In a long and storied throwing history at Dixon, Owen LeSage earned the first-ever state title for the boys. In the IHSA Class 2A track and field meet, LeSage added to his lead from the preliminaries for a narrow win over Will Rosenow of Sycamore and Cole Charlesworth of Belvidere.

Both Rosenow (17.26) and Charlesworth (17.11) had marks better than LeSage’s prelim best of 17.08 meters.

The difference came on LeSage’s first throw of the finals, where he uncorked a 17.32 (56-feet-10) to put the pressure on his opponents. He also felt pressure himself, hoping his lead would hold up for the rest of the competition.

“It’s probably the most nervous I’ve ever been,” LeSage said.

LeSage got really scared on Rosenow’s final throw. It appeared to be right at the mark of LeSage’s best, but was measured a couple inches short.

“Will and I have battled so much,” LeSage said. “I wasn’t sure on his last throw. I was just waiting for the result.”

Once it was read, LeSage opted not to use his last attempt and began to quietly celebrate as a state champion. This after placing ninth as a sophomore with a 15.65 (51-4).

“What a way to start the meet for us,” Dixon coach Ryan Deets said. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

LeSage, the smallest competitor of the 12 finalists, used a superior technique for the win, of which he credits throwing coach Brandon Woodward.

“Woody works harder than any coach around and I wouldn’t be here without him,” LeSage said.

Woodward coached Tayla Schwarz to 3 discus titles and 2 state places in the shot put and now has LeSage joining her as a Duke throwing champion.

“There were five guys out there capable of winning,” Woodward said. “ His technique made the difference. Owen’s best attribute is if something goes wrong, he can reflect his way out of it.”

With the top five finishers returning, LeSage will have a heavy load to be a repeat state champ.

In an IHSA 50-year celebration of the 2-mile relay, in which six Illinois schools broke the national record on the same day in 1976, Dixon did their part by placing second in the event, now referred as the 4x800 meter relay.

It was Aurora Central Catholic jumping off to a big lead and parlaying it into a 7:42.43 to 7:47.07 win over the Dukes. Running for Dixon were Averick Wiseman (1:54 split), Alonzo Bautista (1:59), Keegan Shirley (1:57) and Dean Geiger (1:55).

Halfway through the race, ACC was at a 3:45 time and had a 30-meter lead on the Dukes. As anchor, Geiger was able to make a small dent in the advantage, but with an open 800 meters coming up later, there was no point in him burning up extra energy for a race that was out of hand.

“I just tried to keep our place,” Geiger said.

The 7:47.07 was the third school record set by the group this year, with Abe Garcia also in the mix. And, it gave the Duke 8 points to go along with LeSage’s 10 for an early lead in 2A team standings.

“I think we went out and ran our best,” Shirley said. “It’s been a joy to run with these guys.”

The 2A 800 meters was one of the toughest races of the day, with the top 3 finishers all around 1:51. Geiger was fifth after the first lap and finished in eighth at 1:54.91, just off his school record of 1:54.29 from the prelims.

“I came in fatigued after two 800s yesterday and one today,” Geiger said. “I’m happy to leave with two medals. Next year, I might go to the mile. That’s an event that you need more strength in.”

Wiseman gave the Dukes their final points with a fourth-place finish in the 1,600 meters. Like Geiger, his time of 4:19.95 was slower than the prelims (4:17), but every placer in 1,600 had a slower time than the prelims.

The winner was Cuyler Swanson of Morris (4:16.56), who was a second slower than the day before. It was a tight pack all the way through with Wiseman sticking with the leaders.

“I wanted first, but will take where I finished,” Wiseman said. “I’m set up for next year. I need to respond better to their moves.”

In the final 2A team standings, Dixon finished in eighth with 26 points. Metamora won the meet with 46 points, followed by Cahokia with 39 and Carbondale at 36.

Sterling came in as the top seed (3:17.93) in the 4x400 relay and bettered that time in the finals with a 3:17.68. Often that will win state, but not when the two teams ahead of you break the state record of 3:17.57. Morton ran a 3:15.94 and Cahokia a 3:16.84 to finish first and second.

“I don’t think we could have been better prepared. We gave it everything we had,” Aiden Lacy said.

Maurice Delacruz, the only senior of the bunch for Sterling, got his team to the lead on the first leg.

“I was happy with our consistency,” Delacruz said. “I started in eight grade track and never imagined being here. Now, it’s all I think about.”

A runner from Waterloo briefly took a small lead over second leg Quincy Maas, but Lacy quickly regained it after getting the baton. With Prieto running anchor, the Golden Warriors still had the lead with 200 meters to go.

Then the name “Abe Martin” could be heard from the announcer. That’s when the sophomore from Morton passed Prieto on the curve and never looked back.

“I heard the announcer,” Prieto said. “He (Martin) was coming on my hip. He was a really strong runner that could hold it.”

Still, it was an impressive showing by the three juniors and one senior (Prieto) in the meet’s final event.

“Hopefully, we can come back and win it,” Maas said. “It’s disappointing not to win, but we’re grateful for the opportunity.”

In the showcase event of meet, it was Rochelle’s Andrew Nuyen giving 4-time pole vault champ Isaiah Whitaker of Bloomington Central Catholic all he could handle in a performance of national significance.

Nuyen made a first attempt clearance at 5.35 (17-6) for an all-time Illinois state record, while Whitaker had a miss. Whitaker then choose to pass until 5.40 (17-9), knowing he would need to make that height anyway to keep the 4-peat in play and break Nuyen’s new state record.

With Nuyen failing to clear 5.40, it Whitaker coming through for the victory, with both vaulters finishing with the No. 2 and No. 3 vaults in the nation this year.

“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.