In the greatest pole vault competition in the history of the IHSA, it was Andrew Nuyen of Rochelle performing flawlessly to be in position to defeat four-time state champion Isaiah Whitaker of Bloomington Central Catholic. With a first-attempt clearance at a personal best 17-feet-6, Nuyen was on the verge of victory as Whitaker missed his first attempt.

“Andrew was on it in the best possible way. We couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Rochelle coach Dale Bergeson said.

It also established an all-time best mark in the state meet for Illinois and ranked No. 3 in the nation. Whitaker then chose to pass until 17-9, knowing he would need to make that height anyway to keep the four-peat in play and break Nuyen’s new state record.

“He gave me a lot of pressure,” said Whitaker, a Kentucky recruit. “It was a little scary needing to pass.

The confident Whitaker, who has been over 18 feet, came through in the clutch by making 17-9 while Nuyen failed on three attempts.

“I had some jitters at first and then I got locked in at first attempt clearances at 17, 17-4 and 17-6,” said Nuyen, who will vault at South Florida. “It was insane. I did all I could to be in position to win.”

For the first three years, Whitaker was the 1A champ, but BCC was bumped up to 2A, leaving Nuyen with a legacy of clearing 17-6, only to place second.

Last year, Nuyen was on the cusp of a state title at 15-1, but Kyle Quaid-Bowman had a last attempt clearance at 15-5 to edge the Hub vaulter. As a sophomore, Nuyen was third with a 14-7 vault.

“I love Andrew,” said Quaid-Bowman, who came in with a PR of 17-3 and took third at 16 feet. “This year, I wanted him to win so badly. There is nothing to be upset about. This is the best day of his life.”

Nuyen came into the competition at 15-5 and had an easy make. At 16-4, he had a miss, but made the second try quite easily. From that point on, he got in a groove and had his best vaulting series ever with first-attempt makes.

“He knows how to adjust to the conditions (pole size, standard placement, wind, etc),” Bergeson said. “In terms of his dedication and commitment, he has been tremendous for the all the work he’s put into this.”

Whitaker even did his part out by lending Nuyen one of his poles to use. The pair are the prized pupils of each of the pole vaulting academies they attend, Whitaker of the famed Flying Dragons of Bloomington and Nuyen of the more recent RISE of Joliet. The 160-pound Nuyen used a 16-foot, 185-pound test weight pole for his 17-6 clearance.

“I’m so pumped up,” Nuyen said. “Everything was so smooth. I finally put it together.”

Rochelle Athletic Director Rich Harvey was on hand for one of the finest sporting achievements in Hub sports history by filming and taking pictures of the event.

“This is something the school and community can rally around,” Harvey said. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity for all of us to be around.

The Rochelle 4x100 relay of Jaden Martina, Reece Harris, Nathaniel Rosas and Hunter Bivins had a school record of 43.39 in the preliminaries, but did not make the finals.

“That was the only event in school history that we had never qualified for in the state meet,” Bergeson said. “Credit to sprint coach Justin Otte.”

The team of Aaron DeClerck, Martina, Rosas and Harris ran a 1:32.20 in the 4x200 prelim. Justin DeClerck had a 5-11 clearance in the high jump and Nuyen competed in the long jump.

Bivins, a junior, had a high seed in the 300 hurdles with a 39.50 time, but finished three spots away from qualifying for the finals with a time of 40.21. A time of 39.79 was needed for the finals.

“Hunter was devastated,” Bergeson said. “He stuttered on three hurdles and his cadence was off. The heat may have gotten to him.”

Sophomore Tyler Johnson ran a 1:59.84 for the 18th best time of the prelims.

“Being sub two minutes as a sophomore shows potential for future state meets,” Bergeson said.

Metamora won the 2A meet with 46 points, with Cahokia second at 39.

Besides Nuyen, Ogle County had four other state medalists.

Forreston-Polo placed in two relays in the 1A meet, which Morrison behind star sprinter Brady Anderson, repeated as state team champ.

In the 4x200, it was Hayden Vinnedge, Jonathan Milnes, Mercer Mumford and Brody Schwartz running for F-P and the four juniors were unfazed by the big stage at Charleston.

“It’s fun battling Morrison, Le-Win and Fulton all year,” Mumford said. “It prepares us for anything we’ll see here.”

Milnes also pointed out that F-P was the only school of the top 16 of the relay without a senior on it and a state title is a definite possibility in 2027.

Eli Ferris replaced Milnes in the 4x400 and the result was a blazing fast time of 3:22.91, which crushed their own school record. Even better was the 3:17.79 state record by Auburn in winning the event over second-place F-P.

“We’ve been watching their times all year and knew we had to get down to at least 3:22 to have a chance,” Mumford said.

Oregon’s Daniel Gonzalez repeated as an 800-meter medalist and also broke Ian Hussung’s school record with a time of 1:55.81 in one the most competitive 1A races. The winning time was 1:51.83.

“I felt my high school career flash before my eyes in that race,’ Gonzalez said. “It was also emotional for me in that today is my dad’s birthday and I wish he was still alive to see it.”

In 2A, sophomore Evan Northup of Byron had a huge day to place fifth in the high jump. His height of 6-6 tied his principal Andy Donaldson’s school record.

“It was a double PR (6-4 and 6-6) for me,” said Northup, who had to navigate an unwieldy 23-man championship field. “I was in a little slump a few days ago, but was just feeling it today.”

Dawson Rogers of Paris won with a jump of 6-10, the best of all three classes. The key for Northup was making a third-attempt clearance at 6-3 to stay in contention. It took 6-6 to place in the top nine.