Boys track and field

Ottawa’s Liebhart finishes 4th in 2A 300-meter hurdles, Somonauk’s Stillwell earns a pair of 1A state medals: In the IHSA state finals at O’Brien Field in Charleston, Ottawa senior Joey Liebhart placed fourth in the finals of the Class 2A 300-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 38.66 seconds.

“Once I started, I was feeling really good,” Liebhart said. “I was up there with everyone and then the top three started to pull away near the end. And then the last three hurdles, I felt like I started to catch up, but I wasn’t able to catch them, but I’m still extremely proud of myself of getting fourth. It’s something I never would have dreamed of.

“It’s amazing to end my high school career earning All-State. I stepped onto the track knowing it was going to be for the last time racing, so I’m really happy I got to end out my season like this.”

Also in 2A, Sandwich junior Jacob Ross cleared 4.50 meters to medal with a sixth-place finish in the pole vault.

Sandwich’s senior Luis Murillo placed 10th (16.01 meters) in the shot put, while Streator senior LA Moton tied for 22nd (1.87 meters) in high jump.

In 1A, Somonauk/Leland senior Landin Stillwell finished seventh in 1600-meter run (4 minutes, 26.59 seconds) while also being part of the 4x800 relay team - along with seniors Jackson Brockway and Gunnar Swenson, and junior Caden Hamer - that placed fifth in 8:06.07.

“It took a lot of hard work at practices, and this has been our goal all season,” Stillwell said. “I know we were in the hunt for this all season, but I’m proud of how we worked all season and this didn’t come magically.”

“We got to state for the first time when three of us were sophomores and Caden was a freshman,” Swenson said. “We’ve been growing with each other the past three years. We’ve been dreaming about it since that start, and we’re so blessed to be here.”

“Us boys, we push each other every day and even in the practices that I didn’t want to go to, they still pushed and got us all training and working hard,” Brockway said. “What we ran is the outcome of our season and we put in the work for the last three or four seasons. It was just a good season, and I’m glad of the outcome of what we had.”

“This has been an amazing season,” Hamer said. “I’ve enjoyed all the memories I’ve made with these boys. I’m going to miss them. I’m so glad we could finish it out this year.”

Seneca senior Matt Stach (long jump, 6.72 meters) and sophomore Trenton Powell (pole vault, 4.10 meters) each finished 10th.

Fieldcrest senior Michael Beckett posted a triple jump of 13.55 meters to finish eighth.

Dwight junior Graham Meister was the state champion in both the shot put (19.88 meters) and discus (51.10 meters), while classmate Joe Farris placed runner-up in the 800 (1:52.92) and 12th in the 1600 (4:41.40).

• Joel Boenitz also contributed to this report.

Baseball

Newark 4, Yorkville Christian 0: In the championship game of the Class 1A Somonauk Regional, Colin Shields fired a 76-pitch, complete-game two-hit shutout to lift the Norsemen past the Mustangs.

Shields walked one and struck out three for Newark (12-18), which advances to the Putnam County Sectional semifinals on Wednesday at 4:30 against the host Panthers.

David Ulrich (two RBIs), Kiptyn Bleuer (RBI, two stolen bases) and Jacob Seyller all singled for the Norsemen.

Manteno 9, Sandwich 7: In the championship game of the Class 2A Manteno Regional, the host Panthers - which held a 13-7 hit advantage - scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth, then held off an Indians seventh-inning rally.

Brody Cole (three RBIs), Braden Behringer (RBI), Cash White (RBI) and Chase Clark all doubled for Sandwich (21-14-1). Behringer (loss, 5⅓ IP, 13 H, 8 ER, 4 BB, 3 K) and Arlo Budd (⅔ IP, 1 K) shared efforts on the mound.

Yorkville Parkview Christian Academy 11, Serena 1 (5 inn.): In the championship game of the Class 1A Amboy Regional, the Falcons scored four in the third and five in the fifth in the triumph over the Huskers (12-13).

Tucker Whiteaker (RBI) and Nate Kelley both singled for Serena’s hits in the contest. Meyer (loss, 3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) and Payton Twait (1⅔ IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 0 K) combine efforts on the hill.

Tremont 6, Fieldcrest 0: In the championship game of the Class 1A Delavan Regional, the Knights (12-17) were held without a hit in the loss to the Turks.

Drew Overocker (loss, 4⅔ IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K) and Lucas Anson (1⅓ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K) pitched for Fieldcrest.