After the preliminaries of the IHSA Class 2A boys state track and field meet, the Sterling 4x400-meter relay is on the cusp of something very special. Not only is their time of 3:17.93 better than the rest of the field by two seconds, but the Golden Warriors are in striking distance of the state record of 3:17.57, set by Cahokia in 2015.
“At this point, it shouldn’t be a secret that we want that meet record,” Sterling coach Kel Bond said.
According to the meet announcer, Maurice Delacruz had a 48-second split to start off the race. On leg 2, Quincy Maas stretched the lead a bit more. Then, it was Aiden Lacy making sure nobody was going to catch them, with a 25-meter advantage. Anchor Derek Prieto wrapped up the torrid pace with a four-second heat win over Freeburg.
“Mo ran great in front,” Bond said. “We still have some room with Quincy on the second leg, as he is a competitor. The last two ran really well.”
Last year, the same unit finished fourth in the 4x400 with a time of 3:21.05. Delacruz also ran on the 4x200 relay that took second, the highest finish ever for a relay at Sterling.
Going into Saturday, Morton is the No. 2 seed at 3:19.94 and Cahokia is right behind at 3:20.21
“We will have some teams around to push us,” Bond said.
Sterling had a near qualification in the 4x100 relay, but missed by two places. It was Prieto and Delacruz joining Ryan Gebhardt and Brady Hartz in a 42.61 clocking, with Geneseo grabbing the final spot at 42.47.
As evidenced by 22 state medalists in the throwing events, Dixon has shown in prowess in the shot put and discus. The Dukes are still looking for that first-ever throwing champion though, and Owen LeSage has put himself in position to do that.
Going into the finals, LeSage sits in the No. 1 spot with a mark of 17.08 (56-feet-½ inch) in the shot put. LeSage came in as the No. 9 seed (16.28) out of the sectionals, but has a season best of 17.42 (57-2).
In second is Silas Lux of Salem at 16.94 (55-7). The state leader, Will Rosenow of Sycamore is close behind at 16.90 (55-5), but has gone 59-5 this year.
Lurking in eighth place at 16.31 (53-6) is Colton Maltby of Rochester, who won the indoor state meet with a PR of 59-5.
The No. 4 and 5 shot putters have personal bests of 58-6, so Saturday’s finals (three throws each) promises to be a wide-open affair with any the above throwers capable of winning.
“Yes, it’s wide open, but it sure is good to have a mark that carries over to the finals in first place,” Dixon coach Ryan Deets said.
On the track, Dixon has another individual set up to contend for a state title.
Dean Geiger set a new Dixon school record with the second best time in the 800 meters (1:54.29), just behind the 1:54.07 run by sophomore Luke Smith of Waterloo. Both runners came out of the same heat and also have similarity in finishing next to each other, as evidenced by 14th and 15th place in state cross country.
“Dean ran a tactical, controlled race,” Deets said. “His time was faster than when Brock (Drengenberg) won state.”
Drengenberg held the previous record of 1:54.69 from 2021.
In a very tight and competitive 1,600 meter field, Averick Wiseman of Dixon ran 4:17.61 to make the finals. His time was 10th best, but close behind the 4:15.23 by No. 1 runner Cuyler Swanson of Morris.
Swanson’s brother Everett had the third-best time (4:15.55) and another pair of brothers from Marion also qualified, with one of them at No. 2 (4:15.31).
“There are guys capable of running much faster than that,” Deets said. “The field is going to be spread out and we’ll see who can hang on and who can’t.”
At the indoor state meet, Dixon blew away the rest of the field in the 4x800 relay. This time around, it was Aurora Central Catholic doing the same.
Running in the same heat, ACC’s time of 7:48.98 beat Dixon’s 7:54.90. Those are the top two times going into the finals.
Abe Garcia, Shirley, Wiseman and Geiger ran for the Dukes. Deets is confident his squad will push for the title.
“We didn’t race that hard,” Deets said. “They’ve got a lot more in the tank, certainly 7:48 or better.”
Joining those four events in Saturday’s finals for Dixon will be 3,200 runners Ethan Carter and Westin Conatser. Carter is seeded 19th and Conatser 29th.
“We brought 19 qualifiers down and have six of them going Saturday,” Deets said.
Owen Belzer ran the second fastest 100 meters is school history, but missed making the finals by three spots. His 10.94 was just off the 10.87 needed to advance.
“The competition down here is as fierce as I’ve ever seen it,” Deets said.
In what promises to be an epic pole vault competition in 2A, Rochelle’s Andrew Nuyen, Kyle Quaid-Bowman of Glenbard South and Isaiah Whitaker of Bloomington Central Catholic advanced to the finals. All have cleared between 17 to 18 feet and have been ranked in the top 10 nationally.