Outside of the state meet, the most competitive track meet for area small schools is the Oregon Hall of Fame Hawk Classic, with 23 teams present. The 47th annual version took place on Friday, with Brady Anderson of defending state champ Morrison obliterating three meet records in the 100, 200 and 400 meters.

With a large crowd gathered around the pole vault pit, it was nationally ranked Andrew Nuyen of Rochelle setting the other record with a vault of 16-7.

The pair headlined a stellar cast of athletes from the Hawk Classic who perennially make their mark at the IHSA state meet in Charleston. In 2025, there were 17 state placers in running events, four in field events and an astounding 11 relays placing.

Jason Wroble of Milledgeville summed up best when he told of his 800 relay finishing with the 10th best time downstate last year, but only taking fourth in the conference behind Morrison, Forreston-Polo and Le-Win.

The one record I was especially glad to see broken at Oregon was the 100 meters (10.74), set in 1989. However, that was in the era of hand-timed stop watches versus today’s automated timing.

Research has shown that hand-timed races were off by .24, which means that time should be listed as 10.98. Many old record books have these inflated times for the sprints and they should be changed for fairness.

In reading field events results, who else besides me gets frustrated by the use of metrics instead of feet and inches? For whatever reason, the track and field governing body in Illinois insists on using metrics, even though it turns fans away. Give me 6-feet-6 in the high jump, not 1.98 meters.

One sport that doesn’t mess around with the metric system is good old-fashioned baseball.

Watch out for the Byron Tigers. Since March, their only loss in baseball has been to 4A Moline, who is undefeated in the Western Big 6.

Byron is on an 18-1 run and appear to have the BNC title wrapped up with nearest competitors (Dixon, North Boone, Rock Falls, G-K) all with at least four losses. It will be their third straight conference title and the Tigers have not lost a BNC game since Stillman Valley beat them in 2024.

With pitching being such a wild card in high-school baseball, an unbeaten streak like that is hard to maintain. Thus far, Byron (11-0) has scored 123 runs and has only allowed 23 in league play.

Looking ahead to the post season, Byron will host a 2A sectional and should advance out of the regional to make it back home.

That’s where it will get interesting. The other sub-sectional had Elgin Harvest-Westminster (15-5) and Aurora Christian (15-4), teams that beat Byron in the first week of the season and also play a rugged non-conference schedule. But, the first week of a spring season can be deceiving.

I was looking for where Sterling Newman was slotted in 2A, as the Comets have developed into a powerhouse, placing fourth downstate the last two years.

But, they were bumped up to 3A by the IHSA because of the private school success factor. That should be interesting and one less obstacle for area 2A teams to navigate.

Lately, the post season has been tough for the Tigers, with several 20-plus win teams bowing out before that coveted trip downstate. But, with a one-game format, as opposed to a series of games that favor teams with pitching depth, Byron often got hit with someone else’s ace thrower.

Or, it could be a case where a team’s bats got cold on a particular day. Or, the hits were coming, but they were right at where defenders were positioned.

Whoever gets out of the sectional looks to have a date with Chicago Hope Academy, who advanced to the super-sectional in 2024 and 2025.

In terms of the hardest roads to even reach a sectional, St. Joe-Ogden, Monticello and Tolono Unity are ranked in the top 6 in 2A by MaxPreps and all in the same sub-sectional. Overall, the top teams in 2A are in central and southern Illinois.

Byron’s last trip downstate was in 2014, where the 36-6 Tigers under coach Ray Bielskis placed second. In 1995, Byron also took second under Dale Hartman.

From 1991-2025, it was Hartman (two tenures) and Bielskis combining for 662 wins. Recently-named Citizen of the Year Jeff Boyer has picked up the torch this season.

On Saturday, it was my favorite two minutes of TV with the running of the Kentucky Derby. Since seeing the greatest thoroughbred ever, Secretariat, in 1973 and later reading “Sea Biscuit”, I’ve come to appreciate a horse race.

In watching the four major professional sports, actual play is occurring 9% of the time in football, 16% for baseball, 39% for hockey and 46% for basketball. Commercials take up around 30 minutes of airtime for all four sports.

Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.