Princeton coach Dave Moore walked up to Casey Etheridge at the end of the Howard-Monier Invite at Rathje Track Tuesday evening and said, “Casey Etheridge, one heck of a day.”

Indeed it was. All the senior standout did was sweep the hurdles and take part in the winning relays in the 4x100 and 4x400, the latter setting a new meet record. His efforts helped lead the Tigers to a first-place finish over runner-up Kewanee by 24 points, 193.5 to 169.5.

“I keep progressing and our team keeps progressing,” he said. “The growth our team’s [had] since my sophomore year has just been amazing. We went from not contributing much at each meet to being up there top 3 every meet. I think the strides we’ve been making each year is really cool and shows how hard we’ve been working.

“Ayden (Agushi) from his freshman year to now, he’s went from above a minute 400 to into the 52s. And Gavin (Lanham) was really a never sprint sport kid and we got him to go out and he’s done great things in our relays. A lot of people are making contributions so it keeps getting better. It’s fun to see.”

Etheridge capped the night running the lead leg of the 4x400 relay along with Lanham, Tyler VandeVenter and Agushi, setting a meet record of 3:34.02.

He ran top times in the hurdles with a 15.29 in the 110s and 40.0 in the 300 lows.

“The nice thing about the hurdles, it’s easier to tweak your form if you work on it,” he said. “I think a lot of that is Coach Moore, especially the 110s. He encouraged me to run them last year. I’ve come so far from last year to this year. My best time last year was a 15.92 and then first outdoor meet this year I was at 15.84 and today I was 15.29.”

Moore said he had to talk Etheridge into not only come out for track last year, but to run the 110 hurdles.

“And look at him now. He ran (state) qualifying (times) in the 110s today and the 300s,” Moore said.

In the 4x100, Etheridge teamed up with Agushi, Lanham and Beckett Funderberg for a winning time of 45.09.

“We’ve got a good nucleus of kids, Casey Etheridge being one of them,“ Moore said. ” ... Ayden Agushi’s done himself a big favor getting in pretty decent shape this year. It’s just a matter of time before we get Gavin (Lanham) and Tyler (VandeVenter) in shape and we’ll bring the times down even more."

Landen Hoffman had such a breakout freshman year for Princeton a year ago, coming just a final throw by senior teammate Ian Morris from winning the Class 2A state championship. But as good as a year he had, Hoffman could never take flight in his home ring.

On Tuesday he did, flinging the discus with a winning toss of 50.38m

“I’ve never had a great day here until today,” Hoffman said. “I’d always come here and not quite do as good as I’d do at a different meet. But today, did pretty good. Got the farthest one I’ve thrown here so far, throwing 20 feet further this year than I did last year.

“I was looking for the 50-meter mark and I got it today. So I knew I had it, but there’s a lot more left. I’ve been really consistent at the high 150s (feet) so I know that soon we’re going to have a really good one.”

Throws coach Curtis Odell said it’s just the first step for Hoffman.

“He’s been working hard and has one goal, to be state champion. He’s been practicing hard and has had a few good meets in a row,” Odell said. “To be throwing over 50 meters on April 14th is a great place to be. He’s just getting started.”

Hoffman also won the shot put at 13.52m with teammate Common Green, a newcomer to throws, landing third (12.01m).

Agushi won the 400 (53.19) and placed second in the high jump (1.98m) while Tyler VandeVenter won the 800 (2:08.9), Augustus Swanson won the 1,600 (5:13.39) and the Tigers’ 4x200 relay of Funderberg, Lanham, Gavin Cain and Ethan Knaak clocked a winning time of 1:37.55

Princeton also got seconds from Aiden Robinson in the long jump (5.92m) and the 4x800 relay (9:23.86),

Hall’s top finishers were Joseph Caracheo, second in the 3,200 (12:24.81), and Gabe Wamhoff, second in the 200 (24.35) and third in the 100 (11.73).

Serena’s Connor Hollenback raced off with the 200 with a top time of 23.95.

Kewanee’s Dontel Wommack won the pole vault (3.35m) and triple jump (11.32m). The Boilermakers also got wins from Noah Feltner in the 3,200 (10:59.49), Chris Rowe in the long jump (6.53m) and the the 4x800 relay (9:10.18) and

Annawan-Wethersfield’s Danny Heston won the 100 (11.49).