Boys track and field: Kaneland tops Sycamore for Interstate 8 Conference title

Plano’s Thomas Harding wins two individual events, anchors winning relay

Kaneland's Brady Betustak throws discus during the I-8 Boys Conference Championship track meet on Thursday, May 11, 2023 at the L-P Athletic Complex in La Salle.

LA SALLE – Kaneland’s Jake Gagne knew the Interstate 8 Conference Meet would be a battle between the Knights and Sycamore.

That was his motivation.

“It was just the mindset of beating everybody else and especially Sycamore,” Gagne said about the keys to his performance.

Gagne won the 100-meter dash in 11.19 seconds, anchored the 4x200 relay to victory in 1:31.97, anchored the 4x100 relay to second place in 44.38 seconds and placed second in the 200 in 23.29 seconds to help the Knights win the conference title May 11 at the La Salle-Peru Sports Complex.

Kaneland notched 174 points to beat Sycamore (154), Plano (75), Sandwich (66), Morris (42), Ottawa (24), La Salle-Peru (14) and Rochelle (8).

“I think it was pretty good,” Gagne said about Kaneland’s 4x200. “We could do better. There’s always room for improvement. We didn’t have all our [typical] guys today [in the relays]. We moved a bunch of people around to different events to try to maximize our score, so the fact we could still get first or second [in the sprint relays] is really impressive so we could use our depth.”

The Knights also got wins from David Valkanov in the 3,200 in 10:01.39, Brady Betustak in the discus with a toss of 43.43 meters, Fredrick Hassan in the high jump by clearing 1.95 meters and Brayden Farmer with a height of 4.26 meters in the pole vault.

“It was just the mindset of beating everybody else and especially Sycamore.”

—  Jake Gagne, Kaneland senior

While Gagne and Kaneland had their eyes on Sycamore, the Spartans were motivated by the Knights as well.

When Sycamore’s Caden Emmert took the baton in third place entering the final leg of the 4x400, he was looking to chase down Kaneland’s Trevor Neal.

“I just wanted to get that Kaneland guy,” Emmert said. “I knew it might come down to that, so I just wanted to try and give our team the best edge I could.”

Sycamore's Vincent Brito, Morris's Noah Smith and Ottawa's Weston Averkamp run the 110 meter hurdles during the I-8 Boys Conference Championship track meet on Thursday, May 11, 2023 at the L-P Athletic Complex in La Salle.

Emmert overtook Neal to help the Spartans finish second behind Sandwich. The senior also ran a 1:56.94 to win the 800 by almost a second.

“I’m happy with it,” Emmert said. “I was hoping for a little faster time, but it was a little windy today. I was in control the whole race. ... I’m looking for faster [at the sectional].”

Other winners for Sycamore were Corey Goff in the 1,600 in 4:28.02, the 4x800 in 8:43.56, Pierce Reinhard in the long jump at 7.1 meters and Nicolas Zurko in the triple jump at 13.21 meters.

Plano’s Thomas Harding turned in one of the better performances of the night with two individual wins along with anchoring a relay win.

Harding ran a personal-best 51.11 seconds to win the 400, ran 23.13 seconds to win the 200 and ran the final leg of Plano’s 4x100 relay that won in 44.12 seconds.

“All season long I’ve been getting in the 52s. Today, I PRed,” Harding said. “Hopefully, I can take what I learned today into the sectional and I can go to state. I have to get out hard, on the first straightaway coast, then slingshot out of the last 200, get my knees up and give it my all.

“[The 4x100] was close all the way around. Waleed [Johnson] got a good stager, then we just took it home.”

Harding credited Johnson with helping him on the track. Johnson ran on the 4x100 relay, placed third in the 100 in 11.25 seconds, fifth in the 200 in 23.95 seconds and took third in the triple jump at 13.01 meters.

“Waleed Johnson and I, we’re almost equal,” Harding said. “He gives me that extra push and I give him that extra push. We just get the job done.”

Sandwich’s lone win came in the final event of the night. Dayton Beatty, Luis Baez, Wyatt Miller and Simeion Harris won the 4x400 in 3:26.86.

Morris senior Noah Smith swept the hurdles with times of 15.68 seconds in the 110s and 40.97 seconds in the 300s.

“It feels pretty good because I haven’t gotten first place at this meet before, so it’s nice to have a win,” Smith said. “I’m glad I had people pushing me in the 300, that’s for sure, because if I wouldn’t have had them, I would not have gotten first in the time I did. I really appreciate Weston [Averkamp] from Ottawa and Brodie [Case] from Sandwich.”

Ottawa's Michael Mills throws discus during the I-8 Boys Conference Championship track meet on Thursday, May 11, 2023 at the L-P Athletic Complex in La Salle.

Ottawa’s Michael Mills earned the Pirates’ lone win with a toss of 14.09 meters in the shot put.

“It’s just been a progression from the beginning of the year until now toward the end of the year,” Mills said. “It’s just about taking steps forward and doing the right things to get better every week.”

For La Salle-Peru, Michael George cleared 1.75 meters to place second in the high jump.

L-P's Michael George does the high jump during the I-8 Boys Conference Championship track meet on Thursday, May 11, 2023 at the L-P Athletic Complex in La Salle.