Joey Liebhart injured his arm early during Wednesday’s Class 2A Pontiac Sectional, throwing all his weight forward at the finish line of the 110-meter hurdles to ensure a state-qualifying time and, as a byproduct, earn a pretty nasty looking friction rash when his extra effort sent him tumbling to the track.

The arm was no longer bothering the Ottawa senior when he crossed the finish line first in his primary event – the 300-meter hurdles – to earn an individual sectional championship and punch his ticket to a second event in next weekend’s IHSA State Finals on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in downstate Charleston.

“I always finish strong in my 300s,″ said Liebhart, who followed his third-place finish and subsequent spill in the 110 hurdles with a win in 38.60 against a loaded 300 hurdles field that included six state-qualifying times. “The last 100 is the strongest part of my race. I always get out, keep a good pace, and that last 100 turn it up, and that’s where I pass everybody and take it home. ...

“[My arm] was definitely bothering my before the 300, but I popped a couple ibuprofen, and once that gun goes off, you stop feeling stuff.”

A pair of Liebhart’s Pirates teammates – Stephon Patrick in the shot put with a third-place finish and Bryar Baxter in the pole vault via a fourth-place finish – will join him in Charleston after reaching state qualifying standards.

Joliet Catholic, Coal City and Manteno will also be sending three athletes apiece on to the IHSA State Finals.

Joliet Catholic’s trio will be led by a pair of individual sectional champions, with senior Craig Peacock winning the 100 in 10.83, 0.06 seconds better than runner-up Collin Kilgus of Prairie Central.

“The best part of it was good preparation – eating well, preparing for it, working hard at practice," said Peacock, who advanced to state as part of a relay team last season but will be going for the first time as an individual next week. “That was really what got me there. It was just visualization, trust what I did at practice and doing what I usually do.”

Dylan Travis, a junior, also captured a title for JCA, winning the triple jump by nearly half a meter with his distance of 13.75 meters to earn his third trip to state in his three years of high school.

“It was just believing in myself, my coaches believing in me and a prayer before every jump,” Travis said of his success Wednesday. “It really helped me ... and I always think of my mom when she would say, ‘Go out there and be the superstar that you are.’

“That really gave me a lot of confidence.”

Phil Larson’s third in the pole vault earned the Hilltoppers’ third state berth.

For Coal City, in addition to Keaton Berta’s second in the shot put earning an automatic bid and Jonah Micetich’s sixth in the 300 hurdles just making state qualifying time, junior Emmett Easton – returning to the sport for the first time since competing in junior high – won the shot put with a throw of 16.14 meters.

“It could have been my last meet of the year, so I just put all my strength into it, listened to my coaches and put everything into it,” Easton said. “Just put everything together and chuck it out there.”

Manteno’s three qualifiers were led by junior Briggs Cann, who won the 400 with a time of 49.80 seconds – just over a quarter of a second faster than runner-up Ben Meyer of Bloomington Central Catholic.

“Going in, I knew I was ranked second [in the field],” Cann said, “but I don’t let any of that get into my head. I run my own race. ... I had a PR, even in this headwind, so hopefully down at state I have a bigger PR in the low-49s.”

Nicholas Honkisz, who tied for fourth in the 110 hurdles, and the third-place 4x100 relay team of Caden Reiter, Cann, David Skonieczny and Alexsander Lane also earned state bids for Manteno.

Streator had a state qualifier as well, senior LA Moton scoring a second-place finish with a 1.92-meter clearing in the high jump to earn an automatic bid.

Morris enjoyed a big night, finishing with five athletes advancing to state – three of them in two events. No surprise, the distance-ace Swanson brothers led the way.

Everett Swason won the 3,200 in 9:13.47 with Cuyler Swanson finishing second just over a second behind. Cuyler returned the favor in the 1,600 with a winning run of 4:21.20, just over four seconds ahead of Everett’s also-state-qualifying third-place finish.

“It’s been back and forth, and since the beginning of indoor season he’s been right on my tail every race,” Cuyler said of his brother. “I appreciate the competition. Im not [upset] at all about the 3,200, but I am happy about the 1,600, especially because I closed in a 1:01 or 1:00 flat, and I only [passed runner-up Andrew Aldeman of Normal U-High] because of racing Everett this year, because he likes to close in 1:02.

“I had to learn the kick, and I’m really grateful for it.”

Colin Zierman with second-place finishes in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, Owen Noon with a state-qualifying fourth in the high jump and Marton Lauterback with a sixth-place finish in a loaded pole vault field also qualified to go to Charleston.

Mahomet-Seymour (93 points) won the team championship, finishing ahead of runner-up Pontiac (78) and third-place Morris (71).

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Manteno's Jeremiah Alexander and Morris's Spencer Osafo run the 100-meter dash during the Class 2A Sectional on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at Pontiac High School. (Scott Anderson)