Boys track & field: Dixon senior Drengenberg wins 2A state title in 800

The Class 2A 800-meter race at the IHSA Track & Field State Finals was supposed to be a three-man battle between Dixon’s Brock Drengenberg, Limestone’s Wilson Georges and Chicago U-High’s Nicky Edwards-Levin.

But it was Drengenberg emphatically shutting the door on his two opponents with a winning time of 1:54.69, leading from start to finish to take the state title Friday at O’Brien Field in Charleston.

“Coming in, we all knew about him and was the one to beat,” said Edwards-Levin, who was second at 1:55.29.

On the final half-lap, Edwards-Levin made a final push at Drengenberg.

“You have no idea how scary you were,” Drengenberg said to his opponent. “Every race I was the front-runner, and didn’t want to change that. I just had to hold on at the end.”

With a 58-second first lap, Drengenberg felt he had plenty of energy to finish strong.

“My strategy was to go out in 55,” he said.

Besides a state championship, Drengenberg can lay claim to a school record in the event, previously held by Kylian Lally.

“After the relay win [2019 state title], I thought I might have a chance to do this,” Drengenberg said.

Coach Ryan Deets went so far as to call Drengenberg the fiercest competitor he has coached.

Dixon teammate Cadyn Grafton was happy for his friend, but a bit sad that the two have now completed their careers for the Dukes.

“I’d love to congratulate Brock,” Grafton said. “It’s exciting, but melancholy. We’ve been running together for over a decade.”