Boys track & field: Dixon wins another Big Northern Conference title

Dixon's Dre Jackson throws the disk Friday, April 29, 2022 at the Sterling Night Relays.

OREGON – Since joining the Big Northern in the 2014-15 school year, Dixon has won every boys track & field conference meet contested. Holding off two of the state’s premier class 1A programs in Rockford Christian and Winnebago, the Dukes prevailed again Thursday at Landers-Loomis Field, scoring 153 points.

RC had 111 and Winnebago had 90, with Rock Falls taking the fourth spot with 64.

“The kids were absolute fighters,” Dixon coach Ryan Deets said. “We had lifetime PRs in half of the events on the track, and the ones we didn’t were because kids were on their second, third and fourth event of the night.”

One such example was in the 200 meters, as seniors Jacob Gusse (23.32) and Michael Ross (23.70) took second and third, good for 14 team points, the last of four events each for them.

“This means a lot to win, so we tried to stage the events that we’re good in,” said an exhausted Gusse, who also took second in the 800 at 2:01.

Deets also gave another example in the hurdles, as seeded times of 3 points ended up being 23 instead. Freshman Cullen Shaner (16.99) was second in the 110-meter highs, and senior Grant Jacobs took third at 17.02 to go along with a second in the 300 hurdles.

“That was a big swing event,” Deets said. “Grant just started hurdling a month ago. Coach [JD] Gieson has done a wonderful job with him.”

In a three-way tie in the high jump at 1.83 meters, Alec Fulton won on fewer misses. Another conference champ for Dixon was freshmen Aaron Conderman (11:04) in the 3200.

Dixon got a second in the 4x800 relay (9:13) from Jack Johnson, Hayden Fulton, Jackson Ortgiesen and Sky Goral.

It was team effort in Dixon winning, but the big stars at Landers-Loomis Field were the Dukes’ Dre Jackson and Rock Falls’ Matthew Marcum.

Jackson was a double-winner in the throws, setting a personal best of 48.48 meters in the discus. Right behind was Oregon’s Daniel Dominguez at 47.50.

“Great competition, and the first warm meet of the year helped,” Jackson said. “This got me ready for the sectional, which I believe is the best in the state [in 2A] for throwing.”

His converted distance of 159 feet in the discus was 13 feet better than his previous best, though he scratched on three of his six attempts. He was nearly as impressed with throwing mate Gavin McAlister, who had a PR of 44.26 in the discus.

“That got my heart pounding,” Jackson said. “He had been struggling and really came on today.”

Marcum, a returning state medalist in the 300 hurdles, sat out that race to concentrate on the 110 high hurdles and 400-meter dash. He took an easy win the highs with a time of 15.53 seconds.

“The sun was wearing me down,” Marcum said. “I even felt early in the meets in the highs, feeling kind of lazy. I’ll be ready at sectionals, but need to acclimate to the heat.”

He also won the 400, but came up short in his quest to break former Dixon runner Josh Dallas’ 49.8-second conference record. For good measure, Marcum ended the meet with a 49.3-second split on the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay, moving Rock Falls to third.

“Matthew is the best closer I’ve ever had,” 48-year hurdling coach Tom DePasquale said. “I’m excited about the next couple weeks. He’s ran well this year, but hasn’t faced many challenges.”

Rock Falls has one of its youngest teams ever, and coach Eric Bontz was happy to finish in the top half of the conference.

“We competed well, but lack depth,” Bontz said. “We’re losing two big horses in Matthew and Booker [Cross]. Hopefully, we can refill in the years ahead. We got some good kids at the lower levels.”

At the Rochelle Sectional on Wednesday, besides looking to return to state, Marcum will try to break Seth Frey’s 300 hurdle school record of 39.34 seconds, one that has lasted 20 years. Marcum’s PR of 39.56 was set last year in the state meet, but this is the first week he has had decent weather to run in.

The majority of the 23 points scored by eighth-place Oregon were by Dominguez in the throws and Kendrick Oriyavong in the hurdles and pole vault.