and keep some forward momentum.

Area athletes took first place in 13 events at the invite, with eight of those wins coming on the girls side. Wilmington (44 points) placed sixth, getting a boost from freshman McKenna Van Tilburg who picked up three first place finishes, the most of any athlete in individual events.

She won the 100 meters (12.42 s), 110 hurdles (15.93 s), 300 hurdles (46.11 s) and finished a very close second in the 200 meters (25.35 s), just 0.02 seconds out of first.

Van Tilburg said that the support of her team has made her first year of high school track enjoyable and helped push harder.

“Everybody is really helpful with the workouts and pushing each other,” she said. “Everyone cheering for each other at the end of my races, or in any race, and telling me if someone is close or not, that pushes me.”

Wilmington head coach Stephanie Stickel said that it has been great to coach Van Tilburg through her first season, and nice to see her find as much success as she has.

“She has a lot of grit and determination and she likes to be challenged,” Stickel said. “She’s such a good kid. Humble and kind and all the good things that you can ask from an athlete with this much talent.”

Beecher placed 12th as a team (20) got a first-place finish out of senior Brooklyn Burdick in the 3,200 meters (11:45.00). That was a new PR for Burdick, who said having fresh legs Friday helped her cut some time.

“Our last meet was probably about a week ago, so I was feeling extra good coming into today,” she said. “I felt great the first probably 2,600 or so but the rest kind of took it out of me. But I knew I had to finish so I opened my stride and just kind of let the wind take me.”

Reed-Custer placed third overall (47) and got two first place finishes, one out of Alyssa Wollenzien in the high jump (1.55 m) and one out of Sophia Burciaga in the pole vault (3.13 m). Central placed seventh (33) and had Lia Prairie take first in the discus (34.77 m). Manteno’s Klarke Goranson won the 800 meters (2:13.12) as the Panthers finished in ninth (28).

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Herscher's Brayden Shepard, left and Jackson Kruse lead the pack during the 3,200 m run at the Herscher Invite Friday, May 2, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

On the boys side, Coal City was the highest-placing local team in fifth place (52) while Prairie Central took first (82). Parker Jacovec gave the Coalers a first-place finish in the long jump (5.92 m).

Herscher placed sixth (39), with the distance duo of Jackson Kruse (10:09.38) and Brayden Shepard (10:29.28) taking first and second place respectively in the 3,200 meters.

“Jackson and Brayden Shepard have been a really strong one-two punch,” Herscher coach Tim McElroy said. “Any meet we go to, there’s a good chance they go one and two in any event, so that’s pretty exciting as a coach to see that every night.”

Kruse said it is nice having a teammate in the same event as him so the two can challenge each other.

“Our team chemistry is great, ”Kruse said.“ We feed off each other a lot in workouts and in racing, and it’s just really fun to run with each other.”

Kankakee tied for eighth as a team (27) and got two first-place finishes, including a dominant one out of the 4x200 relay team of Zyair Turner, Clifton Martin, Phillip Turner and Zyon Turner (1:30.79). Martin said that this combination has been building up their relationship, which has helped them drop time throughout the season.

“The team chemistry is good,” he said. “It doesn’t just start on the track, it’s more outside the track. I feel like we’ve got a good bond and that’s why we’ve just been progressing the way we’ve been progressing.”

The Kays’ second win came from Dominic White in the high jump (1.82 m). Bishop McNamara placed seventh (34.5) and Keegan Cooper picked up a win in the discus (44.26 m).

Elsewhere on the boys side, Wilmington tied for eighth (27), Manteno was 11th (15), Watseka was 12th (14), Central and Momence tied for 13th (11) while Reed-Custer and Peotone tied for 14th (6).

For the girls, Herscher placed fifth (45), Coal City was eighth (30), Kankakee was 11th (24) with a small squad of girls that didn’t travel to the Urbana Invite, Bishop McNamara was 13th (18), Peotone was 14th (16), Iroquois West and Momence tied for 15th with Tri-Point (9) while Watseka came in 18th (8).